Vision Forward Association Incorporated

Children's program: our children's services includes programming that serves children from birth to 21 years of age. Our children's program provides special education instruction, Vision and sensory training, orientation and mobility training, and music, occupational, physical and speech/language therapy to children who are blind and visually impaired. Our youth program supports the learning of the expanded core curriculum (ecc) for school-age youth, ages three to 21 years, through regularly scheduled, highly structured events and activities that are offered during the day, some weekends and during the summer. The services we provide are based on each child's individual needs and address the skills that all children must learn as well as the adaptive skills used by those who are blind or visually impaired. During fiscal year 2024, we served 144 children, ages birth to six years with therapy and Vision service with another almost 1,300 hours of special education classroom time; 74 school-age youth, ages three to 21 (may have attended multiple activities). 9% of children receiving services demonstrated improvement in their social emotional skills. 98% of parents/caregivers will use the skills they learned to care and advocate for their child.

Vision Forward store: our store is only one of a few resources in Wisconsin that sells adaptive products for people with Vision loss. The hundreds of products we carry are designed to help those who are blind, as well as those who are living with changing Vision and low Vision, to successfully accomplish the tasks of everyday life. Some of the top selling devices we feature are magnifiers, cctvs (video magnifiers), large print items, talking watches and clocks, high contrast pens and specialized lighting. During fiscal year 2024, we served 1,276 unique customers with guidance and adaptive products that help them enhance their skills, maximize their remaining Vision, maintain their health, and retain their independence.

Vision rehabilitation: our adult Vision rehabilitation services offers assessment and training in the following areas: low Vision, activities of daily living, communication, orientation and mobility (wayfinding and white cane travel), and assistive technology to adults, ages 18 and older, who are blind and visually impaired. Our enrichment program offers social activities, classes and workshops to help adults with Vision loss learn adaptive life and technology skills as well as enjoy and enhance their lives. We also offer a series of support groups that help adults address the social emotional issues that accompany Vision loss. 453 people had contact with our social worker, helping them prepare for their Vision loss journey. In fiscal year 2024, we served 889 adults through our adult Vision rehabilitation program, who received over 3,238 hours of direct service, and more than 4,000 through our outreach efforts. Many of the adults were served through multiple activities and trainings provided by each program. Our technology team provided 2,296 hours of one-on-one technology services. We also produced 47 instructional videos, which had a total of 215,000 views on our you tube channel and 14,500 total hours of watched content. 96% of adults reported a positive experience with our adult Vision rehabilitation services. 97% of adults demonstrated progress and/or achievement of their individual goals after receiving services.

Enrichment: provides an extensive support network of persons to promote the organization's mission.