Visual Impairments

  • AIRS-LA (Audio Internet Reading Service of Los Angeles) provides audio recordings of news, information and entertainment.
  • American Foundation for the Blind provides programs and services to improve the lives of people affected by vision loss. Newsletter subscription available.
  • **Assistance Dog Special Allowance Program provides a monthly payment to eligible persons who use a service dog to help them with needs related to the cost of food, grooming and health care for the dog. 
  • Birth to Five Vision Network of Southern California is a non-profit organization that provides education, networking and support for professionals and families of young children with visual impairments.   
  • Blind Children’s Learning Center (BCLC) is an Orange County agency devoted to children and young adults who are blind, visually impaired and deaf-blind (birth to age 21) 
  • Braille Institute is a non-profit organization that offers a variety of free programs, classes and services throughout Southern California.  Their library contains over one million volumes of audio books, large-print and braille formats.
  • California School for the Blind in Fremont, California provides special day classes for children between 3 to 22 years. A separate comprehensive Assessment Center for students not enrolled in the school program is available for eligible individuals. 
  • Eye Dog Foundation for the Blind trains guide dogs for individuals.  
  • Family Connect provides parents of visually impaired children a place to support each other, share stories and concerns, and link to local resources.
  • Guide Dogs for the Blind is a non-profit organization providing guide dogs and training in their use to visually impaired people.
  • Guide Dogs of America provides guide dogs and instruction in their use, free of charge, to blind and visually impaired individuals.
  • Helping Students with Visual Impairments offers resources, tools and technology to focus upon school success.
  • InfantSEE provides a one-time, no-cost eye and vision assessment for babies 6 to 12 months old. 
  • Institute for Families provides counseling, support, information and advocacy to families whose child has been diagnosed with cancer or other disease that may impact vision.
  • Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation provides assistance to those having an eye condition that may benefit from one of the sponsored surgeries or treatments (cataract, retinal tear, detached retina, surfer’s eye and gas bubbles on the retina) and lack health insurance but earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal.
  • National Federation of the Blind provides free white canes that are good for both beginning and advanced cane users, as well as other items.  
  • National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped has a free Braille and book-on-tape lending library.
  • Sight for Students is VSP’s national charity program that provides free eye exams and glasses to low-income, uninsured children.
  • **U.S. Postal Service allows visually impaired persons to send and receive books and other specific mailed items free-of-charge if they are registered at the local post office.  Details are addressed in an on-line pamphlet
  • **Vision Clinics which are free, low cost or operate on a sliding scale.
  • When to Worry: Eye and Vision Problems is a helpful video for parents about what to look for and when to a doctor’s help is needed related to eye problems.    
  • WonderBaby provides a toy guide for kids who are visually impaired.