By Isaac Beavers, Executive Director, Alabama Freedom Center for the Blind
If you build it, they will come. However, America’s favorite pastime has nothing on the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind’s (AIDB) Office of Field Services (OFS).
OFS provides services to people who are Deaf, Blind, DeafBlind, and multidisabled over their lifespan in all 67 counties in Alabama through a network of ten Regional Centers. Regional Centers serve as community liaisons between those who are served by AIDB and the communities where they live. The promotion of inclusion is an essential goal of Regional Centers with staff working toward this goal through awareness events that educate communities about the needs and abilities of the Deaf and Blind communities. The other way to achieve this goal is through engagement in community activities. Regional Centers offer a wide variety of social activities that appeal to people of all ages.
In March, the Montgomery Regional Center partnered with Alabama Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the Lions Club to host a Beeping Easter Egg hunt for Early Intervention and school-age families. The Opelika Regional Center sponsored an April Spring Fling for families which featured sensory activities, therapeutic play, and parent resources. In May, the Birmingham Regional Center hosted a Zoo Day for families with infants and toddlers.
“We are so grateful for the partnerships in our communities,” states AIDB Montgomery Regional Center Director Jenny Savage. “Thanks to the Lions Club and ATF, we had more than 200 attendees for our Beeping Easter Egg Hunt, which exceeded our expectations.”
From Beeping Eggs to Beep Ball – OFS is batting a thousand.
In June, the Huntsville Regional Center partnered with the Ability Sport Network to show that people who are Blind or Visually Impaired can play sports. More than ten consumers participated in a Beep Baseball game.
“This reminds me of going to the batting cages when I could see,” stated Alabama Freedom Center for the Blind student Vincent Patterson.
In May, the Montgomery Regional Center sponsored an outing to the Montgomery Biscuits Baseball game. The national anthem was signed in American Sign Language (ASL) by Case Manager LaShawn Washington and nearly 200 AIDB consumers attended.
Called out of retirement, if you will, in April, the Decatur Regional Center hosted an ASL Craft Night for Senior Citizens. Thirty consumers participated in making ASL-themed crafts, which they took home; Decatur and Huntsville Regional Centers plan to team up to establish a “series” of classes for consumers. We feel confident in a clean sweep.
Photography by Reid Foster Photography.
