Junior Blind of America’s Child Development Programs provide a wide range of services for children (birth to 6 years) with visual impairments and other disabilities. A key component of these programs is helping families gain the knowledge to become successful advocates for their child’s education and care.
Infant-Family Program
(birth to 3 years)Serving infants from birth to age 3, this in-home program is designed to help increase visual functioning, sensory awareness, communication and social skills, as well as improve physical, cognitive and emotional development.
- Weekly in-home visits from experienced specialists
- Visual and auditory development
- Cognition and play
- Social and emotional development
- Communication
- Fine and gross motor movement
- Self-help skills
- Educational workshops
- Family Camp at Junior Blind’s 40-acre Camp Bloomfield in Malibu
Early Childhood Program
(3-6 years)
Serving children ages 3-6 and their families, this program provides essential support to help children successfuly transition into the special education public school system and maximize their developmental progress.
- Parent support and advocacy training
- IEP support and guidance
- Phone consultations and periodic home visits
- Accompany families to Ophthalmologist or Optometrist appointments
- Classroom teacher consultations
- Orientation & Mobility consultations for specific geographic areas
- Family Support groups
- Educational workshops
- Family regional picnics and social activities
- Family Camp at Junior Blind’s 40-acre Camp Bloomfield in Malibu
Who We Serve
Our specialists are trained to work with children who have all types of visual impairments and disabilities. Since a formal diagnosis can be difficult to make for visual impairment in infants and toddlers, it is not required. If a child exhibits any sign of visual impairment, we will help cunduct assessments and make referrals to specialists who can make a formal diagnosis.
Our Staff
Highly experienced and educated in the field, our Child Development Program Specialists hold a bachelor's or master's degree in early childhood special education, low-incidence disabilities, child development or related fields and have extensive training in visual impairment and assessment. Services are offered in English, Spanish, Laotian and Tagalog.
Our programs are also closely connected with physicians, therapists, educators and service coordinators to help ensure a comprehensive support network is available to our children and their families.
Service Areas
We serve hundreds of children and their family members from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Kern counties.
Referral Procedure
A child may be referred to our Child Develpoment Program by a family member, healthcare or blindness professional, Regional Center or school district.
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