Blind Children's Learning Center

One of our favorite places on our campus is the sensory wall. It is filled with everyday household items such as knobs, brooms, rope, and more and allows our sighted and non-sighted peers to touch and play with these objects in a safe and educational way.

Early intervention helps 8 out of 10 children make significant developmental gains in order to learn and grow alongside typical children their age. Our students are achieving their goals every class session!

We exist thanks to our community of supporters. Call of Humanity Co-Presidents Ayushi Kadakia and Shaina Grover are high school students making a difference in OC. Their current effort is funding audiobook subscriptions so that students served by BCLC have more access to literacy and the freedom to explore their interests. They are already 60% to their goal! Let's send them some encouragement, and you can see more about their efforts through the link below.

Charlie started in the toddler classrooms in August, and he's already made so much progress! Toddler classroom participation gives children a better shot at success when they enter public school at age 3. Right now, these classrooms have a waitlist. Your support will help us expand in the new year.

We quickly learned that we were not alone. Just knowing that these types of services are available was a big eye-opener. -Sabrina’s Mom Sabrina is also a part of our toddler classrooms and she's already made so much progress! Right now, these classrooms have a waitlist. Your support will help us expand in the new year.

We thank each and every supporter, service provider, collaborative partner, and volunteer making our students able to receive early intervention services!

Physical therapy allows children to develop the motor skills for functional and efficient movement. At Blind Children's Learning Center, physical therapists are experienced in working with children with visual impairments, meaning our children can overcome a visual impairment with tools and considerations unique to their needs.

It’s time to learn some more and #MeetCharlie Relief washed over Kristin when BCLC specialists sat down and listened to her articulate Charlie’s needs before developing a care plan. Right now, Charlie and 38 more children need regular speech therapy to improve language, articulation and communication skills.

Thanks to vision stimulation, Sabrina’s vision is improving and she is able to track objects from further away. She can also now roll left and right, reach out and grasp for objects, push herself upright and lean forward and lift her arms up higher! Children like Sabrina with cortical visual impairment benefit from regular vision stimulation and adapted visual information.

Take a look at how our former student Lucie demonstrates one of the skills our students learn: white cane mobility. Through orientation and mobility training, our students learn how to navigating both familiar and unfamiliar environments such as an office building or public sidewalks, interact with peers on the playground, and access items around the house!

Sabrina is strong! When Sabrina was just 4-months old, her parents noticed her eyes jittering. That was the start of learning Sabrina had extra challenges. Nurses also noticed that her limbs were more floppy than typical infants. Testing confirmed Sabrina had a thin corpus callosum in her brain, which led to the diagnoses of Cortical Visual Impairment and cerebral palsy. That's when Sabrina found her way to BCLC where she receives vision stimulation therapy and is a part o...f our toddler classrooms. New beginnings happen all the time at BCLC like Sabrina's. More than 100 families will start their journey at BCLC next year. They will need your help to turn fear into hope!

Charlie is a fighter! During surgery, Charlie’s heart stopped for 35 minutes. Miraculously, he stayed with us, but the ensuing brain damage caused Charlie additional challenges, including a visual impairment. New beginnings happen all the time at BCLC like Charlie’s. More than 100 families will start their journey at BCLC next year. They will need your help to turn fear into hope!

To finish 2020 focused on the strength of our families, we will feature a BCLC family each week, all week. This week we want you to meet Sabrina! Sabrina was diagnosed with Cortical Visual Impairment and cerebral palsy. This condition affects Sabrina's vision and motor skills, but that's no obstacle to her thanks to services she's received at BCLC. Stay tuned the rest of the week to learn more and #MeetSabrina