If you are looking for more information, the following links are to very good resources available to you.  Choose any link and you will be directed to the home page of the desired site.  These links will take you off the Department’s site.

Business Resources

• Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program (WOTC) a federal tax credit for employers who hire employees with disabilities through the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. The credit applies to the first $6,000 of wages paid.
  
• Disability.Gov is an award-winning federal government website that provides an interactive, community-driven information network of disability-related programs, services, laws and benefits.
  
• Job Accommodations Network (JAN) is the leading source of free, expert, and confidential guidance on workplace accommodations and disability employment issues.
  
• National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/YOUTH) is your source for information about employment and youth with disabilities.
  
• Think Beyond The Label is committed to making the business case for employing people with disabilities. They are a partnership of health and human service and employment agencies with federal grants, coming together to build a uniform national infrastructure and approach that connects businesses to qualified candidates with disabilities. Their goal is to raise awareness that hiring people with disabilities makes good business sense.
  
• U.S. Department of Labor – Office of Disability Employment Policy
  
• U.S. Social Security Information – Business Services Online (BSO) enables organizations and authorized individuals to conduct business with the Social Security Administration by providing a degree of authentication that ensures a level of trust. Once registered through BSO, users may request, activate, and access various services and functions. Employers can verify Social Security numbers online using our:
  
  • Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS) or through our Telephone – National 800 Number Employer Number Verification (TNEV)
    
  • Businesses can verify Social Security Numbers with an individual’s consent by using Consent Based Social Security Number Verification Service (CBSV)
    

Delaware Organizations

• Delaware Pathways Partners, Stakeholders, Government, Community, Consumers and Families The overall goal of the Delaware Pathways Program is to have all Statewide students of all abilities to select a Career Pathway – based upon their skills, interests, and abilities.
  
• U.S. Department of Education Resource Organizations Directory (EROD) A Directory of education resource organizations containing contact and descriptive information about national, regional and state organizations.
  
• Delaware Disability Hub This resource provides youth and young adults with special needs and disabilities during the transition years to help them reach their full potential.
• Transportation Resources for Sussex County, Delaware
• Delaware Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired
• BlindSight Delaware

National Organizations

• American Foundation for the Blind This site includes a Senior Site that is constantly adding information that can help older consumers and family members.
• Braille Authority of North Amerca This organization provides information on the uses, teachings and production of braille and/or tactile graphics.
• Library of Congress This site includes the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). The NLS administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail.
• National Braille Association This organization provides continuing education to those who prepare braille and who provide materials to persons who are visually impaired.
• National Federation of the Blind The largest organization of the blind in America. Their ultimate purpose is the complete integration of the blind into society on a basis of equality.
• National Technical Assistance Center on Blindness and Visual Impairments This site includes a resource for employers: A Human Resource Guide for Working with Employees Experiencing Vision Loss, which can be found on their website on the page for businesses. This guide provides information and guidance for human resources staff who have an employee who begins to experience vision loss.
• The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the Department of Labor has issued an updated version of its guide, Building an Inclusive Workforce. This reference guide features four steps to recruit, hire, and retain employees with disabilities, including embracing inclusive strategies and creating inclusive workplace culture. The guide also provides resources and links to Federal agencies. The guide is available to download free of charge. Printed copies may be ordered from ODEP’s publications clearinghouse .

Professional Resources

• Community for Accredited Online Schools – Child Vision Problems in the Classroom: How to screen for and spot early warning signs at school. Tools to help parents and teachers spot vision problems in children early on and to help prevent other vision-related issues which can have a lifelong impact. Includes a section on screening.
• Perkins School for the Blind International leader in blindness services, including Perkins School for the Blind, assistive technology solutions and teacher professional development
• Texas School for the Blind A special public school in which students, ages 6 through 21, who are blind, deaf-blind, or visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities, are eligible for consideration for services on the TSBVI campus. It is also a statewide resource to parents of these children and the professionals who serve them, from birth through transition from school.
• Washington School for the Blind A school for visually-impaired, blind, or deaf-blind students, located in Vancouver, Washington. It provides specialized quality educational services to visually impaired and blind youth ages birth thru 21 years of age and serves as a statewide demonstration and resource center.

Companies Selling Specialized Products

• American Printing House for the Blind (APH) / Louis Catalog
• Independent Living Aids
• LS&S (Learning, Sight and Sound made easier )
• Lighthouse
• MaxiAids
• Safeguard Marketing Company

“High Tech” (Hardware and Software)

• AiSquared
• Duxbury Systems
• Freedom Scientific
• Optelec
• Humanware

Guide Dogs

• Guiding Eyes for the Blind
• The Seeing Eye

Sites that help you better understand eye conditions and diseases

• National Eye Institute – This video was created to demonstrate a virtual reality eye disease experience.
• National Institutes of Health
• VISION AWARE
• Vision Center This informational web guide was created for those seeking eye surgery and other vision correction options.

Resources for Families

• Pathways to Literacy Literacy activities and resources for children who are blind, visually impaired, or deaf and blind.
• Hadley Institute This Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired creates personalized learning opportunities that empower people to thrive at home, work, and in their communities. It offers distance learning courses for a variety of audiences. Courses such as Early Independence, Finding your Way, How to be your Child’s advocate, Learning through Play, and Parenting a Child with Multiple Disabilities.

Educational Resources

• Guidebook for Visually Impaired Students developed by the Community for Accredited Online Schools
• The Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (VISSIT) is designed to guide teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) in determining the type and amount of itinerant TVI services to recommend for students on their caseload. The Individualized Education Program (IEP) committee will typically rely upon the TVI for this recommendation. This VISSIT scale supports the TVI in quantifying information for the IEP committee. It is hoped that the VISSIT will provide guidance so that all students with visual impairments get the benefit of an appropriate amount and type of service.
• The Learning Media Assessment (LMA) – Decision Making Guide Summary by Koenig and Holbrook (1995) is a summary of the areas and points to consider when making decisions regarding a student’s primary and secondary learning media.
• 2017 Annual Report to the Governor – Commission for Statewide Contracts to Support Employment for Individuals with Disabilities
• Moving Ahead – Delaware’s Strategic plan to improve educational services for students who are blind and visually impaired.

Other Helpful Sites

• The National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Materials has a page for Accessibility Resources