Calendar

The week's events

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Oct 10
Oct 11(1 event)

9:45 am: Low Vision Skills: Putting It All Together


Oct 11

The Low Vision Skills: Putting It All Together course is composed of essential topics recommended for all participants who are new to low vision.

Adults 55 and older, in addition to adult clients of all ages being served by the California Department of Rehabilitation, are invited to participate in a virtual six-session course geared towards learning about their changes in vision. Participants will learn practical ways to maximize successful, independent living skills in work, school, and daily living environments.

The virtual course is divided into six lessons over three weeks: a 2.5-hour introductory lesson with a Low Vision Optometrist, Social Worker, and two Certified Low Vision Therapists, followed by five, 2.5-hour lessons which will include practical skills taught by the Certified Low Vision Therapists.

It is a comprehensive skills training distance course introducing participants to foundational low vision concepts, skills, and current technologies for maximizing successful, independent daily living skills. After the virtual six-session course, participants can expect to feel more confident in using their vision and making changes in their environment for independent daily living skills. Thereafter, participants can be eligible for individualized Low Vision Therapy lessons.

The classes will be taught via Zoom Video Conferencing, best viewed on a tablet, laptop, or computer (phone is not recommended for participation in this course due to small screen size for viewing class materials and resource options) at the following dates and times (Pacific Standard Time):

Week 1: Monday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 13 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Week 2: Monday, October 18 and Wednesday, October 20 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Week 3: Monday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 27 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

If you are not with the California Department of Rehabilitation, and if you are age 55 and older, living in the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity, there may be partial scholarship funding for training and course materials. For adults working with the California Department of Rehabilitation, please contact your Rehabilitation Counselor directly to discuss participation and referral.

Please RSVP by Monday, September 27 to receive class materials in time for the first class on Monday, October 11. To register please contact Debbie Bacon at 415-694-7357 or Certified Low Vision Therapist, Gina di Grazia at gdigrazia@lighthouse-sf.org The class is limited to ten students; once the class limit is reached, all other students will be placed on a waitlist for the next available class (date TBA).

Oct 12(4 events)

10:00 am: Get Moving


Oct 12

Get Moving is a 4 week O&M training that consists of 8 separate classes, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays October 5 through 28 from 10 AM to 12 PM PST. This is a course that teaches foundational mobility skills and concepts for people with low vision and blindness. Each classes will be conducted by video or by phone using the Zoom Online Platform. Classes will be taught by Chris Williams and Danette Davis.

To register for this course, please contact Chris Williams at CWilliams@lighthouse-sf.org. Deadline to register is Tuesday, September 28.

2:00 pm: Tech Together Online


Oct 12

October 5: Smart Speakers: Setup and Basics
If you're an access technology user, you likely spend lots of time listening to machines. Today, let's talk about talking to smart speakers. We'll cover setup and configuration of smart speakers featuring Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant, and share some ways all three can help you get things done.

RSVP to Smart Speakers: Setup and Basics

October 12: Smart Speakers: Next Steps
After last week's introduction to Siri, Alexa and Google, let's take a deeper dive into each smart speaker’s skills. We'll share the tasks that each virtual assistant performs the best. All three have their strengths and struggle points, but which one will be the winner for you?

RSVP to Smart Speakers: Next Steps

October 19: Intro to Access Technology
What is accessible technology and how do we learn to use it? If you, a friend or family member are a person who is new to blindness or having low vision, or new to using access technology tools, this event is for you.We’ll demonstrate how you can use mainstream tools like smartphones, voice assistants, and computers, as well as a few specialized gadgets for reading books and recording information at the touch of a button. We’ll talk about what services and resources are available for learning to use these tools, and we’ll give some tips for friends and family members who want to be supportive of the learning process.

RSVP to Intro to Access Technology

October 26: Meet the Access Technology Team
Following our discussion in which we introduced access technology, let’s take a look at the people behind the machines. Each trainer will discuss their favorite device or software that they teach, their favorite productivity tool, and their favorite app for entertainment.

RSVP to Meet the Access Technology Team

6:00 pm: National Federation of the Blind: San Francisco Chapter Meeting (online)


Oct 12

The National Federation of the Blind is a nationwide community of members that believe blind people can live the lives they want. We meet online via Zoom with the following schedule:

6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Virtual Happy (Half) Hour
6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. – Chapter Meeting

To RSVP, contact President Bobbi Pompey at bobbipompey@gmail.com or 336-988-6375.

7:00 pm: College Spaces From Different Places


Oct 12

College Spaces From Different Places: Navigating Through College Life

When: Tuesday, October 12 2021 from 7:00 – 8:30 PM

This month the College Spaces team takes on the highly requested topic of orientation and mobility. Tips for confidently navigating through crowded universities, exploring surrounding college communities, and staying safe while doing it all. Join us this October when we’ll address all of this and more. Bring your questions, travel tips, and friends and be part of this exciting conversation!

College Spaces from Different Places is a peer led student organization which cultivates connections and community for all undergraduate college students. College Spaces from Different Places is a group designed by and for low vision and blind students to have fun, build community, and share in our struggles and accomplishments. Many undergrads are currently missing out on forming social connections on their own college campus. Therefore, joining College Spaces from Different Places will give you an opportunity to come together with others from across the state. Leave your books and syllabi behind and join us!

If you have any questions or would like to be part of future College Spaces from Different Places gatherings, contact Daisy Soto dsoto@lighthouse-sf.org or call 415-694-7328To learn more. Please RSVP by October 8, 2021 to receive the Zoom link.

NOTE: The Zoom link to join will be distributed the morning of the meetup. All blind/low vision college students are welcome, and you DO NOT need any authorizations from the DOR to join.

Oct 13(2 events)

9:30 am: Stress Reduction & Meditation (online)


Oct 13

Stress Reduction & Meditation Goes Virtual

Please note that although LightHouse is closed for the holidays, this virtual class is still being held on December 22.

Each Wednesday morning we offer a series of short, meditation-based practices for relaxation and stress reduction. The group is appropriate for both beginners and advanced practitioners and instruction is provided in all aspects of the practice. Instructor Jeffrey Schneider has more than 40 years of meditation and teaching experience. It is a virtual class using the Zoom platform—everyone is welcome as little or often as they like. Dial in, find a comfortable position, breathe deeply, clear your head, and de-stress.

RSVP to Sabrina Bolus at Sbolus@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7607.

9:45 am: Low Vision Skills: Putting It All Together


Oct 13

The Low Vision Skills: Putting It All Together course is composed of essential topics recommended for all participants who are new to low vision.

Adults 55 and older, in addition to adult clients of all ages being served by the California Department of Rehabilitation, are invited to participate in a virtual six-session course geared towards learning about their changes in vision. Participants will learn practical ways to maximize successful, independent living skills in work, school, and daily living environments.

The virtual course is divided into six lessons over three weeks: a 2.5-hour introductory lesson with a Low Vision Optometrist, Social Worker, and two Certified Low Vision Therapists, followed by five, 2.5-hour lessons which will include practical skills taught by the Certified Low Vision Therapists.

It is a comprehensive skills training distance course introducing participants to foundational low vision concepts, skills, and current technologies for maximizing successful, independent daily living skills. After the virtual six-session course, participants can expect to feel more confident in using their vision and making changes in their environment for independent daily living skills. Thereafter, participants can be eligible for individualized Low Vision Therapy lessons.

The classes will be taught via Zoom Video Conferencing, best viewed on a tablet, laptop, or computer (phone is not recommended for participation in this course due to small screen size for viewing class materials and resource options) at the following dates and times (Pacific Standard Time):

Week 1: Monday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 13 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Week 2: Monday, October 18 and Wednesday, October 20 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Week 3: Monday, October 25 and Wednesday, October 27 – 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

If you are not with the California Department of Rehabilitation, and if you are age 55 and older, living in the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity, there may be partial scholarship funding for training and course materials. For adults working with the California Department of Rehabilitation, please contact your Rehabilitation Counselor directly to discuss participation and referral.

Please RSVP by Monday, September 27 to receive class materials in time for the first class on Monday, October 11. To register please contact Debbie Bacon at 415-694-7357 or Certified Low Vision Therapist, Gina di Grazia at gdigrazia@lighthouse-sf.org The class is limited to ten students; once the class limit is reached, all other students will be placed on a waitlist for the next available class (date TBA).

Oct 14(1 event)

10:00 am: Get Moving


Oct 14

Get Moving is a 4 week O&M training that consists of 8 separate classes, meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays October 5 through 28 from 10 AM to 12 PM PST. This is a course that teaches foundational mobility skills and concepts for people with low vision and blindness. Each classes will be conducted by video or by phone using the Zoom Online Platform. Classes will be taught by Chris Williams and Danette Davis.

To register for this course, please contact Chris Williams at CWilliams@lighthouse-sf.org. Deadline to register is Tuesday, September 28.

Oct 15(3 events)

11:00 am: White Cane Day Celebration with LightHouse & Mission: AstroAccess


Oct 15

You are cordially invited to a LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired – San Francisco event: “Will There Be Space for White Canes in Space?"

As part of the White Cane Awareness Day celebrations taking place around the world, LightHouse is hosting a discussion focusing on the future of travel with white canes.

We are proud to present the first public seminar by the four people who are blind who have been selected as the first blind researchers into the accessibility of 0 gravity. These "AstroAccess Ambassadors" will experience weightlessness and carry out lunar gravity, Martian gravity, and zero gravity observations and experiments investigating how the physical environment aboard space vessels should be modified so that all astronauts and explorers, regardless of disability on Earth, can live, work, and thrive in space. They will be speaking to us from Long Beach, California, from where they will be undertaking this groundbreaking flight forty-eight hours later. Mission: AstroAccess, a nonprofit and volunteer task force is providing support for this flight, to which LightHouse is a proud contributor. One of the goals of this research is to explore what mobility and orientation will look like for blind astronauts in the future. Will our traditional white canes be a thing of the past? Or, will they morph into something like a Star Wars light saber?

Come along and hear This handpicked team of blind ambassadors talk about their expectations of this first research flight, the access features that will be in place for the flight and their own White Cane wish-lists.

We’d love you to come with your own ideas of how cane travel might evolve in the future, and your questions for this panel.

What: Will There Be Space for White Canes in Space?
Date: Friday October 15
Time: 11.00 AM – 12.00 PM Pacific Time
To RSVP: click this EventBrite link and sign up

This interesting discussion will be taking place over Zoom.

We look forward to celebrating White Cane Awareness Day 2021 with you!

5:00 pm: Virtual Bingo


Oct 15

Please join our virtual game room for all that bingo fun with Enchanted Hills Camp Assistant Director and Community Service volunteer Annalisa. Come for the bingo excitement, stay for the prize at the end. If you don't have cards, you can order them online at www.adaptations.org or by phone at 888-400-8933. A limited supply of accessible bingo cards are also available for free loan by contacting Jaclyne Atoigue at jatoigue@lighthouse-sf.org or call 415.694.7618 where you can also direct your RSVP and request for Zoom access details.

8:00 pm: Reel Escape Audio Description Club: Friday Evening Daredevils


Oct 15

Reel Escape Audio Description Club: Friday Evening Daredevils
Friday evenings @ 8:00 pm

We all need an escape at times, and with the Real Escape Audio Description Club you can do just that with your blind and low vision friends. After a summer break and some adjustment to when our club gathers, we are excited announce our fall 2021 program options for the many ages of youth we work with. Starting on Friday, September 3rd, teens, and young adults will gather to watch the Netflix series, Daredevil, a TV series about a blind attorney by day and vigilante by night. Our weekly gathering will start at 8:00 pm Friday evenings, leaving plenty of time to watch that week’s episode and connect with your EHC and LightHouse friends.

***Parents Please Note*** – the Daredevil TV Series has adult content and is rated TV-MA and contains the following: crude indecent language (L), explicit sexual activity (S), and graphic violence (V). A more detailed parental guide can be found at - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3322312/parentalguide If any youth under the age of 18 wish to join this series, they must have a parent or guardian contact a LightHouse youth team member with written permission for their child to participate.

Who: older teens and young adults that are blind or low vision
What: audio description media club via Zoom
When: Friday evenings @ 8:00 pm (Daredevil series for teens and young adults)
Where: anywhere you can access a zoom meeting
RSVP: Zoom meeting information will be shared with those that RSVP by 5:00 pm of the day before the program

If you are interested in signing up for the Reel Escape Audio Description Club, please contact Jamey Gump by email at jgump@lighthouse-sf.org or by phone at (415) 694-7372.

Oct 16

The events for the upcoming week are read aloud on our event hotline every Friday, which can be accessed by calling 415-694-7325. For more information about visiting the Adaptations Store, head to our shop page.

The LightHouse is scent-free. Please abstain from wearing colognes, perfumes, or other scented products. Additionally, coffee must be securely lidded at all times and citrus should not be peeled on the premises. Thanks for supporting our efforts to respect chemical sensitivities!

SDS safety dataClick here for our cleaning product safety data sheets (SDS) and ingredient information.

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