A “house” project to which the Foundation has made a commitment is the donation of adaptive reading equipment to libraries across Long Island, assisting hundreds of visually impaired readers in their communities.

Items donated include a CCTV reading machine (magnifies images of reading materials passed under its viewer) and ZoomText software (magnifies images on computer screens and includes a voice option to read what cannot be seen by the user.) 

Responding to requests from each library, the following donations have been made to-date.  Please note that libraries received both the CCTV and 2 licenses each for ZoomText software - except as otherwise noted:

Port Washington Public Library (02/05)
Smithtown Library (02/05)
Massapequa Public Library (07/05)
Oceanside Library (07/05 - ZoomText only)
East Meadow Public Library (07/05)
South Huntington Library(07/05 - ZoomText only)
Great Neck Library (11/05 - CCTV only)
Manhasset Library (2006 CCTV and Zoom Text)
Westbury Library (2006 Zomm text only)

When a sighted pre-school child begins to learn how to read, the most common approach is to show them how letters put together form a word and then have the word illustrated with a picture to make the association of letter to word, word to picture, picture to meaning, easier to grasp.

But what do you do with a blind child. How do you begin to convey the concept of letters, and how do you try to associate a picture to a word when the picture image is flat and hard to define.

The innovation for creating tactile raised pictures with such delicate detail that it can be felt by finger reading is the brainchild of the company Creative Adaptations for Learning (CAL), Great Neck NY and founder Shirley Keller.

Shirley Keller was a nurse during the time of the Korean War. When returning soldiers who had lost their sight due to injuries from the war, needed assistance in learning how to read again, Shirley developed the idea of using raised type and images to make the occupational therapy easier.

The process that CAL takes to develop, illustrate, and trial test each of its educational book series for blind pre-schoolers is a very arduous task. The core curriculum must be in keeping with the methods sighted students learn, but carefully adapted so that the blind children learn the fundamentals of Braille with the added association of raised pictures that illustrate the meaning of each word being taught. It is also an expensive undertaking. The goal was to bring the development costs down so that the books could reach a larger audience for both the educators and parents who needed them for their children.

The Foundation for Sight & Sound received a Grant Request from CAL so that more books could be produced and circulated to the children in need. FSS was confident that an award of $15,000 to CAL will insure the production of 500 books, and further the distribution arrangement with the National Braille Association who will broaden the publishing and distribution rights on behalf of CAL.

The Foundation for Sight & Sound is pleased to be a benefactor to this remarkable innovation and bring more Creative Adaptations for Learning books into the hands of those little ones who will revel in experiencing and learning just like their sighted playmates…They will FEEL what a picture is, and begin to learn faster and easier. Wonderful.

American Sign Language (ASL) is the visual/gesture language, which is the primary means of communication for deaf people in America. Current estimates are that between 100,000 and 500,000 people use ASL in their need to communicate with others during business, school and through life in general.

This includes native signers who have learned ASL as their first language from deaf parents, hearing children of deaf parents who also learned ASL as their native language, and fluent signers who have learned ASL from deaf people.

There is an overwhelming need for qualified and certified ASL interpreters. And while many high schools and colleges are beginning to offer ASL as an alternate to foreign language courses, the demand for interpreters still outweighs the number of candidates dedicated to this career choice.

Suffolk Community College in Selden, NY is one of the few colleges offering the rigorous program. The Foundation for Sight & Sound (FSS) believes that by providing tuition assistance by means of an Endowed Scholarship Fund, more students will complete this training and go on to make a valuable contribution in their community. Qualified students will be selected based on their academic standing, the content of their application essay and their commitment to internship service to the deaf community during their college study.

Beginning in the Fall Semester of 2006, The Foundation for Sight & Sound is pleased to initiate their Endowed Scholarship Fund. With an initial donation of $20,000 and subsequent additional annual donations the FSS is confident that its mission to create a world WITHOUT LIMITS for those with vision and/or auditory challenges will become a reality.

As an extension to the services on-site at HKNC, some residents participate in off-site work- study programs that provide the opportunity to secure full-time employment in the community.

The Foundation for Sight & Sound received a Grant Request from HKNC regarding the need to replace one old and “road-worn” vehicle that assisted residents of HKNC who depended on reliable transportation to get them to and from the various off-site work- study programs.

In keeping with the FSS mission, to enhance the quality of life for those with visual and/or auditory challenges, the award was approved.

In order to maximize the value of the award, The FSS sought out the relationship it has with Atlantic Auto Mall’s Kia division and purchased not one BUT TWO brand-new Kia Sedonia mini-vans. The FSS’s reputation in the community gave them the buying power to make the most of the $25,000 allotted for this project.

Here’s to a “smooth ride on the highway of life”, said Mitch Shapiro, Founder of the Foundation for Sight & Sound.