Perkins School for the Blind
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.[1]
Perkins School for the Blind
Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Brailler, which is used to print embossed, tactile books for the blind;[2] and the Perkins SMART Brailler, a braille teaching tool, at the Perkins Solutions division[3] housed within the Watertown campus's former Howe Press.
Perkins International[edit]
Perkins partners with local groups in 67 countries: schools, universities, NGOs, nonprofits, government agencies, and parent networks—to educate and empower people who are blind, deaf/blind or visually impaired, and who may have additional disabilities.[15] The organization disseminates resources, such as Perkins Braillers, funding, and expertise on the ground in these countries. One such example of this work in the African countries of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya is Perkins' role in the Kilimanjaro Blind Trust, Inc. (KBT).[16]
Special educators from other countries are also invited to the Watertown campus every year, for an intensive study of blindness and multiple-disability education. They can take back current information to their respective regions.[17]
Perkins Solutions[edit]
Perkins Solutions concentrates on a broad array of assistive technology and accessibility assessment, training, and consulting. The range of Perkins Braillers ships to 175 countries and includes the Classic Brailler, the Next Generation Brailler and the Smart Brailler launched in 2012 with text-to-speech output, visual display, and applications for teaching braille. This subsidiary of Perkins also partners with associations for the blind and partially sighted, education ministers and resellers around the globe in an effort to provide accessible equipment—including Perkins Braillers, brailler repair and assistive technology—to all who need it.[18]
National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program[edit]
On June 8, 2012, in conjunction with the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Perkins School for the Blind was selected to conduct nationwide outreach for the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP).[20]
Mandated by the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA) and established by the FCC, the NDBEDP will aid individuals with combined vision and hearing loss connect with family, friends and their community by distributing accessible communications technology. Perkins' and partners' outreach campaign to educate people on this program is called iCanConnect.[21] It aims to inform the nearly one million people in the United States with some sort of combined hearing and vision loss on the types of equipment—e.g. screen-enlargement software, video phones and electronic refreshable braille displays[22]—available to them free of charge.
Affiliations[edit]
Perkins Braille and Talking Book Library works in conjunction with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at its Watertown chapter.[23]
Perkins has collaborated with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired on a Web resource called PathsToLiteracy.org, an online hub for information related to literacy for students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with additional disabilities or deafblindness.[24]
Perkins has collaborated with Amy Bower, a blind oceanographer and senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to show students what it's like to be a blind scientist.[25]
The international nonprofit has also worked with the American Foundation for the Blind to ensure that Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) be taught in mainstream schools.[26]
Perkins is a member of the Council of Schools for the Blind.