Related Links

Listen to the Health Reform Bill at HearTheBill.org
Last week, a group of voice actors announced the release of a new website intended to facilitate the public’s involvement in healthcare reform by allowing interested individuals to listen to the bill - all 1,018 pages - as an audio book available for download at www.hearthebill.org.  As stated in the press release: “The HR 3200 bill is fully downloadable and indexed like an audio book, allowing users to choose which parts they want to hear at their own convenience. It also provides the sight-impaired with an option they otherwise would not have. Others can read along with the audio, and should keep checking back, as the site will be updated whenever the bill is amended to ensure that it remains current.” Over 80 voice actors volunteered to donate their time to create the free online tool.

Listen to the health reform bill here.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness is providing this information purely as a service and takes no position on any of the proposals.

Macular Degeneration International
www.maculardegeneration.org

American Foundation for the Blind
The American Foundation for the Blind, the organization to which Helen Keller devoted her life, is a national nonprofit whose mission is to ensure that the ten million Americans who are blind or visually impaired enjoy the same rights and opportunities as other citizens.
www.afb.org

Alliance for Aging Research
www.agingresearch.org/amd.cfm

Blindness Resource Center/NY Institute for Special Education
www.nyise.org/eye.htm

ClinicalTrials.gov
Provides patients, family members, and health care professionals easy access to information on clinical research studies for a wide range of diseases and conditions. Included are a summary of the purpose of the study, recruiting status, criteria for patient participation, location of the trial, and specific contact information.
Available at: http://clinicaltrials.gov

Discounts on Makeup Services for Visually Impaired Women
If you are interested in permanent make up and eyebrow maintenence and would like to take advantage of the discounts for visually impaired women, visit www.blindnessga.org/servspons.htm. People who want to recommend spas and aestheticians in their community that may be amenable to discounts for visually impaired clients can send an e-mail to Patti at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Enhanced Vision
Low vision resources and innovative products
www.enhancedvision.com

eyeSIGHT INTERNATIONAL
A service network, which strives to create the ultimate world network between anyone having the simplest interest in aiding the effort to help visually impaired individuals, prevent global blindness, and support others in the field to solidify their own efforts. eyeSIGHT INTERNATIONAL is committed to the global effort for treating and preventing sight dysfunction. It works to provide and establish a more personal, direct link between international communities, professionals, and those in need.

FFB Canada
We are the leading eye research foundation in Canada, innovative and committed fund raisers, quality providers of research information and a dynamic partner in a network of like-minded organizations.
www.ffb.ca

Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF)
Glaucoma Research Foundation is a national non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for glaucoma. GRF offers education and support for people with glaucoma and their families through Gleams, a free newsletter (available in print, by email, and online), a toll-free phone support line 1-800-826-6693 to speak with our information specialist (hours are 8:30am-5:00pm, M-F, Pacific Time), free informational booklets, and a comprehensive website featuring an innovative interface that is a model of Internet accessibility for the visually impaired.
www.glaucoma.org

Guide Dogs for the Blind
Guide Dogs for the Blind is a nonprofit, charitable organization with a mission to provide Guide Dogs and training in their use to visually impaired people throughout the United States and Canada. Our dogs and services are free to those we serve, thanks to the generosity of donors and support of volunteers.
http://www.guidedogs.com/

GuideStar
Connecting people with nonprofit information since 1994, GuideStar offers basic, in-depth, and customized data services on more than 1 million U.S. nonprofits.
http://www.guidestar.org/controller/searchResults.gs?action_gsReport=1&npoId=213873

Guild for the Blind
The Guild for the Blind works with adults who are blind or visually impaired, providing them with the tools and training they need to live independently and with dignity. Programs, with are offered in small groups or individually, include: New Visions, help for those experiencing new vision loss; Employment Connection, professional employment training; Robert Stone Center for Adaptive Technology, adaptive computer training; Information and Referral Services, information on blindness featuring “Guild Briefs,” a free monthly newsletter; and a Consumer Product Center, assistive tools for daily living, including a wide range of magnification tools, available for demonstration and purchase.
www.guildfortheblind.org

JBI: Jewish Books for the Visually Impaired (AKA Jewish Braille Institute)
www.jbilibrary.org

Jewish Guild for the Blind - Telephone Support Groups
http://www.jgb.org/programs-parent-register.asp

Low Vision Information Center
www.lowvisioninfo.org

Sight Loss Solutions
Sight Loss Solutions offers special bulletins and helpful indexes forlow-vision and no-vision consumers.
www.sightlosssolutions.org

The Low Vision Gateway
Created to be your starting point to access information on the World Wide Web related to the fields of low vision and blindness.
www.lowvision.org

Macular Degeneration Support
MD Support offers information and human contact for people dealing with macular degeneration and similar diseases of the retina which may lead to central vision loss.
www.mdsupport.org

MEDLINEplus®
A consumer health website developed by The National Library of Medicine® (NLM®) at the National Institutes of Health. Along with comprehensive coverage of over 600 Health Topics, MEDLINEplus also contains nightly newswire updates, interactive tutorials with sound and pictures, medical encyclopedia, drug information, directories of health facilities and professionals, and more. Best of all it is FREE, commercial free, and totally private.
Available at: http://medlineplus.gov

National Eye Institute
www.nei.nih.gov/

National Federation of the Blind
The purpose of the National Federation of the Blind is two-fold—to help blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and to act as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind. By providing public education about blindness, information and referral services, scholarships, literature and publications about blindness, aids and appliances and other adaptive equipment for the blind, advocacy services and protection of civil rights, development and evaluation of technology, and support for blind persons and their families, members of the NFB strive to educate the public that the blind are normal individuals who can compete on terms of equality.
www.nfb.org

PIC (Punctuate Inner Choroidopathy) Society
The goals of the PIC (Punctuate Inner Choroidopathy) Society are as follows:

• To provide support for research, resources, information, and encouragement, for people affected with PIC, their families, and friends.
• To raise awareness of PIC in the global and medical community.
• To support and encourage advances in PIC research among the medical community.

www.pic-world.com/portal/

PubMed
Provides access, free of charge, to MEDLINE. Over 40 million searches done each month. Includes state-of-the-art retrieval features such as "related articles," links to related databases, and links to publishers' full-text articles.
Available at: pubmed.gov

RetNet
RetNet provides tables of mapped and identified genes causing inherited retinal diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration and Usher syndrome, with additional summary information. Supported by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the William Stamps Farish Fund and the George Gund Foundation.
http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/RetNet/

SightConnection
Products for living with sight loss
http://www.sightconnection.com/

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
http://www.phillyhealthinfo.org

ToxTown
Take a walk down the streets of an interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances in our environment.
Available at: www.toxtown.nlm.nih.gov

VisionConnection.org
Your connection to vision information and an accessible community for people who are partially sighted or blind.
http://www.visionconnection.org

WonderBaby.org
WonderBaby.org, a project funded by Perkins School for the Blind, is dedicated to helping parents of young children with vision impairments as well as children with multiple disabilities. Here you'll find a database of articles written by parents who want to share with others what they've learned about playing with and teaching a blind child, as well as links to meaningful resources and ways to connect with other families.
www.wonderbaby.org