Support Services
Specialized Services
Rehabilitation
Orientation and Mobility
Support Groups
Visual Aids Store
Radio Reading
Additional Resources

Specialized Services
Our social service department provides a comprehensive program of activities and programs designed to help individuals who are blind or are experiencing vision loss.

Our goal is to provide individualized services to keep people living as independently as possible. Once an initial intake is performed to assess an individual’s needs and eligibility, our caseworker completes a service plan with the customer with clearly defined objectives and goals.

Our services range from one-time appointments to biweekly meetings. We also offer transportation and escort to doctor’s appointments or grocery shopping when other resources are unavailable. Our qualified Casework Associates can assist with reading mail and bill-paying.

Information and Referral
Our goal is to provide services and education to individuals to help them stay independent. If we do not provide a specific service that a customer needs, we will refer him or her to an agency that can accommodate the need.
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Rehabilitation
Our Vision Rehabilitation Therapist provides individualized instruction in independent living skills to blind and visually impaired individuals.

Specialized instruction includes, but is not limited to the following:
  • Kitchen safety/food preparation
  • Communication skills (Braille, large print, audio)
  • Cleaning/home management
  • Personal care and hygiene
  • Lighting adaptations
  • Low vision aids
Our Vision Rehabilitation Therapist will complete an assessment with the customer and develop an Individualized Service Plan. The Vision Rehabilitation Therapist will establish goals with the customer and work with him/her to achieve the desired goals.
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Orientation and Mobility
North Central Sight Services, Inc. will provide referrals for Orientation and Mobility Training. The Orientation and Mobility Instructor will review services with the customer and develop an appropriate individualized plan with specific mobility goals and objectives. The individual’s plan may include: sensory awareness, spatial concepts, searching skills, sighted guide, independent movement, cane skills, and protective techniques.
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Support Groups
North Central Sight Services facilitates a number of support and educational groups to promote independence and life skills for people who are blind or visually impaired.

Life Skills and Education
At this monthly meeting, there is a speaker who provides valuable information on blindness related topics.

Book Club
Attendees listen to a book before the meeting and a facilitator promotes discussion and social interaction.

Support Groups for All Ages
Members attend social activities such as picnics, bowling nights, and holiday parties.

Ladies Club
Ladies Club has many great activities such as playing large print Bingo, Trivia games, and hosting annual holiday parties.

Sight Loss Support Group
Members meet to socialize and to discuss problems they are having with their vision loss and lend support to one another.

Craft Class
Members create new and adaptable crafts from craft materials and everyday products. Losing vision does not mean they need to give up craft activities.

Exercise Your Body and Mind
Members do simple, low impact exercises in conjunction with mental activities to promote healthy living.

Special Events
Our agency hosts various events throughout the year. They include but are not limited to an annual fishing trip and the Plankenhorn Foundation Christmas Party.
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Visual Aids Store
Our Low Vision Store has many products that can help individuals who are blind or visually impaired become more independent. We have a wide range of products such as magnifiers, 20/20 pens, talking watches, large button phones, adaptive aids for cooking, large playing cards, and much more.

The store is located in our facility on Reach Road in Williamsport's Industrial Park. Please contact us at 1-866-320-2580 or locally 323-9401 for store hours or to make an appointment.
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Radio Reading
Effective September 23, 2009, North Central Sight Services, Inc. is transitioning from its current radio reading service to the NFB Newsline sponsored by the National Federation for the Blind. The service is available twenty-four hours a day through the telephone and provides subscribers the choice of selecting the publication and the sections that interest them.

The NFB Newsline has been in existence since 1995 and currently carries 300 newspapers and other publications on its service. The service is free with the only eligibility criteria being that the user must be unable to read print. Newsline now carries the Williamsport Sun Gazette as well as the Wilkes-Barre Leader Times and other regional and national papers.

Those interested in the NFB Newsline can register by calling their area's Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, or by calling the National Federation of the Blind toll-free at 1-866-504-7300 to request an application. You may also download an application or fill out our online application to register. After your registration is processed, you'll receive a letter containing your activation codes and instructions on how to begin reading the newspaper with NFB Newsline.
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Additional Resources
American Foundation for the Blind Website
National Eye Institute Website
LowVision.org List of National (USA) Associations
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Return to the Low Vision Page