A Letter from Our Co-Founders
Even before Governor Polis’ mandate to “stay at home,” the state asked early intervention providers like us to stop in-home visits for everyone’s safety. The good news is that A Shared Vision is still providing vision services – now via telehealth! While center-based organizations have temporarily closed their doors, A Shared Vision continues to provide the same level of high-quality, compassionate support for families, many of whom are especially vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19.

We are currently reaching more than two-thirds of the families we serve through regular video calls. The response from our families has been very positive.

During these challenging times we are holding to our mission – to inspire and empower families to nurture the development of their very young children who are blind or visually impaired so that all children may discover their brightest future.

Thank you for continuing to support A Shared Vision and for enabling us to inspire and empower these families.

Your Founders,
Stefanie Hamilton, Paula Landry, Steven Lindauer
Spotlight on Edie Smith
Edie Smith joined A Shared Vision as an Early Intervention Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Orientation and Mobility Specialist in 2018. Prior to that she was a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments at the Douglas County School District in Castle Rock, CO for 13 years.

With the current pandemic, everyone is adapting to new ways of sharing information. Edie is using telehealth to conduct her family visits. As one of her parents said, “I felt nervous to do the video visits. But, doing my first one with Edie broke the ice. It was better than expected! And it prompted me to do our other therapies this way.” Read more about Edie HERE .
Our Favorite Stay-at-Home Activities
Here are our favorite stay-at-home activities to do this month with your child who’s blind or visually impaired. Click HERE for more details.

1.     Make a tactile fun bucket.
2.     Play music with pots and pans.
3.     Touch a scratch board.
4.     Shake some maracas.
5.    W hat’s hiding in the laundry basket?
6.     Make Kool-Aid play dough. It smells like summer!
7.     Celebrate Earth Day on April 22 and get outside.
8.     Read a book out loud to your child. Be sure to use your silly voice!
9.     Schedule a video call with your EI-TVI.
10.   Take time for yourself.
New Online Resources for Families and Providers
Paths to Literacy, American Printing House for the Blind and CalState University are offering free, online one-hour classes for students and young children with visual impairments, as well as their teachers, parents or caregivers.  A Shared Vision’s Kimala Rein taught a class on infant massage on April 10. Watch the recording of the class HERE .
Board certified music therapist Amanda Bryant shares nine short, two- to four-minute videos HERE on how music affects a child's sensory development by stimulating visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular and social skills. No musical experience or special instruments are required. Making music with your child is fun!
It's Essential!
Whether you order your groceries online or visit the store in person, you can support A Shared Vision while you shop at King Soopers or CityMarket. A Shared Vision will receive five percent of your total grocery store purchases when you connect your loyalty card to these stores. Learn how HERE .
We Are Grateful for…
…the Lions Club of Denver for donating light boxes to 10 of our families!
…the generosity of several foundations who continue to believe in our mission.
…the dedication of our teachers.
A Shared Vision is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the leading provider of in-home and community early intervention vision services in Colorado. We inspire and empower families to nurture the development of their very young children who are blind or visually impaired so that all children may discover their brightest future.
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