Organizations for Those with Visual Impairments

 Week 13 

Organizations for Those with Visual Impairments 

~The Blind Sports Organization~ 

    The Blind Sports Organization(BSO) located in Havertown PA, provides and advocates for sports, recreation, and fitness opportunities for the blind and visually impaired. The BSO is a non-profit that has been in existence since 1974. BSO athletes range from 7 to over 70 years old and also vary from totally blind to those who have a visual field of 20 degrees or less. Some participate in recreation and socialization, but others aim for world-class competition. Their volunteers are the organization's backbone, including sorority members, parents, friends, sports enthusiasts, PE students, and anyone wishing to help out. in 1974 Dr. Mae Davidow who was a blind teacher believed that the blind and visually impaired needed opportunities for physical fitness and social activities. She was nearly blind at age 10 as a result of spinal meningitis and mastoid surgery. She spent a lot of time organizing groups to work on behalf of the blind. So, she founded the Pennsylvania Association for Blind Athletes. After she passed in 1989, Sandy White continued her legacy and continued with BSO.

~Activities~

    BSO provides many programs and activities for members. These programs include Beep-Baseball, Judo, Goalball, Swimming, and more. These sports are offered on Saturdays at different locations, there is no experienced needed with any sport. They are all open for recreational and competitive interests. There are people you can be partnered up with to teach the game and how it works if someone is just starting out. Beep-baseball and Goalball are for ages 15 and up. And Judo is ages 9 and up. There are also youth sports for ages 8-15, which provide instruction in the basics and various sports. They offer a Run-Walk club for participants 18 and older. For this club, they pair blind runners and walkers with similarly interested and skilled sighted guides. Some participants join the club just to get some physical fitness in and others participate to train for competitive events. So with people's various reasons they get paired with someone who competes in marathons like they are training for or just someone who runs for fitness reasons. 

~Recommending~

    If I had a friend or family member that was visually impaired and wanted to get active and socialize, I would defiantly point them in the direction of the BSO. Getting involved at BSO is easy, everyone is invited to join; individuals, organizations, sighted, visually impaired, friends, and family. There is a form on their website under "get involved" that is 4 pages. After filling these out the individual can go over to the "Programs" tab and click sports weekend. Here the individual can click the button that says click to register and register for the sport and time they want. The weekend could include a campfire, marshmallow roasting, and games. Some or all of the games they host include; Basketball, horseshoes, kickball, tandem biking, Beep-baseball, bowling, ping pong, goalball, running, gymnastics, and soccer. This sounds like a fun and interactive weekend that not only the participants can enjoy but their family members and friends alongside them!

~Additional~

https://www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/adapted-recreation-equipment-resources.html

- This website shows the type of PE equipment that is used with blind and visually impaired people. It is cool to see the different adaptive equipment that is used. It also gives a little paragraph under each type of equipment to tell how it is used and what it does. 

~Sources~

Blind Sports Organization. blindsportsorg. (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2023, from https://www.blindsports.org/