New Bartlesville Support Group for People with Visual Impairments
To Meet May 6 at Tall Grass Estates Independent Living Center
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Caption: Rehabilitation vocational teacher Charley Tipps
demonstrates special equipment that helps people adjust to vision loss.
Tipps, who is blind, works for Visual Services in the Department of
Rehabilitation Services (DRS). He will be in Bartlesville on May 6 for a
support group meeting that is open to the public free of charge.
BARTLESVILLE, Okla. − Any adult with a visual impairment is welcome to attend a new
support group scheduled to meet in Bartlesville for the first time on Wed., May
6, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Tall Grass Estates Independent Living Center;
located at 2633 SE Mission Drive.
Lunch will be available in the cafeteria at 12:30 p.m.
Visual Services, which is a division of the Oklahoma Department of
Rehabilitation Services (DRS), will sponsor the meeting.
Family members, friends and those who are interested in working with people who
are visually impaired are also invited. There is no charge to attend the
meeting. Those who come will have an opportunity to win door prizes.
The speaker, Marilyn Sanders, is a program manager with Visual Services, who
will focus on specialized services to help people who are blind and visually
impaired remain self-sufficient.
“So many of the visually impaired are isolated by their medical conditions,”
Charley Tipps, a rehabilitation vocational teacher for Visual Services said.
“The support group serves to bridge this situation.”
Tipps, who is blind himself, speaks from experience.
“The purpose of the Bartlesville support group is to give those citizens in the
area an opportunity to gather on a regular basis, to share their experiences and
be supportive of one another,” Tipps explained. “Educational and recreational
activities will also be a part of the purpose of the support group.”
Visual Services provides vocational rehabilitation, employment assistance and
services that enable Oklahomans with vision loss to regain or maintain maximum
independence and self-sufficiency. The division operates the Oklahoma Library
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which provides free audio books to
individuals who are not able to use standard print.
For more information about the Bartlesville Support Group for the Visually
Impaired or Visual Services programs, contact Jolyn Reed or Linda Hendricks at
(918) 331-5251. Charley Tipps may be reached in the Tulsa Visual Services office
at (918) 581-2343.