Welcome to the Sight Loss Support Group.
We offer a supportive atmosphere where individuals can adjust to loss of vision, learn what resources are available for assistance and develop strategies to regain independence. Through shared experiences and a positive approach, the SLSG helps people answer the question "What do I do now?" In 2015, we moved out of our physical office space in State College, and transitioned to a 'virtual office' configuration. Our programs will continue without interruption; only our Contact info has changed.
AnNOUNCEments
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Upcoming Events
Audio-Description: We are excited to once again be Audio Describing live theater events! We are thrilled to announce we are back in the Penn State Centre Stage School of Theatre describing shows at The Playhouse and The Pavilion theatres, as well as the Centre for the Performing Arts at Eisenhower Auditorium, and many local theater productions.
The “View Via Voice” audio describers have been making art accessible since 1999. Trained professionals allow the patrons to "view" stage performances as they listen to verbal enhancements through headphones.
Please check the Sight-Loss Support Group website, www.slsg.org, or call Josie Kantner at 814-238-0132 for updated information on 2nd Thursdays and audio-described performances.
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The OUTLOOK Newsletter
To subscribe to the free newsletter, please call 814-238-0132 and request either the emailed or printed version.
Please view the latest edition as well as archived editions of the SLSG newsletter, here.
The Autumn “Outlook” contains:
The fall schedules of the 2nd Thursday Support Group Meetings and View Via Voice audio description
Article on Andrew Leland’s The Country for the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight
Info on CO10 and the Retina
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MEET BILL MUZZY, PRESIDENT OFTHE SIGHT-LOSS SUPPORT GROUP’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Where to begin – there’s no neat and tidy pigeonhole for Mr. Bill. Computer engineer, builder of houses, an aficionado of jeeps and the finer things in life, community volunteer. Before retirement Bill worked in computer management for the likes of Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment Corporation, Computer Automation, Apollo, and (locally) C-COR. As luck would have it, this Renaissance guy was lured onto the Sight-Loss Support Group’s (SLSG) Board of Directors in 2002, shortly after his wife, Cindy Shaler, joined our audio-description program. [Read More]
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Donations
We currently ask that all gifts be made by check, and mailed directly to:
Sight-Loss Support Group of Central PA, Inc.
P.O. Box 782
Lemont, PA 16851
Thank you for your support!
Upcoming Talks ANd Meetings
2nd Thursdays: the new lunch group
Steve Kechisen (Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services), Josie Kantner Smith (Sight-Loss Support Group of Central PA), and Rachel Miller (North Central Sight Services).
Eat, Share, and Connect
The "new and improved" lunch bunch is a joint venture of the SLSG (Sight-Loss Support Group), the BBVS (Bureau of Blind and Visual Services), and the NCSS (North Central Sight Services). Open to the general public, the lunch bunch is a social, supportive, and informative afternoon. Representatives from each of the organizations will be present at each lunch, a new topic of interest will be presented on alternate months, and a complementary lunch is provided. Our popular monthly lunch meetings are typically held on the second Thursday of every month, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, at Mt. Nittany Residences (301 Rolling Ridge Dr, State College, 16801).
January 11, 2024: Social
February 8, 2024: Centre County Office of Aging, Overview of services. Presented by the agency’s director, Quentin Burchfield.
March 14, 2024: PA Able Program, a savings program for people with disabilities. Presented by Steve Shope, PA Department of the Treasury
April 11, 2024: Social
May 9, 2024: Social
June 13, 2024: Social
NO JULY MEETING
August 8, 2024: Picnic at Boal Mansion
Sept 12, 2024: Bob Williams, a long-time friend of the Sight-Loss Support Group and motivational speaker, will share his life’s story of vision loss.
October 10, 2024: Shelley Haupt, a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist with the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services, will talk to us about identifying colors, and ways of marking objects at home.
November 14, 2024: Social Meeting
December 12, 2024: Holiday Party
"Living Life with Vision Loss" Resource Guide
The Sight-Loss Support Group has produced a guide to resources, services and support for anyone adjusting to life with vision loss here in central Pennsylvania. This excellent concise, yet all inclusive, 31 page periodical is primarily the outstanding effort of Josie Smith to compile years of research, interactions, and both professional and personal experiences into a single document. Hope and help are available; this guide makes finding that help much simpler.
A pdf version of the resource guide can be downloaded here, or by clicking the cover photo above. Hard copies will be available soon at many locations in town, or can be requested through the SLSG office.
UPCOMING AUdio description events
Audio description—available at no extra charge to ticket holders—offers live verbal description of the visual elements of selected performances. The service's trained audio describers use a transmitter and microphone to relay a pictorial description to patrons wearing earpieces attached to palm-sized receivers. Audio description clarifies details and provides background information, but it doesn't interfere with other key audible elements of a performance.
Below are the instructions for signing up for audio description (AD), ordering tickets, procedures for attending these productions, and a list of upcoming shows.
1. You must order your ticket(s) at least two weeks before the Audio-Described (AD) performance.
• For all shows you must call Josie Kantner at the Sight-Loss Support Group, 814-238-0132 or sign up at the monthly Sight-Loss Support Group Luncheon. Indicate if you will need a ticket for your companion.
2. Each VIP (Visually Impaired Person) and one companion will receive one free ticket to attend, courtesy of the Sight-Loss Support Group. If you receive a free ticket, you MUST use the AD equipment.
3. When arriving at the venue for the show, report to the Audience Services Desk (Eisenhower) or the Audio Description table (The Playhouse and Pavilion Theatres) to pick up your AD receiver and earpiece. To pick up your AD equipment, look for a large AD Banner with the View Via Voice logo.
4. Remember to bring some form of identification to leave to obtain the equipment. If you do not have an ID, you may leave identification from your companion.
5. It is very important to report to your seat at least 15 minutes before the show starts, 7:15 for a 7:30 curtain and 1:45 for a 2:00 matinee. At that time turn on your receiver and use the earpiece to listen to the preshow notes. These notes give important information about the main characters, a synopsis, a description of the set and costumes and any other pertinent information. This is an important step to make sure that your equipment is working properly.
6. If you have any problems with your equipment, tell an usher, house manager or audio describer who will inform the Audio Description Equipment manager.
7. Notes for the second half of the show begin ten minutes before the end of intermission.
8. At the end of the show please return the equipment to the area where you initially received it and retrieve your identification card.
9. Rest assured that all equipment is sterilized after each use.
UPCOMING autumn Audio-described Events
Chanticleer, Sing Joyfully, Sept 26
Tina! The Tina Turner Musical, Oct 6
Ailey II - Modern Dance, Oct 17
John Proctor is the Villain, Oct 19
Sweeney Todd, Nov 18
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Dec 18 and Dec 19
Help Make the Arts Accessible to Individuals With Sight Loss
“View Via voice” Audio-Description Service
WANTS YOU!
Become a View Via Voice audio-describer and help blind and partially sighted people experience the arts beyond vision loss.
Audio-describers paint a verbal picture of the key visual elements of a play, musical, or dance performance that are often lost to blind and partially sighted people—scenery, costumes, and actors’ facial expressions and actions. View Via Voice also offers occasional tours of art exhibits, arts festivals, historic sites, museums, and arboretums.
Please consider this rewarding opportunity: Become a volunteer audio-describer. View Via Voice is a project of the Sight-Loss Support Group of Central PA and has been describing the arts for individuals with sight loss in the Centre region since 1999. For more information, or for a list of upcoming described events, please visit www.slsg.org or call the office at 814-238-0132.