Summer camp works with visually impaired young people

This summer, blind and low-vision children and teens in Pinellas County are gaining valuable life skills through specialized camps run by Lighthouse of Pinellas, a nonprofit with a mission to advance the independence and quality of life for individuals in Pinellas County who are blind or visually impaired.

The camps cater to different age groups, with the children’s program serving ages 6 to 13 and the teen program covering ages 14 through high school graduation. Both programs emphasize practical life skills, but with age-appropriate focuses and activities.

“On the children’s program level, it’s about becoming familiar with jobs in the community,” said Danielle Johnson, Children and Transition Program Supervisor for Lighthouse of Pinellas.”They learn what those jobs entail, how people do those jobs, travel out and explore different jobs, just to be aware and give that foundational understanding that they’re visually impaired, but they’re not unable to perform jobs.”

“In our teen program, they focus a lot on the independent living skills, career skills and budgeting: Going to banks and learning how to use online banking,” Johnson added. “We take them every summer to cash their checks because they earn money throughout the summer for their work experiences.”

Financial literacy is a key component of both programs. The children’s program incorporates daily financial lessons while teens engage in more advanced budgeting scenarios, including college and workforce preparation activities. Johnson emphasized the importance of these skills for all youth, but especially those with visual impairments.

“Children and teens, their possibilities are endless. Oftentimes, they’re limited by their surroundings or people who assume they’re incapable,” Johnson explained. “When interacting with someone with any disability, the biggest thing that I have learned is to always ask; don’t assume that someone can’t cross the street or can’t make their sandwich or can’t clock in at work. If they’re struggling, just ask, ‘Can I help you with that?’ but don’t assume they can’t do it alone.”

In addition to financial literacy, visually impaired children and teens attending summer camp at the nonprofit Lighthouse of Pinellas also learn about technology, careers, higher education and life skills, like cooking and handwriting.

The camps also focus on technology skills and self-advocacy, preparing youth for an independent life in the future. Abby Thomas, a 12-year-old camper with Lighthouse of Pinellas, said she’s made new friends and had experiences she’ll carry with her for life.

“We just learned how to address an envelope to send a letter, and we’re learning about office tools,” Abby said. “We’re also learning about how to control our emotions with breathing exercises, which I’ll need because I’m going into the seventh grade and it can be stressful!”

Funding from organizations like Achieva Credit Union helps support the camps, enabling the purchase of equipment and allowing Lighthouse to take the students on field trips out in the community. 

“The campers at Lighthouse Pinellas are truly remarkable young individuals, and we’re proud that we could do a small part at Achieva Credit Union to help them build confidence, independence and lifelong friendships,” said Tasha Cohen-Glynn, Marketing and Public Relations Manager at Achieva Credit Union, in a prepared statement. “We believe that financial education and money management skills are essential for everyone, and we are passionately committed to ensuring that these young people have the knowledge and resources they need to secure their financial future.”

Abby added that learning to budget has been another important skill that the camp has reinforced for her. The students earn a small stipend by consistently showing up to camp, which they can use to purchase snacks or small toys from the “camp store.”

“You only earn money one time, but the camp is for three weeks, so you’ve got to really budget,” Abby explained. “I’m not trying to be a cheapskate, but I don’t want to splurge and throw my money away.”

Johnson said the lessons the students are learning at summer camp are meant to complement the core competency skills they learn at school and at home throughout the year.

“Every family is different. We have some families that are super, super involved and provide these experiences for their kids at home,” Johnson said. “Then we have other families that are super involved, but also super busy working multiple jobs, so it’s just not possible at this time in their life to truly spend concrete time working on these skills. At Lighthouse, we try to fill in those gaps.”