About

Lighthouse of SWFL is a non-profit rehabilitation agency which provides a variety of rehabilitation and support services to people and their families experiencing major vision loss and blindness. All programs and services are free of charge to clients and cover ages birth through the golden years.  To be eligible for services, a person must have a bilateral (both eyes) visual impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses, lenses or surgery. Located in North Fort Myers, Florida, our agency serves individuals living in Lee, Hendry, and Glades Counties. Our mission is to enable people of all ages living with a visual impairment or blindness to remain independent, active and productive in society.
       Working-age adults learn life skills during our Independent Living Skills Training, such as how to safely prepare simple meals, label medications, do laundry, and many more skills which help prevent premature placement into assisted living and nursing homes.  Clients are also more likely to return to gainful employment and often discontinue disability benefits when mastering these living skills.  Known as Assistive Technology, Lighthouse of SWFL also teaches clients how to use and access computers, tablets, iPads and iPhones, and the screen magnification program and screen reading programs that are built into the devices at no extra cost, despite their visual impairment.  Clients can learn how to access email, a calendar, books, video magnifiers, color identifiers, money identifiers, a talking calculator and more.  
       Lighthouse of SWFL also teaches Orientation & Mobility, which is a fancy title for learning how to get around when you can’t see where you’re going.  Orientation is the ability to understand your body’s position and location relative to other points in the environment:  Where am I and which way am I facing? Where is that hallway, and which way is it running?  Mobility is the safe and effective movement of the body:  Now that I know where I am, how do I get to where I want to go without falling over things, running into things and hurting myself in the process?  Our internationally certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist on staff teaches how to:  get around the home, walk on sidewalks, cross streets, take public transportation, shop, and many other mobility skills to those clients who still desire to be independent and travel.
       Lighthouse of SWFL has three programs for youth, which include Blind Babies, Children’s, and Transition Teens programs.  The goals of the Blind Babies and Children’s programs are to prepare and educate low vision and blind children, and their parents to develop a plan for learning experiences and strategies to help the child continue learning and practicing skills.  The Transition Program prepares young adults, ages fourteen through twenty-two with visual impairments, to live as independently as possible as they transition from high school onto the next stage of their adult life.  
       For more information please visit www.lighthouseswfl.org or call 239-997-7797.