National Institute for the Visually Handicapped

The Institute, located in Dehradun, was established in 1979 by upgrading the National Center for the Blind. It was registered as a Society in 1982 under Societies Registration Act, 1860, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

The Institute has its regional center in Chennai to provide rehabilitation services in the southern states of the country. It renders vocational training at par with NIVH. It also provides rehabilitation services to the rural-based visually handicapped persons through its Community Based Rehabilitation activities.

Programs

• Vocational Training
• Manpower Development
• Research and Development
• Crisis Management including therapeutic assistance
• Placement and employment
• Production of reading material
• Manufacture of aids and appliances, and
• Library and Information Services.
• Education for the Visually Handicapped
• The Institute has a Model School for the Visually Handicapped which provides education to blind, partially sighted and low-vision children from Nursery to Class X. The blind children are taught through Braille and tactile sensation whereas the partially sighted and low vision children make use of magnifying devices to read the printed text.
  
  The scholars are provided with free board, lodging, clothing, tuition and other facilities besides monthly pocket money.

Manpower Development

The Institute conducts long-term as well as short term training programs for various professionals engaged in the service for the blind.

• Training Course for Secondary School Teachers of the Visually Handicapped
  
  The Institute conducts training courses for secondary school teachers of the visually handicapped at its campus, the Blind Relief Association, New Delhi and the Blind Boy's Academy, Narendrapur, West Bengal.
  
• State Level Training Course for Primary School Teachers of the Visually Handicapped
  
  The Institute, in collaboration with the concerned State Governments, is conducting training programmes for primary school teachers of the visually handicapped in Bhubaneswar (Orissa), in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) and in Patna (Bihar).

Workshop for the Manufacture of Braille Appliances

Various aids and appliances like Braille slate, Taylor Frame, Abacus, Stylus, Chess Board, Playing Cards, Pocket Frame, Folding Stick, Braille Scale, Geo Boards, Diagram Boards, Braille Shorthand Machine etc. are being manufactured. The Institute's Braille Press is producing reading material in Braille for the use of blind readers.

Vocational Training

The Training Center for the Adult Blind imparts vocational training to the adult blind men and women between 18-40 years of age in a variety of vocational crafts like Light Engineering, Weaving, Candle Making, Chalk Making, Detergent Powder Making, Stenography (Hindi and English), Electronics and Mechanical Assembly, etc.

Crisis Management

The Institute's Crisis Management Unit provides therapeutic assistance to persons who have been recently affected by loss of vision at their home and at the Institute. It also provides guidance and counseling to school children, trainees of training centers and to the parents of the visually handicapped.

News Magazine

The Institute has recently started education programmes for visually handicapped students with additional disabilities. The Institute has also started to publish a Weekly NewsMagazine entitled "Braille Times" which provides news to its Braille readers.

Publications

The Institute publishes a quarterly newsletter, INSIGHT, which contains useful information about the activities of the Institute and of information relating to rehabilitation. Besides, the Institute has published a number of technical reports, books, brochures, and directories for the benefit of a wide range of professionals working in the field.

National Library for the Print Handicapped

The Institute has a National Library for the print/visually handicapped. The Library offers free lending services to the visually handicapped readers all over the country. It has 45,948 Braille volumes and 7,761 print books. The Library has a total membership of 2,980 persons.