History of Blindskills, Inc.

Blindskills, Inc. was founded in 1983 by Carol M. McCarl, who was employed by the Oregon School for the Blind to teach mainstreamed visually impaired children in several counties. After realizing that all of her students attended a school in which each child was the only visually impaired student, it became clear that there were no role models with vision impairment for her students to emulate. The mission of Blindskills, Inc. became the distribution of information to young people and their families through the publication of LIFEPRINTS magazine. Each person who wrote for or was interviewed for LIFEPRINTS was visually impaired or blind. Subscribers learned about how successful blind people accomplish their work, enjoy recreational activities and pursue their lives in their communities.

In 1990 Blindskills, Inc. accepted the challenge of publishing  DIALOGUE , which was founded in Berwyn, Illinois by Don O. Nold in 1962. For five years, Ms. McCarl published LIFEPRINTS and DIALOGUE while she continued to teach transition-aged students at the Oregon School for the Blind. In the fall of 1995, the contents of the two magazines were combined to become DIALOGUE. DIALOGUE has been a quarterly magazine since its inception. Although it began in one format as a recorded disc, it is now available on cassette, in 18-point print, braille and on computer disk.

The mission of Blindskills, Inc. is to disseminate resources and information to blind and visually impaired people and their families.  This mission is accomplished through its toll-free help line, Web site and a bi-monthly publication, DIALOGUE: A World of ideas for Visually Impaired People of All Ages, available in five formats.

Blindskills, Inc. provides a toll-free number that can be reached by anyone in the U.S. or Canada. The organization assisted 2200 callers in the last year alone. Its books,  CONNIE'S KITCHEN  and  JOB HUNTING RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH VISION IMPAIRMENTS  are popular with visually impaired people, rehabilitation professionals and teachers. Blindskills, Inc. hosts a monthly support group that meets in Salem. Staff members at Blindskills, Inc. also make presentations to service organizations, schools, retirement and senior centers and conferences for professionals and physicians in the field of vision impairment.

About Us

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Carol M. McCarl, MS.Ed. is the founder and executive director of Blindskills, Inc. She was the founder and editor of LIFEPRINTS and became the editor of DIALOGUE in 1990. She has 35 years of experience teaching visually impaired students in Connecticut and Oregon.

EDITOR:

Karen Lynn Thomas will become the editor of DIALOGUE beginning with the May-June 2005 issue when the magazine changes from a quarterly to a bimonthly publication. A regular contributor to DIALOGUE since 1998, she is the author of JOB HUNTING RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH VISION IMPAIRMENTS, published with Carol M. McCarl and Nolan Crabb in 2003. She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and has worked in the field of vision impairment for over ten years writing and assisting in the development of training manuals, how-to guides, and educational materials for blindness organizations such as The Hadley School for the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind and Blindskills, Inc.

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT:

Tisha Herring is the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director as well as Office Manager for Blindskills, Inc.

VOLUNTEERS:

Cathy Bickerdike
Carol Frye
Patty Geil
Carol Locke
Ken Moore
Pat Reinhard
Lenore Stanton

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