Family Support InternAt — Beyond Blindness

At Beyond Blindness, we view family as one of our core values and believe that by
supporting the whole family it will have a direct impact on a child’s ability to thrive.
The Family and Support Service department is dedicated to this value. In this
department we focus on events, programs, and initiatives that support our community
and families to help our clients thrive and succeed.

As a Family Support department intern, you will learn how to support community efforts and programs designed for the family. These efforts will range from care management to resource building to curriculum development. You will learn about the work done in our department, our population, and what types of services and programs are available to directly support blind, visually impaired, and globally delayed children.

Tasks:

Responsibilities:

• Curriculum Development and Group Facilitation

o Social Emotional Group
\u25aa Learn about social emotional development milestones that are
appropriate for 18m to 3yo and 3 to 5yo
\u25aa Help build monthly curriculum for social emotional groups based on
developmental milestones and collaboration with classroom
manager
\u25aa Curriculum will include songs, books, and activities
\u25aa Curriculum will be adapted to support our children with visual
impairments or delays
\u25aa Opportunity to lead and facilitate group with support of family
support team member

o Social Peer Group
\u25aa Learn about life skill needs for those with visual impairments
\u25aa Help build monthly curriculum for adolescent, pre-teen and teen
social groups- with focus on socially appropriate activities for age
groups and life skill need
\u25aa Opportunity to lead and facilitate group with support of family
support team member

• Program and Activity Development and Adaptation
o Help develop curriculum for family events
o Prepare curriculum supplies and examples
o Research and test activity adaptations for visual impairments and other
disabilities

• Resource Development
o Help to develop community resource database
o Reach out to OC organizations that support in areas Beyond Blindness
does not work in
o Learn about other services and requirements to have services to
determine if available to our community
o Research programs put on by state and county to better support
disabilities

• Care Management
o Help with phone calls to referred clients or aged out clients
o Develop intake skills to determine high needs or challenges for family
o Coordinate care efforts with other Beyond Blindness team members to
provide support
o Research outside resources to assist families with needs

• Vision Clinic
o Help with phone calls to referred clients
o Make calls to confirm appointments and to collect health history
o Assist with adding past appointments and referrals to Vision Clinic
database

Training:

General Orientation, Direct Service Provider Shadowing, Classroom Shadowing, scheduled one-on-one meetings with supervisor, online (free) trainings, task specific training and overview

Learning Outcome:

Gain valuable experience and knowledge regarding working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs in an educational setting.

Gain knowledge of assessments, practice, and documentation procedures as they relate to early intervention services.

Gain basic knowledge of non-profit structuring and available jobs/roles.

Gain experience assessing community resources and engaging in community outreach.

Develop professional skills as they relate to communication, relationship building, and strategic planning.