State Library of Louisiana

Disability Resources
State Provides Emergency-Response Assistance To Deaf-Blind Citizens

Louisiana Organizations and Resources
Affiliated Blind of Louisiana Training Center
Teaches people who are blind and deaf-blind the skills that lead to independence, employment and community integration.

Families Helping Families
FHF is a non-profit, family directed resource center for individuals with disabilities and their families. It is a place where families can go that is directed and staffed by parents or family members of children with disabilities or adults with disabilities.

LaPTIC
Louisiana Parent Training and Information Center provides training to families in Louisiana on special education issues related to IDEA. 

LATAN (Louisiana Assistive Technology Access Network)
LATAN assists individuals with disabilities to achieve a higher quality of life and greater independence through increased access to Assistive Technology as part of their daily lives.

LATI (Louisiana Assistive Technology Initiative) 
LATI provides leadership and support to local education agencies and families in the development and implementation of assistive technology services that will have meaningful application for the educational, social, recreational, vocational and developmental experiences of students with disabilities.

Lighthouse for the Blind in New Orleans
The Lighthouse is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting independence for people who are blind and visually impaired by providing programs that focus on economic opportunity and self-reliance.

Louisiana Center for the Blind 
The Louisiana Center for the Blind provides residential orientation and adjustment training to legally blind adults.

Louisiana Council for the Blind
This organization strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunities and to improve the quality of life for all blind and visually impaired individuals.

Louisiana Department of Education
The Louisiana Department of Education’s provides information on accountability, testing information, special programs, the recovery school district and a calendar of events.

Louisiana Department of Social Services, Louisiana Rehabilitation Services
The Louisiana Rehabilitation Services assists persons with disabilities in their desire to obtain or maintain employment and/or achieve independence in their communities by providing rehabilitation services and working cooperatively with business and other community resources.

Louisiana School for the Deaf
Louisiana School for the Deaf is a learning community that is student-oriented and dedicated to excellence.

Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired
LSVI educates visually impaired students. The total environment of the school, including both classroom activities and the extended day programs, facilitates accomplishment of the goals of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for each child. LSVI offers a broad spectrum of educational services, from daily living skills and socialization to college-bound programs.

Louisiana State Resources for Children and Youth with Disabilities 
The offices listed on NICHCY state sheets are primarily state-level offices. Even if an office is not close to your home, they can usually put you in touch with resources in your community, as well as provide you with information and assistance about disability issues in your state.

NFB of Louisiana
The National Federation of the Blind of Louisiana is an organization that provides a network of support and encouragement and promotes an understanding of the real problems of blindness, that is, the attitudes and misconceptions which  people who are blind and the general public have about blindness. Includes information about their annual conventions, Parents of Blind Children group, and the Louisana Association of Blind Students.

UNO-TRAC
The UNO Training, Resource and Assistive-technology Center provides quality services to persons with disabilities, rehabilitation professionals, educators, and employers.  

WRBH - Radio for the Blind (New Orleans)
WRBH 88.3 FM, Radio for the Blind and Print Handicapped, is the only full-time reading service on the FM dial in the United States. Its mission is to turn the printed word into the spoken word so that the blind and print handicapped receive the same ease of access to current information as their sighted peers. 

National Organizations and Resources
Accessible Book Collection
This is a fee-based subscriber service that provides high-interest, low-reading level digital text in html for people with a documented disability that prevents reading standard print.

ACT, Inc.
ACT, Inc offers special testing with extended time and in alternative formats at specially arranged times for people with disabilities.

American Council for the Blind 
This service provides general information about the Council, including recent issues of its monthly publication, The Braille Forum.

Audible.com
This is a fee-based service that includes 4,500 audio books and 14,000 other audio programs in a broad range of subjects. Material is available for downloading to a computer, for transfer to a player or for burning onto a CD.

Blinded Veterans Association 
This is an organization of blinded veterans helping blinded veterans.

Bookshare.org 
This fee-based service is for people with visual or other print disabilities. Readers must have access to computers with Assistive Technology such as refreshable Braille displays or synthetic speech in order to use these digital files.

Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
CHAD works to improve the lives of people affected by AD/HD through collaborative leadership, advocacy, research, education and support. The organization serves as a national resource center on AD/HD.

Education Testing Service 
ETS provides nonstandard testing accommodations for test takers who meet Educational Testing Service requirements. Accommodations may include extended testing time, additional rest breaks, an accompanying recorder or writer of answers, and sign-language interpreters. ETS offers tests in alternative formats including audio recording, Braille, and large print (18 point) and large-print answer sheets. The organization also makes available special computer equipment for testing including keyboards with special touchpads, trackball mice, alternative keyboards, monitors using enlarged fonts and selectable background and foreground colors.

The Electronic Braille Book Library 
This organization offers more than 1,000 electronic Braille books, including classics and publications of the National Federation of the Blind. Files are in contracted Braille ASCII format and may be read online or downloaded.

ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Education: Selected Internet Resources for Learning Disabilities 
ERIC EC gathers and disseminates the professional literature, information, and resources on the education and development of individuals of all ages who have disabilities and/or who are gifted. ERIC is an acronym for the Educational Resources Information Center. The ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education (ERIC EC) is one of 16 federally funded clearinghouses in the ERIC system, a nationwide information network sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), and administered by the National Library of Education (NLE).

Great Books Foundation
This is a comprehensive list of organizations that produce Great Books Foundation titles in formats suitable for the visually impaired. Formats include books produced in large print, Braille, and audio books on tape.

Guide Dogs for the Blind
Theis unique program is equal parts match-making, intensive training and lifetime support.

Hadley School for the Blind 
The Hadley School promotes independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness service providers.

LD Online 
LD Online provides information on learning disabilities for parents, teachers and other professionals.

Learning Disabilities Association of America 
This organization identifies causes and promotes prevention of learning disabilities and seeks to enhance the quality of life for all individuals with learning disabilities and their families. Fosters research and advocates for the rights of individuals with learning disabilities under the law. Online resources are provided, including downloadable publications and links to state and government agencies.

Leader Dogs for the Blind 
Leader Dogs for the Blind provides dog guides to people who are blind and visually impaired to enhance their mobility, independence and quality of life.

Lighthouse International 
Lighthouse International is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to preserving vision and to providing critically needed vision and rehabilitation services to help people of all ages overcome the challenges of vision loss.

Lions World Services for the Blind  To enable people who are blind or visually impaired to function independently and to live full, productive lives with dignity and self-respect, and to promote a positive public awareness of blindness.

National Braille Association 
The National Braille Association provides equal access to print through excellence in Braille.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped 
Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library program of Braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail.

National Federation for the Blind 
The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.

Newsline for the Blind 
A free audio newspaper service for the blind and visually impaired.

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic 
RFB&D is the leading accessible audiobook library for students with disabilities such as visual impairment or dyslexia. With titles available in every subject area and grade level, RFB&D's digitally recorded audio textbooks help students challenged by the printed page.

Social Security Administration Office of Disability 
The Social Security and Supplemental Security Income disability programs are the largest of several Federal programs that provide assistance to people with disabilities.