New Assessment Tools:Over the past two years, VABVI participated in a study with the Older Individuals who are Blind Technical Assistance Center (OIB-TAC) based out of Mississippi State, to pilot the new Functional Independent Living Assessment (FILA) tool. The purpose of this assessment tool is to create measurable outcomes based on the services received by our clients. Of the project, Dan Norris, Director of Adult Services at VABVI said,

“Our services are personalized to each client. No two people with vision loss have the same experience. I’m legally blind, but do not use a guide dog. I have a colleague with the same visual impairment, who developed her vision loss at about the same age, who finds using a guide dog extremely beneficial. When you’ve met one person with a visual impairment, you have met one person with that specific visual experience. Each client is approached with an individualized service plan. This makes identifying the benefits of our services a challenge, which is why this project was so important.”

When VABVI works with a client, the client identifies their most important goals and objectives. These goals are noted on a tool which lists the most common goals but is also able to be adapted to be individualized and create unique goals the clients wish to pursue. Annotations can be made to the goals to specify additional outcomes the clients wish to achieve. For each objective, the goals are given a mutually agreed upon rating at the beginning of services with a 1 or a 2. If the goal is given a 1 that means they presently cannot do an activity safely or independent. A 2 indicates they can complete the tasks but may need some assistance or have great difficulty in accomplishing the goal, independently. At the conclusion of services, each goal is revisited and scored again. If they now can do the activity safe and independent, the goal will receive a 3. If progress has been made from a 1 to a 2, it is noted and the client determines if they wish to continue to pursue this goal further. If progress has not been made for whatever reason and the client does not wish to continue working on the goal, they are free to cease services at any time. Services end when the client wishes to no longer work on any goals. Services can always be resumed later if their visual functioning changes, or they now wish to pursue a goal they previously had wished not to address. VABVI has adopted the new scoring method for both their Low Vision/Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Assessment tool as well as Orientation and Mobility Assessment.

“We recognize the value of this new assessment tool for our clients. Using this scoring method will help our clients recognize the progress they have made in their goals and help them to identify areas they wish to continue focusing their efforts.” Said Dan Norris.

2025 OM assmt/goals 2025 LV.RT assmt/goals