Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
Investing in Life
All across the state, families are experiencing triumphs, large and small. They may be celebrating a child's first word or a grandparent's return to independent living. They may be quietly enjoying the satisfaction of a paycheck or the knowledge that they will be able to return to work soon.
These are the people we serve at Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.
More than 10,300 people annually, in all 67 counties of Alabama, make use of our education, outreach and employment services. We are the most comprehensive education and service program in the country for people who are blind, deaf or multidisabled.
We offer a broad spectrum of programs to touch every phase of a person's life, beginning in the home with parents who have learned that their infant or toddler is deaf or blind and continuing through the senior years when our hearing and vision begin to fade and affect our quality of life.
We welcome you to AIDB. It is a place full of people and stories that will warm your heart, and may even change your life.
"It's a matter of believing in yourself. And AIDB provides the foundation for my daughter to believe in herself."
Pat Brown, Parent
Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind is fully accredited.
Tuitition is free to Alabama residents.
In 1858, a man named Joseph Henry Johnson started a school to help his brother learn to overcome obstacles his deafness presented. It was a simple act of love. It was an act which ultimately resonated across the country and through the years. "I see a culture of love there that's genuine," said one observer. "The people on staff know they belong there, and they love their work."
For more than 140 years, the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind has served people with sensory impairments, investing in their lives and each and every day realizing a return in more than dollars and cents.
We see our own lives enriched, our communities strengthened and families reinforced. Although our roots go deep into Alabama's past, we utilize some of the most advanced technology available to help each student and each client reach their full potential. At Alabama School for the Blind, Alabama School for the Deaf and Helen Keller School, we address critical areas of learning with innovation and individual attention. They are equal to fine boarding schools, where learning opportunities don't end after five hours of class time, but continue 24 hours a day throughout the week.
E.H. Gentry Technical Facility is an outstanding resource for career exploration, college preparatory and adult education. At our Regional Centers across the state, parents of newborns gain hope and strength, and seniors discover new ways to adapt and maintain the lifestyle they want. Alabama Industries for the Blind, the state's largest employer of people who are blind, gives people far more than a paycheck: the workers also earn financial and personal independence.
Alabama School for the Blind
The confidence to compete in a world where you are different is the essential lesson here. For students who are blind and partially-sighted, training in daily living skills makes achievement not just possible but probable.
Students learn in braille or large print and take advantage of technology, too. Since science is their most challenging subject, we've developed the Center for Excellence in Science. Here, students put their hands on science and learn with enthusiasm.
Dorm life is lively, educational and fun. Extracurricular activities include championship wrestling, swimming, track and field and cheerleading, scouting, social clubs, music and field trips.
E.H. Gentry Technical Facility
E.H. Gentry has programs for people over 16 to help them succeed in college, adapt to a hearing or vision loss, use assistive technology to advance their careers, or train for a new job.
EHG students in Talladega may live on campus, attending classes and enjoying a busy social and recreational life after hours. Campus life is an important step toward independence, especially for younger adults in our college prep program. We provide adult education, job coaching, adjustment services, even sheltered work opportunities through our Pathways program. Our emphasis is on establishing the confidence and competence to meet the world.
Alabama School for the Deaf
Every parent and every teacher is working so children can learn to make their way in the world. AT ASD, we know such independence can be learned, from developing work and independent living experience for high school seniors.
ASD students study the same academic subjects as their hearing peers, but with a lower student / teacher ratio. We use every possible means to enhance communication skills, including our Center for Excellence in Language Arts, the first of its kind oin the country.
Our program works. On average, our students read five grade levels above deaf children throughout the state. Most students live on campus, and like a fine boarding school, after-school activities improve quality of life including championship athletic programs, scouting, creative arts, clubs, leadership activities and more.
Helen Keller School of Alabama
Helen Keller School students each face unique challenges. Some children are deaf and/or blind; others have an additional disabling condition. They all need love and individualized attnetion, which is in ample supply here.
Communication skills are a top priority, whether it's signing, speechreading, or basic braille. Extracurricular activities include music, field trips and Special Olympics. A transition program helps children move to the next logical step, whether tha's another shcoo, back to the family, or out into the world.
Awakenings is a unique HKS program designed for children needing instruciton in basic self-help skills. Feeding, communication and personal care are the goals, accomplished with the expertise of special teachers and aides.
Alabama Industries for the Blind
AIB is a diverse non-profit manufacturing complex, one of the country's largest employers of people who are blind. AIB produces more than 100 different items, from sports tote bags, office supplies and American flags to military supplies including flyer's kit bags and all the neckties worn by U.S. servicemen. A variety of other products rounds out the product line that's available for retail sale at our Talladega store.
AIB has plants in Talladega and Birmingham. Federal employees, contractors, military personnel and their families can shop at our Base Supply Centers on military in bases in Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
Annual AIB sales exceed $12 million, but the intangible benefits are impossible to calculate. Our employees carry home a greater sense of self-worth and the knowledge that they are as independent as they can be.
AIDB Regional Centers
At every Regional Center, the Parent Infant Preschool Program helps to identify young children with hearing and vision impairments. The program then provides in-home training for family memebers, Kinderprep classes to prepare the children for school, and follow-up care.
Many Regional Centers offer programs for older citizens, helping them avoid the isolation which often accompanies a hearing or vision loss. Other services might include sign language interpreters, orientation and mobility training, mental health services, reading services and information and referral.
For every age in life, AIDB's Regional Centers offer the support and resources to make investing in life joyful and profitable.
Unique Opportunities
Our campuses are home to several hundred children and adults; providing the highest quality of life is our goal. AIDB's Health Center at the Dowling Building has a team of nurses, audiologists, psychologists, low vision specialists and dental professionals. A doctor is on call around the clock for emergencies; a nurse and a psychologist are assigned to each school campus.
Our special equestrian program at the Marianna Greene Henry Arena provides remarkable opportunities for phsyical therapy. The recreational value and emotional benefits of horseback riding should never be underestimated. Visit Our Website
The AIDB Foundation's Hawkins Chapel provides a thriving interdenominational chapel program for deaf and blind students during the school year and sponsors a variety of summer and spiritual development activities.
Make an investment that touches many lives across the state.
The Wall Street Journal cited AIDB as a "shinging example of how disabilities can be overcome." Time magazine called us a "model in the education of the disabled." USA Today, ABC News and CNN have given similar accolades for AIDB's mission of service.
Our highest praise, however, is demonstrated in the success of our students, clients and staff and through our shared vision to become the premier institution in America serving individuals who are deaf, blind and multidisabled. Partnerships with families, firends and professionals make all this possible.
State funding allows us to provide basic services, but AIDB does much more than the basics. Private support throgh the AIDB Foundation enables us to give our students extraordinary opportunities.
You can make a difference in a single life or in the lives of hundreds of children and adults who are deaf or blind. Visit our web site at www.aidb.org or call us today to arrange a visit, to make a contribution or to tell us about someone who needs our services.
Reduce your fees and grow your business with our program here.