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In pursuit of enjoyment, discovery and community.
Vision Loss Connections is an organization of people who are blind and low vision who live in the Puget Sound Region. Vision Loss Connections wants to raise awareness about the importance of team sports within the Blind and Low Vision Community. Seattle Sounders FC Members Michael Tetteh and David Estrada joined the Seattle Goalball Team to try "Soccer of the Blind" Fitness is a vital issue for visually impaired youth and this event brought together athletes who are fantastic role models of how to pursue excellence in sports. The importance of training and practice comes together in building winning teams to represent Seattle! King 5's Evening Magazine Program highlights the Access Tours that Vision Loss Connections coordinates with the Docents at the Seattle Art Museum. The Award Winning - City Stream Program on the Seattle Channel #21 created a film about Vision Loss Connections! Our mission is to promote and involve people who are visually impaired in support, education and recreation groups throughout the the Puget Sound Region. Our goal is to bring individuals together to build bridges of activities and shared interests that connects people living with impaired vision. Our activities are open to people with all levels of vision loss and those experiencing the challenge of living with eye problems. Family members and friends are also a vital part of our group activities. Volunteer involvement is also welcomed! Our aim is to promote easy and affordable access to the rich cultural and recreation opportunities that are available to people living in the Puget Sound area. It looks like Vision Loss Connections set an American Theater Record for the most Visually Impaired People to attend an Audio Described Performance for Jersey Boys at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theater! Almost 50 Visually Impaired People attended the very popular show and listened to Tony Brown's Audio Description on the 5th Avenue's newly updated FM System. Blind and Low Vision Theater Lovers were a strong presence that afternoon at the 5th Avenue with the Theater Lobby filled with white canes and guide dog users. The next Audio Described Performance at the 5th Avenue Theater is Pirates of Penzance on Saturday the 20'th of July, 2:00PM Matinee Performance. Check out our Events Page for the 2013/2014 Season's Calendar of Audio Described Musicals at the 5th Avenue Theater opening with a brand new musical, Second Hand Lions on the 5'th of October 2:00PM Matinee Performance. The Seattle King Cobras Women's Goalball Team won the Championship Round for the Cascade Classic Division 2 Goalball Tournament in Vancouver WA! The crowd from Seattle went wild as everyone celebrated not only getting to the semifinals but for the very 1st time,winning the championship round. In June we offer two special Access Tours with Seattle Art Museum's Famous Faces at SAM on Wednesday the 26'th of June at 11:00AM. On the 20'th of July the 5th Avenue Theater will be presenting the Audio Described Performance of Pirates of Penzance. Vision Loss Connections will also be planning the Seattle Super Picnic on Sunday the 18'th of August 2013. This Picnic has become a tradition in Seattle's Blind and Low Vision Community. First Weekend in September (the 6'th, 7'th, and 8'th) Camp Sealth Island Getaway! Staying in cabins on Vashon Island there will be hiking and canoeing along with great food and company! Vision Loss Connections organizes groups to attend the Audio Described Performances of shows at the 5th Avenue Theater. Through Vision Loss Connections the tickets are $25.00 per ticket for a visually impaired theater goer. The dates of the Audio Described Performances are all 2:00 PM Matinees. Pirates of Penzance - Saturday, 20 July 2013 Check events page for full details The Tactile Art Class will meet once a month. It will be a Hands On experience geared to artists who are visually impaired. Broad range of materials. This is a studio workshop with artist/ facilitators available to assist in your creative endeavors. The class will offer the opportunity to explore tools and a variety of materials interesting to the tactile artist. Come and let your artistic expression run wild! See the tactile arts page for details. Seattle King Cobras Goalball Team on Community Stories In the episode on the 31st of January Community Stories profiled the Seattle King Cobras Goalball Team, the first goalball team in the Seattle area in over 30 years. Described as "soccer for the blind", goalball provides a team sport outlet for the blind and visually impaired community. It was created by World War II veterans who wanted to continue to play sports after becoming visually impaired. Teams of three stand on either side of a court marked with rope so players can feel the boundary lines Players serve a ball with bells inside of it to the opposite side of the court in effort to get it past defenders and score a goal. Today, a dedicated group of new players and advocates have started Seattle's first goalball team in over 30 years. Patt Copeland is the program manager for Vision Loss Connections, a non-profit group that serves as an organizer for and link between the blind /visually impaired community and various recreational activities. She met lifelong athlete Telea Noriega, who as a youth played football and competed as a goalball player on a national level, and they both expressed an interest in starting a team in Seattle. Copeland and Noriega found a number of people who had played goalball in the past and then began to recruit new players, who have found a passion for their new sport and teammates. "The feeling of fully participating in something is a confidence builder," says Nancy Lopez Swaney. Twelve-year-old Su Park, the youngest member of the Seattle King Cobras, had never played a sport before. "I personally felt a little left out in the sighted society. But that sense of being left out is totally gone when it comes to this team," she says. |