Delaware Association for the Blind

Linda Lauria
Executive Director
Delaware Association for the Blind

The Delaware Association for the Blind (DAB) has been in existence since 1948. The agency’s mission is to improve the quality of life for blind and visually impaired children and adults in Delaware. We offer a wide range of recreational programs, including trips with door-to-door transportation, classes such as music appreciation and arts and crafts, bingo, a children’s day camp and an adult residential camp. Our Peer Support Program pairs someone experiencing vision loss with a trained peer support worker who has gone through a similar experience. Our Volunteer Taping Program records material of local interest that is not available through the national Talking Book Program. DAB also offers some financial assistance to guide dog users, some grants to purchase assistive technology, and a limited Emergency Fund. We also loan out donated equipment such as CCTVs.

Looking for a local source for assistive technology for the visually impaired? The Delaware Association for the Blind operates a store at their headquarters at 800 West Street in Wilmington. The store carries a wide range of items geared toward making life easier for anyone with vision loss. Whether you, or someone you know, are totally blind or just can’t read small print anymore, DAB has something that can help with those everyday frustrations and so much more.

All products are sold at cost—the store is operated as a service, not as a profit-making business. There are talking items such as clocks, watches, thermometers, caller IDs, medication bottles, and calculators. There are brailled items—playing cards, watches, telephones, and games. There are large print items including big button telephones, watches, clocks, games, keyboard labels, remote controls, books, and timers. DAB carries a wide range of magnifiers in strengths from 2X to 12.5X. Kitchen items, writing guides, travel and support canes, and tactile labeling items are also available. We can also order special items for you, usually at a lower cost than you can order them yourself.

The staff at the DAB store is very knowledgeable and helpful. If you aren’t able to get into the store then you are welcome to order items over the phone and have them mailed to you. We do not stock “big ticket” items such as CCTVs or adapted computer systems—we refer people who are interested in such items to DATI or to specific vendors. DATI has CCTVs that you can borrow, and, if need be, they will assist you in finding ways for you to purchase a system, and we loan them out when we have them available. We have recently begun accepting credit cards (sorry, no debit cards) for purchases. The store is open Monday thru Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. In addition, several times a year DAB brings items sold in the store to locations throughout Delaware, such as the Modern Maturity Center in Dover and Methodist Manor House in Seaford. These events are announced in our quarterly newsletter. To get on the mailing list or for additional information, please call DAB at 1-302- 655-2111 or 1-888-777-3925 (toll free from Kent & Sussex Counties).

For additional information, please call us at one of the numbers listed above, or you can email us as info@dabdel.org. Plus, please check out our website at www.dabdel.org.

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