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VIDBE - Q Volume 6 4 Issue 1
Image 1 . Aubrey loves to explore the braille riddles on the
playground at Kids Town Preschool at VIPS.
providing educational and medical services for children with special needs,
Visually Impaired Preschool
Services, better known as VIPS,
was born!
Researchers and therapists
who work with children who are
visually impaired have
demonstrated there is a direct
correlation between early
intervention and future academic
success. It was this bit of knowledge
that formed the charge of VIPS: To enhance learning opportunities by
providing early intervention services to young children with blindness or low
vision and their familie s in the Louisville (Kentucky) area. VIPS started
modestly with one person, Sharon Bensinger, the original employee from
APH, providing eight families with home - based early intervention services.
Bensinger served as the founding Executive Director of VIP S for 25 years.
Since that time, VIPS has grown into an impactful agency, serving
over 600 families across two states during the last fiscal year. Today, VIPS