Brandt-Thomas Educational Center offering courses for area residents

By Gary Scott on February 19, 2018 at 11:07am

A new educational center is offering a number of courses this year for area individuals with visual impairments.

The Brandt-Thomas Educational Center is offering close to ten classes in 2018, some of which are led by Dan Thompson, a local citizen with visual impairments who authored the book “Making Computers Fun,” which doubles as the title for one of the center’s 2018 courses.

Other courses offered through the Brandt-Thomas Educational Center include: Introduction to I-Devices; Daily Living Skills; Orientation Mobility; Art Appreciation; Transitions; Introduction to Braille; Career or Volunteer Ready; Customer Service Extreme, and Friendship Fridays, a social group that looks to provide people with the opportunity to network and learn new information from outside presenters.

While some of the courses offered at the center focus on purely educational skills, other classes assist people with various social skills that visually impaired students need to develop in order to live a fully-functioning life. One example is the class titled “Transitions,” which is designed to provide insights and new skills for individuals who are experiencing the loss of their eyesight to help them adapt to their new everyday life.

Courses through the Brandt-Thomas Educational Center are not exclusive to the blind. In fact their course “Customer Service Extreme” is a customized workshop that aims to assist those working in the customer service industry to learn how to provide the best customer service to blind or visually impaired individuals.

Local residents interested in attending one of the Brandt-Thomas Educational Center classes can contact Peggy Dyson at 217-303-9062, or send her an email at btecenter@hotmail.com.