The Council of Schools and Services for the Blind (COSB) is a

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

of specialized

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

s in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

whose major goal is improving the quality of services to children who are blind and

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

. COSB is a membership organization of special purpose schools for students who are blind or visually impaired, including those with multiple disabilities. Schools and classrooms specialized approaches to instruction in small group settings ensure that the curriculum is fully accessible to each individual student. COSB schools specialise in teaching the skills that students use to gain independence at the same level as their sighted peers. Known as the Expanded Core Curriculum, these skills such as

Orientation and Mobility Orientation and Mobility, or O&M, is a profession which focuses on instructing individuals who are blind or visually impaired with safe and effective travel through their environment. Individual O&M specialists can work for schools, government age ...

(travel and movement skills) and the use of

Assistive Technology Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with ...

become the tools students use to maximize learning in school and to be fully engaged in their homes and communities. COSB schools are an example of why the

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was ...

(IDEA) calls for a range of educational placement options so that the learning opportunities of students are not restricted by the limitations of any one type of educational setting. Under IDEA students should have the option of attending a school that best matches their learning needs at a particular time in their educational career. An ideal balance is achieved when a student's local public school and that state's COSB school collaborate to allow the student to freely move between settings based upon educational need. COSB schools provide a variety of services and supports. Key among these are specialized residential and day campuses in most states; short and longer-term program options; outreach services to students and educators in under-served areas; training and networking opportunities for families; professional development programs; the development of specialized curricula and teaching practices; research;

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

production; and clearinghouses for instructional materials and public information on blindness.

Member schools

Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind The Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) is the world’s most comprehensive education, rehabilitation and service program serving individuals of all ages who are deaf, blind, deafblind and multidisabled. It is operated by the U.S. state ...

Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (ASDB) is an Arizona state agency, with its administrative headquarters in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. It operates three schools for the deaf and blind, and five regional cooperatives throughout the ...

* Arkansas School for the Blind *

Braille Institute of America The Braille Institute of America (BIA) is a nonprofit organization with headquarters in Los Angeles providing programs, seminars and one-on-one instruction for the visually impaired community in Southern California. Funded almost entirely by pri ...

California School for the Blind The California School for the Blind is a public educational institution for blind children, K-12, located in Fremont, California. Its campus is located next to the California School for the Deaf. History The San Francisco area's education of b ...

Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind The Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) is a K-12 residential school, located on Knob Hill, east of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, near the famous laboratory of Nikola Tesla. The school was founded in 1874 as ''The Colorado Inst ...

Florida School for the Deaf and Blind The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) is a state-supported boarding school for deaf and blind children established in 1885, in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. History In 1882, Thomas Hines Coleman, a young deaf man, was ...

Georgia Academy for the Blind Georgia Academy for the Blind (GAB) is a state-operated public school for the blind in Macon, Georgia. The Georgia Department of Education operates the school. History Thomas Ridgeway, a former professor and an alumnus of the school, stated that t ...

Governor Morehead School Governor Morehead School (GMS), formerly North Carolina State School for the Blind and Deaf, is a K–12 public school for the blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the era of de jure educational segregation in the United States, it served blind peo ...

Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired Hadley is a non-profit serving adults with vision loss offering practical help, connection, and new ways to approach everyday tasks made more difficult with changing vision. Workshops, Call-in Discussion Groups, and thHadley Presents Podcastex ...

* Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind *

Illinois School for the Blind and Visually Impaired The Illinois School for the Visually Impaired (ISVI), located in Jacksonville, Illinois, is a state-operated pre-kindergarten, elementary and high school for the blind and visually impaired. The school provides educational instruction and other re ...

Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, or ISBVI, established in 1847 as the Indiana School for the Blind and also known as the Indiana Institution for the Education of the Blind, is a residential school for Indiana youth that are ...

Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School The Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School was a state-operated school for the blind. It was replaced by the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Vinton, Iowa, hosted the school and continued as host of the state agency t ...

* St. Joseph's School for the Blind *

Junior Blind of America Wayfinder Family Services (WFS), Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind and previously known as Junior Blind, is a United States-based nonprofit organization for services for the blind. The organization's mission is to help child ...

Kansas State School for the Blind Kansas State School for the Blind (KSSB) is a fully accredited public high school located in Kansas City, Kansas, U.S., serving students in grades Pre-K through 12. The school was established in 1867. It is located on located in downtown Kansas ...

* Kentucky School for the Blind * Lavelle School for the Blind *

Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired (LSVI) is a PK12 state-operated school located at 2888 Brightside Lane in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The school has both blind and other visually impaired students, and shares its campus with ...

Maryland School for the Blind The Maryland School for the Blind (MSB) is a school in Baltimore for children and youth who are blind or Low-vision, including those with multiple disabilities. MSB is a non-profit, private,https://www.marylandschoolfortheblind.org/welcome-to- ...

Michigan Department of Education The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is a state agency of Michigan, in the United States. The MDE oversees public school districts in the state. The department is governed by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education was fi ...

, Low Incidence Outreach (former

Michigan School for the Blind The Michigan School for the Blind (MSB) was a state-operated school for blind children in Michigan. Its former academic campus is at 715 W. Willow Street in Lansing, Michigan, and is now The Abigail, a senior apartment complex. The building was l ...

) * Minnesota State Academy for the Blind *

Mississippi School for the Blind Mississippi School for the Blind (MSB) is a state-operated K-12 public school for blind children located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. The Mississippi State Legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. ...

Missouri School for the Blind The Missouri School for the Blind (MSB) is a school for the blind and visually impaired in St. Louis, Missouri, operated by the State of Missouri. It has served the state of Missouri from the Greater St. Louis area for more than 150 years as a ...

* Montana School for the Deaf and Blind * Nebraska Center for the Education of Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired *

New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired The New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (Braille: ⠝⠍⠎⠃⠧⠊) is a state special education school with a residential campus in Alamogordo, New Mexico and a preschool in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It operates outreach pro ...

New York Institute for Special Education The New York Institute for Special Education is a private nonprofit school in New York City. The school was founded in 1831 as a school for blind children by Samuel Wood, a Quaker philanthropist, Samuel Akerly, a physician, and John Dennison Russ ...

* North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind * Ohio State School for the Blind *

Oklahoma School for the Blind Oklahoma School for the Blind, also known as Parkview School, is a day and residential school located in Muskogee, Oklahoma for blind students up to grade 12. Failure of bill allowing charter schools for deaf In 2013, Senate Bill 858 (SB 858), ...

Overbrook School for the Blind The Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was established in 1832. Its present site, in the city's Overbrook neighborhood, was acquired in 1890. Along with the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the Western Pennsylvania Sc ...

Perkins School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind is a school in unincorporated area, unincorporated Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States, near Spartanburg, South Carolina, Spartanburg and with ...

South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired The South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (SDSBVI) is a state-supported school located in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which provides services to meet the educational needs of children who are blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind fr ...

Tennessee School for the Blind Tennessee School for the Blind (Braille: ⠠⠠⠠⠞⠢⠰⠎⠑⠑⠀⠎⠡⠕⠕⠇⠀⠿⠀⠮⠀⠃⠇⠠⠄, TSB, ⠞⠎⠃) is a K–12 school for blind children in Clover Bottom, Nashville, Tennessee, Clover Bottom, Nashville, Tennessee. It ...

Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) is a Texas special public school, in the continuum of statewide placements for students who have a visual impairment. It is considered a statewide resource to parents of these children a ...

* Utah School for the Deaf and Blind *

Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, located in Staunton, Virginia, United States, is an institution for educating deaf and blind children, first established in 1839 by an act of the Virginia General Assembly. The school accepts child ...

Washington State School for the Blind The Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB, ⠺⠎⠎⠃), formerly known as the Washington School for the Blind, is a school for visually-impaired, blind, or deaf-blind students, located in Vancouver, Washington in the United States. The s ...

West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB) were established by an Act of the Legislature on March 3, 1870. The School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind offer comprehensive educational programs for hearing impaired and vi ...

* Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children * Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

References

Official website

* https://www.cosbvi.org {{authority control Schools for the blind in Canada Schools for the blind in the United States