Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School

42°09′44″N 92°01′58″W / 42.162205°N 92.032732°W / 42.162205; -92.032732

Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School
Address
Map
1002 G Avenue

Vinton
,
Iowa

United States
Information
TypePublic special school
Established1852; 172 years ago (1852)
School districtIowa Board of Regents
MascotRams
WebsiteOfficial Website

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 that replaced it until 2020.

Students from all over Iowa were housed and educated at the school. During its existence, students in special education were entitled to educational programming until age 21. Students could attend the school for short-term enrollment for specialized skill development and training. Students attended classes that met individual educational needs. Some students attended select classes at the local public school. Instruction was provided in specialized areas of core curriculum for students with visual impairments, which include compensatory skills, orientation and mobility, social interaction skills, independent living skills, career education/work experience, use of assistive/adaptive technology and visual efficiency skills.

The school opened in 1852 as the Iowa College for the Blind. Mary Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder (author of the Little House on the Prairie series), attended the school, graduating in 1889.[1] Her stay was typical for blind students of that era.[2] In the novel Little Town on the Prairie, Wilder describes her sister's curriculum at the college as "political economy, and literature, and higher mathematics, and sewing, knitting, beadwork and music." The subsequent novel These Happy Golden Years mentions Mary's use of a Braille slate and attendance at the college's chapel.

As of fall 2011, IBSSS no longer had a residential component. Instead, all school-age visually impaired children in Iowa received specialized instruction in their local school districts from professionals employed by the agency, whose administrative offices were located in the old school building in Vinton.

  1. ^ Benge, Janet; Benge, Geoff (2005). Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life. YWAM Publishing. ISBN 9781932096323.
  2. ^ "Iowa Braille School - The Mary Ingalls Era". www.iowa-braille.k12.ia.us.