Special Needs

Support for organizations that help those with special needs is another way to give this season.

One in six people over the age 65 has vision loss, and that number rises to half of elders over age 80, according to the Massachusetts Association for the Blind. Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired is the oldest social service organization in the country that serves adults and elders who are blind or visually impaired.

Special Olympics Massachusetts provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of well-coached Olympic-type sports for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Pictured: Sean Rimas, 13, sat on the trampoline in his backyard while his brothers and sisters played around him. Sean has autism, and his mother, Beth Rimas, an EMT, is a supporter of a Boston City Council proposal to create a special needs registry which would notify first responders if a person with a disability or special needs lived in a home.

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