COMS Ride the Sky Train
Jay Taska and Sandra Stirnweis
Orientation and Mobility Specialists learn the routes from bus to light rail, light rail to the airport sky train. Come out for a fun evening exploring the route under blindfold.
Limited to the first 20 submissions. Must be a certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS). O & M specialists need to bring a cane, eye-covering, exact fare to buy a ticket and maybe some extra change for refreshments.
Presenter Bios:
Jay has over 40 years of street side orientation and mobility service to persons with visual impairments around the world. Jay has a love for life and a passion for travel. Going on the sky train Thursday evening will be a highlight of your conference, Jay guarantees it!
Sandra Stirnweis has been an O&M specialist for nearly 30 years teaching toddlers through adults. Like most O&M specialists, she has a love of travel that has taken her around the world to both teach and learn various aspects of O&M.
iPad use with students who are Visually Impaired
Danielle Cummings and Susan Blue
Participants will see videos of visually impaired students using the iPad and the many uses of the iPad in teaching. Students in the videos are in preschool through high school and include students with multiple disabilities. Additional videos will be presented to demonstrate teaching techniques using the iPad.
Presenter Bios:
Danielle Cummings is an itinerant T VI for the North Central Regional Cooperative of ASDB. Danielle will be completing the master’s program through the University of Arizona in the summer of 2014.
Susan Blue is an itinerant T VI for the North Central Regional Cooperative of ASDB. Susan received her master’s degree at the University of North Dakota in 1994 in the area of Special Education with emphasis in the areas of Early Childhood Education and Vision Impairment. Susan brings 26 years of experience to teaching students who are blind and visually impaired.
Blending the Content Based and Sheltered Instruction Approaches to teach ESL
Pepper Moore
The Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired is creating a diverse and innovative curriculum for teaching English to visually impaired and blind emerging bilinguals. Non-native speakers are currently overlooked in terms of ESL instruction. Many non-native English speakers use the "by any means necessary" approach to acquire English communication skills; but watching television and listening to the radio will no longer be the only way to learn English for visually impaired and blind second language learners.
Presenter Bio:
Pepper Moore is the ESL Specialist at the Southern Arizona Association for the Visually Impaired. She received a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and a Master's degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from California State University, East Bay.
Creating Instructional Cohesion for Your Assistive Technology Training Program
Mark Nelson
It is very common for assistive technology training programs, in schools, government agencies and non-profit organizations, to have more than one instructor providing instruction to multiple students. When this is the case, it is inevitable that the student will, for one reason or another, need to switch from one instructor or teacher to another. In these cases, if there is no standardized curriculum in place that is used by all members of the instructional team, the course of study for the trainee is unnecessarily fragmented leaving the student with gaps in his or her knowledge not to mention causing high levels of frustration and dissatisfaction. The negative impact on the trainee can be significant. This fractured training experience can require the individual to have to repeat the course of study or parts of the course of study a second time. Or, even worse, it can result in the trainee being behind as he or she enters the next phase of his/her education or rehabilitation program. The negative impacts for the organization include decreased morale of the instructional team. More significantly, the reputation of the organization can be damaged, perhaps irreparably, as reports of the student’s experience and dissatisfaction ripple through the organization’s community with the facts being distorted and/or exaggerated with each report.
In this lecture and audience interaction -based session, Mark Nelson of Digital Apex LLC will, based on years of experience in starting, managing, growing and innovating assistive technology training programs, outline the need for putting a standardized assistive technology training curriculum in place. He will focus on the benefits and challenges of using such a tool when used across the instructional team and throughout an organization to achieve consistency and cohesion in all aspects of assistive technology training programs. He will also share anecdotes of his own mistakes, failures, and successes as well as stories of successes and mistakes he has seen throughout his career. Next, Mark will present the TrainingWare® assistive technology curriculum, a nationally recognized collection of instructional curriculum tools to be used to achieve the above goal. Finally Mark will engage the audience in active dialog, so each participant can learn from the presenter, and one another, through discussion about their own situations and experiences as to how having a standardized set of tools and curriculum would benefit their own training program and/or organization.
Presenter Bio:
Mark Nelson is an experienced and respected executive and Assistive Technology Specialist in the vision field whose career spans all sectors of the assistive technology field, (state and federal government, non-profit, manufacture, teaching at the Master’s level (U of A and Portland State), and private business with responsibilities ranging from service provider to the executive level. Currently he owns his own business providing consulting services to organizations in the areas of starting, growing and innovating assistive technology programs; Publishing the nationally recognized and respected TrainingWare® assistive technology instructional materials; providing a broad range of assistive technology products for people with vision loss; and providing the full range of services in support of assistive technology such as client assessment, worksite assessment, installation and configuration, scripting, and instruction.
Dispelling the myth about our role as "vision therapists". What should our AZ state position statement look like?
Irene Topor and Rajiv Panikkar
Last year, there was a lively discussion about vision therapy on the AER state listserv. We invite anyone interested in continuing the discussion of vision therapy and the role of TVIs is or is not in working with school districts, families and other professionals to this cracker barrel session. Ultimately, we want to propose a consensus/position statement to give to the AZ. Dept. of Education to post on their website that distinguishes our role from that of a developmental/behavioral optometrist. Presenters will facilitate discussion and provide samples of position
statements from other states.
Presenter Bios:
Dr. Irene Topor is an associate professor of practice for the specialization in visual impairment at the University of Arizona in Tucson. For the last 23 years, she has prepared teachers to work with children who are blind or visually impaired. Her job responsibilities include teaching the basic and advanced low vision and visual functioning and methods of teaching students who have visual impairments courses.
She also places and supervises students in practical and internship sites in Tucson and Phoenix. She is certified as a low vision therapist and teacher of children with visual
impairments. Previously she worked 5 years as a resource teacher for students with visual impairments in Austin, Texas, parent outreach coordinator for families at ASDB for 5 years, coordinator of VIP/ASDB for 5 years, and low vision specialist for ASDB 1 year. She has consulted nationally doing FVAs with students who have visual and multiple impairments and taught as an adjunct instructor at Cal State LA.
Dr. Topor is the coordinator (2008-present) of the Phoenix program to prepare 18 teachers of students with visual impairments, and is the co-principal investigator of the federal grant, preparation of teachers of students with visual impairments through parallel models with community mentor support (2013 – 2018). Dr. Topor has authored and coauthored 7 chapters in textbooks. Most recently, Dr. Topor
co-authored two chapters with Dr. Jane Erin for American Foundation for the Blind’s second edition of the Foundations of Low Vision: Clinical and Functional Perspectives. Other chapter topics include early childhood functional vision assessment, instruction of students with low vision, diversity and visual impairment, and collaboration among team members serving students with visual impairments. Dr. Topor collaborated with others to produce a DVD entitled, “Jumping into the Johns: informal Reading Inventory Administration Made Easy”. This effort lead to the production of the Johns Informal Reading inventory in large print and good braille copy from APH on quota for teachers working with VI students.
Dr. Topor obtained her American Council in Exercise (ACE) certification to work as a personal trainer in 2009. She is an exercise enthusiast having run many marathons, half marathons, and completed 8 triathlons of sprint distance. She lives with her partner, Rick, of 20 years, and two career change yellow Labrador retrievers, Cesar and Ruby.
Rajiv K. Panikkar: was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rajiv has been working with students with visual impairments and additional disabilities since 1987. He started at the Perkins School for the Blind as a houseparent (residential manager) and teacher aide. He received his Master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado. He has had numerous experiences in residential schools, public schools and at the University of Colorado as an Assistive Technology Specialist. He is certified as a CLVT, COMS and TVI. He is currently serving as a CLVT with the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind. He has been an AER member since 1990. In his spare time he enjoys time with his wonderful wife-Kirstin; two sons- Jaron and Devin;
dog- Copper; and cats- Luna and Gizmo. He also enjoys golf, tennis and tending to his vegetable and herb garden.
Tele-O&M: Exploring New Ways to Provide O&M Services to Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments
Hong Phangia Dewald and Catherine Smyth
The increasing demand for orientation and mobility services for young children with visual impairments and their families, and the limited availability of qualified orientation and mobility specialists, requires innovation in service delivery models.
This presentation will discuss the feasibility and protocols of using effective, technology-based consultation in Early Intervention.
Presenter Bios:
Hong “Nana” Phangia Dewald is a second year doctoral student in the School of Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado. She is also an Association for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (ACVREP COMS©) and is in her tenth year as an Orientation and Mobility Specialist at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
Nana earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Utah and a Master of Arts Degree in Special Education, with an emphasis in Visual Impairment, from the University of Northern Colorado. She is an active member and volunteer for the Utah Foundation for the Blind (UFB), which sponsors many programs and activities for adults, teenagers, and children who are blind and visually impaired in the state of Utah. She is mainly involved in UFB activities that promote health and fitness in children, teenagers, and adults who are blind or visually impaired.
Catherine Smyth’s professional background includes 26 years of providing services to children with visual exceptionalities in all possible settings, including home visits and itinerant services at community-based preschools and daycares, inclusive public school K-12 settings and specialized center-based programs. She most recently worked as an itinerant home visit Early Interventionist for Anchor Center for Blind Children throughout Northern Colorado. She is a fourth year doctoral learner in Special Education with a concentration in Research at the University of Northern Colorado (2008). Her research interests include feeding/eating development in young children with visual impairments, early concept development, assessment of students with visual impairments, and using technology to give families access to vision services.
Catherine received a B. S. of Ed in Special Education with a specialization in Visual Impairment (Birth to 21) at Illinois State University, and has a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education (Birth to 9) from Nazareth College in Rochester, New York.
VoiceOver for the Sight Dependent
Sandra Stirnweis and Amy Lewis
Have you ever wanted to better understand how people use Voice Over, even if you don't plan to intensively teach it? Than his session is for you! Learn the difference between Seri and Voice Over. Walk away with the knowledge of flicks and swipes and how many fingers you need to make the motions. We'll even discuss why motions are different when Voice Over is on than when it is off. So, all you beginners - come join us and bring your iPhones (and headphones!)
Sandra Stirnweis is a granolageek with more than 25 years of experience in the field. Although she loves the accessibility options of the iPhone platform she is often discouraged when Siri ignores her.
Amy Lewis is a COMS at SAAVI in Phoenix. She has taught O&M and technology to clients for about 5 years. She has personal experience as a Voice Over user and is constantly trying to get Ms. Stirnweis to be less sight dependent.
Parent Perspectives of Parent to Parent Social Support
DeEtte Snyder
This presentation includes the results from a recent qualitative phenomenological study examining the perspectives of families of children with B/VI who received
support from other parents of children with B/VI. This presentation will introduce participants to the method of qualitative research, the phenomenon of parent to parent social support from the view of the parent, and inform practitioners how to assist families accessing this beneficial form of support.
Presenter Bio:
DeEtte Snyder is a teacher of students with visual impairments at the Foundation for Blind Children. She has worked with families of children of all ages with B/VI for over
20 years and is now working on her Ph.D at the University of Northern Colorado with a focus on children with visual impairments and their families.
Making Literacy Materials Together: Improving Engagement for Students who are VI with Multiple Disabilities