Montana NRAER Conference
Northern Rockies Association for the Education and Rehabilitation for the blind and visually impairedMontana NRAER Conference
“AER Ventures in Paradise”
Chico Hot Springs, Pray, MT
Wednesday, October 15
12:00 / Registration & Vendor set-up Knowles Room
1:00-2:30 / Welcome – AER – Your Hidden Leadership Skills- Jim Adams Broderick Room
2:45 – 4:00 / Mobility—trail walking and GPS use - Bruce Breslauer & Mark O’Brien
Townsend room (outdoors) / Apple Assistive Technology-Travis Stevenson & Ed Worrell
Knowles + Broderick / Basic Water and Safety Techniques for Students With Disabilities with Anne Weidenbach,
Chico pool area
4:15-6:00 / Vendors - Poster Session / Knowles Room
6:15-7:15 / Board Meeting / Townsend Room
7:00-8:30 / Wine & Cheese Social - Cash Bar / Knowles Room
Thursday, October 16
7:00 – 8:45 / Breakfast - AER Meeting Business & elections / Knowles + Broderick
8:45-9:00 / Welcome
Pam Boespflug NRAER chapter President / Knowles + Broderick
9:00 – 10:15 / When you Don’t Drive Due to Vision Loss: Strategies for Succeeding in a Car-oriented society - Penny Rosenblum / Knowles + Broderick
10:15-10:30 / Break / Knowles Room
10:30-12:00 / Keynote continues When you Don’t Drive Due to Vision Loss: Strategies for Succeeding in a Car-oriented Society / Knowles + Broderick
12:00-1:30 / Lunch Keynote: Warriors and Quiet Waters - Col. Eric E. Hastings / Knowles + Broderick
1:45-3:15 / 1Touch - Mark Leon Melonson
Townsend Room / Visual Deficits and Accommodations in Vision -Dr. Sarah Hill and Dr. Sarah Kirkpatrick
Broderick Room
3:15-3:30 / Break / Knowles room
3:30 -5:15 / Assisting Handlers Following Attacks on Dog Guides - Cheryl Godley
Townsend Room / We're All Social: Ideas for Facilitating Social Development of Students with Visual Impairments - Penny Rosenblum
Broderick Room
5:15-7:15 / Dinner on your own
7:15-8:30 / Dessert Social & Silent Auction
Knowles + Broderick
Friday, October 17
7:00-9:00 / Breakfast & New Board meeting / Knowles + Broderick
9:15 -10:45 / Unified English Braille - Allison O’Day
Broderick Room / CVI: Parent’s Perspective - Barb Schiedermayer
Townsend Room / 1Touch – Hands on Self Defense workshop – (Wear comfortable attire)
Knowles Room (outdoors)
10:45- 11:00 / Break
11:00- 12:30 / Understanding & facilitating Guide dog partnership –
Dana Ard
Broderick Room / Transitions & GPS Study Barb Schiedermayer
Townsend Room
12:30 / Conference closes
Special reminders:
Conference brochures, handouts and materials can be found on the chapter website: http://nraer.aerbvi.org/
CEUs, ACVREP, and CRC credits will be picked up at the registration table upon the closing of the conference.
Other NRAER meetings:
Friday, October 17
7:00 pm Location: Holiday Inn Express, Bozeman, MT
New Board Meeting (open meeting for membership)
Saturday, October 18
Time: 8:00 am Location: Medical Arts Center, 300 N. Willson, Bozeman, MT
Leadership Meeting (open meeting for membership)
Wednesday, October 15
Time: 1:00-2:30 pm Location: Broderick Room
Welcome – AER – Your Hidden Leadership Skills
Presenter: Jim Adams, Past AER president and Superintendent of the Oklahoma School for the Blind
Session Description: Everyone possesses the ability to lead; it just takes a little practice. This presentation will focus on some critical leadership skills that often overlooked by many. The presenter will tie these leadership skills to everyday life, your professional occupation and professional organization.
Time: 2:45-4:00 Location: Townsend Room
Orientation and Mobility: Making Use of a GPS with Adaptive Mobility Techniques While Hiking: An Examination of Two GPS Systems and Practical Advice on How to Handle Hiking Trails Using the Long Cane
Presenters: Bruce Breslauer and Mark O’Brien, Montana Vocational Rehabilitation, Blind and Low Vision Services
Session Description: Part 1 of this presentation will be a detailed examination of two GPS systems: the Sendero GPS system and the Trekker Breeze. Weather permitting, we will work outside and I will attempt to show how one can use both of these GPS systems to set up waypoints along a trail in the Chico Hot Springs resort area. Part 2 will deal with practical advice on how to navigate a hiking trail using the long cane.
Time: 2:45-4:00 Location: Knowles Room
Apple Assistive Technology
Presenters: Travis Stevenson and Ed Worrell, OverHere Consulting
Session Description: The presentation will focus on what OverHere Consulting does with training on Apple software and technology. We direct much of our focus to two key areas. The first area will focus on the use of VoiceOver on computers and mobile devices. The second area will pertain to the use of magnification on the computer and mobile devices.
Time: 2:45-4:00 Location: Chico Pool area
Basic Water and Safety Techniques for Students with Disabilities
Presenters: Anne Weidenbach, Eagle Mount
Time: 4:15-6:00 Location: Knowles Room
Vendor Poster Session
Presenters: Northwest Association for Blind Athletes, OverHere Consulting, Vision Matters, Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and Leading Edge Vision
Session Description: This session will focus on sharing from dog guide schools, braille and magnification technology and events for blind and low vision athletes.
Dinner on your own
Time: 6:15-7:15 NRAER Board meeting Location: Townsend Room
Time: 7:00-8:30 Wine and Cheese Social – Cash bar Location: Knowles Room
Thursday, October 16
Time: 7:00-8:45 am Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Breakfast and NRAER Business meeting & Elections
Time: 8:45-9:00 am Welcome & Housekeeping Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Time: 9:00 am-12:00 pm Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
When you Don’t Drive Due to Vision Loss: Strategies for Succeeding in a Car-oriented Society
Presenter: Dr. Penny Rosenblum, University of Arizona and Vision for Independence
Session Description: During this session participants will explore ways in which they can prepare individuals to be nondrivers. They will be introduced to the curriculum Finding Wheels (Corn & Rosenblum, 2000) and Reclaiming Independence (APH, 2007). Video clips and anecdotes will be used to illustrate key points. Several hands-on learning activities will be used to engage participants in exploring the topic.
Objectives:
1. Participants will list two advantages and two disadvantages for each method of travel.
2. Participants will describe three ways in which they can use the curriculum Finding Wheels with youth and young adult nondrivers.
3. Participants will describe two ways they can use Reclaiming Independence with adults who are nondrivers.
Time: 12:00-1:30 pm Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Special Luncheon Keynote: Warriors and Quiet Waters
Presenters: Colonel Eric E. Hastings, USMC (Ret.) President and CEO
Session Description: This moving presentation will cover the Warriors and Quiet Waters foundation’s program and mission to provide traumatically injured US servicemen and women from Iraq and Afghanistan with a high quality, restorative program utilizing the therapeutic experience of fly fishing on Montana waters.
Time: 1:45-3:15 pm Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Visual Deficits and Accommodations in Vision
Presenters: Sarah Hill, O.D. and Sarah Kirkpatrick, O.D., 20Twenty Eyecare
Session Description: This presentation will cover basic anatomy and prescriptions of the eye, conditions that impede vision, vision efficiency and how the power of prism works for patients. Video and case studies will be reviewed.
Time: 1:45-3:15 pm Location: Townsend Room 1Touch Project
Presenters: Mark Leon Melonson, 1Touch Project
Session Description: Individuals with physical and/or intellectual disabilities are frequently
intimidated within the society's framework. The confidence to travel, work, and socialize is frequently poorly addressed and few programs have been developed specifically to address this gap in the field of adapted physical activity. Addressing self-perception in contrast to societal perception requires a process and a calibrated format, enabling the practitioner to perceive development. The empowering practice of 1Touch is based in its integration of physical activity which is inextricably entwined with the concept of self-defense and self-development. Orientation and Mobility instructors use 1Touch as a means to enhance the underlying principles of independence and the confidence to engage the world in everyday activity.
The development of tactile sensitivity, communication skills, dexterity, health and wellness is inherent to any cultured activity and 1Touch is no exception. 1Touch is accessible to all ages and genders. Military veterans with single, double, and triple amputations have practiced 1Touch. The "hands on" nature of the practice requires those people with disabilities to
address their own capabilities, and the assumptions that have put upon them, either by themselves, or through societal reinforcement. As the 1Touch requires working in pairs, the communication skills of are honed and an identity of positive accomplishment is reinforced!
Time: 3:30-5:15 pm Location: Townsend Room Assisting Handlers Following Attacks on Dog Guides: Implications for Dog Guide Teams
Presenters: Cheryl Godley, Licensed Psychologist, Windy Ridge Psychological Services
Session Description: This presentation will review the literature on dog attacks on guide dogs. It will explore the nature of the relationship between guide dogs and handlers, definitions of trauma and will identify potential effects of trauma as it pertains to handlers following attacks on guide dogs. A three stage model will be presented to assist handlers in recovering from the potential negative outcome experienced by dog attacks on their guide dogs. Special considerations for the model will be presented, and the conclusion will summarize potential future evolution for the model.
Time: 3:30-5:15 pm Location: Knowles + Broderick Room We're All Social: Ideas for Facilitating Social Development of Students with Visual Impairments
Presenters: Dr. Penny Rosenblum, University of Arizona and Vision for Independence
Session Description: Abstract: Age appropriate and strong social skills are necessary for individuals to develop if they want to succeed at home, at school, and in the community. Ultimately strong social skills are going to make a person with a visual impairment more marketable when it comes to employment. During the session we will examine the ways to assess social skills and how to develop an intervention plan to address a social skills deficit.
Objectives:
1. Participants will describe three methods for assessing social skills.
2. Participants will list two reasons a social skills objective needs to be measurable.
3. Participants will list 3 strategies that can be employed when a student is not demonstrating
Dinner on your own
Time: 7:15-8:45 pm Dessert Social & Silent Auction Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Friday, October 17
Time: 7:00-9:00 am Location: Knowles + Broderick Room
Breakfast and New NRAER board meeting
Time: 9:15-10:45 am Location: Broderick Room
Unified English Braille: How and When will it Affect Teachers, Students, and Transcribers
Presenter: Allison O’Day, Braille Specialist, State Services for the Blind of Minnesota and Independent Certified Braille Proofreader for the National Federation of the Blind
Session Description: On January 6, 2016, on the 210th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth, Unified English Braille (UEB) will become the official Braille code of the United States. UEB will replace the current Literary Braille, whose rules are covered in English Braille American Edition, and will unite the seven major English speaking countries with one Braille code. Topics covered in this presentation include:
· History and rationale for the development and implementation of UEB
· Discussion of the major changes in UEB, including contraction use, marks of punctuation, spacing, and font attributes.
· Outline of how and when UEB will be introduced and taught to Braille readers, teachers, and transcribers.
· Review of resources.
Time: 9:15-10:45 am Location: Townsend Room
Cortical Vision Impairment (CVI): A Parent’s Perspective
Presenter: Barb Schiedermayer, Rehabilitation Counselor/Regional Administrator, Montana Vocational Rehabilitation & Blind Services
Session Description: Parents of children with CVI are thrown unexpectedly into a sea of confusion, finding themselves having to navigate a multitude of programs and to collaborate with a variety of professionals including, case managers, special education teachers, occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, paraprofessionals, and-- if they're lucky-- teachers of the vision impaired. Barb, a certified rehabilitation counselor,is the parent of a six-year-old with CVI. She is also an active participant of the national CVI weekly teleconference.She will share her unique perspective as a parent of a child with a visual impairment.
Objectives:
1.Gain insight on a parent's perspective ofwhat it's like to navigate amaze of services andinteract with amultitude of providersin the midst of anxiety and confusion.
2. Gather insider tips on how you, as a provider, can mitigate confusion and foster forward movement on behalf of the child/student.
3. Learn what a child with CVI sees, what she doesn’t see, and what her brain can still learn to see.
4. Learn about a successful methodology, developed by Dr. Christine Roman, designed to expandvisual abilities and achieve literacy.Barb will share a CVI curriculum she developed for kindergarten-aged children with CVI.
Time: 11:00 am -12:30 pm Location: Broderick Room
Understanding and Facilitating Guide Dog Partnerships
Presenter: Dana Ard, Idaho Commission for the Blind
Time: 11:00 am -12:30 pm Location: Townsend Room
Transitions and GPS study
Presenter: Barb Schiedermayer, Rehabilitation Counselor/Regional Administrator, Montana Vocational Rehabilitation & Blind Services
Session Description: As the Transitions Coordinator for Montana Vocational Rehabilitation, Barb developedthe"Adopt a School" programand a variety of tools geared to help students and their transitions teams (parents, teachers, therapists, VR counselors) navigate the transition from school to the world of work. Barb willintroduce the Adopt a School program and transitions tools.
Objectives:
1. Learn why the transitions process and outcomes are still subpar across the country.
2. Learn five evidenced-based guideposts to successful transitions.
3. Learn about the Adopt a School program and other transitions tools, including the Goal Positioning System, an electronic GPS to guide students through their transitions journey.
12:30 Conference closes
Other NRAER meetings:
Time: 7:00 pm Location: Holiday Inn Express, Bozeman, MT
New Board Meeting (open meeting for membership)
Ken McCulloch, New Northern Rockies Chapter President will be discussing new membership, roles and how to expand chapter growth to board members. This meeting is open to members.
Saturday, October 18
Time: 8:00 am Location: Medical Arts Center, 300 N. Willson Ave., Bozeman, MT
Leadership Meeting (open meeting for membership)
Ken McCulloch, New Northern Rockies Chapter President, Dr. younger and Teresa Geremiah-Chart will be presenting at the Montana Association for the Blind office.