Current Affaers

CURRENT AFFAERS

Winter, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

President’s Message……………………….…..2

Job Opening…………………….………………..3

Survey and Study Opportunities………….....4

FAER is Looking for Volunteers……………...6

Upcoming Events………………………….…….7

Board Members and Committee Chairs…….7

Awards…………………………………………….8

What’s New in Your Program?...... 11

“Success is brought by continued labor and continued watchfulness. We must struggle on, not for one moment hesitate, nor take one backward step.”

--- William Jennings Bryan

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

By Anna Whitman

Hello Everyone!

As we begin a new year with a new president and many new faces on the board, I would like introduce myself. This is my 35th year as a TVI in Polk County and I have been teaching for FSU at the St. Petersburg University partnership program for the past 4 - 5 years. I have been a member of FAER for 20 years and I am so excited to be a part of such a wonderful organization and working with such remarkable professionals. I would also like to welcome all the new board members and let you know that you will love working with our board. When I first came on the board as the President-Elect, I was surprised that all meetings were by conference calls and couldn’t imagine getting anything done without face-to-face meetings. But I learned very quickly how it could be done and what a hard working group it was. Although after meeting them all personally at the state conference in Tallahassee, it did make me wish that we could spend more time together because not only are they hard working – they’re fun!

This is an exciting time for the FAER chapter! We have not one, but two upcoming conferences. The first one will be our state conference which will be in the fall of

2015. Our new President-Elect, Chelsea Bridges, (with help from Kay and me) will be working hard on that and we will have more information for you soon. In addition, the AER International Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Jacksonville from July 20th through the 26th of 2016. Let’s have a great show of support for both of these conferences.

Since the new year has begun, please make sure that you have renewed your membership and paid your current dues. If you have friends and coworkers that haven’t renewed or don’t yet belong, please encourage them to do so. This is such a wonderful organization and we are always looking for more great people to join!

In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Welcome to another daring adventure!

JOB OPENING

The Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind (www.lvib.org) in Port Richey/Brooksville, Florida, is seeking a full-time dual Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (CVRT/Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS). If not dual-certified willing to interview CVRT or COMS candidates.

The vision rehabilitation teacher and Orientation and Mobility Specialist provide services and training to teens and adults who are visually impaired at the agency facility, at client’s homes and in the community.

Job Duties

CVRT duties include Teaching Independent Living Skills classes, teaching clients skills in daily living, communications, adaptive aids, and personal management.

COMS duties include providing orientation and mobility instruction to lighthouse clients, including pre-school, school age, teens, working and elder adults, via center, community, and in-home service delivery models.

General Responsibilities:

·  Collaborate with Rehabilitation Program Manager and other Vision rehabilitation instruction staff in designing an effective program that meets the client’s needs and goals.

·  Assess individual needs of client and aid client in goal setting for instruction; Help clients set meaningful, realistic goals for achievement.

·  Develop and implement individualized and group based lesson plans for each client in learning concepts, equipment and materials, skills and techniques.

·  Maintain instructional area so clients are taught in a clean, well-stocked, healthy, safe, environment.

·  Maintain accurate and updated client records, including case notes and reports.

·  Refer clients for other services as appropriate.

·  Participate in departmental and agency quality improvement efforts.

Please send resumes to: Sylvia Perez,

For more information contact Sylvia Perez at 727-815-0303

“Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.”

--- Aristotle

PLEASE HELP!

Greetings,

As an educator of students with sensory disabilities, we would like invite you to participate in our National Deafblind Needs Assessment Survey. Your feedback will help to determine the needs of educators who work with students who are deafblind. We will use the results of the survey to inform personnel preparation programs in the areas of blindness/visual impairment, deafness/hard of hearing, and DeafBlindness about current practices and make recommendations to the different fields.

The survey questionnaire takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, and it is divided into three parts:

1. Questions about you and your teaching background;

2. Questions that identify educational practices and educational needs when teaching students who are deafblind; and

3. Open ended questions that give you an opportunity to identify concerns that you did not find in the survey.

To access the survey please go to: https://unco.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9oCoqkY23IrDO3b

Please share this survey with your colleagues who work with students who are deafblind. Thank you in advance for your participation and the work you do.

If you have questions, prefer a paper copy of the survey, or need additional information please contact:

Dr. Silvia M. Correa-Torres, COMS

School of Special Education

University of Northern Colorado

970-351-1660

Dr. Sandy Bowen

School of Special Education

University of Northern Colorado

970-351-2102

We would like anyone who is using theVISSIT(Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas) this school year (2014-2015) to determine the type and amount of itinerant TVI service to recommend for his or her students to participate in our continuing validation study of the tool. We need as many TVIs as possible to use the scale and participate in the study to increase the validity and reliability of theVISSIT.

Participation only requires that:

(1) you use theVISSITto determine service time for at least one student this school year (or as many students as you want),

(2) you submit a copy of any completedVISSITs(with no identifying student information) to a designated email address, and

(3) you are willing to complete a short electronic survey on your use of theVISSITtoward the end of spring semester 2015.

If you are an itinerant TVI and are willing to participate in this study so that we can get feedback from moreVISSITusers, you just need to email me () indicating your willingness to participate, and that will serve as your consent,and you will receive an email indicating the email address to upload your completedVISSITs,and upon receipt of your scale(s), you will get another email with a link to the electronic survey later in the school year after you have submitted your completedVISSITs.

An electronic pdf (that automatically adds up scores) and a Word version of theVISSIT(along with background and instructions for using the scale, FAQs, and sampleVISSITs) can be found at: http://www.tsbvi.edu/vissit.

There is no compensation for your participation. You will receive the added benefit of the use of a new evaluation tool used to help determine TVI service time during this study. There is a hope that you will benefit from the use of this tool in making decisions about delivering services as an itinerant TVI by the end of the study.

You may stop participating at any time in the study if you become uncomfortable completing the study. You can leave the study any time you wish. You will keep the benefits of participating even if you stop. Participation is your choice.

The study is being run by Dr. Rona Pogrund from the Special Education Program in the College of Education at Texas Tech University. If you have any questions about the study, you can contact Rona Pogrund at the email address above or at 512-206-9213.

TTU also has a Board that protects the rights of people who participate in research. You can ask questions of the Board at 806-742-2064 or to . You can also mail your questions to the Human Research Protection Program, Office of the Vice President for Research, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, 79409.

We hope that your participation can help us understand more about how to help you determine your students' needed TVI service time. We appreciate your willingness to participate in this study.

Sincerely,

Rona Pogrund

Principal Investigator

I am an orientation and mobility student finishing up my last research project required to graduate. My research is looking at collaboration between Orientation and Mobility Instructors within the field. I have a short online questionnaire that consists of 15 questions and should take no longer than 10 minutes of your time. I would truly appreciate your participation in my study. All information gathered will be kept completely confidential.
If you do decided to participate in my questionnaire I would need you to first fill out an online consent form:
https://signnow.com/s/1G9ooTu
It's best if you use a desktop computer to open the link. Otherwise it will ask you to create an account. I am also sending you a plain PDF file version of the consent form if that is easier.
Once I get receipt of your signed consent I will sent you the link for the online survey. I hope to hear from you. Please email me with any questions or concerns.
Elizabeth Couvillon

FAER IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS

Would you be interested in volunteering on a committee? We could definitely use your help, see what it’s like to work with the board, work towards a board position yourself, it normally only requires e-mails and/or phone calls. Please help us to make FAER what you need! Contact the following if you are interested.

Conference Committee - Anna Whitman -

Scholarship Committee - Roberta Dailey -

Awards Committee – Amy Johnson –

Newsletter Committee – Amy Johnson –

Membership Committee – Anna Whitman –

With the AER international conference coming up in 2016 in Jacksonville, Florida, we could also use some help on the host committee. Anyone that would like to volunteer for that, please contact either:

Amy Johnson – or

Nancy Berger –

WEBINAR

Determining the Type, Time, and Intensity of Services ... or How Many Minutes Do I Put on the IEP for Students with Visual Impairments????
Session 1: May 12, 2015, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Session 2: May 28, 2015, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Florida Regional Braille Challenge

March 6, 2015, in Tampa

Board Members and Committee Chairs

Immediate Past President – Sylvia Perez –

President – Anna Whitman –

President Elect – Chelsea Bridges –

Treasurer – Sandy Lewis –

Secretary – Janet Amatuzzi –

Member at Large Education – Theresa Bradley –

Member at Large Education – Nancy Berger –

Member at Large Rehabilitation – Amy Johnson –

Member at Large Rehabilitation – Matthew Hogel –

Legislative Chair – Suzanne Dalton –

Membership Chair – Jack Giordano –

Scholarship Chair – Roberta Dailey –

Awards Chair – Amy Johnson –

Communication Chairs – Andrea Wallace –

Eric Barrette –

Newsletter Editor – Amy Johnson –

Host Committee Chairs for AER International 2016 –

Nancy Berger –

Amy Johnson –

“The nice thing about teamwork is that you always have others on your side.”

~Margaret Carty

”Team means Together Everyone Achieves More!”

~Author Unknown

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”

~Andrew Carnegie

AWARDS

This year, we will be presenting only one award. Since there is no conference this year, we have decided to only present MOST PROMISING VISUALLY IMPAIRED HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR AWARD. This is for a graduating High School Senior who has shown achievement through school and community involvement and academic accomplishments as well as by overcoming obstacles as necessary to obtain independence and self-sufficiency.

Nominations should include supportive documentation such as letters of recommendation, awards, and grade-reports.

This is for a student graduating in this school year 2014-2015. Please send all nominations to Amy Johnson at by 4/4/15.

FLORIDA ASSOCIATION FOR EDUCATION AND REHABILITATION

OF THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Nomination Form for State Awards

I wish to make a nomination for the category of (check one):

( ) Most Promising Visually Impaired High School Senior Award

______

Name of Nominee Position

______

Employer Address

______

City State Zip

Describe nominee’s significant work history and education as they relate to the nomination:

List nominee’s memberships, affiliations, and activities as they relate to the

nomination:

List honors, awards, citation, or other forms of recognition accorded the nominee that is relevant to the nomination:

NOMINATION FORM

page 2

Explain why you believe this nominee deserves recognition by the FAER. In addition to your own statement (not limited to the space below), you may attach written corroborating statements from other individuals or organizations which support the nomination. Also attach copies of news clippings, documents, or any other evidence to support the nomination.

This nomination is submitted by:

______

Signature Date

______

Print Name

______

Position Employer

______

Address Zip Phone

Please fax, mail or e-mail no later than April 4, 2015 to:

Amy Johnson, FAER Awards Chair

ILAB, 101 W. State St.

Jacksonville, FL 32202

FAX: 904-632-5107

Phone: 904-633-8222

FOUNDATIONS FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS COURSE BEING OFFERED TO HIGH SCHOOL TRANSITION STUDENTS

By Connie Brown

Vision Education and Rehabilitation Center at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) is in the second semester of offering Foundations for College Success, a course for high school transition students who are enrolled in general diploma classes in their schools.

Students access the Blackboard online platform to complete all instructional modules and assignments. Therefore, students are gaining experience in the use of online learning tools in a supportive environment prior to, or in conjunction with, enrollment in college courses. The course was developed by Vision Ed and Rehab Center Assistive Technology Instructor, Michael Pugh. The online learning modules are facilitated by Vision Ed and Rehab Center staff, and include topics in the college preparation and planning process and development of social competence and self-determination skills.

Since September, 2014, a total of seventeen (17) students have participated in the Foundations course with enthusiastic testimonials from course completers.