DVI QUARTERLY
Volume 58, Number 3, 2013
Division on Visual Impairments
Council for Exceptional Children
© 2013
Picture: A watercolor painting titled “My Change of Life”
by Jacob L. Smith for the 2012 International Helen Keller
Art Show.
This is a publication of the Council for Exceptional
Children’s Division on Visual Impairments (CEC-DVI).
Advertisements included in this issue are not
endorsements of products or services, and individual
views of authors are not necessarily the official position of
CEC and/or DVI.
WORKING TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR
CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF-BLIND AND THEIR FAMILIES
NATIONAL FOCUS:
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Contents
Volume 58, Number 3
Page
4
Message from the Guest Co-Editors
7
Inclusive Physical Education
18
Colorado TVIs in West Africa
22
The use of Self-Efficacy Instruments: A tool to
help in Classroom Design
31
CANnect, a Portal to Accessible Online Education
and Resources
35
The building of transformational leadership for
the field of sensory disabilities
47
How to Create and Maintain a Professional Online
Presence
53
Cincinnati Children’s Vision Rehabilitation
Program
56
Services to Ohio School Personnel Serving
Students with Print Disabilities
61
Why Attend a Conference?
66
CEC Professional Membership Application
Message from the Guest Co-Editors
Kathleen Farrand, Doctoral Student at The
Ohio State University
Tiffany Wild, PhD, Assistant Professor at
The Ohio State University
Welcome to the Spring 2013 issue of DVI-Q. It
has been a unique experience working together
as guest co-editors instead of our traditional role
as student and advisor.
We begin this issue highlighting physical activities
of students with visual impairments, on the slopes
and in the classroom. Next, we highlight the work
of TVIs from Colorado in Africa.
In the true spirit of working together on another
initiative, we bring our article to you on using selfefficacy
tools in the classroom. Brooke Smith
and Audrey Smith illustrate another example of
colleagues working with doctoral students in the
article. Yue-Ting Siu, a student from NLCSD,
provides us with valuable information about using
online resources for professional promotion.
Two agencies are working to provide services to
students with visual impairments. The first
agency is Cincinnati Children’s Vision Rehabilitation
Program. In the article, Dr. Lusk provides an
overview of the services provided by this agency.
The second agency, Center for Instructional Supports
and 4 Accessible Materials, provides educational
support to students with visual impairments
and other disabilities. Authors Paul Mauro and
Nicole Morris provide an overview of their services.
Gearing up for our conference this spring, Shelia
Amato provides us all with many reasons to attend
our conference and to continue to learn from
others in our field.
Recruiting Academic Students who are iPad Users!
Do you have a blind or low vision student in grades 5-9
who is studying math?
Does your student use an iPad for academic purposes and
have access to one in the 2014-2015 school year?
Would you and your student like to be on the cutting-edge
of technology? If so, help us evaluate the AnimalWatch Vi
Suite app and materials during the 2014-2015 school year.
The AnimalWatch Vi Suite research project at The
University of Arizona has developed an iPad app and
supporting materials to help students build their math
problem solving skills while learning about endangered
species such as the snow leopartd and sea turtle. In
spring 2014 we will recruit 48 students in the U.S. who are
blind or low vision to participate in our intervention study
in 2014-2015. (Schools will need to approve participation
of TVIs and students.)
To qualify a student must:
 Receive direct TVI service a minimum of 1 time per
week
 Be learning math content appropriate to grades 5-9
(fractions, proportions, converting distances, etc.)
 Be able to see the information on the iPad screen
using Zoom if needed. (Pinch zoom does not work in
our app.) OR
 Be able to use VoiceOver to access content on the
iPad. The student must be proficient either with
gestures, a Bluetooth keyboard and/or a refreshable
Braille display.
 Have familiarity with educational apps and have skills
to navigate between screens, enter information, etc.
To participate, students must be “iPad literate” and have
strong familiarity with this tool. Teachers will receive a
small stipend & students a gift card.
For more information, please contact Project Director, L.
Penny Rosenblum at rosenblu@email.arizona.edu or at
520-621-1223.
To learn more about our project visit www.awvis.org.
Inclusive Physical Education
Justin A. Haegele & Matthew Mescall
The Ohio State University & The Maryland School
for the Blind
Why is Physical Education Important for Students
with Visual Impairments?
According to the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA, 2004), children with disabilities are
guaranteed to receive equal education as it is provided to
their typically developing peers. One aspect of education
which is mentioned under that law is physical education.
Physical education is a medium for guiding students in the
process of living a physically active life (Hodge,
Lieberman, & Murata, 2012). As stated in the position
paper of the Council for Exceptional Children, all people
deserve formal and informal opportunities to fully develop
physical skills and abilities (Tutt, Lieberman, & Brasher,
2011).
Physical education provides students with the
opportunity to enhance important lifelong skills in the
social, cognitive, and physical domains. Through physical
education, students participate in group activities, which
teach teamwork and cooperation. Students learn various
tactics and strategies through games and activities, which
create cognitive growth. Just as importantly, students
develop and enhance gross motor skills, which can lead to
lifelong participation in physical activities. An active
lifestyle through participation in physical activity may
decrease one’s chances of developing health-related
concerns such as obesity and heart disease (Center for
Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2011).
Adapting Physical Education Activities to Include
Children with Visual Impairments.
With modifications, children with visual impairments or
blindness have the ability to participate in the same
physical activities as their typically developing peers.
Physical education teachers may modify general
gameplay, equipment, rules, or boundaries in order to
maximize the success of all students. Before making
modifications, a teacher should assess a student’s vision,
physical activity preferences, and experiences in physical
activities. A physical education teacher may speak to the
student’s vision teacher, orientation and mobility
instructor, paraprofessional, or directly to the student for
this information. Vision teachers may also have
information regarding purchasing equipment through
quota funds, where physical educators would not have to
spend their budget on specialized equipment. Quota
funds are monies designated from the federal government
for the purchase of educational material produced by the
American Printing House for the Blind for students with
visual impairments.
In regards to gameplay, activities in physical education
can be either open or closed. An open activity, such as
basketball or soccer, has many variables occurring at one
time which athletes must navigate to be successful.
Closed activities, such as bowling, typically only have one
goal / variable and may be simpler. For example, in a
game of basketball (an open activity), students dribble a
ball, navigate through defenders, and players may change
from offense to defense quickly. Whereas in bowling (a
closed activity), students have the objective of hitting the
pins without other variables to consider. It is important to
keep in mind that physical education curriculum should
include a combination of open and closed activities
(Lieberman, Ponchillia & Ponchillia, 2013). Rather than
avoid participating in open activities, modification and
adaptations to the game speed, objectives, rules, and
boundaries should be considered to increase success.
In addition to gameplay, other adaptations are available to
increase the successfulness of students with visual
impairments in inclusive physical education settings.
Equipment, rules, and boundaries can be modified in
many ways with a few simple and creative ways. Some
ideas for equipment, rules, and boundary modifications
include:
Equipment:
 Using a larger ball
 Lower baskets or
make goals larger
 Using a bright or high
contrast ball
 Tie a plastic bag
around it to add
noise
 Using a softer ball
 Add sound sources
 Deflate a ball to slow
 Add a beeper or bells
it down
 Use balloons or
scarves that are light
and will stay in the
to the ball
 Give sound cues to
goals or baskets
(hitting a cane or
stick against
air longer
basketball rim helps
Rule Modifications:
 Give offensive player
more space between
himself and defender
 Forgive technicalities
(double dribble in
basketball or out of
bounds in soccer)
 Assign role players
(offense only,
defense only)
 Give everyone a turn
before changing
possession (everyone
shoots on the basket
during basketball,
everyone kicks while
playing kickball).
 Bounce passes or
rolling of the ball only
during basketball
 Allow more bounces
(2 or 3 bounces for
tennis or volleyball)
 Everyone must touch
the ball before
scoring
Boundary Modifications:
 Increase or decrease
playing area
 Caution tape or flag-
rope to mark off playing
area and boundaries
 Bright tape or high
contrast colors on floor
to mark boundaries
 Rope under tape to give
rise to boundaries
 Sound sources behind
goals or areas students
are trying to get to.
 Guides and spotters in
key areas to help
redirect play or prevent
injuries
 Larger cones to mark
areas
What do Modifications to Physical Education
Activities Look Like?
Modifications to activities must be considered and
planned as physical lesson plans are being created. Below
is an example of adaptations made to an elementary level
physical education lesson plan. The lesson includes a
warm up activity of freeze tag, then station activities
which are focused on balance. To the right are
modifications made to each activity to include children
with visual impairments.
Warm Up Activity: Freeze
Tag
When students are tagged,
they stand on one foot and
hold their pose for 10
seconds. After counting to
10, the student can run.
Balance Station 1:
Balance Beam
Students will walk across
the balance beam one a
time
Balance Station 2: Tennis
Ball Balance
Using a tennis racket,
Modification:
All students walk. The
tagger holds a tambourine
while chasing students. All
students walk with arms up.
Boundaries are marked
using a rope with flags
around the perimeter.
Modification:
Using floor tape (a color
that is of high contrast with
the beam or easily seen by
the student) make the
center of the beam as the
line of travel for the student
to use. Allow students to
explore the implement
before activity.
Modification:
Begin with balancing a bean
bag on a racquet. Next add
students will try and balance an oversized tennis ball with
a ball on the face of the
a bell (Available from APH)
racket. If mastered students
or other bell-balls.
will try to walk, sit down, or
jump.
Balance Station 3:
Balance Boards
Modifications:
Balance Station 4:
Stepping Stones
Modification:
Balance Station 5: The
Game of Twister
Modification:
Place the balance boards
Students attempt to balance against a wall for support. A
on a balance board for ten piece of bright tape can be
consecutive seconds.
placed on wall to be used as
a reference point to help
keep balance and focus.
Use poly spots instead of
Using dome cones students domed cones. Allow student
will step across a “river” to
to use their cane to find
the other side without
next poly spot to try and
“falling in” or touching the
step to. If this is still too
floor.
difficult have student
balance on one foot on poly
spot.
Use shaped poly sports on
Using the game Twister,
have students place hands
and feet on appropriate
colored spots while keeping
their balance to stay up.
floor instead of colors. If
you don’t have shaped poly
spots use floor tape with a
string under it to make the
shapes on the floor.
Physical Education Research
Research indicates that in comparison to their sighted
peers, children with visual impairments may be less active
during physical education (Schedlin, Lieberman, HoustonWilson, & Cruz, 2012). According to studies, children with
visual impairments display moderate to severe delays in
gross motor and fine motor skills (Celeste 2002;
Brambring 2006). Without quality physical education
programs, gross motor delays may persist throughout a
lifetime.
Physical activity levels decrease as students with visual
impairments continue through school (Ayvazoglu, Oh, &
Kozub, 2006; Oh, Ozturk, & Kozub, 2004; Kozub & Oh
2004). One factor leading to a decrease in physical
activity may be that students may not feel encouragement
from their parents (Ward, Fansworth, Babkes-Stellino, &
Perrett, 2011). Parents reported that they would not
encourage their children to participate in physical activities
due to : a) lack of training for physical education teachers
in working with children with visual impairments, b) lack
of available opportunities and resources, and c) fear of
their children getting injured (Stuart, Lieberman, & Hand,
2006). Also, physical education teachers themselves
report a lack of preparation, equipment, and programming
as barriers to including children with visual impairments in
their classrooms (Lieberman, Houston-Wilson, & Kozub,
2002).
There are a number of strategies, however, that can
be used to increase the participation of children with
visual impairments in physical education. The
implementation of a trained peer tutor is one example of a
modification which may demonstrate an increase in
physical activity time in physical education (Wiskolchil,
Lieberman, Houston-Wilson, & Peterson, 2007). Other
technology-driven options, such as exergames or talking
pedometers, have demonstrated student enjoyment and a
sense of independence during physical activities (Bofolli,
Foley, Gasperetti, Yang, & Lieberman, 2011; Lieberman,
Stuart, Hand, & Robinson, 2006).
Conclusion
Physical education plays an important role in the
overall education of children with visual impairments.
However, it is known that students with visual
impairments are less physically active in physical
education than their typically developing peers.
Considering modifications to activities including game
play, equipment, rules, and boundaries as well as
including peer tutors or other technology driven
modifications can increase activity time for students with
visual impairments in inclusive physical education.
References:
Ayvazoglu, N., Oh, H., & Kozub, F. (2006). Explaining
physical activity in children with visual impairments: A
family systems approach. Exceptional Children, 72, 235248.
Bofolli, N., Foley, J., Gasperetti, B., Yang, S., & Lieberman,
L. (2011). Enjoyment levels of youth with visual
impairments playing different exergames. Insight:
Research & Practice in Visual Impairment and Blindness,
4, 171-176
Brambring, M. (2006). Divergent development of gross
motor skills in children who are blind or sighted. Journal of
Visual Impairment and Blindness, 100, 620-634.
Celeste, M. (2002). A survey of motor development for
infants and young children with visual impairments.
Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 96, 169-174.
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011). Physical
Activity & Health. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/inde
x.html#.
Hodge, S., Lieberman, L., & Murata, N. (2012). Essentials
of teaching adapted physical education. Scottsdale, AZ:
Holcomb Hathaway.
IDEA-IA (2004) Public Law No. 108-446, Federal Register
(2004).
Kozub, F. (2006). Motivation and physical activity in
adolescents with visual impairments. RE:view, 37, 149160.
Kozub, F. & Oh, H. (2004). An exploratory study of
physical activity levels of children and adolescents with
visual impairments. Clinical Kinesiology, 3, 1-7.
Lieberman, L., Houston-Wilson, C., & Kozub, F. (2002).
Perceived barriers in including students with visual
impairments in general physical education. Adapted
Physical Activity Quarterly, 19, 364-377.
Lieberman, L., Ponchillia, P., & Ponchillia, S. (2013)
Physical education and sports for people with visual
impairments and deafblindness: foundations of
instructions. New York, NY:
AFB Press.
Lieberman, L., Stuart, M., Hand, K., & Robinson, B.
(2006). An investigation of the motivational effects of
talking pedometers among children with visual
impairments and blindness. Journal of Visual Impairment
and Blindness, 100, 726-736.
Oh, H., Ozturk, M., & Kozub, F. (2004). Physical activity
and social engagement patterns during physical education
of youth with visual impairments. RE:view, 34, 39-48.
Schedlin, H., Lieberman, L., Houston-Wilson, C., & Cruz, L.
(2012). The academic learning time in physical education
of students with visual impairments: An analysis of two
students. Insight: Research & Practice in Visual
Impairment and Blindness. 5, 11-22.
Stuart, M., Lieberman, L., & Hand, K. (2006). Beliefs about
physical activity among children who are visually impaired
and their parents. Journal of Visual Impairment and
Blindness, 100, 223-234.
Tutt, L., Lieberman, L., & Brasher, B. (2011) Physical
Education for students with visual impairments. Position
paper for the Division of Visual Impairments, Council for
Exceptional Children. Arlington, VA: Council for
Exceptional Children.
Ward, S., Fansworth, C., Babkes-Stellino, M., & Perrett, J.
(2011). Parental influences and the attraction to physical
activity for youths who are visually impaired at a
residential-day school. Journal of Visual Impairment and
Blindness, 105, 493-498.
Wiskolchil, B., Lieberman, L., Houston-Wilson, C., &
Petersen, S. (2007) The effects of trained peer tutors on
the physical education of children who are visually
impaired. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness,
101, 339-350.
Physical Education and Sports for People with Visual
Impairments and Deafblindness: Foundations of
Instruction
By Lauren J. Lieberman, Paul E. Ponchillia, and Susan V.
Ponchillia
Physical activity provides benefits for children’s health and
fitness, and it also helps to improve their self-esteem,
feels of competence, and relationship skills. It is part of
the expanded core curriculum that includes skills essential
for students who are visually impaired.
Participation in physical education has generally been
more limited for individuals with visual impairments than
for other with typical sight. To help close that gap, three
prominent educators and athletes have created this
important new sourcebook on teaching the skills that will
enable children and adults with visual impairments and
deafblindness to participate in physical education,
recreation, sports, and lifelong health and fitness
activities.
Physical Education and Sports provides you with this
essential information:
 Methods of modifying physcial skills instruction
 Techniques for adapting sports and other physical
activities
 Teaching methods and curriculum points for physical
skills instruction throughout the lifespan
 Information about sports and related activities,
providing rules, adaptations, and information about
competition options
Part 1 Visual Impairment, Deafblindness, and Physcial
Activity
Chapter 1
Impact of Vision Loss
Chapter 2
Overview
Visual Impairment and Deafblindness: An
Chapter 3
Providing Physical Education to Students
with Visual Impairments or Deafblindness
Part 2 Modifications and Adaptations for Teaching
Physcial Activities
Chapter 4
Needs
Modifying Instruction to Meet Students‘
Chapter 5
Principles of Adapting Games, Sports, and
Related Activities
Part 3
Teaching Physical Skills throughout the Lifespan
Chapter 6
Anthony
Early Childhood Development by Tanni
Chapter 7
Elementary Education Programming
Chapter 8
Physical Education and Sports Activities in
Middle School, High School, and Adulthood
Chapter 9
Organized Sports for Children and Adults
with Visual Impairments: Goalball and Beep Baseball
Chapter 10 Recreational Activities and Their
Adaptations: Toward a Positive Quality of Life
Chapter 11
Fitness: A Lifelong Pursuit
Chapter 12
Interest
Sports and Related Organizations of Special
The ideal manual for physical educators, adapted physical
education specialists, teachers of students with visual
impairments, orientation and mobility specialists,
occupational and recreational therapists, and anyone else
interested in sports and recreation for persons who are
visually impaired or deafblind.
Print
$49.95 ASCII Download $34.95
e-book: $34.05
Online Subscription: $30.00
Order Today! 1-800-232-3044 www.afb.org/store
Colorado TVIs in West Africa
By Nancy Knight
Editor’s Note: TVIs Cheryl Leidich and Nancy Knight
traveled with Operation Classroom in June to
Sierra Leone, West Africa, visiting schools for
the blind and meeting professionals in the
area of blindness. This article was submitted
by Nancy Knight. We thank both Nancy and
Cheryl for their contributions to these
children.
This was our third trip to Sierra Leone - Salone, as our
group leaders affectionately call it. This little country,
about the size of S. Carolina, is still recovering from a war
during the 1990s that set the country and their people
back about 50 years. In spite of the devastation, the 6
schools for the blind are enrolling students and trying to
provide some kind of programming.
Kids in Salone, as in many African countries, experience
loss of vision due to vitamin A deficiency, River Blindness,
or measles. Families overburdened with demands of life in
remote villages send their VI kids to live at a school for
the blind to learn Braille and receive educations. The
children stay at their schools from late September to the
end of June. The schools are to receive funding from the
government to cover food and teacher salaries. Funding
has been sporadic, however, and the schools have now
gone for months without any support. Electricity is just a
dream for most of the schools; light is provided by oil
lamps or not at all. The two schools for the blind in the
capital city of Freetown do have generators, which give
them the ability to have power and computer access more
regularly.
Water is provided by a well at each of the schools. The
girls have the primary responsibility of carrying large
buckets of water (on their heads, of course) to the
cooking huts each day where one meal of rice, beans, and
some type of sauce is prepared.
What would you provide or try to accomplish at a school
in a third-world country where no materials exist and
living quarters are grimy and cramped?
Koinadugu District, northern Sierra Leone: we’ve put an
emphasis on building relationships and have learned to
involve the teachers/administrators in the process of
deciding the needs for their schools. We’ve worked with
the Kabala School for the Blind assisting with medical and
nutritional needs as well as providing equipment for the
students and teachers. Cheryl, in 2012, arranged for five
children to have cataract surgery and traveled with the
kids to the eye hospital to help take care of them postsurgery. Those kids were so happy to see her this year;
they’ll be forever changed because of her careful attention
to them last summer.
Basic teaching materials and Braille books have been
delivered and received with enthusiasm at the Kabala
school and we are happy to report that 17 braille writers
are in their inventory, many of which were purchased or
donated by TVIs in Colorado along with numerous
folding canes! A beautiful dormitory has been
completed for the students - a wonderful change from
three years ago where children were sharing filthy
mattresses with no mosquito nets.
In addition to working in Kabala this summer, we
traveled to all of the schools meeting with
administrators, teachers, and students at each one. Our
informal assessment of the services in the country is
being compiled and distributed to Sierra Leone’s various
commissioners and services providers who assist in
planning and funding for needs of the blind in Sierra
Leone. We are hoping that this input will help build
interest and concern for several very desperate schools
that exist in remote ar- eas of the country.
We’re always so enriched by the enthusiasm of the blind
children of Sierra Leone and the hope they say we’ve
brought them with each visit to Kabala. Their love has
enriched our lives; we are forever changed.
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The use of Self-Efficacy Instruments: A tool to help in
Classroom Design
By Kathleen M. Farrand
Tiffany A. Wild
The Ohio State University
Self-Efficacy is the belief that one can succeed in
performing a particular behavior (Bandura, 1977). The
beliefs that students possess can help regulate their
learning and master academic tasks. Teachers can use
this information to determine students’ aspirations,
motivations, and interests in schoolwork related to
particular subjects. If a student has a high level of
efficacy in a specific subject, the student’s performance
may be improved and may influence future career choices
(Pajares, 1997).
In this article, we will examine the self-efficacy levels
of students with visual impairments that attended a camp
focused on learning about biodiversity and ecosystems.
We will use this information to help teachers better
understand how determining efficacy of their students is
valuable in planning classroom experiences.
Eleven students, all of whom had visual impairments,
participated in this research study. These students all
signed up to attend a residential camp with a focus on
biodiversity and ecosystems. There were eight boys and
three girls enrolled in the camp. The students ranged in
age from 14 to 18 and were in grades 8 through 12.
Prior to participation in camp and at the end of
instruction, all students were asked to take the MorgonJinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES). This tool asks
students to respond to a series of questions on a 4-point
Likert Scale (Jinks & Morgan, 1996). Students marked
boxes that contained statements of agreement (4=really
agree, 3=kind of agree, 2=kind of disagree, and 1=really
disagree) on a scale related to each of the efficacy
statements. This validated instrument was developed by
Jinks and Morgan to identify self-efficacy in the areas of
technology, math, and science. Students took this survey
scale in the computer lab at the school in which the
instruction for the camp took place. Survey Monkey online
software was used and both authors made sure the
instrument was accessible for all students.
During camp, the students participated in activities
that allowed them to explore the concepts of biodiversity
and ecosystems. The first day, students dissected owl
pellets, talked about the food web, and started to research
animals that were endangered. The next three days were
full of field trips. Students visited The Wilds, The
Columbus Zoo, Ohio Wildlife Center, and The Ohio State
University Wetlands. Each field trip site provided handson learning for the students and expert discussions on
issues in biodiversity and ecology. The last day, they
presented their online research about the animals they
began studying on the first day.
The authors compared the answers from the survey
before and after camp to determine if a change in efficacy
was made. The survey results were looked at in terms of
three themes - effort items, talent items, and context
items. These themes were identified based on the
content of the questions the students were asked using
the MJSES. The mean scores for each question were
calculated according to theme for the pre-survey results
and the post-survey results, as well as the overall mean
scores for the three themes. The means were calculated
by adding the sums of the answer responses using the
number that corresponded with the answer choices from
the Likert scale. The sum for each question was then
divided by the total number of students that answered
each question. Then, the authors looked to see if the
mean scores for each question increased, decreased, or
stayed the same.
Table 1 reports the results from the MJSES self-efficacy
instrument that shows the students’ self-efficacy increased
in all three theme areas over the one-week camp. Table 2
displays the pre-survey and post-survey results for each
item on the survey. There was an increase in self-efficacy
mean scores for 3 out of the 4 questions and a decrease
in one self-efficacy mean score. Table 3 reports the
results from the pre-survey and post-survey results for the
talent items. The mean results show an increase in selfefficacy mean scores for 8 out of the 13 questions, a
decrease in self-efficacy mean scores for 4 questions, and
the self-efficacy mean score stayed the same on 1
question. Table 4 reports the pre-survey and post-survey
results for the context items. Seven out of the 13 selfefficacy mean scores increased, 2 self-efficacy scores
decreased, and 4 self-efficacy mean scores stayed the
same.
Table 1
Self-Efficacy Scores on the MJSES by Subscale
Items
Group
Students Effort
Talent
Context
Pre-
11
Items
Items
Items
Mean
Mean
Mean
2.68
3.18
2.44
survey
Post-
11
2.87
3.26
2.52
Survey
Table 2
Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES)
Effort Items
Effort Items
Pre Survey
Results
Post Survey
Results
Increase,
Decrease,
or Stayed
the same
I worked
hard in
school.
3.7
(Skipped
question =
1 student)
3.64
Decrease
1.64
2
Increase
Most of my
classmates
work harder
on their
homework
that I do.
I always get
good grades
when I try
hard.
3.64
3.73
Increase
I usually do
not get
good grades
in math
because it is
too hard.
1.73
2.09
Increase
Table 3
Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES)
Talent Items
Talent Items Pre-Survey Post Survey
Increase,
Results
Results
Decrease,
or Stayed
the same
I could get
the best
grades in
3.6
(Skipped
question= 1
3.64
Increase
school if I
student)
tried hard
enough.
I am a good
3.55
science
student.
Sometimes I
3.1
think an
(Skipped
assignment question= 1
is easy when
student)
the other
kids in class
think it is
hard.
I am a good
3.55
social
studies
student.
I am one of
2.91
the best
students in
my class.
My teacher
3.82
thinks I am
smart.
I am a good
1.82
math
student.
My
2.18
3.27
Decrease
2.73
Decrease
3.73
Increase
3.27
Increase
3.64
Decrease
2.64
Increase
2.18
Stayed the
classmates
usually get
better
grades than
I do.
I usually
understand
my
homework
assignments.
I am a good
reading
student.
It is not hard
for me to
get good
grades in
school.
I am smart.
When the
teacher asks
a question I
usually know
the answer
even if the
other kids
don’t.
same
3.45
3.73
Increase
3.64
3.82
Increase
3.18
3.27
Increase
3.73
2.82
3.45
3.0
Decrease
Increase
Table 4
Morgan-Jinks Student Efficacy Scale (MJSES)
Context Items
Context
Pre Survey Post Survey Decrease,
Items
Results
Results
Increase, or
Stayed the
Same
Most of my
classmates
like to do
math
because it is
easy.
I would get
better
grades if my
teacher
liked me
better.
I will
graduate
from high
school.
I go to a
good
school.
Adults who
have good
jobs
1.73
1.91
Increase
1.55
1.45
Decrease
4
4
Stayed the
same
3.45
3.36
Decrease
3.64
3.64
Stayed the
same
probably
were good
students
when they
were kids.
When I am
old enough,
I will go to
college.
No one
cares if I do
well in
school.
It is
important to
go to high
school.
What I learn
in school is
not
important.
It does not
matter if I
do well in
school.
Kids who
get better
grades then
I do get
4
4
Stayed the
same
1.09
1.36
Increase
4
4
Stayed the
same
1.18
1.27
Increase
1.18
1.27
Increase
1.55
1.73
Increase
more help
from their
teacher
than I do.
I will quit
school as
soon as I
can.
Teachers
like kids
even if they
do not
always get
good
grades.
1.09
1.45
Increase
3.3
(Skipped
question= 1
student)
3.36
Increase
The purpose of this project was to examine the selfefficacy levels of students with visual impairments prior to
participation and after participation in a camp about
biodiversity and ecosystems to determine if self-efficacy
levels changed as a result of participation. The survey
results of the present study suggest that the biodiversity
and ecosystems science camp increased the students’ selfefficacy levels in the three theme areas of talent, effort,
and context, as well as in relation to science, technology,
and math.
The tool used in this project can be beneficial to
teachers. Teachers can use it to identify student selfefficacy levels and can be valuable in planning classroom
experiences. In addition, teachers can do a pre and post
assessment with this tool to determine if the instruction
was successful in terms of the goals set for instruction. In
this case, the camp appeared to be successful in
increasing students’ self-efficacy. The mixture of field
trips, discussions, research, and hands-on learning
activities from the camp suggest that the various lessons
led to an increase in student self-efficacy.
This is just one example of another tool that can
quickly be used by teachers in the classroom in order to
learn more about their students. By examining students’
talents, effort levels, and contexts of learning, a teacher
can tailor lessons for students that would increase these
areas or play upon the strengths of the students in the
classroom.
Bibliography
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying
theory of behavioral change.
Jinks, J. & Morgan, V. (1996). Students’ sense of
academic efficacy and achievement in
science: A useful new direction for research regarding
scientific literacy? Electronic Journal of Science
Education, 1(2). Psychological Review, 84(2), 191215.
Pajares, F. (1997). Current directions in self-efficacy
research. In M. Maehr & P. R.Pintrich (Eds.),
Advances in Motivation and Achievement, (Vol. 10,
149), Greenwich, Ct:
JAI Press.
Your Vote Matters!
The 2013 CEC Division on Visual Impairments is going on
now. You should have received an email with an
individualized link to cast your vote. Voting takes less
than 5 minutes but strengthens the viability of the
organization.
If you have not received an email (or postcard if we do
not have your email), then please contact Derrick Smith
at derrick.smith@uah.edu.
New!
Tactile Tangrams
The materials and activities presented in APH’s Tactile
Tangrams make this timeless and popular puzzle
accessible to students and adults with visual impairments
and blindness.
The use of tangram puzzles encourages development and
reinforcement of many educational and recreational skills.
A Few Skills Addressed:





Visual/tactile discrimination
Visual/tactile memory
Visual/tactile spatial orientation
Parts of a whole understanding
Recreational/leisure skills
http://shop.aph.org
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
800.223.1839
info@aph.org
www.aph.org
CANnect, a Portal to Accessible Online Education
and Resources
By Rachel Rosenbaum
CANnect is a consortium of schools or agencies providing
services to persons who are blind who have also
embraced the concept of online/distance education. They
have collaborated in order to learn from each other, share
best practices, and reduce duplication. Our first executive
director led us in a strategic planning effort to mutually
agree on a mission and vision, which we determined to be
as follows:
Mission Statement
To create leading edge, user-friendly access to usable
online educational opportunities, learning resources and
life skills training for blind and visually impaired people,
professionals and families.
CANnect aims to be an aggregator, a one stop shopping
place (like Orbitz, Travelocity, Kayak) for persons who are
blind or visually impaired (BVI) and their teachers and
families to go to locate accessible and usable online
courses and other resources. We are eager to become
acquainted with educators or rehabilitation professionals
who share our passion for providing online access to
information and accessible resources, which we hope they
will post on the CANnect Portal: Course Catalogue.
CANnect, collaborating with 2 universities, has been the
recipient of 2 federal grants. One grant is with Purdue
University, responding to an RFP from the U.S.
Department of Education called Stepping Stones; we
proposed validating and testing accessible Math output
tools for online math functions. To minimize discussion,
the team selected the textbook already in use at the
Washington State School for the Blind. This was for the
practical reason that we know it qualifies for the Core
Curriculum standards required by the state of Washington
and to focus on specific math functions known to be
difficult for a child who is blind.
This project has gone well and has just been completed
but we asked for a one year unpaid extension of the two
year grant to finish writing reports and publishing in
special education Journals to publicize our findings. The
entire textbook was not converted into an accessible
online format. This was a "proof of concept" grant
demonstrating that blind students are able to learn and
understand these difficult math functions when taught
online. The rest of the textbook will not be difficult to
convert to an accessible online course using the same
accessible math tools developed by Dave Schleppenbach
and his team at gh, his company, in Lafayette Indiana.
The blind youngsters at 3 participating schools,
Washington, Indiana, and Maryland, have been testing the
modules as they are developed.
The second grant is from the National Science Foundation
(NSF). The Principal investigator for this grant is Dr.
Derrick Smith from the University of Alabama, Huntsville
and his colleague, Dr. Erika Slate-Young. We had a delay
in getting this one off the ground but finally on August
16th, 2012, it was approved and funded. This grant, at
the request of NSF, is to study the effectiveness of
teaching/learning math online. Unbelievably, when I
inquired of Professor Chris Dede at Harvard (a Guru of
Online Education) and of Dr. Robert Tinker, who designed
Virtual High School several years ago with a $15 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Education, they both
said no research had been done on the effectiveness of
teaching math online.
CANnect was also able to obtain grant funds to create our
Portal Course Catalogue. Now the task is to get our
members to load the Portal with their accessible online
courses. We have made some progress and some courses
are posted.
 The Hadley School for the Blind’s library of 112
accessible online courses;
 The Baruch College City University of New York
Computer Center for Visually Impaired People
accessible online courses; has a course on Voiceover
and the iPad
 E.A.S.I. (Equal Access to Software and Information)
catalogue;
 The Carroll Center for the Blind course catalogue;
and
 The Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB)
popular video clips and online courses.
CANnect is also in the process of securing the following:
 The UK-based Royal National Institute for blind
people (RNIB) online training videos;
 The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
webinars;
 The Texas School for the Blind accessible online
courses and webinars; and
 CNIB (the Canadian Institute for the Blind) online
courses targeted to seniors in rural areas
We look forward to the day when harried parents and
teachers can come to the CANnect portal and find in one
search all meaningful accessible online courses that fill the
needs of their children/students who are blind and we
invite you to create such courses to post on our CANnect
Portal: Course Catalogue.
Reach Out and Teach
Helping Your Child Who is Visually Impaired Learn and
Grow
Kay Alicyn Ferrell
Susan J. Spungin, Consulting Editor
The empowering guide that taught parents and teachers
how to promote the development of young children with
visual and multiple impairments has been updated and
reconceptualized to reflect today’s families’ concerns and
the latest research findings on learning in infancy and
early childhood. New content focuses on learning at
different developmental stages, expanded strategies to
promote children’s skills, and preparation for early
intervention, preschool, kindergarten and beyond.
New and expanded information on
 The role of the brain in vision and the role of brain
plasticity in learning
 The implications of Project PRISM, to date the only
federally funded longitudinal study of young children
who are visually impaired
 Natural environments in early intervention
 The interdependence of different developmental
domains
 IDEA as it applies to early intervention, IEPs, and the
transition to elementary school
 Conditions that cause visual impairment
 The vision exam and vision tests for infants
 Skills children with visual impairments need to
succeed in preschool and in kindergarten
 Explanations of common terms and glossary
 Considerations about assistive technology and other
tools
Table of Contents
Part I: MEETING YOUR BABY
 Chapter 1: Your Child is Visually Impaired: What
Now?
 Chapter 2: Your Child’s Vision
 Chapter 3: Getting Started: How You Can Help Your
Baby Learn
 Chapter 4: Early Intervention: Why Is It Important?
Part II: FOCUS ON LEARNING
 Chapter 5: Your First Year Together: Emerging Skills
(Birth to 12 Months)
 Chapter 6: Life With Your Toddler: Practicing
Beginning Skills (9-30 Months)
 Chapter 7: Your Preschooler and You: Reinforcing
Development (24-48 Months)
 Chapter 8: Almost Time for School: Focusing on
Readiness (48-60 Months)
 Chapter 9: Kindergarten and Beyond: What to Expect
EPILOGUE: The Wisdom of Friends and Families
GLOSSARY
RESOURCES
Available in May 2011!
www.afb.org/store
1-800-232-3044
AFB PRESS
American Foundation for the Blind
The building of transformational leadership for the field of
sensory disabilities:
The National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities
Brooke C. Smith, PhD, COMS and Audrey J. Smith, PhD
Salus University
bsmith@salus.edu
Doctoral programs constitute a tremendous impact on any
field relative to scholarship, research and leadership,
learned skills heavily influenced by mentors, schooling,
and experience. Over a decade ago, a group of university
leaders in the field of blindness and visual impairment met
to express concern and share ideas and strategies to
address the increasing shortage of professionals trained at
the doctoral level, those destined to continue carrying the
leadership torch into the future. Their efforts led to a U.S.
Department of Education and Office of Special Education
Programs (OSEP) initiative, resulting in a multi-year
funded initiative to support the preparation of leadership
personnel in the education of students with visual
impairments, titled the National Center for Leadership in
Visual Impairment, directed by Kathleen M. Huebner
(Salus University). Specifically, emphasis was placed on
the following areas of interest: higher education teaching;
research; public policy; administration at national, state
and/or local levels; curriculum development; and
supervision. A leadership consortium of 14 universities, 15
public advisory council members, 19 Doctoral Fellows, and
OSEP administration was formed and resulted in the
eventual graduation of 17 Doctoral Fellows, with two
Fellows at dissertation phase.
Building on the success of this project, in 2010 the U.S.
Department of Education OSEP sponsored an additional
multi-year Cooperative Agreement - the National
Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disability (NLCSD). This
consortium expanded to include the fields of
deafness/hard of hearing and deafblindness to address the
continued need for faculty trained in research in sensory
disabilities. Given the ongoing shortage of faculty at
institutes of higher education who have specialization in
the education of children with sensory disabilities (Antia,
Johnson, Lenihan & Bebedict, 2009; Andrews & Covell,
2007; Ambrose-Zaken & Bozemen, 2010), NLCSD has
continued to increase both the quantity and quality of
future leaders in the fields of sensory disabilities.
Numerous doctoral students have traditionally been
trained in a one-university, one-department model
(Walker, Golde, Jones, Bueschel, and Hutchings, 2008).
This is especially true in low incidence sensory disabilities
where only one full-time professor for an entire program is
commonplace. An unintended and possibly negative
consequence is students receiving instruction and
feedback from a limited number of experts in the field; in
essence, students are limited to the silo in which they are
matriculated. Additionally, students in low incidence
programs may not partake in a cohort of same discipline
peers from which to bounce ideas and gather support.
A variety of informal strategies exist for doctoral students
in low incidence programs to increase their exposure to
professionals and doctoral students in their respective
disciplines (e.g., networking at regional and national
conferences). NLCSD has moved a step further to create a
formal community of learners to support students
throughout their doctoral careers through a value added
national Enrichment Program and biannual
interdisciplinary meetings (see Enrichment Program
below). This effort is housed under the umbrella of
NLCSD, whose mission is to increase, through specialized
doctoral training, the number and quality of leadership
personnel in higher education and research to enhance
outcomes for infants, children and youth who have
sensory and/or multiple disabilities (deafness/hard of
hearing, blindness/low vision, and deafblindness), their
families, and their service providers. This is enhanced by
the creation of an expanded community of learners,
drawing upon a pool of experts from all facets of the
sensory disability community.
Twenty-seven NLCSD Fellows were admitted to both their
home universities and to NLCSD as first year doctoral
students. Students were provided full time tuition support
and a living stipend for four years of study.
The Consortium
Through NLCSD, Fellows are supported by a wide
community comprised of peers, as well as university
faculty and leaders from national agencies and
organizations. The Consortium includes 23 universities
with 31 doctoral programs in sensory disabilities.
Consortium faculty participates in the development of the
Enrichment Program content as well as leads its learning
modules. Consortium faculty committees were established
to write admission guidelines, select Fellows, plan national
meeting content, and provide decision making for
programmatic initiatives.
Building Transformational Leadership 5
Table 1
Consortium by Institution, Sensory Disability Area and
Matriculated Fellow
Institution
Sensory
Disability
Area
Matricul
ated
Fellow
Boston College
DB
1
California State
University, Los Angeles
and University of
B/VI
2
California, Los Angeles
(joint degree program)
B/VI
1
B/VI
1
D/HH
1
D/HH
0
B/VI
1
D/HH
1
B/VI
1
D/HH
2
Northern Illinois
University
B/VI
0
B/VI
1
The Ohio State
University
D/HH
0
D/HH
0
DB
0
B/VI
2
Teachers College,
Columbia University
DB
2
D/HH
1
Texas Tech University
B/VI
0
D/HH
2
B/VI
1
Florida State University
George Mason
University
Georgia State University
Illinois State University
Michigan State
University
Portland State
University
University of Alabama,
Birmingham
University of Arizona
University of Minnesota
University of California,
Berkeley / San
Francisco State
University (joint degree
program)
University of North
Carolina, Greensboro
University of Northern
Colorado
D/HH
1
D/HH
2
DB
0
B/VI
2
B/VI
0
DB
0
D/HH
1
B/VI
1
D/HH
1
B/VI
0
27
University of Pittsburgh
University of Utah
Vanderbilt University
Washington University,
St. Louis
Western Michigan
University
Total
Building Transformational Leadership 6
The Fellows
The heart of the project is its Fellows. Eleven Fellows
focus their studies on deafness/hard of hearing (D/HH),
four specialize in deafblindness (DB), and 12 specialize in
blindness/visual impairment (B/VI). Two cohorts of
Fellows are currently in their third and fourth years of
their respective doctoral programs. In the summer of
2013, one Fellow graduated and is currently in a faculty
position. For more detailed information, including the
Fellow and Consortium lists, please refer to the following
website: http://www.salus.edu/nlcsd/index.html
Select Fellows’ Dissertation Topics
 Assistive technology
 Early intervention
 Identification of children with sensory disabilities
 Language acquisition
 Literacy
 Math education
 Orientation and mobility
 Teacher preparation
 Teacher support and educational teaming
 Transition
The Public Advisory Council
The Public Advisory Council (PAC) constitutes another
critical component of the NLCSD community of learners.
It is comprised of national agencies focusing on policy,
advocacy, parents and families, consumers, and educators
of individuals with sensory disabilities. PAC members
provide support to Fellows by sitting on their NLCSD
committees, providing feedback on their research, and
sharing their wealth of knowledge
Building Transformational Leadership 7
about sensory disability policy and the educational needs
of children, their families, and their service providers.
Table 2
Public Advisory Council (PAC) Members
Agency
Sensory
Disability Area
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the D/HH
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
American Council of the Blind
B/VI
American Foundation for the Blind
B/VI
American Printing House for the Blind
B/VI
American Society for Deaf Children
D/HH
Association of College Educators of the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
D/HH
Association of State Education Consultants
for the Visually Impaired
Association for Education and
Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually
Impaired
Council on Education for the Deaf
Conference of Educational Administrators
of Schools and Programs for the Deaf
Council for Exceptional Children
B/VI
B/VI
D/HH
D/HH
General
D/HH
Deaf Education Consultants in State
Agencies
Gallaudet University
Hands and Voices
Helen Keller Fellows
Helen Keller National Center
Higher Education Consortium for Special
Education
National Association of State Directors of
Special Education
National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
D/HH
D/HH
DB
DB
General
General
DB
DB
B/VI
B/VI
National Family Association for Deaf-Blind B/VI
National Federation of the Blind
Council of Schools for the Blind
National Organization of Parents of Blind
Children
National Association for Parents of
Children with Visual Impairments
Building Transformational Leadership 8
OSEP & The Leadership Team
B/VI
With Glinda Hill as Project Officer, OSEP and the
Leadership Team provide project support and leadership.
The Leadership Team includes John Killoran
(Deafblindness Liaison, Western Oregon University),
Heather Hayes (Deafness/Hard of Hearing Liaison,
Washington University, St. Louis), Audrey J. Smith and
Brooke C. Smith (Project Co-Directors, Salus University),
with Salus University serving as the project base and fiscal
agent. A primary function of the Leadership Team is to
ensure that NLCSD maintains continuous progress toward
its goals.
Enrichment Program
The Enrichment Program is two-pronged: 1) a
technologically mediated online Enrichment Course, and 2)
face-to-face meetings. Created by a committee of
Consortium faculty and chaired by Deborah Hatton
(Vanderbilt University), the Enrichment Course is
Building Transformational Leadership 9
taught primarily by faculty Consortium members with the
addition of a variety of non-Consortium content experts.
Each year has a specific focus (see Figure 4).
Enrichment Program
 Year 1: Research Methodologies in Sensory
Disabilities
 Year 2: Development of a Research Topic
 Year 3: Grantsmanship
Year 4: The Professoriate
In addition to their home university doctoral programs, the
Fellows enjoy the unique benefits of this effort and are
provided the opportunity to learn about research, funding
and grant writing, policy, legislation, and professional
development in a sensory disability context. This
nationwide online course affords the Fellows multiple
opportunities to learn from experts in other sensory
disability areas (see Table 3). This creates an integral
part of a community of learners in which feedback is both
given and received by peers and expert faculty as part of
the doctoral process.
Table 3
Faculty-led Enrichment Program Sessions by Faculty
Sensory Disability Area Specialization
B/VI
DB
D/HH Total Faculty
Faculty Faculty Faculty (Unduplicated
by Year)
Year 1 7
5
4
16
Year 2 3
1
6
10
Year 3 5
2
3
10
Year 4 N/A: In Year 4 Fellows work with their
NLCSD Committees and others, as assigned
Building Transformational Leadership 10
The second component of the Enrichment Program
focuses on face-to-face opportunities: annual meetings
with the NLCSD Community (Fellows, Consortium faculty,
PAC, OSEP and Leadership Team); annual attendance at
an education and/or disability related conference in
conjunction with a Fellows’ meeting; and support to
attend a professional conference of their own selection.
Throughout these face-to-face sessions, Fellows have
multiple and repeated opportunities for informal
networking with their peers, faculty, and PAC members.
Structured sessions have included area such as
presentations on their research topics with time for
formative feedback from both policy and research
perspectives, mock job interview sessions with faculty,
and workshops on strengthening the content and form of
their curricula vitae.
Strengths of the Model
Additional to the above-discussed opportunities, Fellows
were asked to reflect upon their thoughts about the
NLCSD model of doctoral education. Regarding
collaboration between the fields of sensory disabilities, one
Fellow stated:
“The strongest characteristic of NLCSD is the lifelong
connections that have been forged, within and between
the communities of professionals in deafness, blindness,
and deaf-blindness. I would expect to see increased
collaboration throughout our fields in years to come, as a
direct result of the NLCSD project.”
Another Fellow commented on the networking
opportunities both with Fellows and faculty members at
universities outside of the Fellow’s home institution:
“The NLCSD Enrichment program has provided the Fellows
with unique opportunities to connect with other graduate
students working in the field of low-incidence disabilities
and with leaders in our fields. This opportunity to learn
Building Transformational Leadership 11
alongside other PhD students, future colleagues in the
field of low-incidence disabilities, has been an amazing
experience.”
The Enrichment Program’s focus on research in sensory
disabilities was another cited strength of the model:
“While Ph.D. programs require coursework in some type of
research methods at some point in the process, the
NLCSD fellowship gave me a jump-start by introducing
and emphasizing quality indicators for research
methodology from the very beginning. My coursework
was also enhanced in that the NLCSD units were
presented by researchers in sensory disabilities who were
able to relate the methodologies directly to questions in
the field.”
Finally, financial and community support were seen as key
factors for the project’s success:
“Without this support, I'm not sure I would have taken
this road of scholarship - this opportunity also encourages
me to give back to the field and support others in taking a
similar path. The cohort model and twice yearly meetings
have been very successful in connecting us with
colleagues, and it is a privilege that we have
Building Transformational Leadership 12
been so well supported financially in order to carry out
these activities. The support the model provides certainly
takes a lot of stress off of having to constantly look for
funding to attend enrichment activities that are otherwise
unavailable at some of our universities.”
Conclusion
Leadership is, in and of itself, value neutral. However, it
still reflects one’s training, role models and mentors. The
unprecedented national effort reflected in NLCSD’s multiuniversity Consortium and Public Advisory Council coupled
with its broad-based Enrichment Program, sponsored
tuition, and living stipend has afforded our future leaders
a unique, interdisciplinary learning platform from which to
spring forward into their future careers.
Through the various mechanisms of NLCSD, these future
leaders in sensory disabilities joined multiple opportunities
to engage, collaborate, and strengthen their collective
knowledge base. Projected outcomes include an increase
in the entire community of learners’ research base, which
strengthens the process, collaboration, and efficiency with
which research informs practice in relation to teacher
preparation. This work, in turn, embodies both direct and
indirect benefits toward enhancing the lives of students
with sensory disabilities - the most important recipients of
the Consortium’s efforts.
References
Ambrose-Zaken, G., & Bozeman, L. (2010). Profile of
personnel preparation programsand their faculty in
blindness and visual impairment. Journal of Visual
Impairment & Blindness, 104(3), 148–169.
Andrews, J. F. & Covell, J, A. (2006/07). Preparing future
teachers and doctoral-level
learners in deaf education: Meeting the challenge.
American Annals of the Deaf, 151, 464–475.
Antia, S.D., Johnson, H., Lenihan, S., & Benedict, K.
(February, 2009). Doctoral
preparation in education of DHH students: Needs,
concerns, and the way ahead. Paper presented at
the Association of College Education-Deaf/Hard of
Hearing, New Orleans, LA.
Walker, G. E., Golde, C. M., Jones, L., Bueschel, A. C., &
Hutchings, P. (2008). The formation of scholars:
Rethinking doctoral education for the twenty-first
century. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass.
AFBLC 2014
YOUR BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE
AFB LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
Feburary 27 – March 1, 2014
Brooklyn Bridge Marriott, NYC
www.afb.org/afblc
For exhibit, advertising, or sponsorship information,
contact:
Amanda Kolling at akolling@afb.net
American Foundation for the Blind
Expanding possibilities for people with vision loss
How to Create and Maintain a Professional Online
Presence
Yue-Ting Siu, TVI and Doctoral Student
University of San Francisco at Berkley
ysiu@berkeley.edu
Twitter: @TVI_ting
Author’s Note: Information from this article was initially
presented to Fellows and faculty associated with the
National Leadership Consortium for Sensory Disabilities
(NLCSD) during a semi-annual meeting in Washington,
D.C., in July 2013.
Whenever questions about technology are posed to a
mixed group of educators, chances are the majority of
eyes glaze over or widen with anxiety. Asking a more
specific question such as, “how many people feel
overwhelmed by the number of technologies out there?”
can guarantee near total audience response. While this
segue is effective in engaging an audience immediately, it
also reflects the prevalence of uncertainty most educators
experience when tasked with leveraging technology to
their advantage. From 1999 to 2009, the National Center
for Educational Statistics reported a major change in
technology used for communication from no use to a
majority (59%) of teachers using email or a listserv to
communicate with parents (Gray, Thomas, & Lewis, 2010;
Smerdon et al., 2000). Technology has quickly and
drastically changed how educators teach and
communicate with parents and students, and how
colleagues relate in the professional realm. With so many
options, how can one be expected to keep up with each
learning curve technology throws our way? More
importantly, how does one create and maintain a visible
professional persona to communicate with potential
stakeholders?
This article focuses on the use of technology to
exchange information and connect with people online in a
collegial environment. Also known as social networking,
this medium is fairly new to many professionals who are
used to face-to-face communication and can be daunting
to
the uninformed consumer. However, armed with the right
frame of mind and an understanding of how different tools
work, social networking can be an easy and effective part
of any professional’s arsenal with great returns for
minimal effort.
Determine Your Objectives: “What Can eProfessionalism do for me?”
When considering all the options available for building
up a professional online presence, it is important to
identify what the profile will accomplish. Some reasons
might include:




Publicizing one’s resume or curriculum vitae.
Disseminating information.
Keeping abreast of new information.
Providing or partaking in ongoing professional
development activities.
 Networking with colleagues
Determine One’s Own Capabilities
This is the crux in determining how you can
reasonably leverage social media professionally. Coming to
terms with what one’s own skills and computer expertise
are can have a tremendous effect on how quickly any tool
can start working for or against the user. Likewise,
understanding the time commitment each tool requires to
cull or disseminate desired information could render one’s
workflow more or less efficient.
Know Your Audience
Just as knowing the audience allows a lecturer to
adjust how he or she presents, understanding who you
want to connect with online can help determine what
information to publicize, what tool(s) or platform(s) to
use, and how to present the information. For example, if
the objective were to connect with other teachers about
using iPads with students who were visually impaired, it
would be reasonable to focus on posting information
related to that subject and to find where other teachers
were discussing this topic online. Most importantly and
particularly for professionals in the field of visual
impairment, accessibility of nonvisual access to
information must be prioritized in order to maintain equal
and inclusive digital environments. Indicators of
professional and responsible online behavior include:
 Use of headings (styles) formatting in all posted Word
documents
 Provision of alt text, image description, video
description, and/or captions for non-text information
 Preferential use of tools that are universally designed
for inclusion. This consideration also reflects how well
you know your audience. For example, although
many professionals at large use the website LinkedIn,
many professionals who are blind do not because the
website is not easily accessible. Therefore, LinkedIn is
not the primary platform/tool for connecting with
blind colleagues.
Listservs, Social Networking, Profiles,
Platforms….What?!
While the following list is nowhere near
comprehensive, it attempts to introduce different types of
tools to inform the potential consumer.
1. Personal websites (blogs, newsletters). This
type of platform usually consists of a unique URL, or
web address, that is solely dedicated to dissemination
of one’s own collection of information. It can be very
comprehensive, but is also the most time-consuming
to maintain and requires the most technical skill.
Reaching people through a
personal website is also dependent on cultivating
subscribers who know of you and your website.
2. Online profiles on a standard platform
(Facebook, LinkedIn, Edmodo, Myefolio). These
tools are more user-friendly for the average educator,
because it allows the user to build a portfolio by filling
in information on a preset form. The portfolio (or
profile) may be used to present one’s own
information as a resume, as well as connect with
others. Many special interest “groups” exist on these
platforms and serve as virtual meeting rooms for
people to exchange information on a particular topic.
It is useful to know which platform your audience
primarily uses to find the common denominator for
communication.
News feeds (listservs, Twitter). Listservs are akin to
subscribing to a dynamic community newsletter that
arrives regularly via email. Members’ posts are shared with
everyone on the listserv and it is easy to disseminate one’s
own information, or keep up with what others share.
Twitter works similarly, although at a much faster rate,
and allows for connection with an exponentially larger
network. These platforms are very low maintenance and
allow the user to cultivate what information sources to
exchange.
The breadth and selection of information depends on what
the user chooses to subscribe to, and one’s own profile is
limited to what is shared rather than presented as a
portfolio.
Wrap-Up
Although little academic literature exists that attests
to the advantages of using social media professionally, the
multitude of online information, resources, and
communities make it
clear that technology is drastically changing the way
people manage their lives personally and professionally
(O’Murchu, Breslin, & Decker, 2004). The information from
this article is based on the author’s personal experiences
with using social media professionally, is not
comprehensive, and should not be considered the ultimate
authority on this topic. Hopefully, some of these tools may
effectively increase one’s visibility in the field, help the
busy professional stay current on trends and issues, and
streamline the flow of information. More information is
available from a variety of resources such as books (Ruh,
2013) and, of course, online.
References
Gray, L., Thomas, N., & Lewis, L. (2010). Teachers’ Use of
Educational Technology in U.S. Public Schools: 2009
(NCES 2010-040). National Center for Education
Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S.
Department of Education. Washington, DC.
O’Murchu, I., Breslin, J. G., & Decker, S. (2004). Online
Social and Business Networking Communities. In ECAI
Workshop on Application of Semantic Web
Technologies to Web Communities (Vol. 107).
Retrieved from
http://www.deri.ie/fileadmin/documents/DERI-TR2004-08-11.pdf
Ruh, D. (2013). Find Your Voice using Social Media.:
Follow your Passion and Change the World using
Social Media. CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform.
Smerdon, B., Cronen, S., Lanahan, L., Anderson, J.,
Iannotti, N., & Angeles, J. (2000). Teachers’ Tools for
the 21st Century: A Report on Teachers’ Use of
Technology (NCES 2000-102). National Center for
Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences,
U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.
NLCSD
National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities
Enhancing Outcomes For…
Infants, children and youth who have sensory and/or
multiple disabilities (deafness/hard of hearing,
blindness/low vision, and deafblindness), their families and
their service providers.
NLCSD is proud to work with 27 Fellows and 24
universities in order to increase, through specialized
doctoral training, the number and quality of leadership
personnel in higher education and research.
SALUS UNIVERSITY
College of Education and Rehabilitation
The National Leadership Consortium in Sensory
Disabilities is a Collaborative Agreement awarded to Salus
University and is funded by the U.S. Department of
Education, Office of Special Education Programs
(215)780-1302
www.salus.edu/nlcsd
Cincinnati Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program
Kelly E. Lusk, Ph.D., CLVT
kelly.lusk@alumni.vanderbilt.edu
The Cincinnati Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program
(CCVRP) is an interdisciplinary pediatric low vision service
delivery model that incorporates ophthalmology care,
clinical low vision evaluations, educational
recommendations, and follow-ups to provide a full
continuum of care for patients with low vision who are
ages 2-21 and their families. Based at Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Terry Schwartz, M.D.,
and Rebecca Coakley, M.A., CLVT started the program in
2011, and later recruited Kelly Lusk, Ph.D., CLVT to
design a research agenda and assist in securing further
internal and external funding. Dr. Schwartz and Ms.
Coakley hail from West Virginia where they have directed
the Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP) for
the past 16 years. Dr. Lusk previously worked at
Vanderbilt University with the Tennessee project,
Providing Access to the Visual Environment (Project
PAVE). CCVRP is modeled primarily after CVRP in West
Virginia with additional elements, such as research, from
Project PAVE in Tennessee.
Along with the primary program, CCVRP also runs a
related project devoted to children who have cortical vision
impairment (CVI) and a physical disability, such as
cerebral palsy. This project, Children’s Low Vision
Education and Rehabilitation for Cerebral Palsy (CLEARCP), also follows the interdisciplinary model, bringing
experts from the fields of ophthalmology, occupational
therapy, and education. It also brings parents and
teachers together for evaluations and follow-up sessions.
CCVRP strives to include parents and teachers in the
evaluations and follow-up activities to further increase
family and community participation and to help bridge the
gap that may occur between medical and educational
services and supports. Also, all clinical low vision
evaluations, prescribed optical devices, and non-optical
devices, as well as any follow-up visits are provided at no
cost to families or school systems. Any electronic assistive
technologies that are recommended are available for a
trial-period loan to school systems.
To find out more about CCVRP or to refer a child with low
vision for a clinical low vision evaluation through CCVRP,
please contact Carol Turner, Senior Administrative
Assistant, at 513-636-6940 or carol.turner@cchmc.org.
The Art and Science of Teaching Orientation and Mobility
to Persons with Visual Impairments, Second Edition
By William Henry Jacobson
This popular and classic text, used both in the United
States and throughout the world, has been updated forthe
21st century and is an invaluable guide for working with
students of all ages. It details orientation and mobility
techniques and explains how to provide effective
instrucion in one complete manual for the beginning O&M
instructior that is a reference for the experienced
practicioner as well.
The second edition of The Art and Science of Teaching
Orientation and Mobility:
 Provides step-by-step presentation of each O&M
technique and describes in detail how to individualize
and teach each one.
 Outlines the scope and sequence of a complete O&M
curriculum.
 Offers a guiding philosophy as well as principles and
strategies for effective teaching.
 Includes a new chapter on assessment with essential
assessment checklists for children and adults.
 Provies more extensive content on today’s O&M
instructional issues, such as street crossings and the
current, more challenging traffic environment.
Introduction
Unit 1
Guidelines for Instruction
Chapter 1
The Teaching of Orientation and Mobility
Chapter 2
Assessment: O&M Skills and Concepts
Unit 2
Essential Indoor O&M Skills
Chapter 3
Basic Techniques for Guiding a Person with a
Visual Impairment
Chapter 4
Self-Protection Techniques: Moving through
the Environment Independently
Chapter 5
Basic Long Cane and Self-Familarization
Skills
Chapter 6
Advanced Indoor Orientation and Mobility
Skills
Unit 3
Outdoor Skills and Refinements
Chapter 7
Basic Outdoor Orientation and Mobility Skills
Chapter 8
Intermediate Outdoor Orientation and
Mobility Skills
Chapter 9
Advanced Outdoor Orientation and Mobility
Skills
Unit 4
Additional Considerations for the Specialist
Chapter 10
Special Situations and Conditions and
Mobility Devices
Chapter 11
Creative Approaches to Teaching Orientation
and Mobility
Chapter 12
Professional Issues
Print $59.95 ASCII Download $39.95
e-book: $39.95
Online Subscription: Book $36 Chapters $10.95 each
www.afb.org/store
AFB Press
American Foundation for the Blind
Join us on Facebook for publication news and special
offers!
www.facebook.com/connectwithpress
Services to Ohio School Personnel Serving Students with Print Disabilities
Center for Instructional Supports and Accessible
Materials (CISAM)
Paula Mauro, CISAM Project Director
Nicole Morris, NIMAS Coordinator
pmauro@cisamoh.org
CISAM is a statewide project funded by the Ohio
Department of Education Office for Exceptional Children
(ODE-OEC), under the Ohio State School for the Blind
Outreach Department. CISAM serves students with print
disabilities, including students with reading disabilities,
physical limitations, and blindness and visual impairments.
Our mission is to provide students with print disabilities
and their families access to quality accessible instructional
materials,
professional
development/learning
opportunities, and technical assistance.
Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
requires school districts to provide AIM to students with
print disabilities in a timely manner. Ohio’s definition of
timely manner is “at the same time as their peers receive
their materials.” What are AIM? AIM are print instructional
materials transformed into specialized formats. The
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard
(NIMAS), mandated in IDEA, is a technical standard
publishers use to produce source files in multiple
specialized formats for students with print disabilities
(http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/docs/NIMAS/NIMASBrochureOnl
ine.pdf). CISAM’s goal is to assist school personnel in
locating AIM in a timely manner in the specialized formats
of braille, large print, audio, and digital text.
How Do Teachers Request AIM from CISAM for
Students with Print Disabilities?
Teachers, supervisors, administrators, and parents
who home school their children can submit requests for
AIM on a CISAM Materials Request form located on the
CISAM website at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/docs/AccessibleMaterials/CISAM
MaterialsRequestForm.pdf. For timely delivery, requests
for AIM must be submitted in March preceding the year in
which the specialized format will be needed. Requests can
be emailed, mailed, or faxed to CISAM. For a complete
explanation of our request process, visit the CISAM
website at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/docs/AccessibleMaterials/HowCI
SAMProcessesMaterialReque sts.pdf.
CISAM Collection of AIM
CISAM maintains a collection of approximately 55,000
large print, braille, digital, and audio textbooks and
educational aids for loans to students with print
disabilities. After receiving a CISAM Materials Request
form, staff checks the CISAM collection first to see if the
requested item is available for loan.
Federal Quota Program
The Federal Act to Promote the Education of the Blind
enacted by Congress in 1879 provides AIM to eligible
students who meet the definition of blindness. The Federal
Quota Registration of Blind Students determines a per
capita amount of money designated for the purchase of
AIM produced by the American Printing House for the
Blind. CISAM conducts the annual registration of eligible
students on behalf of ODE-OEC. CISAM asks
superintendents of districts to register eligible students
yearly beginning in December. Teachers can order AIM
through CISAM for registered students.
For guideline information, visit the CISAM website at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/FederalQuota.php.
CISAM Accessible Materials Production Center
(AMPC)
The CISAM AMPC converts textbooks into accessible
formats and provides a CD containing the requested
format for Ohio school districts. Visit the CISAM website to
read about the AIM formats AMPC provides at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/docs/AccessibleMaterials/Format
sForAIM.pdf.
Grafton Braille Service Center (GBSC)
GBSC is a cooperative project between Ohio Penal
Industries, Grafton Correctional Institution, CISAM, and
the Ohio State School for the Blind. GBSC’s goals are to
provide quality braille textbooks, tactile graphics, braille
proofreading, embossing, and binding for school districts
and agencies in Ohio and throughout the nation. For
information, visit the CISAM website at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/docs/Brochures/GBSCBrochureO
nline.pdf.
Professional Development/Learning Opportunities
CISAM hosts professional development/learning
opportunities for parents, educators, and students
including biannual Information Sharing Meetings for
Administrators and Supervisors of Programs Serving
Students with Visual Impairments and a statewide
meeting on The Fundamentals of Cortical Visual
Impairment. Visit the CISAM website at
http://cisam.ossb.oh.gov/ProfessionalDevelopment.php for
an in-service calendar and to view brochure
announcements.
Braille Excellence for Students and Teachers
(BEST) Grant
CISAM’s BEST Grant is a statewide project dedicated
to braille literacy, instruction, materials, and technology in
Ohio’s schools. BEST is providing thirteen professional
development/learning opportunities for educators,
parents, and students including three week-long summer
braille courses, an Assistive Technology Family
Conference, and Braille Immersion Weekends for
Students.
CISAM AIM Module
The CISAM AIM Module or CAM is a completely online
self-paced course through InfOhio for teachers, parents,
support personnel, administrators, or anyone interested in
learning about AIM. The CAM provides an overview and
introduction to AIM and information on accessing AIM.
The CAM is available for Professional Development
Contact Hours and for college credit through Ashland
University. For additional information, go to
aim.infohio.org.
Technical Assistance
CISAM provides free technical assistance services
related to assistive technology, software, and AIM to
parents, teachers, administrators, and support personnel
serving students with print disabilities. CISAM consultants
work with educational personnel and parents via
telephone, email, or on-site. Contact CISAM at
614.644.8465 or by email pmauro@cisamoh.org.
Educators and families can access resource information
about NIMAS and other sources of AIM by visiting the
CISAM website at cisam.ossb.oh.gov/Resources.php or by
contacting CISAM directly.
CAM
CISAM AIM MODULE
CISAM Accessible Instructional Materials (AIM) Module is a
self-paced online course. You can access the course
content for free at: aim.infohio.org.
What Are AIM?
AIM refers to print instructional materials that have been
transformed into specialized formats – braille, large print,
audio, and digital text.
Check Out CAM If You:
 Have students who need extra supports in accessing
standard print.
 Are a teacher with students with learning disabilities,
physical limitations, and/or visual impairments.
 Want to know more about identifying which of your
students might need AIM to succeed.
 Want to know more about AIM and how a student
might be able to use AIM in your classroom.
Discover:
 Why AIM are required and how AIM support student
learning.
 The various formats of AIM and see examples of each
in action.
 Which students benefit from and qualify for AIM.
 Where and how to obtain AIM.
Certificate & Credit:
 15 hour PD certificate
 1 hour graduate credit through Ashland University
Contact:
NWOET at nwoet@nwoet.org or 1-800-966-9638
Why Attend a Conference?
Sheila Amato
I just returned from attending (and presenting at) my
100th conference. Ah, not really... I didn't actually keep
count of how many conferences I have attended during
my almost 40-year teaching career, but it sure FEELS like
I've attended and presented at 100. Maybe I've attended
more than 100. Why do I do this? Let me explain.
I love to learn new things about my field, meet new
colleagues, and reconnect with those who I don't see very
often. And I always come home from a conference happily
exhausted, but also refreshed, rejuvenated, and full of
enthusiasm for the potentials that await me.
There are local conferences in my community, conferences
within my home state, conferences in other states in our
country (that's a great way to reach my goal of stepping
foot in all 50 states; I'm almost there!), conferences in the
continent of North America, across the oceans, and on
islands. No, there are no conferences in outer space yet not to my knowledge, anyway. While attending
conferences, I have also had the opportunity to
experience great things like visiting historical sites such as
Ground Zero and the Gettysburg Battlefields, walking over
the Golden Gate Bridge, eating Kansas Bar-B-Que, almost
getting smacked in the head by a flying fish at the Pike St.
Fish Market in Seattle, walking the crooked street in San
Francisco, and sharing a hurricane with some good friends
in New Orleans.
Conferences come in all sizes and shapes and attract a
variety of professionals, consumers, parents, and
entrepreneurs. What a wonderful opportunity to listen to
the thoughts and needs of parents, or to have some
hands-on instruction on a new piece of technology that
I've never seen before. Meeting up with my colleagues
from all over the country and sharing a dinner, a drink,
and a conversation is always the highlight of attending a
conference. Some of my best ideas for articles, research
studies, and collaborations with my colleagues have come
from this type of meeting.
Perusing a conference brochure is always an adventure.
My mind spins with the choices... do I go to support my
friends and colleagues in their presentation (hoping they
will return the favor and attend mine - there's nothing
worse than a nearly-empty room), or do I go to learn
about things I never even knew existed? Keeping up with
the new technology is a daunting task. Yet it is fascinating
to see the future tools that await our students. I promise
myself to try to keep up with the constant flow of
accessible technology.
Another favorite type of session is the one that shares
immediately useful methods and strategies for teaching
our students. Gee, I wish I had thought of those, but I'm
glad that someone did and was willing to share them.
Some of these sessions include "make and take" items. I
try to make small items that I can easily transport home,
but I do take digital pictures of others to try with my
students and to share with my colleagues.
Research sessions often validate what we are trying to do
or offer documentation as to WHY and HOW we could use
specific strategies with our students. I never leave a
research session without being eager to get back into the
classroom on Monday and try some of them out with my
students (and of course keep data on my efforts).
Very often, to attend a conference, one has to be a
member of the sponsoring organization (or pay a higher
registration fee - the choice is often yours). Our alphabet
soup of organizations is as wide and varied as the
conferences themselves. We have professional
organizations such as CEC/DVI (Council for Exceptional
Children/Division on Visual Impairments) and AER
(Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the
Blind and Visually Impaired). We have consumer
organizations such as NFB (National Federation of the
Blind) and ACB (American Council of the Blind). A Google
search will turn up hundreds of organizations dedicated to
education and rehabilitation of individuals who are blind or
visually impaired.
As a professional in our field speaking to my peers, I invite
you to attend a conference this year. Find a professional
organization that meets your philosophy and needs and
JOIN IT. Become part of a dedicated group of
professionals who are working to solve some of the
problems we face daily in our classrooms and work
environments. If you have knowledge and experience,
SHARE IT. If you are a rookie, come to learn from the
leaders and legends in our field. Do something new or
learn something new to enhance your presence in the
classroom every year.
And if we happen to meet up at a conference, come over
and introduce yourself to me. I'd love to sit and chat with
you for a while. I'm sure we will both learn something
new.
CEC 2014 Convention Expo
Philadelphia, PA, April 9-12, 2014
CEC 2014 IN PHILADELPHIA INSPIRES THOUSANDS OF
SPECIAL EDUCATORS
Give yourself the gift of inspiration – and build your
knowledge and skills – when you attend the premier
professional development event for special and gifted
educators.
WHY YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS CEC 2014
 Hundreds of education sessions spanning the topics you
need most:
o Autism spectrum disorder
o Postsecondary transition
o Universal design for learning
o Co-teaching & collaboration
o Teacher evaluation
o Common Core State Standards
o School-based mental health
o Classroom management
o And much more!
 Information you can rely on. You’ll get evidence-based
strategies in sessions reviewed and selected by experts
in the field.
 CEC Expo Hall. Explore the very latest technology and
curriculum products.
 Unparalleled networking. See old colleagues and meet
new ones from all over the world. Share concerns and
solutions with fellow professionals who know where
you’re coming from.
 Outstanding special events. From the opening keynote
by Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree, to
the uplifting Yes I Can Awards, you’ll experience the
emotions and values that drew you to this profession in
the first place.
Be inspired.
CEC 2014, April 9-12
Philadelphia, PA
DON’T DELAY!
Visit www.cec.sped.org/convention to get the best rate
and save $.
April 9-12, 2014
Pennsylvania Convention Center
Toll-free, 1-888-232-7733
Phone: 1-703-620-3660
CEC FUTURE CONVENTION & EXPO SCHEDULE
2014: Philadelphia, Pa.
April 9-12
2015: San Diego, Calif.
April 8-11
2016: St. Louis, Mo.
April 13-16
2017: Boston, Mass.
April 19-22
www.cec.sped.org/convention
Council for Exceptional Children
The Voice and Vision of Special Education
Join Online Today: www.cec.sped.org
2013 Executive Board
President
Derrick Smith
University of Alabama in Huntsville
301 Sparkman Drive
247B Morton Hall
Huntsville, AL 35899
256-824-3048 (work)
256-322-7555 (home)
smitroe@gmail.com
Past-President
Loana Mason
Special Education and Communication Disorders
MSC 3SPE
New Mexico State University
P.O. Box 30001
Las Cruces, NM 88003-8001
575-646-5703 (office)
loanam@nmsu.edu
President-Elect
Diane Pevsner
School of Education
University of Alabama at Birmingham
901 South 13th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35294
205-975-5351
dpevsner@uab.edu
Secretary
Tessa McCarthy
University of Nebraska--Lincoln
202G Barkley Memorial Center
Lincoln, NE 68583-0732
402-472-6636
402-472-7697 (fax)
twright5@unl.edu
Treasurer
Susan Brennan
University of Northern Iowa
Department of Special Education
154 Schindler Education Center
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0601
319-273-7841
susan.brennan@uni.edu
Representative
Tiffany Wild
The Ohio State University
Ramseyer Hall
29 W. Woodruff Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43210
614-292-4783
614-292-4260 (fax)
twild@ehe.osu.edu
CAN Coordinator
Mike Bina
The Maryland School for the Blind 3501 Taylor Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21236
410-444-5000 ext. 1201
410-319-5719 (fax)
MichaelB@mdschblind.org
DVIQuarterly Editors
Tiffany Wild (Interim)
Derrick Smith (Interim Managing)
Directors
Tanni Anthony (12-13)
Colorado Department of Education
Exceptional Student Services Unit
1560 Broadway, Suite 1175
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 866-6681
Anthony_t@cde.state.co.us
Tara McCarthy (12-13)
60 E. Spring St. Apt. 112
Columbus, OH 43215
914-224-5024
tmccarthy@osdb.oh.gov
Martin Monson (12-13)
Tennessee School for the Blind
115 Stewarts Ferry Pike
Nashville, TN 37214
(615) 231-7316
Martin.Monson@tsbtigers.org
Nicole Johnson (12-13)
Kutztown University
15200 Kutztown Road
Beekey 116
Kutztown, PA 19530
610-683-4297 (work)
mailto:njohnson@kutztown.edu
Adam Wilton (13-14)
UBC Faculty of Education
Department of ECPS
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4
Canada
(604) 440-2079
awilton@interchange.ubc.ca
Amy Parker (13-14)
345 N. Monmouth Ave.
Monmouth, OR 97361
(503) 838-8287
parkera@wou.edu
Donna Brostek Lee (13-14)
598 South Upper Street
Lexington, KY 40506
(859) 257-4713
donna.b.lee@uky.edu
Silvia M. Correa-Torress (13-14)
School of Special Education
Campus Box 141
University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO 80639
(970) 351-1660
Silvia.CorreaTorres@unco.edu
Student Ambassador(s) (13-14)
Tara Mason, Texas Tech University
tara.mason@ttu.edu
Sarah Ivy, Vanderbilt University
sarah.e.ivy@vanderbilt.edu
Mackenzie Savaiano, Vanderbilt University
mackenzie.savaiano@vanderbilt.edu