2007 Getting In Touch With Literacy Showcase Sessions
-
Dr. Susan Spungin, Vice-President, American Foundation for the Blind and Dr. Phil Hatlen, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
Dr. Susan J. Spungin is well known internationally as an expert in the education of visually impaired and blind children and youth. Her leadership and work with individuals throughout the world who are blind and their families, and the professionals who work with them, is truly exemplary. Prior to serving as vice president, Spungin was director of AFB's National Consultants Department and a National Specialist in Education.
Joining Dr. Spungin will be Dr. Phil Hatlen. Dr. Hatlen recently retired as superintendent of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Dr. Hatlen began his career as a teacher of students with visual impairments who were included in regular classrooms. He served as principal of the California School for the Blind from 1962 until 1966. At that time he accepted a position as professor at SFSU. During his twenty-four year tenure at SFSU, which hosts one of the leading personnel preparation programs in the U. S., he prepared students and orientation and mobility instructors for work with blind and visually impaired students. In 1990 he left SFSU to become superintendent at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Dr. Hatlen served as the co-chair for the National Agenda and was instrumental in developing the Expanded Core Curriculum.
-
Dr. Barbara Foorman
Dr. Barbara Foorman, the Francis Eppes Professor of Education and Associate Director of the Florida Center for Reading Research at Florida State University. During 2005, Dr. Foorman served as the Commissioner of Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. Dr. Foorman's distinguished background includes cross-linguistic research in Japan, Mexico, and England, and research in the areas of reading, language development, spelling, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary. She also serves on the editorial board for several journals, is a principal investigator on major federal grants in her areas of expertise, and has led government-sponsored literacy efforts at every level- from city to federal. She was instrumental in the revision and validation of the Texas Primary Reading Inventory, used in 95 percent of the school districts in Texas and in other states.
-
The RESULTS from the five-year ABC Braille Study
The ABC Braille Study is a five-year exploration of literacy environments, skills, and experiences of children who are totally blind or have light perception only. A major factor in this study is a comparison of students who are initially taught contracted braille and those initially taught uncontracted braille. The study is also collecting data on the larger issue of how the learning environment impacts acquisition of literacy skills. Researchers from eight universities, a special school, public schools and APH, included: Ralph Bartley, Liz Barclay, Anne Corn (Project Team Leader), Frances Mary D'Andrea, Jane Erin, Christopher Craig, Cay Holbrook, Stephanie Herlich, Julia Ituarte, Eleanor Pester, Sharon Sacks, Debbie Sitar, Rob Wall (statistician) and Diane Wormsley. For more information on the study, please see this link.
-
C. Michael Mellor and Diane Croft
Michael is the author of Louis Braille: A Touch of Genius and Diane Croft is the publisher from National Braille Press. Michael, as editor of the Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind for eighteen years, has long held a fascination for braille. His published paper, "Making a Point: The Crusade for a Universal Embossed Code in the United States," was delivered at the International Conference on "The Blind in History and the History of the Blind," in Paris, France, where he came upon Louis Braille's extant letters and decided to translate them for publication. Diane Croft is the Vice President of Publications for National Braille Press.
-
Jeff Bohrman
Jeffrey Bohrman, Ph.D. was born with Usher Syndrome, Type I and received his doctorate in pharmacology. After many years as a research toxicologist, Jeff changed his career 12 years ago to run a statewide program to provide services and resources to deaf-blind people in Ohio (Ohio Deaf-Blind Outreach Program).
Other speakers will be announced when confirmed.
Confirmed Concurrent Sessions and Speakers
- A Carnival of Braille Literacy Activities
Sandy Serventi, Braille Specialist
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind - A Creative Enrichment Program To Increase Academic and Social Literacy for Students with Blindness and Visual Impairment
Karen Ross, VP of Educational Services
The Carroll Center for the Blind - A Proximal Process of Literacy: How Can a Braille Reader Be Stimulated Within an Inclusive Educational Setting?
Jorun Hauge, Specialist Teacher and Astrid Kristin VIk, Ph.D. Candidate Institute of Special Needs
Education, University of Oslo - Accessing the Curriculum with Low-High Technology for Beginning Braille Readers
Donna McNear, Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Rum River Special Education Cooperative - All Aboard: Getting Parents on Board for Braille
Lisa Lind, Social Worker and TVI; and Stacey McKenzie Preschool Program Director
Children's Center for the Visually Impaired - An Analysis of Patterns of Hand Movements of Young Braille Reading Children - from the ABC Braille Research Study
Diane Wormsley, Professor of Special Education in Visual Impairment; Cheryl Kamei-Hannan, Assistant Professor and Tessa Wright Carlsen, Doctoral Fellows
North Carolina Central University; California State University, Los Angeles; and Vanderbilt University - Application of Literacy Skills: Using AFB's CareerConnect
Karen Wolffe, Director of Professional Development
American Foundation for the Blind - Aspects of Being Literate with Braille in a Sighted Society
Catharina Johansson
Swedish Institute for Special Needs Educations - Braille Literacy; A Life Time of Reading
Kelly Dunn and Earle Harrison
Handy Tech, North America - BrailleNote: The Centerpiece for Research and Reporting
Mike Gibson, Blindness Product Specialist
HumanWare - Buckets of Literacy
Gerald Abner, TVI/ AT Specialist and Judy Owens
Jessamine County Schools, Kentucky - Catch the Fluency Wave: Support your Students in Becoming More Fluent Braille Readers
Jeri Cleveland, Debra Sewell, Curriculum Coordinator
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired - Challenges to Math Achievement for Students who are Braille Readers
Missy Garber, Assistant Professor; Jodi Sticken, Director of Orientation and Mobility; and Gaylen Kapperman, Professor and Coordinator
Pennsylvania College of Optometry and Northern Illinois University - Covering the Bases...Reading Skills for Braille Readers
Margaret Bateman, TVI/ State Technology Consultant and Christine Short, TVI/COMS
Iowa Braille School and Heartland Area Education Agency, Iowa - Emergent Braille Readers: Ideas for Hooking Them on Braille
Penny Rosenblum, Associate Professor
University of Arizona - Emergent Literacy Supports for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments
Amy McKenzie, Assistant Professor
Florida State Univeristy - Family Literacy Packs
Ann Hicks and Janet Rose, TVI
Colorado Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired - Favourable Factors for Inclusion of Braille Reading Students in Mainstream Settings
Kim DeVerdier, Psychologist; Anders Ronnback, Special Teacher; and Annica Winberg, Social Worker
Swedish Institute for Special Needs Education - From Carvings to Computers: A History of Reading for People Who Are Blind
Frances Mary D'Andrea, Chair, BANA Outreach Committee
University of Pittsburgh - Full Speed Ahead with Primary Braille Literacy
Eleanor Pester, Dept. of Education and Technical Research and Robin Finley, Reading Specialist
American Printing House for the Blind and Ohio State School for the Blind - Help Me Rhonda... or, Using the Basic Reading Inventory with Students who are Visually Impaired
Liz Barclay, Assessment Program
California School for the Blind - Imagery, Art and Cognition as Literacy Substrates for Learners with Visual Impairment
Joan Chase, Psychologist
Dunedin, Florida - Implementing Best Practices in Mathematics for Students with Visual Impairments
Sherry Davidson, David Frensley, Donna Fridgant, Sheri Trent, JoAnne Weatherall and Jeremy Winters
Tennessee School for the Blind; Beaufort County, South Carolina Schools; and Middle Tennessee State University - Implications of the National Early Literacy Panel Research Results for Early Braille Literacy: A Family Approach
Suzette Wright, Project Leader and Bonnie Lash Freeman, Director--Training/Special Projects; and Paulette Feldman, Special Projects Coordinator
American Printing House for the Blind; National Center for Family Literacy and Visually Impaired Preschool Services - In-Sight an Assessment Procedure for Visual Functioning in Educational Tasks
Els Vervaart, Special Educationist
Visio, Royal Institute for Visually Impaired and Blind Children, The Netherlands - Is Braille Relevant? A Discussion of its Role, its Uses, and its Very Essence
Eillen Curran, Education Services and Judith Dixon, Chair and Mary Frances D'Andrea, Chair BANA Outreach Committee
National Braille Press and Braille Authority of North America (BANA) - Issues Related to Academic Engagement of Braille Reading Students in the General Education Language Arts
Julie Bardin, Director of Visual Impairment Program
North Carolina Central University - Introducing SAL2 and Book 3 of the Mangold Reading Program for Teens and Adults
Helene Holman, President and Stephanie Herlich, TVI /COMS
Exceptional Teaching Aids, Inc. - Knowledge, Skills and Roles of Paraprofessionals Working with Students with Visual Impairments
Sandra Lewis, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Program in Visual Disabilities; Amy McKenzie, Assistant Professor
Florida State University - Learning from Lobsters; Facilitating Literacy Through Systematic Planning to Support Transitions
Annette Skellenger, Associate Professor
Western Michigan University - Literacy for All: Reading and Writing Modules for Students with Visual Impairments and Additional Disabilities
Tanni Anthony, State Consultant on Visual Impairment
Colorado Department of Education - Making "Sense" out of Literacy
Lisa Fulmer, Special Education Teacher, Birth-Third Grade
Maryland School for the Blind - More Than Words Can Say; Literacy for Secondary Learners
Justin Cosgrove, Patty Chancey-Gould, Linda Tayler, Mike Zuaro and Elisha Zuaro
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind - National Instructional Materials Access Center Update
Julia Myers, Director of Resources Services and NIMAC Director
American Printing House for the Blind and National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center - Phonological Awareness and Braille: How Do They Interact?
Martin Monson, Director
University of Northern Colorado - Pirates with Patches: If Only They Had Understood Their Low Vision Needs
Kim Roberts and Alysa Crooke
Florida State University, Low Vision Initiative - Pocket Tools are Never Out of Style
Lynda Jones, Rehabilitation Professor
Florida State University - Promoting Literacy for Students with Dual Sensory Impairments
Kelly van Dyk
Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired - Real World Literacy on the Go with Emphasis on Middle School Literacy
Carol Jacobson, Margaret Galligan and Elisha Zuaro
Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind - Research and Practice in Braille Instruction for Students with Additional Disabilities
Julie Durando, Doctoral Student
University of Northern Colorado - Resources for Promoting Numeracy in Students Who are Blind
Gaylen Kapperman, Professor and Coordinator; and Jodi Sticken, Director of Orientation and Mobility
Northern Illinois University - Setting the Stage for Tactile Understanding
Karen Poppe, Tactile Graphics Leader
American Printing House for the Blind - Spelling Skills of Visually Impaired Students who Read Braille
Christine Clark, Assistant Professor
Illinois State University - Tactile Graphics for Instruction
Teresa Trask and Anne Wadsworth
Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired - Tactual Profile, An Observation Instrument for Charting Tactual Functioning in Children and Adolescents
Ans Withagen, Special Educationalist
Royal Institute for the Visually Impaired and Blind Children from VISIO - Technology as a Literacy Tool in the General and Expanded Core Curriculums
Kate Crohan; Joshua Person, High School Student; and Janet Ulwick-Sacca, TVI
Carroll Center for the Blind and Quabbin Regional High School - The Braille Challenge: Building Students' Pride in Their Braille Skills
Nancy Niebrugge, Assistant VP of Programs and Services
Braille Institute of America - The Course Starts Here: Emergent Literacy Activities for Young Children with Visual Impairments
DanaLee Fox, TVI
Governor Morehead Preschool - The Effects of Mounting Systems of Near Magnification on Reading Performance and Preference in Students with Low Vision
Kelly Lusk, Instructor
Vanderbilt University - The Future of Classrooms with Video Described Materials
Mary Ann Siller, Director of National Education Programs, and Kay Ferrell, Professor
American Foundation for the Blind - The Importance of Transition for "Life Skills"
Carol Brady-Simmons, Director of Children's Services; Judy Matthews, Vision Rehabilitation Specialist; Carols Montas, University Student; and Gizelle Vazques, Social Worker
Miami Lighthouse for the Blind - The Interaction Between Braille and Tactile Pictures for Deeper Understanding
Kerstin Fellenius, Former Assistant Professor
Stockholm Institute of Education - The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) and YOU!!
Suzanne Dalton, Supervisor; Vickie Hershman, State Project Director; Anne Riedling, Librarian; and Mary Ann Siller, Director
Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired; PATINS/Project Indiana Department of Education; Kentucky School for the Blind and the American Foundation for the Blind - The Use of Assistive Technology Devices for Students with Visual Impairments: Expanding Its Role in Instruction
Sunggye Hong, Assistant Professor and Stephen Osborn
San Francisco State University - The Use of Tangible Cues for Children with Multiple and Visual Impairment
Ellen Trief, Professor in Blind and Visually Impaired
Hunter College - The VIP2 Club...Not Just for Fun (Enhancing Literacy Skills through the Expanded Core Curriculum)
Lisa Merwarth, TVI and Susan Widmann, TVI
School District of Hillsborough County, Florida - To Read for Life - Aesthetic Response Theory Developed as a Method in Teaching Literature for Braille Users
Brit Arna Susegg, Assistant Professor; Randi K Rusten, Senior Advisor Special Teacher of the Visually Impaired; and Berit Lilleberg, Special Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Nord-Trøndelag University College and Tamburtun National Resource Center of Norway - Unique Accessible Textbooks Used In Unique Teaching
Jane E. Thompson, Director of Accessible Textbook Department
American Printing House for the Blind - Using Audio Assisted Reading to Facilitate Literacy
Ike Presley, National Project Manager
American Foundation for the Blind - Using Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) to Support the Literacy of Students with Visual Impairments in the General Education Classroom
Paula Conroy, Associate Professor
University of Northern Colorado - Visual Efficiency Skills for Improved Reading Rates in School-age Children with Low Vision: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Erika Anderson, CLVT
University of Houston College of Optometry - Visual Training in Picture Books Based on the Twelve Categories In-Sight, an Observational Instrument
Herman Heinecke, Remedial Teacher Visual and Tactual Functioning; and Els Vervaart, Special Educationist
Visio, Royal Institute for Visually Impaired and Blind Children, The Netherlands - Web-Based Inservice for Classroom Teachers
Ann Hegstrom, COMS / TVI
Iowa Braille School - What is Progress in Functional Literacy for Students with Visual Impairments and Multiple Disabilities
Kim Zebehazy, Assistant Professor
Northern Illinois University - You Have the Book, Now What?
Abigail Flohr, TVI; and Karen Frank, Coordinator of Infant and Toddler Program
Maryland School for the Blind