Teachers - Contrast

Welcome to the TEACHERS area of the ADVISOR website. The site has been designed to share ideas and information while encouraging interactivity among Parents, Teachers, and Doctors. The information is presented to each group based upon their preferences. Please offer any feedback you may have that will help to further develop the website for the benefit for all viewers. Enjoy your visit to the ADVISOR.

Highlighted Events

Attention Teachers of Children with Visual Impairments
ADVISOR User Opinion Survey
We need your help to evaluate the ADVISOR project. This brief 30 question survey evaluates the effectiveness of the web site in providing information for the blind and visually impaired. Your responses will help to improve and update this resource.

23rd Annual New England Regional Seminar
"Taking Care of Children...Taking Care of Ourselves"
Presented by: The New England Regional Seminar For Families of Children With Visual Impairments Ages 0-7
April 29, 2006
8:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, MA
Click here for brochure | Click here for registration

New Articles!
Beyond Blindfolds: Creating an inclusive classroom through collaboration.
Krebs, C.S.RE:view: Rehabilitation and Education for Blindness and Visual Impairment. 31(4):180-186 (2000).
A Teacher of the Visually Impaired shares classroom activities that enhance the inclusion of a student with blindness in a general education classroom. With the general education classroom teacher, Krebs has developed disability awareness exercises that encourage students to understand blindness, including a blindfold lunch, Braille Day, visits from guide dogs, and reading a story together about a person who is blind.

PAST ARTICLES OF INTEREST

Assessment Chart
Professional assessments made by educators, paraprofessionals, and eye care specialists charting the possible pathways a child with visual impairments experiences during treatment and education

Visual Fields Interactive Homepage!
This interactive webpage was developed by Dr. Luisa Mayer at Children's Hospital Boston. It interactively demonstrates the visual fields and related defects.

Learning Media Assessment Information

This educational module is based on Tom Miller’s presentation at the 2005 ADVISOR workshop. Tom Miller’s presentation is a brief overview of the process of Learning Media Assessment. The complete text, Learning Media Assessment: A Resource Guide for Teachers, 2nd Edition, (Alan Koenig and M. Cay Holbrook, 1995) can be purchased for $25 on the Texas School for the Blind web site: http://www.TSBVI.edu.

2nd Annual ADVISOR Workshop: Speaker's Presentations
The 2005 ADVISOR Workshop is now online! The workshop featured presentations from many of the doctor's and teachers involved in the ADVISOR project based on the concept of assessments. These presentations are now viewable online.

Developmental Assessment: Role of the Teacher of Visually Impaired/Deafblind
This presentation is based on Tom Miller's presentation at the 2005 ADVISOR Workshop. It is designed to unite the roles of doctors and teachers of the visually impaired. It will help doctors better understand how the teachers of the visually impaired (TVI's), teachers of the deafblind, and orientation and mobility specialists apply medical information in the 'real world' of education for the visually impaired/deafblind.

Assistive Technology
This educational module is based on Evelyn Kelso's presentation at the ADVISOR Workshop. Evelyn Kelso is the Blind and Low Vision Consultant at the New Hampshire Assistive Technology Evaluation and Consultation Services. This presentation features an overview of the tools and devices used by the visually impaired to assist their daily activities

The Core Curriculum for Blind and Visually Impaired Children and Youths
This educaitonal module is based on Terry Maggiore's presentation at the 2005 ADVISOR Workshop. It is a general overview of the Expanded Core Curriculum, including topics such as technology, independent living and social skills, and parent participation.

Lifeskills: Transition to Adult Life - How to Conduct a Holiday Scavenger Hunt
A guide on how to conduct a holiday scavenger hunt for your students, based on the ADVISOR 2005 presentation by Nancy Moulton, TVI at Catholic Charities Maine.

An Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Guide for Teachers
An Orientation and Mobility Guide for Teachers, based on a presentation by Stephanie Bissonette (VABVI) at the 2005 ADVISOR Workshop.

Mainstreaming in the Classroom
Classroom techniques and etiquette for the mainstream education of the visually impaired.

Camp Mauchatea
Starting as a weekend volunteer program for 15 children staffed by state social workers, Rhode Island 's summer camp program for children who are blind and visually impaired is currently in its 17th year and provides a social and recreational camp for 50 children.

Examination Procedures
A 14 page PDF of information on how to examine a child with low vision.

Braille
Information and resources to help teachers of the visually impaired and/or blind

ATECH
New Hampshire Assistive Technology Evaluation and Consultation Services (Download PDF)

Perkins Panda
Early Literacy Program
Download PDF Brochure (2.5 mb)

Alumni
The alumni at our participating Organizations can offer valuable assistance to current and incoming teachers. They can provide access to resources and serve as mentors.

Recruitment and Training
The training program at the Perkins School for the Blind is a multi-tiered effort directed at administrators, teachers, and the families of the visually impaired. Numerous activities and events are scheduled to assist the development of the students at the School. Increasingly, modern electronic technologies are employed to train teachers and help parents.

In the news:
Downing JE.
Using tactile strategies with students who are blind and have severe disabilities. Exceptional Children 36(2):56-60 (2003)

This article covers tactile modeling, tactile mutual attention, and tactile learning and teaching. There are tips on how best to present tactile information as well as effective tactile representation including hyper-responsivity to touch. The end of the article focuses on team cooperation to make tactile learning effective.

The website resource given in the article is Project Salute: Successful Adaptations for Learning to Use Touch Effectively