A Sense of Texas

Lynne McAlister and Deanna Peterson from TSBVI Outreach discuss planning behavior intervention for children and young adults who are blind, visually impaired, or DeafBlind. In today's episode, we dive deeper into the complexities behind what behavior means, misconceptions, and helpful perspectives to keep in mind.   Free behavior guidance tool can be found here: https://www.tsbvi.edu/tsbvi-publica...

Monique Coleman (soon to be Dr. Coleman) is a longtime educator in the field of blindness education and an adjunct professor with San Francisco State University. Her recent article on Paths to Literacy titled, "Culturally Responsive Literacy Education with Learners Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired," caught our attention and inspired us to invite her on our show. She mentions many other leaders i...

Families of children who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision value resources to better understand, and have conversations regarding, their child's educational program. Paul Olson, Superintendent of North Dakota Vision Services/ School for the Blind, initiated the creation of such a document and is going to tell us all about it. "A Bill of Rights for All Children with Visual Impairment and The...

Teaching and learning STEM subjects is difficult for everyone, and for students with disabilities it can be a greater challenge due to lack of access. Today Dr. Cary Supalo joins us to discuss his experiences as a blind student, and how educators can help encourage students who are blind to get interested in STEM.

In this episode, Emily will explore what it means to work in family engagement. You'll hear from Edgenie Bellah and Yolanda Shaw, some of the hurdles educators and families both struggle with, and how we all ultimately hope to keep the child's best interests at heart. Expert Katherine Houck will also provide further information about family engagement opportunities.

Few things are more helpful to the parent of a blind, visually impaired, or deafblind child than being able to connect with other parents who know the joy, and also the struggles, of their situation. Amy Potts, Barbara Knighton, and Patty Bushland join us this month to talk about how they started TSBVI Family Lynx and how it's helping parents of students at TSBVI and how parent organizations acros...

Jeff Molzow is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, someone who helps teach adults who are blind and visually impaired to return to work successfully and effectively. Jeff has continuously pushed the envelope of his field via his passion for blind advocacy, combined with a strong background in technology.  Now Jeff is here to help us understand what White Cane Day is, and why it's such an import...

Dr. Rosy Carranza facilitates the Teacher of Tomorrow Program with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). In this episode, Rosy shares her background, her expertise, and her passion surrounding the education of blind students and the educators who teach them. To learn more about the Teacher of Tomorrow program visit https://nfb.org/programs-services/education/teachers-tomorrow

Welcome back from the break! Just like you, we're slowly working our way back into the flow of the new school year. Today we're going to share with you a great collaboration some of our students participated in over the summer with Texas Folklife and their Stories from Deep in the Heart podcast series. Today you'll hear stories about Texas barbecue, haunted hotels, and the dark history of the famo...

This episode we welcome back Dr. Cay Holbrook and Janie Blome, founders of the Getting Touch With Literacy conference. On the last episode they talked about the history of GITWL as well as how they are preparing to say farewell to the conference this December. This time we let them step up on the soapbox to discuss all things conference and blind education.   The Getting In Touch With Literacy con...

One thing we have all missed during the last 15 months has been the brainstorming and social interaction that come out of attending conferences in person. Helping us get back into the groove is one of our favorite conferences, Getting in Touch With Literacy. Joining us this week are founders of Getting in Touch With Literacy, Dr. Cay Holbrook and Janie Blome. They'll discuss the history of GITWL a...

TSBVI Low Vision Specialist Dr. Cindy Bachofer guest-hosts this episode and speaks to her good friend Pat Pound, former director of Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center , Vice Chair on the National Council on Disability, director of the Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, and longtime activist in the field of disability rights. Pat brings a wealth of knowledge about the work needed...

TSBVI is proud to have been one of the founders of one of the more indispensable resources for parents and teachers alike: Paths to Literacy . Emily speaks with Charlotte Cushman of Perkins and TSBVI- and then we hear from Cyral Miller, former Outreach Director at TSBVI- about the origins of the service and what it means to makers and users alike

Back for our second dose are Robert Hair from Maryland School for the Blind; Gina Ouellette from the California School for the Blind; and Scott McCallum from the Washington State School for the Blind to discuss the positive things we have learned about educating blind and visually impaired students during the pandemic and the things they are most looking forward to as we slowly move into the "new...

While the pandemic has affected everyone in some way it hasn't affected everyone in the same way. Joining us this week we have asked superintendents Robert Hair from Maryland School for the Blind; Gina Ouellette from the California School for the Blind; and Scott McCallum from the Washington State School for the Blind who, along with our own Emily Coleman, will talk about safety, remote learning a...

With the proliferation of streaming media- especially over the last year- many have become familiar with the audio describing services that companies make available for their visually impaired audiences. But- in a time and place when gathering in crowds is not a public health problem- the same applies to live theater (and some places you may never have thought about before). Jill Robbins-Silver jo...

In 1921 the American Foundation for the Blind was created to expand opportunities and access for people with vision loss. This week we're so lucky to have AFB President and CEO Dr. Kirk Adams joining us to talk about the history of the foundation, how they're celebrating their centennial and how they plan to use the next 100 years to expand opportunities for individuals who are blind and visually...

Paul Schroeder heads up the American Printing House for the Blind's efforts in government affairs in his new position at that venerated organization. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience dating back to the earlier days of government advocacy which found him on the White House lawn for the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. He speaks with Emily today about so...

Almost all of us who have worked with visually impaired students in early childhood know about the Oregon Project. Created in the 70's by Mark Moskowitz the OR Project is a great tool for parents, teachers, vision specialists, and counselors. April Love from the Southern Oregon Education District and home to the Oregon Project joins us this week to tell us all about it. Also, TSBVI Curriculum Dire...

Perhaps the most important factor in providing services to our students with visual impairment or who are Deafblind is knowing how many of them there are in a given state or district. This duty falls to state education departments down to the most local level. Texas has its own particular way of gathering this information and is currently in the midst of its Registration of Students with Visual Im...

2021 will hopefully bring a return to some form of normalcy but some things we learned in 2020 will help us become better educators going forward. Emily Gibbs of NFB (National Federation of the Blind) Texas joins us to discuss some of the innovative ideas, and some of the challenges, in helping students across Texas access the resources they need during a global pandemic.  If you'd like more infor...

"Our regularly scheduled program will not be seen so that we may bring you the following special presentation."   It's been a year, hasn't it? As we go into winter break and recollect, reassess, and recharge ourselves for another year we thought nothing would be better than to say what they used to say almost every night back when TVs were square and there were only three or four channels. After a...

Oh wow, can you believe it? 50 episodes!?!?! Me either. For this momentous occasion we decided to kick back and relax at the TSBVI pavilion where Outreach Director Kate Borg asks Emily about the blessings and challenges of our first 50 episodes and what we have planned for the future. We like it so much we think we'll make another 50. I sure hope you'll join us.

TSBVI Outreach Director takes over the controls again this time to talk to her colleague and friend Robbin Clark from(among many places) the Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind about the value and power of the Expanded Core Curriculum. She delves into the challenges of being a teacher for 21st century learners and how we can meet the mandate set out by The National Agenda. Links Mentioned in This...

Covid-19 has created changes in all our lives in one way or another. Often forcing us to learn new ways to accomplish tasks that felt mundane in February. This has definitely made professionals in the field of visual impairment adapt to how we provide service to our students. Dr. Penny Rosenblum from the American Foundation for the Blind joins the podcast to discuss the Access and Engagement surve...