FamilyConnect Holiday Guide to Toys, Games, and Gadgets for Children Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

• AccessWorld Holiday Gift Guide 2012: Practical and Fun Gifts for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired—AccessWorld brings you some of the hottest items they've featured in their magazine, as well as other popular gift ideas for that special someone on your list.
• Calling All Gift Ideas—How is it already December...again?!? Yep, it is the holiday season, which means many of us are purchasing presents for our children with visual impairments. Emily blogs about searching high and low for the perfect gifts for her unique child and instead comes up with some options that will work, but may not be absolutely perfect. Share your ideas with other FamilyConnect parents! And also check out What Toy to Buy for My Visually Impaired Kid? from a few years back, which offers some great suggestions and helpful tips for parents who are trying to choose toys as presents for the holidays.
• Toy Guide—AFB collaborated with the Toy Industry Foundation for over a decade creating this guide, Let's Play: A Guide to Toys for Children with Special Needs. All of the toys are tested by dozens of children with vision loss, and we choose the ones that seem to be most popular. The guide indicates whether the toy is considered especially good for children who are blind (B) and children who have low vision (LV).
• Toys R Us Differently Abled Toy Guide—For nearly two decades, Toys R Us has published the annual Toys "R" Us Toy Guide for Differently-Abled Kids, an easy-to-use resource featuring specially selected toys that encourage play for children with physical, cognitive or developmental disabilities.
• Choosing the Best Toys for Your Blind Baby—WonderBaby offers some of their favorite toys as well as some tips on how to choose the best toys for your child.
• Accessible Toys for Blind Children—Holiday gift giving can be a bit more challenging when trying to shop for children with blindness or low vision. Check out these ideas from Sensory Sun for accessible toys, as well as Braille Stocking Stuffers.
• Sharing the Holidays with Your Child Who Is Visually Impaired—For those of us with a child who is visually impaired we not only have to think about organizing our families' activities for the holidays, but also how to include our visually impaired children in a way that will be enjoyable to them. As a mom of one such child, Emily happens to have a few thoughts on this very topic. Important things to remember over the holidays are keeping with tradition, teaching in the moment, adaptation, and time management.
• Choosing Toys and Creating a Play Area for Your Child—this article outlines some of the features to look for in a toy for your infant or toddler, and describes how to set up a safe and stimulating play area for your child.
• Teaching Your Baby to Play With Toys—practical ideas about how to introduce new toys to your child, and help him learn how to play.

• A Self-Proclaimed Gadget Lover—parents of older kids may find gift ideas in this article about a gadget-loving college student

New iPad app created to help families develop their story

Hi friends, 

We all know the importance of families telling their stories as part of their advocacy efforts and most of us have been engaged in helping families learn how to do that. Now there's an iPad app to help.

"Telling Your Story" is a tool that persons with disabilities, family members, and other advocates can use to compose and practice the personal story they'll present to elected public officials or other policymakers at all levels of government when seeking policy changes or increasing awareness about disability issues. The app guides users through the steps, from introducing yourself to identifying the specific issue to the best methods for presenting a compelling personal story. After entering the text of their story, an audio recording feature allows the user to rehearse their story. (How cool is that?!) Users can also select and preview a photo they may wish to include.

To use all the features of this app, an iPad 2 or newer is required.

You can view the app in the iTunes Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/telling-your-story/id541403749

Tools for Life Webinar: Exploring Apps for Living, Learning, Working and Playing - Wednesday October 24 @ 2:00 PM EST - Credits Offered

Join Us for a Webinar Focused on:

Exploring Our Favorite Apps for Living, Learning, Working, and Playing

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

2:00pm to 3:30pm Eastern Standard Time (EST)

Presenters:

Carolyn Phillips, Director, and Martha Rust, AT Specialist, Tools for Life

John Rempel, AT Specialist, Center for the Visually Impaired

There seems to be an app for just about every task needed to be accomplished in our lives. With so many apps out on the market, it can be overwhelming to know which ones could assist you at home, at school, on the job or in your community. Join us for a webinar that will highlight a few of the apps that can assist with all aspects of your daily routine. There will be a special focus on apps for assisting with vision loss. We will also dive into the "Our Favorite Apps" online database created and maintained by Tools for Life. This session will explore how to use this database to search for, review, and suggest your favorite apps. We will also take a look at the latest in newly released tablets, their accessibility features, and tips on how to decide which is the best fit for your lifestyle and needs.

CEU’s will be administered through Georgia Tech Professional Education

CRC Credits have been approved through the Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling

Please send an e-mail with the type of credit you are requesting, name and date of webinar, your full name, email, organization and date of birth (DOB) to Liz Persaud at Liz@gatfl.org in order to receive your credit verification form.

ACVREP will be offering CEU’s for COMS, CVRT’s and CLVT’s
Please contact John Rempel at obelize@gmail.com for additional information about these credits.

Instructions on how to Access the Tools for Life Webinar

To join the meeting: http://atia.adobeconnect.com/tflapps1024/

-       Sign on as a Guest with your name and organization.

-       Please use the URL above as it is unique to this TFL webinar

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before:

Test your connection: http://atia.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/go/connectpro_overview

For more information about this and other webinars, please contact Liz Persaud – Liz@gatfl.org. Please forward this announcement to anyone interested in this topic or the Tools for Life webinars. This webinar is co-sponsored by AMAC

iCanConnect!

The goal of the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) is to ensure that every person with combined hearing and vision loss has access to modern telecommunication tools and the training necessary to use them, granting every individual the opportunity to interact with the world as an involved, contributing member of society. The program — promoted by iCanConnect — provides outreach, assessments, telecommunications technology and training free of charge to those who meet federal eligibility guidelines. For more information about the NDBEDP, including the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) consumer guide and eligibility rules, visit www.fcc.gov/NDBEDP.


In Georgia, contact:

Sondra Rhoades Johnson
Executive Director

Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired 4151 Memorial Drive, Suite 103-B Decatur, GA 30032 srjohnson@gachi.org (404) 292-5312

http://www.icanconnect.org/

GADB & GVR EVENT

Georgia Assocaition of the DeafBlind

in partnership with

Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency

presents

ADVOCACY: From Home & School to Work

 October 6 & 7, 2012

 @ the Cave Spring Rehabilitation Center

 

    

 



    

         $40.00 Registration Includes: All Workshop Materials

                                                            Saturday Night Luau

                                                            Sunday Breakfast & Snacks

                                                            One Night Stay in Dorm

          

       $20.00 Working SSPs (Food Only)

 

       

        For More Information Contact:

        Rebecca Cowan-Story, MRC C.R.C

        State Coordinator of Deaf Blind Services

        Rebecca.cowan-story@gvra.ga.gov

        706-777-2342

                                                       

A Call for Nominations !!!!

The National Family Association for Deaf-Blind has open positions on its Board of Directors.  We are looking for a few people to join our Board of Directors to represent families that have children of any age that are deaf-blind.  Nominees must be a Regular member in good standing of NFADB for at least one year.  The positions of President and Treasurer are also up for re-election this year.  Only current board or past board members may run for these Executive Committee positions.  An appointed term lasts for two years and board members may run for up to 3 consecutive 2 year terms or run for an Executive Committee position.  

NFADB is the largest national network of families focusing on issues surrounding deaf-blindness. The mission of NFADB is to empower the voices of families of individuals who are deaf-blind and to advocate for their unique needs.  A board member will stay connected with professional organizations, Congressional Representatives and Senators.  Board members will sit on or chair at least one working committee and will help to expand our State Affiliates Program.  We are looking for serious candidates that believe they can help our organization make a difference in the lives of all families dealing with deaf-blindness.  Candidates may come from any state. 

For more information or to nominate yourself or someone you know for the position of Board Member, President or Treasurer, please contact Blanche Stetler at jtmommy@aol.com or at 732-721-5448.  An application will then be mailed to you and you will need to participate in a phone interview and send in 3 letters of recommendation by May 31, 2012.  The appointments will be made in June 2012.  Thank you for your interest and for your continued support of the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind. 

IPad 3 Contest by WonderBaby & Perkins School for the Blind

WonderBaby.org, a website dedicated to supporting parents and caregivers of children who are blind or visually impaired.

Perkins purchased WonderBaby.org last year, and it is now part of our family of online resources. To celebrate this partnership, WonderBaby and Perkins are giving away a NEW iPad (plus some amazing accessories) to one special winner!

This contest is being sponsored by Perkins, AbleNet, RJ Cooper and Inclusive Technology and they have all donated wonderful items to our giveaway.

Here's what one lucky person will win:

*The NEW iPad (iPad 3) donated by Perkins School for the Blind

*A virtually indestructible GumDrop iPad Case

*The RadSounds switch-ready music app donated by RJ Cooper plus an RJ Cooper switch interface

*A Blue2 Bluetooth Switch for use with switch-activated apps donated by AbleNet

*Two fun switch-ready apps, Smarty Pants & Five Sharks Swimming, donated by Inclusive Technology

This is the perfect package for a child with special needs who wants to get started with the iPad!

This contest is open to anyone, including all Perkins staff and any children or families you may work with. Feel free to enter (by clicking the link below) or tell others about this giveaway.

For more information about the giveaway, please visit:

http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/ipad-giveaway

This giveaway will end on May 11th at midnight.

GSAP AT IDEAS 2012!!

GSAP is sponsoring 2 training opportunities at the IDEAS Conference June 4-7 at Epworth by the Sea on St. Simons Island. 

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Pages/IDEAS-Conference.aspx

Both sessions will be led by Linda Alsop, Director of of Deafblind Programs at Utah State University and Project Sparkle.  

A preconference session titled: “Effective Intervention for Students who are Deafblind” will be offered on Monday, June 4^th from 8:00 am – 11:45 am.  This session will cover the impact a combined vision and hearing loss on development, communication, and socialization and effective strategies for instructing these children, including the use of interveners.   An intervener is a staff person, trained in deafblindness, who provides individual support to a student who has a combination of a vision impairment with a hearing impairment that affects the way he or she is able to access information and function in the educational environment.

GSAP is sponsoring this preconference session at no cost to participants.  To have registration waived, enter the GSAP promotion code on your registration form.  The promotion code is GSAP01.

Our second training opportunity will be an intensive training looking more closely at the unique needs of students who are deafblind and strategies teams can use to build communication, provide information and establish a bond of trust with a student who is deafblind. This training will begin on Monday, June 4^th 3:00-4:30 pm and continue on Tuesday from 8:00-4:30 and Wednesday from 8:00-2:30.  The training is designed for teams focused on a student who is deafblind and will involve team planning for that student around the strategies presented.

Registration for the conference is $75.00. Some school districts have funding available. Some assistance with the registration fee may be available from GSAP on a first come, first served basis.  Please contact Deborah Fields-Harris fields-harrisd@comcast.net to inquire about registration assistance.

 

What is an Intervener?

http://intervener.org/

What is an Intervener?

An Intervener is a person who:

• Works consistently one-to-one with an individual who is deafblind
• Has training and specialized skills in deafblindness

An intervener provides a bridge to the world for the student who is deafblind. The intervener helps the student gather information, learn concepts and skills, develop communication and language, and establish relationships that lead to greater independence. The intervener is a support person who does with, not for the student. Specialized training is needed to become an effective intervener. Training should address a wide range of topics necessary to understanding the nature and impact of deafblindness, the role of the intervener, and appropriate educational strategies to work with students with combined vision and hearing loss (Alsop, Killoran, Robinson, Durkel, & Prouty, 2004; McGinnes, 1986; Robinson et al., 2000).

REMINDER:THIS WEEKEND!!! Georgia PINES/GSAPFAMILY WORKSHOP

26th Annual GaPINES GSAP Family Workshop
Keynote: Donna Patterson - "Sensory Loss & Parent Emotions"

Saturday, March 24 at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf -- FREE
Sibshop! Childcare! Come out to learn & share!  SPACE STILL AVAILABLE!!

Click below for registration & information:
http://familyworkshop.gapines.info/atlantaagenda.pdf

http://familyworkshop.gapines.info/Add.asp

Usher Syndrome Research Update

From Bill Kimberling:

As you may know, since the mid 1980s, I have been involved in research on Usher syndrome. Many of you have participated in this research by donating blood and giving generously of your time to make our Usher research successful. For that, I thank you.

 I would like to re-establish contact with anyone who has participated in my research for several reasons: 1) We want to bring all the data up to date  - that will be extremely useful.   2) We want to create a list of potential participants for clinical trials coming up in the near future.

I would like to encourage all those who participated in Usher research to contact me at bkimberling@gmail.com or phone at 402-290 4721.

Literacy for Children with Combined Vision & Hearing Loss

The “All Children Can Read” website is built on a framework that incorporates stages of literacy development and key components of reading into instructional strategies for children with dual sensory challenges.  The website has been designed to present these strategies in a user-friendly, interactive manner that utilizes existing resources and provides practical examples.


http://literacy.nationaldb.org/

OSEP/NCDB Intervener Initiative

The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness is seeking volunteers to serve on several panels of individuals who represent the interests of children and families with respect to intervener issues.  These include family members, state deaf-blind project personnel, higher education providers, interveners, and educational administrators.

The estimated time commitment for each panel member is approximately 8 to 10 hours over approximately four weeks (mid-March to mid-April 2012, plus one additional task in May). 

If you would like to volunteer, please send your name, job title or role (e.g., state deaf-blind project coordinator, parent, intervener), and a brief explanation describing why you are interested in serving on the panel to Peggy Malloy at NCDB. 

Deadline: February 15, 2012

 

Peggy Malloy

E-mail: malloyp@wou.edu

Phone: 503-838-8598 (call if you have any questions)

Fax: 503-838-8150

National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

Teaching Research Institute, Western Oregon University

345 N. Monmouth Ave.

Monmouth, OR  97361

Cortical Vision Impairment Webinar

Perkins Training & Educational Resources Program presents

Cortical Vision Impairment

In this webcast Ellen Mazel, M.Ed., talks about the diagnosis of cortical vision impairment and the resulting implications. Ellen shares strategies for assessment and intervention and emphasizes the importance of early intervention. This webcast provides excellent information for parents and teachers who are just learning about cortical vision impairment.

http://support.perkins.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Webcasts_Cortical_Vision_Impairment

Webinar about Educational Access for Students with Visual Disabilities

Announcing:

A Webinar for Teachers -- Bringing Video Description Into the 21st Century

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 02:00 PM EST / 11:00 AM PST

Attend, and learn how to provide better access to educational videos for
students with visual disabilities!

Sign up at
http://webinars.dcmp.org

2012 Partners in Policymaking Class

The 2012 Partners in Policymaking class will be held March 23-25 and April 20-22. If you
would like to apply for the 2012 class, please complete the application at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VKDYVKF. If you need assistance with your application or would like to learn more about the Partners in Policymaking program, please contact Ryan Johnson at (404) 881-9777 extension 217.

Just Released: An Educational Webcast with Marlyn Minkin on the Impact of Deafblindness on the Family

The Impact of Deafblindness on the Family

In this webcast, Marlyn Minkin, M.S. addresses the issues that families struggle with related to raising children who are deafblind. Marlyn is a psychologist with extensive national and international experience working with families of children who are deafblind.

This webcast addresses the following topics: 1. Introduction, 2. Common Responses to a Diagnosis of Deafblindness, 3. Parent to Parent Support, 4. Sibling Issues, 5. Personal Experiences and Professional Advice, 6. Self-Care and Accepting Help, 7. Planning for the Future, and 8. Redefining Hope.

 To access the webcast, visit http://support.perkins.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=13481.0&printer_friendly=1

Upcoming Family Workshops and Sibshops

Georgia PINES and GSAP will team up to provide two Family Workshops with various topics on sensory impairments. The dates are Saturday January 28, 2012 at the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon, GA and Saturday, March 24, 2012 at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf. For more information, visit the Training and Events page on GSAP's website: http://education.gsu.edu/georgiadeafblindproj/events-training.aspx.

Alongside the Family Workshops (1/28/2012 in Macon; 3/24/2012 in Atlanta), GSAP will provide Sibshop for brothers and sisters of individuals with special needs. Visit the Sibshop page on GSAP's website for more information: http://education.gsu.edu/georgiadeafblindproj/sibshop.aspx.