Navigating the Virtual Classroom for Educators and Staff

Navigating the Virtual Classroom for Educators and Staff

Thursday, April 16th
9:00PM ET // 8:00PM CT // 7:00PM MT // 6:00PM PT

Do you have questions about the transition to a virtual classroom for your student? Are you searching for resources and support for you and your student while participating in distance learning? Do you have questions about preparing for a virtual IEP meeting? This session will provide helpful information, tools, and guidance on how to effectively manage the virtual classroom and the educational system for your child with albinism. The professional team would love to know your questions and concerns ahead of time so they can adequately address them during the call. Please RSVP and submit your questions by Tuesday, April 14th to sadamo@3.19.125.119. The presentation portion of the call will be recorded and available to the NOAH community.

Kim Avila, PhD, COMS is the professor-in-charge and coordinator of the Virginia Consortium for Teacher Preparation in Vision Impairment at George Mason University. She has extensive experience working with individuals with blindness and visual impairment of all ages and served as a teacher of students with visual impairments, orientation and mobility specialist, accessibility specialist, and early intervention service provider. Kimberly’s research, publications, and presentations have focused on pedestrian safety issues that affect persons with visual impairments, braille literacy, transition, methods to promote developmental growth, IEP and accommodation advocacy and she has collaborated extensively on policies affecting the blindness population. 

Anne Corn, Ed.D. is professor emerita from Vanderbilt Universities where she held appointments in both Special Education and in Ophthalmology. She has come out of retirement to become a volunteer research professor at the University of Cincinnati. Anne’s research focused on the functional use of vision, early braille reading, and the needs of teens and young adults. Her second area of exceptionality is the education of children who are gifted, for those with and without disabilities. She is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Anne also serves on the NOAH Scientific Advisory Board. Anne has had more than 45 years as a teacher of children with visual impairments, a teacher educator, writer, researcher, and advocate for children who have low vision. She is also an individual with congenital low vision.

Kathi Garza, M.Ed TVI is an adult with albinism living in Austin, Texas. She is a Certified Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and works in Short Term Programs at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. She has helped to organize many NOAH events in Austin, including Bowl-a-thons and a mini conference. Kathi is a staff writer for Albinism InSight and assisted with children’s programming at the 2016 national conference in Pittsburgh. Aside from teaching and presenting at conferences for other professionals in the field of visual impairment, Kathi’s passions include working with families and helping to spread awareness about albinism. She also enjoys working with students who have multiple disabilities and their families.

Jill Gorman lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, Taggart and their son Kyle, who has albinism. Jill and her family have been members of NOAH for several years hosting events in their area such as bowl-a-thons and, in 2015, a mini conference in Berkeley, CA. Jill has participated in several NOAH projects including Managing Editor of the parent book, Raising a Child with Albinism: A Guide to the School Years, the relaunch of the NOAH website, and assisting with the 2016 national conference. She is an active member of her community as the chair of a support group for families of children with special needs.

Over the years, Marjie Wood, TVI, COMS has experienced first-hand the obstacles that have plagued the field of O&M with her involvement in the professional organizations of American Association of Workers for the Blind (AAWB) and Association for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (AEVH) and later on in the International Association of Education and Rehabilitation for the Blind and Visually Impaired(AERBVI) and the Texas chapter of AER.  She has taught O&M to adults at the Sunrise Project and Texas Commission for the Blind and children from birth to 22 at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and as an itinerant for school districts in Austin, Georgetown and Leander for over 40 years. She currently serves as an O&M consultant to parents and teachers around the U.S.