 Hello!  Welcome to Perkins e-Learning to-go!  Today's podcast is an audio version of one of our classic webcasts - a reboot.  We will be learning about Mealtime Skills for Children with Visual Impairments today.Sue Shannon, an occupational therapist, describes some of the challenges faced by students who are blind in learning mealtime skills. It focuses on and  provides video demonstrations of effective strategies for teaching the skills of pouring, serving, utensil use and cutting.The presentation shows different techniques for each skill and the adaptations for students at different levels of learning.  

Perkins eLearning To Go

Mealtime Skills for Children with Visual Impairments

We are continuing our “How to help your child with CVI” series today with “Teamwork” Teamwork is so important in many aspects of our lives, and certainly when it comes to helping a child with CVI. During this podcast you will hear, as always, from Dr. Mary Zatta who will be discussing importance of teamwork and collaboration for children with CVI and strategies that you can use to encourage your child’s team to work together. Then you will hear from some of the parents whose children have CVI as they recount their experiences with their own teams.Also, don’t forget, if you are a professional and would like to earn professional development credits from this series, please visit our website at perkinselearning.orgEnjoy this podcast.

How to help your child with CVI - Teamwork

This weeks podcast is the 3rd in our series “How to help your child with CVI” The past few weeks we have looked at Diagnosis and Assessment, this week the focus will be on Intervention.It is always good to have someone knowledgeable to “Show you the ropes” so to speak. During this podcast, you will learn how to identify intervention strategies and know what qualifications to looks for in a professional provide appropriate services to a child with CVIJust like the last two podcasts, we will hear from Dr. Mary Zatta who will provide information regarding this topic and then hear from parents who will share their experiences in this area.As a reminder, for professionals who are listening to this podcast, you are able to earn professional development credits by completing the self paced tutorial on this subject. For more information, please visit our website at perkisnelearning.org. 

How to help your child with CVI - Intervention

We are continuing our new series "How to help your child with CVI".  Todays podcast will focus on Educational Assessment.  As with last weeks podcast, you will hear from Dr. Mary Zatta.  She will be discussing the importance of Education Assessments, and then we will hear from parents who will share their experiences in this area.  

How to help your child with CVI - Assessment

Hello!  We are starting a new series on this podcast titled "How to help your child with CVI".  This is based on a self-paced tutorial offered at no charge on perkinselearning.org - only in podcast form!  We hope this series will be of help to parents and professionals who may have questions regarding CVI.

How to help your child with CVI - Diagnosis

This weeks podcast we will be discussing Guide Dogs.  I had a delightful conversation with Jake Koch, community outreach specialist with Guide Dogs for the blind,  we discussed a variety of topics in regards to guide dogs.  When is a good time to think about getting a guide dog?  Are there things that should be completed prior to getting a guide dog?  Which is better,  guide dog or cane?  All of these and more are discussed during this podcast.  Please enjoy!If you are interested in contacting Jake, please visit Guide Dogs for the Blind website at https://www.guidedogs.com/ 

Guide Dogs for the Blind - with Jake Koch

In this podcast, Ike Presley talks about the world of assistive technology and walks us through a range of assistive technology options. He shares some of the strategies involved in conducting an assessment as well as in choosing the right assistive technology tool for the learner. Presley also provides guidance regarding how often learners should be reassessed and resources for staying current with assistive technologies.

Keeping up with Technology - Ike Presley

Charlotte Cushman is back on the podcast to discuss Virtual ExCEL Academy.  As you will hear, this virtual classroom is available at no charge to students, teachers, parents, or anyone who is interested in attending.  If you are interested: https://www.aph.org/join-virtual-lessons-for-at-home-education/It is always a delight to speak with Charlotte.

Virtual ExCEL Academy with Charlotte Cushman

Today we have a special guest. Kelly Fonner took some time to talk with me. Kelly is a self-employed consultant and trainer in assistive and educational technology. As you will learn, she has a well developed career in assistive technologies spanning over 30 years. She and I spoke about her journey, and discussed the needs for classroom today, and also what is the latest trends in assistive technology? 

Assistive Technologies, conversation with Kelly Fonner

Karen Wolffe, Ph.D. describes the importance of career education for students who are blind or visually impaired. Dr. Wolffe describes the importance of starting very early in a child’s development in order for the student to develop the necessary skills to achieve success in the future.In addition she talks about the “golden opportunity” of career awareness and the role this instruction plays in the student’s dreams and choices they make for the future.

Career Education for Children with Visual Impairments

Welcome to Perkins eLearning to go! Todays podcast will be a reboot of one of our webcasts. In this webcast, Lucia Hasty discusses teaching children with visual impairments braille. We have many requests for courses on this, so I hope this podcast will be helpful.

Teaching Braille to children with visual impairments

Hello and Welcome to Perkins eLearning to go – this is Valerie.  What will we listen to today?  Well, I had the opportunity to talk with a very special person.  She has spent over 30 years as a speech pathologist and has spanned states to focus on teaching children, with multiple disabilities-  including deafblindness, visual impairment and autism how to communicate.    We at Perkins eLearning are honored to have her instruct one of our courses “Autism and Visual Impairment, The Better together curriculum”.  And to top all this off, she is an amazing person and wonderful to speak with.  Of course I am talking about Linda Hagood.  I was joined by my colleague, Robin Sitten, for this interview and had a wonderful conversation with Linda.  Please visit the micro-site for Linda's work here 

Autism and Visual Impairment with Linda Hagood

Perkins teacher Kate Fraser presents teachable moments in the area of science, from tactile modeling to managing safety in laboratory instruction. Learn more about science instruction in the Secondary Program at Perkins School for the Blind by conacting science@perkins.org .

Teachable Moments: Science Concepts

Lotfi Merabet joins us and discusses his journey to becoming interested in CVI,  successes he recognizes with research in this area, and what is happening now and what is in store for the future? Dr. Merabet is an optometrist-scientist and is active in clinical research relating to individuals' adaptations to blindness. As director of the Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity, Dr. Merabet's main research interests include the development of assistive technology for the blind and understanding how the brain adapts to the loss of sight (both from ocular and brain-related causes). (Massachusetts Eye & Ear)

CVI - where do we go from here?

Today we bring you one of our pre-recorded webinars. This one is titled Considerations for Reducing Complexity with the Home which was presented by Marguerite TibaudoMarguerite Tibaudo reviews the complications that complex environments pose for children who have CVI, specifically targeting the home environment, and provide discussion points on the development of creating visually accessible environments with an emphasizes on teaching strategies to build compensatory skill development.Marguerite is a CVI mentor and lead teacher with Perkins school for the blind.

Considerations for Reducing Complexity with the Home for children with CVI

Perkins School for the Blind and Perkins eLearning bring you this podcast in the hope that by hearing from leaders in the field of visual impairment you'll become better equipped to educate children with vision loss.