These past two days I have been working online for meetings and observations before heading off to the Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference in Huntsville, Alabama.
Today I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Orel-Bixler at UC Berkeley Eye Centre. I observed (and assisted as her helper) in her clinic with two MDVI students one foundation phase and one high school (with ASD and ADHD) the techniques used to assess are more or less the same as the UK but Dr Orel-Bixler uses a tv and vhs so her patients can focus on something while she assesses them - genius! A few different assessment tools particularly the LEA symbols (picture attached) similar to our Kay Picture test (both crowded and single) she even uses Cardiff Cards and knows Maggie Woodhouse (the VI world is such a small world) followed by a tour of the eye centre and lunch at the faculty dining room. Dr Orel Bixler and I with Cardiff Cards - yes they use them in California! LEA symbols test Outside UC Berkeley Eye Center
Today I visited the Disability Cultural Center in San Francisco. A fantastic center that cater for all disabilities, including VI. I was impressed to find out they provided audio descriptions of the art work, orientation and mobility assistance if needed, and they even have braille books (see pictures below) with tactile pictures. Me outside the SFDC One of the braille books with tactile pictures Braille books Wearable artwork from the pop up artist They had a pop up artist sharing their work 'Shared Skins' at the DCC. As they say, “Wearable art but make it community-engaged, participatory, and can be remade into thousands of different arrangements.” Visitors can create wearable art from the pieces crafted. The artist said how the pieces are tactile using poppers, different materials and paints so it is accessible for Vision Impaired visitors (see pictures). Here is their instagram page for those interested https://www.instagram.com/blinkpopshift?igsh=MXE3bndrM2ZsdnRyNw==
The school of Special Education at SFSU Today I visited Adam Graves, TVI Assistant Professor/Program Coordinator Graduate College of Education Program in Visual Impairments at San Francisco State University. We chatted about the course in the US and the UK and they sound very similar in how they’re taught. The SFSU program’s specialist curriculum (ECC) is infused throughout the modules which aligns to the UK with the CFVI. However, one of the modules on the VI program at SFSU is on assistive technology and that module is taught by California School for the Blind. SFSU VI Program students do not have to have a teaching qualification to do the course just a Bachelor's degree, whereas I explained how in the UK you could only do the course with qualified teacher status. Other similarities are around philosophical and theoretical concepts that weave through the program modules, which is similar to the UK. We then discussed some of the challenges we’r...
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