Hello! 
My name is Claire Duvnjak. I am an itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired from Phoenix Arizona. I serve the downtown Phoenix area through the Foundation for Blind Children. I am an instructor in our Sports, Habilitation, Art, and Recreation Program (SHARP) as well.
I am very passionate about literacy for our students! I am an avid reader myself and I am always reading one audiobook and one print book at any given time!
Hello! Iām Lisa Traynor. Iām a CTVI/COMS/OTR from Missouri. I work with several rural school districts.
Good evening. I am Katrina Oliver Thomas. In addition to being an ELA TBVI certified in Secondary Ed, I am also a self-published author. I currently finishing up my 3rd year at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. I taught at the Alabama School for the Blind for four years prior to that. I also have GenED cert as I worked in public school the first six years of my teaching career. I am also adding a reading endorsement to my Georgia teaching certificate. However, teaching reading and teaching braille reading are not the same. I need to know how to teach braille reading as well. I am excited to be a part of a community of fellow teachers of the blind and visually impaired.
Hello! Iām Mary Vaughn and I work at the NM School for the Blind & Visually Impaired. Iām a TVI and very excited to learn more about teaching literacy!
Hi - my name is Patricia (Patty) DāAscenzo. I am currently a TVI for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit in southeast PA. We serve students with visual impairments throughout the Allegheny County region. At the end of this school year I will be transitioning to a new role, Accessible Instructional Materials Coordinator for our program at the AIU. In this new role, I will be responsible for supporting my colleagues with professional development opportunities and direct student needs related to access.
I am super excited for this course. I find reading, more specifically the science behind reading, fascinating. As TVIs, I feel that we need to be more aware of how to support a child in their development of reading skills. In understanding their needs, we will be able to provide more supportive instruction.
Greetings! Iām Shannon Guthrie, a Residential Child and Youth Care Practitioner from Baltimore, MD. I work with blind and low vision students in the 12 to 21 age range. I teach independent living and social skills, as well as other areas within the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). I work in the classroom and an overnight/dormitory setting. Iām excited to learn new strategies for teaching students who are visually impaired.
Hello! My name is Julie King and I am a TVI/COMS in Frisco, Colorado. I work with A Shared Vision as an early intervention TVI/COMS covering the western slope. I am excited to learn what everyone has to say across the states and to be able to share literacy information to the families I serve.
Hello!
My name is Sarah and I am in Ontario, Canada. I have been a Special Education teacher for 16 years, working with students with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities. Next year, I am beginning a new role as a ITVI. I will be the only one in my district, supporting around 60 students with a range of visual impairments. Iām looking forward to learning more and the challenges ahead in this exciting field of work!
Hello everyone,
My name is Judi Downing. I am a TVI and O&M. I also just completed my PhEd in Special Education. I am excited to begin this class. I have been a TVI for the last 20 years and an O&M for the last 15 years. I just completed my 34th year of teaching. I live in a small town in south Texas, about 55 miles southwest of Houston. I currently only have 2 students. One is kinder and the other is 7th grade. Both are Braille students. I am currently struggling to get the student in kinder to see the importance of Braille. I am hoping this class will help me get her started.
Hello, my name is Jenny. Iām a TVI on Long Island and looking forward to being a part of this program.
Hi from Ottawa, Canada! My name is Debbie and I am an Itinerant Teacher for VI and Deaf/Hard of Hearing students across a 12,000 sq km school district.
Pleased to be here and eager to learn!
My name is Jessica and I am a TVI/ COMS. I work for a school district in the suburbs of Chicago. This is going on my 10th year of teaching. I am excited to learn strategies to better help my students.
Good day, My name is Novlette Wilson and I am a TVI. My students includes ones with multiple disabilities with vison needs, low vision and a preschooler who is totally blind and needs braille instruction. I am excited about this course to have an additional tool in my toolbox.
Greetings Everyone!
My name is Marion Myhre. I have been a TVI, Intensive Special Needs Teacher, and Horticultural Therapist for 28 years at Perkins School for the Blind, located in Watertown, Massachusetts (near Boston). I have worked with all ages but mainly with high school students (ages 16-22) who are blind, deafblind, have low vision or CVI, or they are a person who might have additional disabilities includingābehavioral, cognitive, communication, physical, or autism. Presently, I teach vocational training in various capacities, mainly with Horticultural elements, such as Floral Design, Garden and Plant Production, Greenhouse Maintenance, Horticulture Craft Production, Farmers Market Sales, and Vocational Horticulture skills. I also teach American Sign Language to our international teachers. I value teaching across subject matter during my classes. This year we have been focusing on literacy strategies during professional development, so I look forward to delving into many aspects regarding the foundations of reading for students with visual impairments."
Hi Teresa. I am so intimidated by the AT. I am scared I will mess something up. But I would also say if you donāt use it, you loose it. I wish I would have had more kids use technology specifically for their visual impairment. But other than that, I love AT and how it can empower kids.
Hello Teresa, I agree with you that is can be intimidating to focus on so many things while we are teaching and at the same time attempting to assist our students to use their AT devices. It has become even more progressive as technology is intertwined so much in everything we all do as professionals, with our students, and in our personal lives. When you have been teaching a long time, it can become daunting at times to integrate AT.