Greetings Bethany,
It’s wonderful to connect with someone who has such a rich background as an Accessibility Specialist and a Certified Deaf / Protactile Interpreter. I’m looking forward to tactile graphics too!
My name is Lynda Nollmeyer and I’m a TVI with 15 years experience in the sunny state of Arizona. I currently work for Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and Blind. I serve students in prek-12 in their home district. I drive a ton! This summer I hope to learn how to effectively increase student literacy.
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Sorry, I’m late to the party. I did not get the intro email to my home email address and don’t have access to my work email over summer. Glad I logged in and found you all!
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How do you like teaching remotely? I really struggled during covid and couldn’t wait to get back into the classroom. I see that a lot of positions are now remote. Any tips or tricks for making it work?
Figuring out how to keep up with paperwork is always hard. I use a Google docs system to make sure I keep each student paperwork up to date. I also like to block out time when other teachers are doing prep or pd to sit down and get it done. What techniques have you found that works for you?
Hello,
My grandma was raised in MInnesota and was 100% Swedish. The majority of my caseload is also kids with CVI, yet no two are the same, which makes this job different everyday! I love it!
Hi All - I’m a bit late to getting started but excited to learn this summer.
My name is Brenda Allair, and I’m a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and Deafblind Specialist working in Massachusetts. I’ve been in the field for about 20 years, and have worked with students from ages birth to 22. I’m currently an itinerant employed by a collaborative, and I work across a number of districts.
My students now range in age from 3 years old to 20 years old, and most have significant complex needs. Many have an autism diagnosis, several are deafblind learners, and the most common diagnosis on my caseload is CVI, though I do have a few students with low vision.
I’m most excited to learn more about opportunities to increase tactile learning and literacy for my students and how to encourage their classroom teachers and paraprofessionals to utilize those strategies.
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Hi Beth - What a beautiful area you must be in! My family and I visit Acadia National Park a few times a year and recently went to Baxter, so I imagine those rural areas even further north must be quite something!
I also feel like as TVI’s we don’t have as much access to tactile literacy and graphicacy as we need for our students. I also tend to gravitate towards working with students with significant additional disabilities, and sometimes it can be a challenge for teams to understand the importance of providing those tactile learning opportunities.
Hi Elizabeth! I’m in Massachusetts, so Scots were pretty popular here for the past couple of weeks! I’ve done some remote teaching and found it to be both challenging and rewarding, though I haven’t yet had to teach braille remotely. Are there a large number of TVI’s in Scotland? I’m always interested in learning more about how systems work in different parts of the world!
Hi Andrea - What an incredible perspective your background must give you in your role as a TVI/COMS! I love all my students, but I admit I have a soft spot for Early Intervention. I was the coordinator of our state’s infant/toddler program for students with visual impairments for a number of years, and I really loved getting to know the families and providing that unique type of support. I also came into this field because of my child - my youngest was born with a very rare genetic condition and has been totally blind since birth. I was in early education prior to having her, but had never even heard of TVIs until we met the wonderful teachers who supported her. I’m grateful to them, and I feel very lucky to have been able to build my career in this field.
Thanks for sharing your experience with year round school! I’ve been advocating for this since I started teaching, glad to hear an example of it working well. I work year round as an early intervention provider and, on a personal level, I find it much more suitable for good mental health and anti-burn out.
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Hi Courtney, I also work with infants and toddlers (but also up to age 5). I’ll be interested to follow your thoughts on this age group as we move through this program!
Hi. My name is Teri Chaney. I am a TSVI for the Family Infant Toddler team that was formed by the State of Kansas and the Department of Early Childhood. I am based in central Kansas. I serve the little ones, from birth to right before they turn 3. Many of my littles have not be diagnosed with CVI, but have lots of red flags and respond well to the accommodations that we put in place. I love working together and brainstorming as a team. I look forward to learning from each of you and growing my knowledge.
Hey Amber! Great to have you on here! I look forward to learning with you and what you do with our littles after they transition. 
Hi Andrea! You have a very interesting background. I am excited to learn from you since you work with the littles ones as well. Thanks for being here and sharing your experiences.
A little late on the response here, sorry about that. It took me a few years to find other TVIs in the state who I connect with, but I have 2 others (on the other side of the state) who have become my little Wyoming TVI community. We have a group chat and work on projects together. I am so lucky to have them, despite being so far away! Our vision outreach coordinator for the state is also amazing!
One TVI and I actually have shared students who are 6 hours away from both of us, giving us the unique opportunity to collaborate on evaluations, learn from each other, and share the load. It’s been awesome!
Hi! My name is Samia Greenwood. I am a Teacher of the Visually Impaired in Virginia. I work with students from preschool to high school age, but I must admit I do love the creativity of elementary. I started in education as an Orthopedically Impaired teacher and initially switched to vision so I could be part time with my children when they were little. I enjoy working with students with multiple disabilities and have a background in communication/AT so I work with many students with CVI. I have a young Braille learner and other low vision students as well. I am always looking for ways to improve my teaching. Hopefully I will get some good ideas and a positive boost to send me back into the next school year. Also, if anyone has any good training suggestions for people with hard to crack bias, I’m all ears.
My sister and niece live in Hawaii on Oahu. It’s tempting that there is an opening so close to them!
I would love to hear from you about how your deafblind learners have done with appropriate supports, if you feel like you have enough support? I have recently spoken with some interveners whose model of support was so impactful that the difference was striking. I think that the interveners I have known in the past were not the same…maybe the model has altered over time…
What is the service model like in Ireland?