Presenters, SOMA 2020
- Baguhn, Sarahelizabeth
Sarahelizabeth Baguhn has worked itinerantly and in a residential school as a COMS, CATIS, and TVI. Now a PhD student at Western Michigan University, her current research is focused on establishing reliability and validity of comprehensive O&M assessment tools.
Birth to 6 O&M Skills Inventory (B6OMSI): research and practice
- Beigay, G. Michael
- Botsford, Kathryn
- Bourquin, Gene
- Caruso, Sue
Sue Caruso has been an OT for 35 years working with children in the acute care hospital setting, public school, home health and with the NC Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Visually Impaired children for the past 20 years. Sue specializes in working with children aged birth to 3 who are visually impaired.
Independent Living Skills for the Young Child
- Chalom, JoAnne
JoAnne Chalom, COMS is President and Founder of In Focus Mobility, Inc., She has more than 30 years of working with people with disabilities and varying abilities. JoAnne has served as the District Director for Division five and is presently serving as Chair-elect for the O&M Division.
Support Canes: Where do you stand?
- Conrad, Tiffany
Tiffany Conrad is currently the Coordinator for Hillsborough County Visually Impaired Programs. She has been a teacher and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist since graduating from Florida State 15 years ago, teaching in counties such as Lee, Broward and Hillsborough.
How has Covid-19 changed your O&M practices? Round Table discussion
- Darst, Shannon
- Dumitru, Cristina
Cristina Dumitru, TVI/COMS. She has a BS in Exceptional Education, Bucharest University; a MS in Education of Visual Impairment, University of AL. She received O&M Specialist training from University of AL. She has 17 years of experience as a Special Education teacher and TVI/ COMS in GA, MA, SC.
On And Off The Grid
- Ford, John
- Furlong, Jay
- Gilbert, Douglas
- Hardwig, Jay
Jay Hardwig (MA, COMS, NBCT) is the Manager of Programs and Services for IFB Solutions in Asheville. He provides contract O&M services during the school year and runs camps in the summer, including the SEE Adventure Camp and SEE Day Camps in Asheville.
Blind Adventure Camp: The Movie
- Herring, Lauren
Lauren Herring received her BS and MS in Visual Disabilities/ Orientation and Mobility from Florida State University in 1987 and 1993 respectively. She taught in the county, public school systems of Gadsden and Leon counties, Florida. Lauren started teaching in Forsyth County Schools, Cumming, Georgia in January 2006 where she continues to teach today.
On And Off The Grid
- Herzberg, Tina
Dr. Herzberg is a Professor at the University of South Carolina Upstate where she coordinates the program to prepare teachers of students with visual impairments. Much of her recent research has focused on assessment of students with visual impairments.
O&M Assessments: Current Practices and Where We Need to Go
- Hoskins, Leslie
Leslie Hoskins, COMS is the Outreach Services and Community Engagement Manager at Leader Dogs for the Blind. In her seven-year career Leslie has presented at numerous conferences on GPS, camps for teens and different models of teaching O&M. She has her Masters in Orientation and Mobility from Western Michigan University.
Tracking Client Improvement
- Huey, Jennifer
Jennifer Huey, MA, COMS has worked for the LightHouse for the Blind since 2015. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Master’s Degree in Special Education and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communicative Disorders.
TMAP - Building Environmental Literacy at a Distance
- Ihrke, Erica
Erica Ihrke is the Manager of Extended Services at Leader Dog and a Certified O&M Specialist. She oversees O&M Training, Summer Experience Camp and use of accessible GPS. She has a Master of Arts in O&M from Western Michigan University. Erica is a past-president of Michigan AER and currently a co-chair of the ACVREP O&M Subject Matter Expert Committee.
Virtualizing Summer Camp
- Jones, Katt
- Kaiser, Justin
- Kehret, Greg
At the LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco, Greg Kehret directs the Media and Accessible Design Lab (MAD Lab) working with a team that specializes in making the visual tactile, turning inaccessible experiences into inclusive ones by producing braille, and designing tactile images and maps.
TMAP - Building Environmental Literacy at a Distance
- Kelly, Samantha
- Kinyatti, Susan
- Kirby, Nancy
Nancy is a certified O&M and TVI and has been working for the NC Early Learning Sensory Support Program-VI for 20 years +. She loves working with children and families and assisting with overall development. n
Independent Living Skills for the Young Child
- Lanzilotti, Anthony
Anthony Lanzilotti is currently a student with a dual major in political science/criminal justice, and a minor in disability studies, with the goal of becoming an attorney / advocate for people with disabilities.
He also hopes to show people who are blind or visually impaired that they can acquire the confidence as well as the skill sets to become excellent travelers.
Teaching street-crossing in CoronaVille: Strategies for remote, safe instruction
- Lowry, Steve
- Mike May
Mike May is Chief Evangelist at GoodMaps. He is also founder Sendero Group, makers of the first accessible navigation products. He has been the principle investigator on several US federal grants as he works with numerous organizations to advance wayfinding technologies around the world.
Mike May has been a pioneer in new product and business development since 1980.
Indoor Navigation for All
- McIntyre, Sarah
Sarah McIntyre has been a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist since 2002. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Master’s Degree in Special Education in 2002 and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology in 2000.
TMAP - Building Environmental Literacy at a Distance
- Mitchell, Don
Don Mitchell is a 71 year old retired teacher of blind students at the, now closed, School of Piano Technology for the Blind in Vancouver, Washington.
Don was partially sighted until the age of 36 years old.
He never used a long white cane until taking O&M as an adult, and just started using a guide dog in December of 2020.
He worked with Julie Wright as a student last summer, training with innovative techniques because of the pandemic, including mounting a cellphone on Don's head.
Practical Distance-Learning Experience and Discussion in Providing for Safety
- Mitchell, Jack
Jack Mitchell has been working with assistive technology for people with visual impairments since 2005 in sales, support and training. In 2018 he completed a M.Ed from Hunter College and became certified as a COMS & CVRT. He currently provides AT training and O&M instruction as a contractor for the VA and NC State Services for the Blind.
Using Augmented Reality to enhance Orientation & Mobility instruction
- Murphy, Rod
Rod Murphy directs and produces documentary films and video. He has directed 5 award-winning documentaries and produced videos for organizations including Outward Bound, HanesBrand, Mission Health, ESPN, New Belgium Brewing, Amazon Prime, American Express, The United Way, Western Carolina University, IFB Solutions, The American Chestnut Foundation and The Biltmore.
Blind Adventure Camp: The Movie
- Olson, Paul
Masters Degree in Visual Impairment/Orientation & Mobility from the University of Northern Colorado. Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist 29 years. Invented Treks: The Game of Compass Direction. Invented the Ambutech Dakota Disk. Superintendent of ND Vision Services/School for the Blind.
Curbing Loneliness through O&M
- Perzylo, Natalie
Natalie Perzylo works as an adult O&M Instructor at the Blind Low Vision NZ (formerly Blind Foundation) since 2003. Her idea for the Murder Mystery came to her when she organised a CSI 5-Day Camp for dogs and their owners as crime investigators -- putting their skills to the test.
Using a Murder Mystery Game to enhance O&M Skills
- Peterson, Ryan
- Plesscher, Kristy
Kristy Plesscher graduated from Western Michigan University in 2013 with a Masters in Orientation and Mobility. Kristy worked as a COMS with adults in Alabama and with school aged children in Ohio. In 2017 Kristy joined Leader Dogs for the Blind as a COMS.
Tracking Client Improvement
Virtualizing Summer Camp
- Pounds, Kate
- Recker, Deena
Deena Recker has been an Orientation and Mobility Specialist for over 30 years, working with individuals of all ages and abilities. She currently works as a state wide consultant with the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the areas of Early Childhood, Transition and Family Services. Deena enjoys helping other professionals grow in their abilities.
Non-ambulatory O&M training: Round Table
- Roberts, Sharisse
Sharisse has been working in the field of disabilities since 2000 in various capacities. Her undergraduate degree is in Therapeutic Recreation from Springfield College, 2006 and her graduate degree is in Orientation & Mobility from Salus University, 2012. Since 2018, she has been the State of Maine, Division for the Blind [end]
and Visually Impaired statewide Tech Consultant. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with others in the field as well as in related fields and has presented at NEAER Conference (2016 & 2017), New England Early Intervention Conference (2017), International O&M Symposium (2018), CAOMS Meeting (2018) and Maine Bureau of Rehabilitation Services Statewide Conference (2018), University of Maine’s Residence Life Staff Trainings & Dining Hall Staff Trainings (2019 & 2020) and DBVI/Vision Rehab Partner agency webinars (2020). In her free time, she enjoys playing roller derby, painting and spending time with her partner and their 3 children.
Virtual navigation
- Sauerburger, Dona
- Tichenor, Evelyn
- Tikkun, Sean
Dr. Sean Tikkun is an assistant professor at North Carolina Central University. He explores emergent technology and is interested in advancing best practices in the use of consumer technology to improve the lives of individuals with visual impairments. Sean is an ACVREP Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist.
Using Augmented Reality to enhance Orientation & Mobility instruction
- Trudelle, Marie
- Wall Emerson, Robert
Robert Wall Emerson, Ph.D, COMS, coordinates the Dept. of Blindness and Low Vision Studies at WMU. He has published articles and book chapters on navigation of blind people, and teaching blind children, and researched APS, hybrid and electric vehicles, access to complex intersections, acoustics in navigation, braille literacy, and long cane biomechanics.
Driver Yielding to Pedestrians -- Part I: Risk and the impact of the built environments
Driver Yielding to Pedestrians -- Part 2: Risk and pedestrians control over drivers
- Winn, Margaret
Margaret Winn, COMS works for Oakland Schools in Southeast Michigan and is an independent contractor with the State of Michigan.
She is currently serving her third term as District 3 Director for the AER O&M Division.
Support Canes: Where do you stand?
- Wright, Julie
Julie Wright is a newly certified O&M specialist who received her M.S. in Special Education with a focus on O&M at Portland State University this past June. For the past five years she has been a Sight Loss Instructor for the Oral Hull Foundation for the Blind where she primarily works with older adults new to vision loss.
She also has seven years experience as a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor.
Practical Distance-Learning Experience and Discussion in Providing for Safety