Program | Program Sessions Schedule and Signup |
Schedule at-a-glance | Sign-up sheet for Pre-Conference Sessions
ACVREP-approved
Welcome to SOMA's Program Page, we're excited to celebrate SOMA's tradition of sharing ideas and learning from each other!
The entire program (including the pre-conference workshops and the Blindfold Walk) provides 22.75 ACVREP-approved CE hours.
The pre-conference workshops are all included in the registration fee but some require signing up prior to the conference.
SOMA PROGRAM
Sessions are listed by topic -- click here for the schedule listing of the program.
NOTE: You are encouraged to bring a cane and blindfold or visual simulator to the conference, because they will be used in several sessions.
O&M HOT TOPICS / EMERGING ISSUES
- Uber rideshare app, one of the most powerful travel tools of this century for blind people
-- Mike May
Learn how to introduce blind people to Uber’s rideshare app and make the most of it with VoiceOver on their iPhone.
- O&M Evaluations for Children with Visual Impairments: Who’s The Gatekeeper -- the TVI or the O&M?
Marjie Wood, M.Ed., COMS, Chris Tabb, M.A., COMS, Susan Langendonk, COMS
A growing number of states are requiring that all students who are visually impaired be assessed for O&M, this session will highlight what's happening and why.
- 3-D Printers for O&M -- Daniel Simmons
How can we use the innovative possibilities that 3-D printers can provide for O&M?
- Panel on physical therapists and O&M
-- Panelists: Sarah Arch, COMS, Lisa Harrison, PT, Susan Langendonk, COMS; Moderator: Carol K. Cornett
Communication between and professional boundaries of Physical Therapists and O&Ms, and impact of O&M intervention early in adjustment process
- Innovative Intersections and Interchanges: What are these and how may they affect travel for the visually impaired? -- Janet Barlow, Chris Cunningham and Kevin Hollinger
New intersection designs are making us dizzy -- can we prepare ourselves and our consumers to deal with them?
- Licensure and Medicare for O&M -- Dr. Grace Ambrose-Zaken and Elga Joffee, COMS
Latest updates on O&M licensure efforts, and what's ahead for Medicare and third-party reimbursement for O&M.
- Autonomous Vehicles -- they're coming! Implications for safety, ethics, policy and pedestrians with visual impairment
-- JoAnne Chalom, COMS and Dr. Gene Bourquin, COMS
- O&M Instruction for clients with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System
-- Daniel R. Simmons, M.Ed., COMS, TVI, Invision Services, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
- Adapting to a Changing Educational and Professional Landscape
-- Audrey J. Smith, Anisio Correia and Laura Bozeman
ASSESSMENT:
-
Efficacy in O&M and the New O&M Skills Inventory for Children Ages Birth through Six Years of Age from New Mexico
Dawn Anderson, Rob Wall Emerson, Julie Maner and Loreta Martinez-Cargo
-
Assessment-Driven Intensive O & M
- O&M Inventory, A Paperwork-Killing On-Going Assessment Tool
- Assessment Tools for O&M
Karen Walker, TVI/O&M, President, Allied Instructional Services, Ashland, Virginia
- Bringing the NOMA (National Orientation and Mobility Assessment) to SOMA
- O&M Evaluations for Children with Visual Impairments: Who’s The Gatekeeper -- the TVI or the O&M? (Hot Topic / Emerging Issue)
Marjie Wood, M.Ed., COMS, Chris Tabb, Susan Langendonk, COMS
CHILDREN, INFANTS, AND YOUTH
GUIDE DOG MOBILITY INSTRUCTORS
- Communication Technologies for Working Dogs
Dr. Melody Jackson, PhD, from Georgia Institute of Technology
- "Instructor education & O&M skills training in preparation for guide dog mobility instruction - IGDF Standard 4"
Marc Gillard COMS, GDM, from Guide Dogs for the Blind
- "Guide Dog Instructors - Doing what we do: An exploration of motivations"
Mike Goehring, from Guiding Eyes, New York
- "Leader Dog program: Guide Dogs for Clients with Dual Sensory Loss"
Keith McGregor, GDMI, and Jennifer Sanderson, GDMI, from Leader Dogs, Michigan
- "1916 -2016 One Hundred Years of Guide Dog History"
Lukas Franck COMS, GDMI, from The Seeing Eye, New Jersey
- "For Clean Walk – Preventing Emptying During Guide Work"
Sam Tawada, from Japan Guide Dog Association, Japan
- The Changing Face of Guide Dog Services
John Byfield, GDMI, from Freedom Guide Dogs, New York
- GDMI Roundtable (Apprenticeships; Distraction; Class schedule (2-week / 3-week / 4-week)
Facilitator; Lukas Franck
AUDITORY TRAINING
WAYFINDING AND GPS
- Accessible Wayfinding and Travelers Who Are Visually Impaired
Joseph Cioffi and Beezy Bentzen
- Global Positioning Systems, Environmental Literacy, and the Traveler with a Visual Impairment: "Who?" "What?" "Where?" "Why?" and "How?"
Craig Phillips, MS Ed. COMS, Vision Services, LLC, Lenexa, Kansas
- Overview and Field Practice Using the Trekker Breeze+ to Create Routes and Establish a Position in Space (all-day preconference workshop)
Craig Phillips, MS Ed. COMS, Vision Services, LLC, Lenexa, Kansas
LIMITED to 10 participants
- What Makes a GPS System for a User Who is Blind
Heather Kennedy-MacKenzie
STREET CROSSING
TECHNOLOGY AND RESOURCES / MATERIALS
- Hi-Tech O&M: iPhone, VoiceOver, O&M apps, BlindSquare, GPS, iBeacons, etc. (all-day preconference workshop)
Ed Summers and Diane Brauner
LIMITED to 25 participants
- Hi-Tech O&M: iPhone, BlindSquare, GPS, iBeacons, etc. Part I & 2 (half-day preconference workshop)
Diane Brauner and Ed Summers
- American Printing House: Low Tech, Hi Tech, and Everything in Between
- Sneak Peek at "Paths to Technology" Website
DEAF-BLIND
CANES AND AMDs
RECREATION / FITNESS / SPORTS
COLLABORATION AND TEAMING
PROCESS
- Private contracting for O&M services
Karen Walker, TVI/O&M, President, Allied Instructional Services, Ashland, Virginia, and John Higgins, COMS, CEO, Invision Services, Inc
- Justifying O&M services and training off campus --
RoundTable facilitated by Sarah Bussey and Valery Kircher-Herring, COMS
INTERNS / APPRENTICES
OTHER TOPICS:
- BLINDFOLD WALK
- PTSD and O&M
- LOW VISION
ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION SERIES:
GENERAL OPENING SESSION
- Welcome! -- Lynn Gautreaux and Mary Phagan-Kean, SOMA 2016 Conference Co-Chairs
- SOMA Celebration! -- Dona Sauerburger with guests Tom Wood, Stephen Sanford, and Mike Corbett
- "Chair Yoga" exercise -- Susan Austin
- Keynote: Keeping the O&M Profession Alive and Healthy -- Mickey Damelio
- Exhibitor Highlights: What's New? -- Bernice Meyer, Exhibit Coordinator
GENERAL CLOSING SESSION
- Sharing a summary of the conference: what did we learn, and how can we put it to use? -- facilitated by Eileen Bishoff
Schedule At-a-Glance:
REGISTRATION HOURS:
Friday, March 11: 1:00-5:00; 6:00-8:00 PM
Saturday, March 12: 4:00-8:00 PM
Sunday, March 13: 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday, March 14: 8:00-12:00 Noon
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
SATURDAY March 12, 2016
10:00 - 5:30 Pre-conference all-day workshops
All Saturday workshops are included with registration, but they are limited -- sign-ups are accepted first-come, first-served.
SUNDAY March 13, 2016
8:30-11:30: Pre-conference HALF-DAY workshops
All Sunday morning workshops are included with registration, but some are limited and require sign-up.
1:00 - 3:00 GENERAL OPENING SESSION
3:00 - 3:45 Time to view exhibits
3:45 - 5:00 Concurrent sessions
5:00 - 7:00 RECEPTION (included)
MONDAY March 14, 2016
7:00 - 7:45 Yoga in the morning
7:00 - 8:30 Breakfast (included)
8:30 - 9:30 Concurrent sessions
9:45 - 10:45 Concurrent sessions
11:00 - 12:00 Concurrent sessions
12:00 - 1:30 Hot buffet lunch in exhibit hall (included)
1:30 - 3:00 Concurrent sessions
3:30 - 5:00 Concurrent sessions
5:30 - 6:30 Blindfold Walk and Concurrent Session
TUESDAY March 15, 2016
7:00 - 7:45 Yoga in the morning
7:00 - 8:30 Full Breakfast (included)
8:30 - 10:00 Concurrent sessions
10:15 - 11:00 Concurrent sessions
11:15 - 12:30 Closing - WRAP-UP
QUESTIONS? Feel free to contact us below:
SOMA 50th Anniversary Conference Program Committee
Dona Sauerburger, Chair -- dona@sauerburger.org; 301-858-0138
Janet Barlow
Eileen Bischof
Bernice Meyer
Debbie Nelson