What's New?

Here are links to pages I've revised or developed recently -- you can check here to see if there's something you're interested in. Enjoy!

Added in September, 2011

Updates on Jean Robert Bayard (Mom)
Daily updates on my courageous mom, who had extensive surgery to remove cancer September 17, 2011

Added in August, 2011

Are "Deaf-Blind Pedestrians" Street Signs Effective?
Experimenting to find out if drivers are more likely to stop for pedestrians if there are signs posted saying "DEAF-BLIND PEDESTRIANS"

Added in June, 2011

Quiet Cars and the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act: Unintended Consequences?
From the June 2011 newsletter of the AER Orientation and Mobility Division

Licensure for O&M - Will It Happen This Year? Please Help!
From the June 2011 newsletter of the AER Orientation and Mobility Division


Added in May, 2011

Letter of support for NYS licensure bill S. 3880/A. 0617
I drafted this letter for a grass-roots effort to gain licensure for the professions of orientation and mobility and vision rehabilitation therapy.

Communicating with the Deaf-Blind Student
Getting Across the Street with Visual and Hearing Impairments
These outlines/handouts cover the information provided at some of the sessions of the annual O&M seminar at Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults -- they were were updated and expanded at the request of participants.

Make Your Own Vision Impairment Simulators
Information was added from one reader who found a cheap source of goggles to make vision simulators.

Added in November, 2010

O&M Program Supervisors and Planners -- Problems and Solutions
Ideas and resources for addressing issues with an O&M program administrator


Added in October, 2010


White Cane Day 2010
A fun, whimsical video by Trina Boyd-Pratt of her students celebrating White Cane Day

NOMC / COMS O&M -- Is There a Difference?
This message, written to NBPCB leaders, outlines how the NFB / NOMC approach to teaching O&M seems to differ from that of AER / COMS.


Added in September, 2010


WORKSHOP: Preparing Visually Impaired Students to Assess and Cross Streets with No Traffic Control
Flyer explaining scheduled workshops.

Introducing Situations of Uncertainty to Students
This page, for the O&M specialist who has completed the Self-Study Guide, provides a suggested outline for teaching students to recognize situations of uncertainty.


Added in July, 2010


Learning to be an O&M specialist in the Class of 1969
To help celebrate the history of O&M, I recorded short videos explaining what it was like to learn and teach O&M 40 years ago.

Step by Step: Systematic Cane Instruction and Assessment
This powerpoint outlines the main points of presentations on teaching the cane.

Kansas City "Early-Adopting Innovators" Take the Quiz
Pictures show an excited group of O&Mers learning about teaching street crossings where there is no traffic control.

Workshops/Seminars for Teaching to Cross With No Stop Sign or Traffic Signal
Explains the workshops that are (or can be made) available for O&M specialists to teach crossings where there is no traffic control.


Added in May, 2010


CHECKLISTS
A series of checklists for preparing visually impaired students to assess and cross streets with no stop sign or traffic signal

Traveling with Baby -- Tips on Strollers for Blind Parents
Written by Lori Miller, COMS, for the Winter 2006 O&M Division newsletter


Added in April, 2010


Safely Experiencing Walking Without Vision
How can people safely experience what it's like to walk without vision if they don't know how to use a cane?
-- Added to the article "Make Your Own Vision Impairment Simulators"

Changing Best Practice - Centralize O&M Innovation?
How can we change O&M best practice when safety requires it?
-- from the Spring 2010 newsletter of the AER O&M Division

Orientation -- What is Our Role?
Are O&M specialists responsible to find the best routes and transportation options for their students?
-- from the July, 1990 newsletter of the Metropolitan Washington Orientation and Mobility Association


Added in March, 2010


YIKES! Is This Strategy Reliable?
Poster: research of a strategy for crossing streets with no traffic control


Added in November, 2009


Forum discussion: Preparing Visually Impaired Students to Assess and Cross Streets with No Traffic Control


Added in October, 2009


Fallacious/Dangerous Strategies for Crossing Streets with no Traffic Signal or Stop Sign


Added in September, 2009


FAQ: "What kinds of goals and objectives would be appropriate in the student's individualized O&M program for crossings with no traffic control?"


Added in August, 2009


Self-Study Guide: Preparing Visually Impaired Students to Assess and Cross Streets with No Traffic Control
A series of pages with information and vignettes and even a workshop to prepare instructors to teach students to cross streets with no traffic control.


Added in May, 2009


Cane Technique: Tricks of the Trade
From the WOMA Newsletter archives, March 1992 -- the importance of features of cane technique, and ideas for teaching them.


Added in April, 2009:


Situations of Uncertainty for Gap Judgment
Explains the primary issue for crossing streets with no traffic control. See how well you do on the Picture Quiz!

Teaching Concepts, Skills, and Risk Analysis for Uncontrolled Crossings
At last -- an explanation of the concepts and skills needed for crossing streets with no traffic control, culminating from 20 years of experience as my understanding and approach evolved.

Corner to Corner: Effective Ways to Solicit Aid by Deaf-Blind People
shows what we learned by talking with dozens of people who walked by or stopped to help deaf-blind people get across the street.


Added in March, 2009:


Introductions to chapters of "Thomas Lucas and Family: From Home Town to Homestead" -- after serving in the Civil War, the life of Thomas Lucas and his family became like that of the family in "Little House on the Prairie," and these chapter introductions outline their life.
My favorite introduction is "Enjoying the Golden Years."

Developing the Kinesthetic Sense -- suggestions and exercises for developing the kinesthetic sense.

Hiroshima story -- Mito Kosei and his family -- touching story of the mother of our guide at Hiroshima's Peace Garden, sharing her experience on that fateful day on August 6, 1945. Mr. Mito has also sent stories about the certificates of Hiroshima bomb survivors and repurcusions that continue today.


Added in December, 2008:


Fred and Dona's Excellent Adventures on a tour of "Christmas in Austria" and Germany, to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Includes a trip to Minature Wünderland, the largest model railroad in the world, and an adventurous walk around Castle Sauerburg in Germany.


Added in October, 2008:


Revisions and clarifications have been made to the following pages:
Alternative Mobility Device
Pedestrian Button / Signal


Added in September, 2008:


An Introduction to Orientation and Mobility is a special-issue newsletter I wrote for the Associates for World Action in Rehabilitation and Education. It is written for people with low vision and includes the following articles:

• What Is Orientation and Mobility?
• Learning to Travel Safely and Independently with Vision Loss
• Learning to Use Non-Visual Information
• Learning to Travel with Both Hearing and Vision Loss
• How to Walk with a Guide
• What will people think about me if I use a white cane?
• Does the cane have to be white to be effective?
• What type of cane should I use?
• How do I learn to use a cane?
• Can you tell me about guide dogs?
  
  Concerns about Quiet Car Legislation -- a listserv message that outlines concerns about current legislation regarding quiet cars.
  
  
Added in July, 2008:


Reasonable Accommodations in O&M: A brief conference report by Bill Wiener, Elga Joffee and Steven LaGrow -- historic AER O&M Division conference addressing orientation and mobility specialists who have disabilities. This was put on my website as a link from two articles: "Teaching O&M from a Wheelchair" and "Persons with Disabilities Can Teach O&M: A Convert's Perspective."

Bundu basher -- a cane tip designed for hiking and traveling through natural areas.

Support Cane Used with Long "Probing" Cane -- a support cane and long cane being used together.

What Cues do Blind People Use to Recognize a Street in the Absence of a Curb?

Non-visual strategies for aligning for street crossings

Update on Song Ping Chen, whom we met on a train in China, with an explanation of why some Chinese families are separated.


Added in June, 2008:


Quiet Cars and the Safety of Blind Persons -- paper presented at "Quiet Cars" meeting of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, DC June 23, 2008.

Alternative Mobility Device -- Illustrates an alternative to the long cane.

Personal - Award speeches, Civil War/Homestead letters; Family / Trips

Sauerburgers Come Home At Last - Fred and Dona visit family property in the middle of the desert in Deming, Arizona, 2008

Nanta and her daughter Ann come to America - more than 40 years after we met at the school for the blind in Thailand, Nanta comes to visit, 2008.


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