SOMA/COMA Conference
Presenters
Grace Ambrose-Zaken, Ed.D., COMS has been a grant associate professor for the Department of Special Education, Hunter College of the City University of New York since 1997 where she coordinates the VRT and O&M programs and teaches the O&M courses.
Andrea Bodnari, Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments
M. S. Orientation and Mobility Specialist
Lancaster Lebanon IU 13
Eugene Bourquin, DHA is a senior instructor at the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults in New York, and teaches O&M courses at Salus University. He holds COMS and CLVT credentials as well as two national certifications in sign language interpretation.
Diane Brauner
Diane, a COMS with 20+ years of experience, is a private contractor working primarily with school-age students. For the past 10+ years, Diane has also collaborated with UNC and other groups to develop computer games, assistive technology devices, iPad apps and emerging literacy kits - all created for students with visual impairments."
Carla Brown, M.Ed., COMS
Carla currently works in Fairfax County Public Schools as a TVI and COMS. and also teaches online courses for Florida State University on Developmentally Appropriate O&M. Carla is one of the authors of the Developmentally appropriate orientation and mobility training manual which was a product of the Early Intervention Center for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments. Her experience includes working with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and with children with severe impairments in addition to blindness.
Carolyn Cain and Jennifer Jeffcoat are both Itinerant Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist with the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind working with ages birth to 21.
Christopher M. Cunningham, PE, MCE, Senior Research Associate
Institute for Transportation Research and Education
North Carolina State University
Mickey Damelio- Coordinator for Orientation and Mobility at Florida State University and founder of Ability Beyond the Horizon.
Mickey Damelio- Coordinator for O&M at Florida State University, also recently a TVI/O&M instructor for the Tallahassee, FL school system where he earned Teacher of the Year in 2008.
Maria Delgado graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Communications. After college, she joined the American Printing House for the Blind as a Field Services Representative.
Bonnie Dodson-Burk, COMS, TVI has taught O&M to persons of all ages for 29 years in various service delivery settings. In the late1990s, she provided travel instruction to adults.
Lukas Franck, COMS -- The Seeing Eye.
Jay Furlong, M.Ed.has been a Travel Instructor/Special Education Teacher since 1999. Previously he had been a mass transit operations manager for 27 years. Jay has presented nationally and internationally on Travel Instruction.
Duane Geruschat Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at Salus University and a Research Associate in Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is the editor in chief of the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness
Katie Gilmore has been working as an engineering development manager since
2005. After serving as an Air Force Communications Officer Katie joined
Lockheed Martin as a Program Manager leading computer system development
teams. She went on to manage production of satellite communication
electronics for a number of major satellite programs, including the GPS III
satellite.
Katie helped plan and initiate 2 successful start-up companies and joined
Sendero in 2010 as the Business Development Manager, leading the sales and
operations teams, and managing business growth initiatives.
Meredith Griffin graduated from Western Michigan University with her Master of Arts degree. She is a COMS and GPS Instructor at Leader Dogs for the Blind.
Kevin Hollinger has been married to his college sweetheart, Julie, for 11 years. He is the proud father of two boys, Noble and Lincoln, and his daughter, Cora.
Kevin works as a Teacher of the Blind and Visually Impaired and O&M Specialist for the Francis Howell School District in St. Charles, Missouri.
Kevin also serves as the Director of the Summer Transition and Employment Program for the Lighthouse for the Blind - St. Louis, works as a Behavior Therapist and O&M Specialist for the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and teaches as an Adjunct Professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.
Erica Ihrke graduated from Western Michigan University with her Master of Arts degree. She is a COMS and GPS Instructor at Leader Dogs for the Blind."
Cynthia Iskow, PhD, COMS, CLVT, CBIS
William H. Jacobson, Ed.D., Professor of O&M and Chair Department of Counseling, Adult and Rehabilitation Education, The University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Dr. Jacobson has coordinated the O&M Program at UALR since 1978 and is currently serving as chair of the Department of CARE after having served s chair in the 1980's. He has written numerous articles on O&M and is the author of ""The Art and Science of Teaching O&M"" (AFB Press). The second edition of this text is due out this fall."
Sarah Johnson graduated from the University of Arizona with her Master of Arts degree. She is a COMS, CLVT, and GPS Instructor at Leader Dogs for the Blind.
Al Kaufman, COMS, has taught orientatio and mobility for 15 years, the last two in the Prince George's County school system in Maryland. He recieved his Master's from Western Michigan University and has presented at numerous regional and national conferences.
Ron Later is an O&M Specialist who has worked for the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI) since 1999.
Prior to working in a residential school setting, Ron worked as an itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired/O&M for several districts in central Texas.
In addition to developing the NMSBVI O&M Inventory, he has invented several devices to encourage movement from students with multiple impairments such as the 'Shroom and T-Car.
Sophia Leduck, COMS, has been an O&M Instructor for about 10 years and is currrently residing in Florida
Ruth Ann Marsh is co-author of "Legal Issues for Orientation and Mobility Specialists: Minimizing the Risks of Liability" (Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 2000) and has been coordinating study of liability insurance policy for the AER O&M Division.
Mike May is co-founder and CEO of Sendero Group, developers of the first accessible GPS for the blind in 2000 and distributors of various adaptive technologies.
Maurice Peret, NOMCT, Rehabilitation Trainer at Blind Industries &
Services of Maryland, coordinates cane travel instruction across the
state of Maryland, to students in all adjustment to blindness training
programs. These range from youth to seniors losing vision as well as
to other instructors and staff. He also contracts with the Department
of Rehabilitation Services, Office of Blindness & Vision Services
under Maryland's Department of Education as a vendor.
Peret has been
National Orientation & Mobility Certified since 2002 and has served
continuously on the National Orientation & Mobility Certification
committee since 2005. This committee, under the direction of the
National Blindness Professional Certification Board, develops and
upholds the high quality standards of the NOMC credential.
Craig L. Phillips is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist in the Kansas City metropolitan area. His article "Getting from Here to There and Knowing Where: Teaching Global Positioning Systems to Students with Visual Impairments" was published in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness in November 2011. He has been playing with GPS for ten years.
Mark Richert, Esq., Director of Public Policy, American Foundation for the Blind, Washington DC
Dona Sauerburger, COMS has been focusing on street crossings for more than 20 years, including developing a self-study guide,
doing more than 30 workshops and participating in research regarding blind people and drivers yielding including at roundabouts.
She is currently developing an APH project designed to teach blind people to recognize Situations of Uncertainty at crossings such as roundabouts and separate right-turning lanes, which she hopes to introduce at Saturday's workshop.
Bastian J. Schroeder, Ph.D.
Assistant Director, Highway Systems
Institute for Transportation Research & Education
Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of CCEE
North Carolina State University
Jenine Stanley is the Consumer relations Coordinator for the Guide Dog Foundation/America's Vetdogs and has been a guide dog handlers and assistive technology user for over 25 years.
Jenine Stanley has been a Tech trainer in the Guide Dog Foundation's GPS training program and has worked with GPS devices with the U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary's About Boating Safely training program. She is also the Consumer Relations Coordinator at the guide Dog Foundation.
Lee Stanway qualified as a Guide Dog Instructor in 1993 and has worked
for Guide Dogs UK for over 22 years. He is currently Additional Needs
Manager for Guide Dogs UK and has recently been working on collaborative
projects with other assistance dog organisations in the UK to develop
dual purpose dog training for visually impaired people with additional
disabilities. This includes deaf-blind people, people who are wheelchair
users and people with other disabilities.
Jennifer Thurman is a certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist at the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired in Norfolk, VA. Prior to working for the state of Virginia she spent six years as a guide dog instructor at The Seeing Eye in Morristown, NJ.
She graduated from Western Michigan in 2001 and has been working in the field ever since.
Patti Voorhees, M.Ed. worked as a Travel Instructor within a school system for over 25 years.
Karen Walker. COMS
President, Allied Instructional Services
Ashland, Virginia
Peggy Halliday, M.Ed., BCBA
Director of Outreach Training and Supervision
Virginia Institute of Autism
P.O. Box 6127
Charlottesville, VA 22906
phalliday@viaschool.org
434-923-8252; Cell 434-960-1308