Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired
Visual Field Newsletter
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The Census is Coming; Are You Ready? |
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What is the Annual Census?
In 1879, the Congress of the United States passed the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind. This act designates the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) as the official supplier of educational materials to all students in the U.S. who meet the definition of blindness and are working at less than college level.
The Census is an annual registration of eligible students and determines a per capita amount of money designated for the purchase of educational materials produced by APH. These funds are credited to Federal Quota accounts which are maintained and administered by APH and its Ex Officio Trustees (EOTs) throughout the country. FIMC-VI is an Ex-Officio Trustee of APH and receives federal quota funds.
Census Timeline
- From November 17, 2023-January 1, 2024: District ESE Administrators must authorize users (Vision Contacts/TVIs)
- January 2-February 3, 2024- Authorized users update all student records
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Student and Family Events
Something cheesy is coming to the 2024 Florida Regional Braille Challenge.
Join us for history in the “baking”, activities, prizes, fun, and friendly braille competition!
Student permission forms deadline:
West & East - December 15
South & North - January 12
West Florida Braille Challenge
January 19, 2024 | Tampa, FL
East Florida Braille Challenge
February 2, 2024 | Orlando, FL
South Florida Braille Challenge
February 16, 2024 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
North Florida Braille Challenge
March 1, 2024 | Tallahassee, FL
Webinars
Obtaining Digital Text
February 8, 2024 | 2:00-3:30 PM EST
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Dates, locations, and registration details for all FIMC-VI trainings are distributed via email and posted on our website. Past webinars and recordings can be found on the Past Events page.
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Braille Literacy Curricula |
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Students learning braille require specialized curriculum for use during their specially designed instruction with their teacher of the visually impaired. Curricula are highlighted below and are available on loan in our loan library for trial. These are then purchased by each individual school district for instructional use, using district funds.
- Designed to help beginning braille readers of all ages by providing a solid foundation on which to build future reading skills. The first fifteen lessons of this program develop tactile discrimination, proper hand position, and rapid tracking.
- Rapid finger movement is fostered, and finger movements that are counterproductive are discouraged. This program will also help experienced readers who demonstrate scrubbing, backtracking, and braille letter or number reversal errors.
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Designed to teach braille to secondary students and adults who were previously print readers.
Includes:
- all UEB contractions
- commonly-encountered punctuation
- the most common special symbols
- the most common indicators and modifiers
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Santa and Winter Celebration Letters |
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For many years now, the National Federation of the Blind have been holiday helpers in sending out braille letters to children all around the country. Over the past few years, our Winter Celebration letter has become almost as popular as the letter from Santa.
Both letters and the activities to go along with them are available in English and Spanish. Wouldn’t your child, grandchild, or student love to receive a braille letter in the mail during the winter break? The letters and activities provided in the celebration packet are also in print for sighted family members and friends.
Just think about how fun it will be to work on the activities that are included with your child, grandchild, or student. You will be helping to create lasting memories.
All you need to do is visit nfb.org/winter and complete the form. Submission dates are November 6, 2023, through December 15, 2023.
About the National Federation of the Blind Education Initiatives
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines the future for blind students. We present blind students with new ideas, expose teachers and families to our positive philosophy on blindness, and encourage blind youth to reach their full potential. For questions about our education programs, please contact us at education@nfb.org or 410-659-9314, extension 2418.
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Touch Type on Any Device FREE |
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Learn to Touch Type on any Device with Talking Typer!
APH’s Talking Typer has been a popular typing program for Windows due to its accessibility; and ability to set up student profiles and track progress. One of its best features is that teachers can create new and individualized typing lessons. Due to the increase of new computing devices, like Chromebooks, APH has modernized the Windows software and created a web-based version of Talking Typer called Typer Online! Typer Online is free and can be used on any device connected to the internet, such as Chromebooks and MacBooks. For iOS devices, such as iPads, APH has created a free app students can use on their iOS devices with a Bluetooth keyboard or refreshable braille display. There are many ways students can practice their typing skills whether they are at home or at school! If you have students who are learning how to touch type, be sure to enroll them in FIMC-VI’s Typing Challenge so students can be rewarded for increasing their knowledge of the keyboard while learning an important life skill.
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Take Advantage of FIMC-VI Canvas Learning |
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So many opportunities
- Take classes at your own pace.
- Locate field-specific resources.
- Post jobs on the discussion board.
- Take part in professional learning communities.
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Are You Super Techy? Time to Become a Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist for Individuals with Visual Impairments (CATIS)!
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Calling all TVIs, VRTs, LVTs and O&Mers!
The time is now to earn your ACVREP CATIS by meeting the ACVREP CATIS Category 2 eligibility requirements.
Northern Illinois University (NIU) has the perfect opportunity for you to do so. We offer a fully online, asynchronous course that meets the ACVREP CATIS Core Domain checklist for all the necessary education needed for CATIS certification eligibility.
SEVI 596, a three-credit class, will be offered this summer 2024 semester as a fully online, asynchronous course starting Monday, May 13, running through Friday, August 9.
Asynchronous learning allows you to learn on your own schedule. You can access and complete recorded lectures, readings, online quizzes, discussion boards and other learning materials on your own schedule within the timelines and parameters established in the course syllabus.
ACVREP CATIS Category 2 Criteria for Eligibility
- B.A./B.S. degree or higher in the areas of TVI, VRT, LVT and/or O&M.
You already have this done!
- Postsecondary credit hours of AT education or technical training equal of no less than 30 contact hours.
The NIU SEVI 596 CATIS Core Domain Class meets this requirement.
- General technical training involving 15 postsecondary contact hours.
The NIU SEVI 596 CATIS Core Domain Class meets this requirement.
- One thousand hours in the most recent three years of direct work experience providing assistive technology evaluation and training to individuals who are blind/visually impaired.
You might have this accomplished already, or you could provide documentation of it in the upcoming year(s).
- Complete a 350-hour internship.
This internship can be done at the place of your current employment (with off-site CATIS supervision if needed).
This internship can be completed as the last 350 hours of the 1,000-hour required work experience requirement.
Estimated Cost
$10 student-at-large application fee.
$1,515 in or out of state tuition cost to enroll in SEVI 596 (three-credit hour course).
Space is limited.
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Florida School for the Deaf and Blind Outreach |
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Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind (FSDB) will be a regional host site for the Braille Challenge, hosting FSDB students and students from neighboring counties (Clay, Duval, Putnam, Flagler, Nassau, and St. Johns). The event will take place the same date as the FIMC-VI hosts the North Florida regional Braille Challenge in Tallahassee to provide an additional location in the northern part of the state.
Use the link below for more information and to register.
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Additional Training Opportunities |
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hosting a workshop on Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), Roadmap to Consensus and Building Awareness.
CVI emerged as a priority area in the 2021 National Eye Institute (NEI) Strategic Plan, following concerted stakeholder input from CVI patients, families, providers, teachers, and researchers. The plan outlined strategies to develop methodologies for diagnosing and classifying CVI to ultimately understand the neural basis and structure/function relationships. It also called on forging partnerships with CVI community stakeholders and improving clinician awareness to increase timely recognition of CVI when rehabilitation is most effective. Toward these goals, NEI Director Dr. Michael F. Chiang announced in June 2022 that NEI would create a CVI patient registry. This workshop is designed to discuss technical and practical aspects of creating that registry and identifying next scientific steps to advance the field.
In developing this workshop, NEI is excited to partner with the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to incorporate expertise including pediatrics, rehabilitation, behavioral science, and neuroimaging.
The workshop will be November 17, 9:30 am – 5 pm ET, in Bethesda, Maryland. In-person seating is very limited. Registration will open to the public on October 23, 2023.
The meeting will be videocast in real time, and also recorded for later viewing.
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Survey Opportunities and Requests |
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UEB Survey: The Transition to UEB and its Impact Across the United States
You are invited to participate in a research study conducted by Chris Clark-Bischke, Ph.D. and Alexis Redford, M.Ed. at the University of Utah. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of the transition to Unified English Braille (UEB) from the perspectives of all involved individuals (i.e. Teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs), administrators, parents, university personnel preparation program faculty, and braille transcriptionists/ paraprofessionals).
The goal is to acquire an understanding of the impact of the transition, identify supports for states/territories and current TVIs.
For this study, participants will be asked to:
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Complete an online survey (less than 10 minutes) and,
- if you are willing, participate in one individual interview via phone or Zoom (less than 30 minutes)
To indicate your consent to participate in this study, and to begin the survey, please click one of the following links:
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Free Braille Books for Children |
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FIMC-VI's Scholastic Book Program is now the Print/Braille Early Literacy Program. The book list on our website has been updated. Use this list and continue to submit orders for your young learners who are emergent braille readers! |
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Seedlings Braille Books for Children is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the opportunity for literacy and education by providing high quality, free and low-cost braille books for children. Seedlings offers free braille book programs to children with vision loss and TVIs - known as the Book Angel and TVIP programs.
Book Angel Program: This program offers each child, ages 0-21 with vision loss in the U.S. and Canada, to order 5 free braille books per calendar year.
TVIP Program: Certified Teachers of Visually Impaired in the U.S. may also order 5 free braille books per calendar year!
If you have questions, please contact Seedlings by phone: 800-777-8552 or email: info@seedlings.org.
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Visual Aid Volunteers of Florida offers scholarships each year to blind/visually impaired graduating seniors in Florida to continue their education. Last year we awarded a single scholarship to a most deserving senior. We have up to $10,000 in scholarship funds to award to multiple scholarship recipients.
We are now accepting applications for scholarships for the 2024-2025 school year.
Please pass along this information to any graduating seniors you know who meet the requirements. They must be a Florida resident, certified as legally blind, and they must be continuing to a college, technical or vocational school after high school graduation. All completed applications must be submitted by March 1, 2024. The application forms can be found at www.vavf.org or by contacting MariannWitengier at mizzwit@gmail.com. Please write “VAVF Scholarship” on the subject line when emailing Mariann.
Please note if you have former students enrolled in post high school programs make them aware of their eligibility. We offer renewal scholarships to past winners. These students should also email me at mizzwit@gmail.com for a 2024 application.
Mariann Witengier
VAVF Scholarship Chairman
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Postage rates continue to rise requiring FIMC-VI to make changes to shipping procedures in order to align with our annual budget. Please allow for extra shipping time as you make your orders. |
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Florida Instructional Materials Center
for the Visually Impaired
1208 Wishing Well Way
Tampa, FL 33619
813-837-7826
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