Children who are blind or visually impaired can neither see words in print nor the objects that the words refer to, such as a tree or a car or a cloud. So how does this impact their word learning and vocabulary development,
Read moreVisual Disabilities faculty, students join in strong representation at IAER meeting
Rachel Newland found the NIU Department of Special and Early Education’s Visual Disabilities Program through a YouTube search. And in coming to the College of Education, she’s found a home. “Dr. Kapperman has been my primary guide; his interest in sex education
Read moreVisual Disabilities students impress with research at biennial conference
Gaylen Kapperman has attended countless professional conferences during his nearly half-century in academia. But the professor emeritus in the Department of Special and Early Education’s Visual Disabilities program is hard-pressed to remember a meeting room fuller than the one he encountered this
Read moreBill Penrod, Ximena Burgin researching Safe Toddles Pediatric Belt Cane efficacy
When Hunter College instructor Grace Ambrose-Zaken needed someone to research the efficacy of a device she helped to invent for children with visual disabilities, she knew where to turn. “She only sent out grant proposals to people she had known for a
Read moreNIU distributing iBill currency readers to individuals with visual impairments
NIU is now a distribution center for free iBill currency readers that enable people with visual disabilities to sort their paper money. The designation from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing comes thanks to the work of
Read more‘Book of record’: NIU faculty, alums help write new ‘bible’ on vision rehab therapy
Sue Dalton, a longtime instructor in the Department of Special and Early Education’s Visual Impairments program, is the author of two chapters in the newly published “Foundations of Vision Rehabilitation Therapy.” Its publication is heralded as a landmark moment by practitioners in
Read morePerfect! COE licensure-candidates post 100% pass rate on edTPA despite waiver
Chris Gomes submitted his edTPA Feb. 23, two months before the Illinois State Board of Education decided this spring to waive that requirement for COVID-19. Passage of the edTPA, which measures a teacher-candidate’s competence in planning, instruction and assessment, is usually necessary
Read moreGraduate student whips up a sweet recipe to teach children about visual disabilities
Elizabeth Hipskind stood in front of a room full of TVIs – teachers of the visually impaired – wearing an apron and prepared with a plastic tub of moist baby-wipes. Hipskind had come to the February conference of the Illinois Association for
Read moreVisual Disabilities wins federal grant to train specialists to support adults
NIU’s Department of Special and Early Education long has enjoyed U.S. Department of Education grants to train professionals to work with people who are blind or visually disabled. For more than 40 consecutive years, those federal dollars have supported NIU’s preparation of
Read moreCongratulations!
Stacy Kelly, an associate professor in the Department of Special and Early Education, is the recipient of the 2020 Exemplary Advocate Award from the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Visual Impairment and Deafblindness. The annual award recognizes “exemplary leadership and commitment
Read moreVisual Disabilities alumna Kateri Gullifor discovers joy, national acclaim in teaching
Kateri Gullifor laughs now when she thinks about the big red flag she wisely ignored on the way to her career. “I’ve never been one to be super well-oriented,” says Gullifor, a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and the only Orientation and
Read moreVisual Disabilities program students try serving as guide dog leaders – and dogs
Visitors to Graham Hall, whether inside or outside, are familiar with the site of students wearing sleep-shade blindfolds and navigating hallways, stairwells and sidewalks with white canes. For two days each year, however, those canes are replaced with human beings – playing
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