Perkins eLearning To Go

Latest Episodes:

Mealtime Skills for Children with Visual Impairments Mar 03, 2020

Show notes

Hello! Welcome to Perkins e-Learning to-go! Today's podcast is an audio version of one of our classic webcasts - a reboot. We will be learning about Mealtime Skills for Children with Visual Impairments today.

Sue Shannon, an occupational therapist, describes some of the challenges faced by students who are blind in learning mealtime skills. It focuses on and provides video demonstrations of effective strategies for teaching the skills of pouring, serving, utensil use and cutting.

The presentation shows different techniques for each skill and the adaptations for students at different levels of learning.

Autism and Visual Impairment with Linda Hagood Feb 25, 2020

Show notes

Hello and Welcome to Perkins eLearning to go – this is Valerie. What will we listen to today? Well, I had the opportunity to talk with a very special person. She has spent over 30 years as a speech pathologist and has spanned states to focus on teaching children, with multiple disabilities- including deafblindness, visual impairment and autism how to communicate. We at Perkins eLearning are honored to have her instruct one of our courses “Autism and Visual Impairment, The Better together curriculum”. And to top all this off, she is an amazing person and wonderful to speak with. Of course I am talking about Linda Hagood. I was joined by my colleague, Robin Sitten, for this interview and had a wonderful conversation with Linda.

Please visit the micro-site for Linda's work here

Teachable Moments: Science Concepts Feb 11, 2020

Show notes

Perkins teacher Kate Fraser presents teachable moments in the area of science, from tactile modeling to managing safety in laboratory instruction. Learn more about science instruction in the Secondary Program at Perkins School for the Blind by contacting science@perkins.org .

Click here for an accessible transcript on the Perkins eLearning website.

CVI - where do we go from here? Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

Lotfi Merabet joins us and discusses his journey to becoming interested in CVI, successes he recognizes with research in this area, and what is happening now and what is in store for the future?

Dr. Merabet is an optometrist-scientist and is active in clinical research relating to individuals' adaptations to blindness. As director of the Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity, Dr. Merabet's main research interests include the development of assistive technology for the blind and understanding how the brain adapts to the loss of sight (both from ocular and brain-related causes). (Massachusetts Eye & Ear)

Click here for an accessible transcript on the Perkins eLearning website

Considerations for Reducing Complexity with the Home for children with CVI Jan 21, 2020

Show notes

Today we bring you one of our pre-recorded webinars. This one is titled Considerations for Reducing Complexity with the Home which was presented by Marguerite Tibaudo

Marguerite Tibaudo reviews the complications that complex environments pose for children who have CVI, specifically targeting the home environment, and provide discussion points on the development of creating visually accessible environments with an emphasizes on teaching strategies to build compensatory skill development.

Marguerite is a CVI mentor and lead teacher with Perkins school for the blind.

Teachable Moment for Calendars and Schedules Jan 14, 2020

Show notes

Teachable moments are back! What is a teachable moment? It is a short (4 minutes) recording on a specific teaching strategy that is easily adaptable into the classroom. Want to see what these look like in person? Not to worry, here are the links so you can view the video when you have time.

Multi-Step Object Calendar

Object Schedule Systems

Partial and Tactile Calendar System

Schedules and Calendars

Click here for an accessible transcript of this episode on the Perkins eLearning website

College Success - Part 3: Orientation and Mobility Jan 07, 2020

Show notes

Today is the third podcast in our College Success series. Leslie Thatcher and Kate Katulak are back to discuss orientation and mobility and how important these skills are for independent living. This is a big topic so they brought along an expert, HuyenTran Vo an orientation and mobility specialist here at Perkins. I have relinquished my microphone to them and have asked them to make the podcast their own. It is an interesting discussion, I hope you enjoy it.

Click here for an accessible transcript of this episode on the Perkins eLearning website

Cortical Visual Impairment Complexity with Matt Tietjen Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Hello! We are on a short break, please enjoy this "classic" Perkins eLearning to go podcast.

Evaluating a classrooms complexity for a child with cortical visual impairment can be a challenge. Thankfully, Matt Tietjen explains how this can be accomplished and allow your student to have a visually accessible school day.

Click here for an accessible transcript of this episode on the Perkins eLearning website

Social Skills for Children with Vision Impairment Dec 17, 2019

Show notes

The ability to develop friendships and interact with other students is a common concern for parents of children with visual impairments. In this webcast, Tom Miller looks at social skills development for students with visual impairment, including analyzing and adapting teaching activities to teach social skills to students who are visually impaired or deafblind on an equivalent level with their peers. Tom's presentation on Social Skills for Children and Youth with Visual Impairments is part of a larger book called "Welcoming Students with Visual Impairments to Your School." and is currently available in the Amazon store.

Click here for an accessible transcript of this episode on the Perkins eLearning website.

College Success - Part 2: Technology Dec 10, 2019

Show notes

On today’s podcast we have some familiar voices, Leslie Thatcher and Kate Katulak are back to discuss transitioning to college. Today’s topic? Technology. As you can imagine, technology is extremely important for any college bound young adult, but this is especially important for those with a visual impairment. Leslie and Kate will discuss this and the importance of learning the basics of technology from an early age, what they should be learning, and who should be teaching them

Click here for an accessible transcript of this episode on the Perkins eLearning website.