Family Resource Group- January '25

Wishing a happy New Year to you and yours-- may 2025 be one of the best years yet! A new year brings new and exciting opportunities. This edition of the newsletter features new resources, tips and upcoming events.

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me at any time. We also ask you to provide feedback by completing the survey at the end of the newsletter.

We invite the teachers, therapists and school staff who work with your child to register to receive a copy of this newsletter as well. There is a question on the registration page for professionals so that we can contact them. Please pass this on to everyone that supports your child.

Tess Nasehi

Family Resource Group BVI Editor

tnasehi@pattankop.net

Please complete the Family Feedback survey by clicking the link below, or find it at the end of the newsletter, so we know how to better serve you.

Complete the Family Feedback Survey

Braille Literacy Month

Glaucoma Awareness Month

World Braille Day - 1/4

Is your child receiving educational services from a Teacher for Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) or Certified Orientation & Mobility Instructor (COMS)?

If so, by giving permission for your child to be counted in the Federal Quota Child Census, your child’s TVI/COMS may purchase specialized learning materials (e.g., accessible textbooks, aids for low vision, adapted materials, etc.) to use in your child’s instruction.

This program is funded by the federal government and has recently expanded the eligibility criteria to allow more students to benefit from this program. Typically, "Trustees" use a loan program to maximize purchasing power since funding is limited. Once materials are no longer needed by a student or if other changes occur, materials are returned to the "Trustee" and shared with another student.

Parent permission is required and must be given to your child’s TVI/COMS. To learn more, view PaTTAN's Federal Quota page and talk with your child’s TVI, COMS or Tess Nasehi (PaTTAN’s BVI Family Support Specialist, tnasehi@pattankop.net).

January is Braille Literacy Month. During this month, we celebrate the life of Louis Braille, who created this tactile reading method, and spread the joy of tactile reading. Wondering how to provide braille books for someone? Here are two ways:

• The National Library Service (NLS) for the Blind and Print Disabled can help you get the latest books and magazines in braille (or audio) formats for free. You can also ask your local library for information.
• Library of Accessible Media for Pennsylvanians (LAMP): LAMP provides a wide range of lendable resources at no cost to qualified patrons, including braille, large print and audio books.
• Seedlings Braille Books for Children also provides high quality, free, and low-cost braille books for children.
• Paths to Literacy shares additional sources of free braille books.

• F2MAX Foundational Courses: Please join us Wednesdays at Noon or Thursdays at 7:00pm for the FAMILIES TO THE MAX Foundational Courses. Contact f2max@pattan.net or call 800-441-3215, ext. 3262 to schedule or find out more about our training opportunities.

• 2024 Virtual Village Series: It takes a village! As parents of children with disabilities, often times we are left feeling alone. Well, not anymore! F2MAX is your village. Join us for an hour of networking and sharing on January 15 at 12:00pm.

• Insights Needed to Enhance PA Early Transition & Family Engagement: We need your help! You have a wealth of knowledge and experience that can truly make a difference. By taking a few moments to complete a brief survey, you can help us refine the transition process for children who receive preschool early intervention services, making it as seamless and effective as possible.

The TSBVI event calendar shares several resources, from articles to virtual discussions, for families:

• Coffee Hour: Braille Access, Coordination & Logistics: 1/13
• Coffee Hour: Braille is Literacy: 1/27

• Scholarship Program: Each year, NFB awards thirty $8,000 merit-based scholarships, and additional scholarship opportunities, to blind students across the country. The application opens December 1, 2024.

• Career Quest: This program offers pre-employment transition services to blind students by providing exposure to educational seminars, advocacy, training and more. Apply for the program now, which takes place in Washington DC from February 2 to February 5, 2025.

• Future Reflections magazine: Future Reflections is a quarterly magazine for parents and teachers of blind children that offers resources and information based on NFB's positive philosophy of blindness. It contains resources, success stories, access to a national network of parents, guidance for teachers, and much more.

The Bureau of Special Education and PaTTAN are pleased to offer a limited number of parent scholarships to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Annual Conference: "Making A Difference: Educational Practices That Work!" Pennsylvania residents who have school-age children with a current IEP are eligible to apply.

Conference Dates: February 5 - February 7, 2025

Conference Location: Hershey Lodge & Convention Center

These scholarships allow parents an opportunity to learn about recent research and best practices in special education, alongside educators and service providers who teach our children. In addition, you will be able to network with other families and service organizations from across the state.

Scholarship Application Deadline: January 3, 2025

Click here to view the 2025 PDE Parent Scholarship Application

The Office of Vocational Rehabilitation/Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BBVS) Summer Academy Program is designed to offer high school age students with visual impairments an opportunity to develop their knowledge, experiences, and awareness as it relates to their future academic and employment goals. Students will participate in a 7-day program on a college campus, where they will receive assessments, information, and educational experiences in various curriculum areas.

Location: Penn State University Park Campus

Time: Monday, June 16, 2025, to Monday, June 23, 2025 (7 Days).

Application Deadline: Wednesday, February 5, 2025.

Link to Apply: 2025 BBVS Student Application

For assistance or further information, please contact Kiley Foley at: Email: kifoley@pa.gov Phone: (814)-949-7960

Did you know NASA offers internships for students interested in a range of STEM areas? NASA's summer internships run from early June until early August for college students and from late June until early August for high school students. All student interns get paid. Contact Dr. Craig Moore (craig.e.moore@nasa.gov) or Dr. Robert Shelton (robert.o.shelton@nasa.gov) for information on internships for students with visual impairments.

The deadline to apply for Summer 2025 internships is February 28, 2025.

You can also find information about the Science Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students online.

Introducing a new, exciting professional development and networking opportunity for schools, families, youth, and community partners. This comprehensive event highlights best practices, research, and practical application of strategies for autism, sensory and other low incidence disabilities, and secondary transition.

Save the dates, July 28 -31, 2025 and look for more information to come on the Bridging Knowledge to Know-How: Empowering Pennsylvania Educators and Partners.

Students who are blind or visually impaired are taught skills from the 9 areas of the expanded core curriculum (ECC), which are key to development. You might already be teaching or reinforcing some of these skills at home. Read on to find ways to continue reinforcing the ECC in your own home and community and click here to learn more about the ECC.

We will spotlight a new area of the ECC each month! This month, we're highlighting compensatory and academic skills.

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) offers many resources to learn more about the importance and ways of teaching compensatory and academic skills to your child.

• Braille Brain is a self-paced, online braille/mathematics tutorial that may be used by families and educational team members.
• FamilyConnect shares related resources, such as literacy & braille and calendars & compensatory skills.
• APH Access Academy shares related videos on their YouTube channel, including early literacy, routines-based instruction, teaching touch and exploratory skills, and more.
• The Hive offers online courses on compensatory and academic skills for blind children.

The Perkins School for the Blind houses a vast library of articles and videos on compensatory and academic skills. Anyone can visit the Perkins website and search for compensatory and academic skills. Below are a few examples of what Perkins has to offer in this area.

• "CVI and the ECC: Focus on Compensatory Access" article by Emily Cantillon, TVI and Susan Martel, TVI
• "ECC at Perkins: Communicating the importance of compensatory access" story
• "Ways to get accessibility support for virtual learning" guide from Veronica Lewis/Veronica With Four Eyes
• "Teaching Beginning Pre-Literacy Skills to Preschool Students with Multiple Disabilities" blogpost from Paths to Literacy
• "Should My Child Read Print or Braille or Both or?" blogpost from Paths to Literacy

• Hadley Online Braille Learning: Hadley's website hosts a collection of lessons to help anyone learn to read braille online at your own pace.
• The Braille Institute Braille Storybook Kits: The Special Collection program is designed to promote braille literacy and foster a love of reading by providing blind and visually impaired children with FREE braille storybook kits.
• The Sherlock Center shares free online lessons and literature adapted for children with visual impairment, including CVI.
• CVI Book Nook shares free downloadable/editable books in PowerPoint format, so families and educators can easily provide stories for their children.
• NFB EQ for Parents: A STEM Learning Toolkit for Parents of Blind Children
• NFB STEM2U provides accessible, nonvisual science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities for blind youth. If there is no program available near you, you can request materials to be mailed to your home.

NLS provides a free braille and talking book library service. Follow the steps shown on the National Library Service website to enroll and receive:

• books and magazines, including bestsellers, biographies, fiction, how-to books, music scores and instructional materials
• in braille or audio formats
• instantly downloadable or mailed to your door for free

PaTTAN hosts a collection of publications, videos, podcasts, and websites to help families and educators better understand special education information. Listed below are a few popular resources, but you can also search PaTTAN's website and PaTTAN's YouTube channel to find more. Many of our publications are also available in other languages.

• Family's Quick Start Guide to Special Education Bundle
• Blind-Visual Impairment page
• Blind/Visual impairment publications
• Family Information
  
• Student-Led IEP Process
• IEP Information