Hi-Tech O&M for Everyone! (Vermont)

Vermont: 2 day workshop - August 23 & 24. In-depth training on how to use technology to enable independent travel in real-world contexts.

Two day workshop in Vermont — Thursday, August 23 & Friday, August 24, 2018 — at Vermont Association For The Blind And Visually Impaired, 130 Austine Drive, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301.

Join a successful tech-savvy blind traveler and a veteran COMS for a 2-day, in-depth training as they share how to use technology to enable independent travel in a variety of specific real-world contexts. For example, finding bus stops, planning a route, building mental models, pedestrian travel in campus environments and more.

You will learn strategies for nurturing curiosity and confidence in young students, students with multiple disabilities and students who are ready to take on the world! This session will focus on how to use cutting-edge technology for O&M purposes with students/clients of all ages and abilities.

Technology topics will include an introduction to VoiceOver, accessible maps, GPS apps, functional daily living skill apps, and activities to create digital O&M cheat sheet.

CREDIT TYPES	PRICE
PDPs, CEs, ACVREP, CTLEs	$45.00

This workshop is being supported by a generous grant from Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation.

Learning Objectives

Participants will learn:

Basic VoiceOver screen reader gestures with an iPhone.
Technology to develop curiosity, knowledge and mental maps about their community and/or surroundings and to pre-view new environments.
Core suite of apps that are commonly used for O&M purposes.
How to teach these apps and strategies to O&M students and clients.
How to incorporate technology into O&M lessons for students who have multiple disabilities.
How to merge traditional and hi-tech O&M skills.

Prerequisites

Participants MUST have an iPhone running the latest version (must be an iPhone, not an Android phone).

Blindsquare Event app (free; available in the App store about one week prior to workshop).
BlindSquare app (During class, participants will receive a free code for the BlindSquare App).

Recommendations

Some participants may prefer to use earbuds with the navigational apps as the environment may be noisy. Earbuds are not required. We do recommend non-occluding (bone conducting) ear buds such as AfterShokz or AirDrives ffor safety reasons when listening and walking. These earbuds allow users to hear the environmental sounds — such as traffic — as well as VoiceOver announcements.