Hey Kathy, do you mean a Teacher of the Visually Impaired or a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist - rather than a Vision Therapist (likely an optometrist practicing developmental optometry/vision therapy). If you are looking for a Vision Therapist (which typically is not found in the educational system because that is a medical intervention) you will want to post to a list in that medical profession. You can also consider posting to the ACVREP Job Posting list (https://www.acvrep.org/employers/jobs) or the AERBVI Job Exchange (http://jobexchange.aerbvi.org/) which may yield more exposure. Kevin Employers -Job Postings - ACVREP<https://www.acvrep.org/employers/jobs> www.acvrep.org Full Time immediate job opportunity for a full time Teacher for the Visually Impaired in Vierra, Florida schools. AER Job Exchange<http://jobexchange.aerbvi.org/> jobexchange.aerbvi.org AER Job Exchange-To place an ad through AER's Job Exchange click here. AER Corporate member job postings: Teacher of the Visually Impaired - NORTH CAROLINA ________________________________ From: OrientationAndMobility <orientationandmobility-bounces@lists.blindcanadians.ca> on behalf of Kathy Barlick <KBarlick@txsource.com> Sent: Monday, November 21, 2016 9:08:53 AM To: Orientation and Mobility; oandm@lists.aerbvi.org; aernet@lists.aerbvi.org Subject: Re: [OrientationAndMobility] [GRAYMAIL] Strengthening our profession (was "Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals") Good Morning everyone, I am with Therapy Source, a therapist staffing company. We are currently working with a school in Philadelphia. The school has a student in need of services from an O&M and a Vision Therapist. If anyone is interested in helping us get services to the student, please contact me and I’ll provide more details. Best, Kathy Barlick From: OrientationAndMobility [mailto:orientationandmobility-bounces@lists.blindcanadians.ca] On Behalf Of Dona Sauerburger Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2016 12:48 PM To: Orientation and Mobility; oandm@lists.aerbvi.org; aernet@lists.aerbvi.org Subject: [GRAYMAIL] [OrientationAndMobility] Strengthening our profession (was "Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals") Brandon, I LOVE your enthusiasm! You’ll be pleased to know that there’s no problem figuring out how many people there are with visual impairments and how many O&Ms / TVIs / VRTs are needed to serve them. That part’s easy, but that’s not the problem. The problems are: * convincing others that our services are needed so that consumers can automatically be referred for it, * establishing funding streams to provide it, and then * convincing others that we are the only professionals qualified to do it; * supporting our university programs to train us, and * yadda yadda yadda – as spelled out in our strategic plan<http://www.pbvimobility.com/plan.html> A LOT of thought was put into developing that plan by lots of people with diverse backgrounds. We are convinced that it is a great plan that will strengthen our profession and the services we provide if we achieve the goals and action plans. So, we have the vision, but not the resources or energy to carry it off. We’ve approached AER’s O&M Division and others to see if the goals can be achieved through collaboration, and we’re encouraged by the efforts of folks who share our concerns about the profession and the people we serve. Our home page at http://www.pbvimobility.com/index.html outlines some of the projects that have been initiated by them. Meanwhile, Eileen put her finger on a huge issue (I’ll copy her message below). Every profession needs a professional association that has the autonomy to determine what needs to be done, and then the resources to do it without having to get permission from others. I agree with her completely -- without an autonomous professional association, we can’t function as a profession. In fact, that very issue – the need for an O&M professional association that can make its own decisions -- is what initially started our project which eventually led to developing the strategic plan. Our rationale for the need for an autonomous professional association is outlined in our Archives page at http://www.pbvimobility.com/pa.html . And apparently we aren’t the only ones who believe it -- when we surveyed hundreds of O&M specialists (3/4ths of whom were AER members), 88% agreed that we need a professional association and of those, 92% agreed that it must be autonomous. Powerful consensus! This is reported at http://www.pbvimobility.com/survey.html#need (scroll above that section for more information about the survey). And the cool thing is that we can have an autonomous professional association within AER if we work together to set it up – a win-win situation! This is explained at http://www.pbvimobility.com/pa.html#are Thank you Brandon, Eileen, and everyone who has spoken up on this issue – this is a great discussion! -- Dona From: Brandon Keith Biggs Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2016 3:15 AM To: Orientation and Mobility Subject: Re: [OrientationAndMobility] Strengthening our profession (was "Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals") Hello, This is fantastic! I'm reading through it, but I would like to know if there is a place with numbers? I would like to know: 1. How many blind students are there in the U.S.? Preferably broken up by state and separated by low vision and nearly or totally blind (2600-totaly blind). But any numbers that give some idea would work. Or maybe the average number of blind and low vision students at a school district... 2. Number of TVIs, O&Ms, and other blindness related teachers or personnel. Preferably broken up by state. 3. Number of TVI, O&M and other teachers who graduate or get certified each year. Also, the percentage increase or decrease over the last 10+ years. 4. The percentage increase or decrease of people who are legally blind. Preferably broken up by children and adults. With the above numbers, one will be able to quantify the actual need that exists and set a goal. Is there anywhere that even tries to get these numbers? Thanks, Brandon Keith Biggs<http://brandonkeithbiggs.com/> From: eileensiffermann@comcast.net<mailto:eileensiffermann@comcast.net> Sent: Friday, November 18, 2016 6:40 PM To: aernet@lists.aerbvi.org<mailto:aernet@lists.aerbvi.org> ; Orientation and Mobility ; 'O&M Listserv' Subject: Re: [OrientationAndMobility] Strengthening our profession (was "Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals") I question if O&M is a profession. Since there is no independent membership organization of O&M specialists governing issues facing O&M specialists it is questionable that we qualify as a profession. Eileen Sent from XFINITY Connect Mobile App Eileen Siffermann, COMS On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 3:31 PM, Dona Sauerburger <dona@sauerburger.org<mailto:dona@sauerburger.org>> wrote: Hi everyone! This thread about dire shortages in our field is very interesting, and people have made some great suggestions for making potential recruits aware of our profession. I think the shortage problem and solutions go much deeper than making people aware of the profession – as Brandon said, we need to have something that is really attractive. We need to have a strong profession that instills confidence in people who are contemplating committing themselves to a career in that profession. I’m convinced that issues such as personnel shortages cannot be addressed in isolation – they go hand in hand with issues that strengthen our profession, such as funding streams for our work, recognition and respect for who we are and what we do (and consensus among ourselves as to what that is – what is our scope of practice!), having adequate resources to do our job, university programs that are funded and supported, etc. Where did I get those issues, you ask? They came from a strategic plan that was developed about 4 years ago. At that time, a number of us stepped back to take stock of the situation, and figure out how we can strengthen our profession. We paid a facilitator $7,500, and more than 100 people from all over the country participated in strategic planning in a very innovative, real-time process. The plan and goals that we developed, as well as the priority action plans, are posted at http://www.pbvimobility.com/plan.html . And what progress is being made toward those goals, you ask? The AER O&M Division is developing a strategic plan which may address some of the goals, and I’m very pleased to report that last summer, AER passed a resolution to research and develop a plan to obtain third-party funding for vision rehab professionals, which was one of the goals we thought was important. AER’s leadership is starting that process – exciting! -- Dona From: Brandon Keith Biggs Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2016 4:23 PM To: Orientation and Mobility Subject: Re: [OrientationAndMobility] Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals in New York - everybody's retiring!! Hello Coby and Joanne, As people who came to the VI field after having another job, why did you wish to stop what you were doing before? What aspects of the VI teaching fields seemed interesting? If you were able to talk to your younger self just out of a BA, what would you have said to convince your younger self to consider such an obscure job? Now you have switched, what has been the most rewarding aspect of working in the VI field? If we are ever to convince people to come into the VI field, we need to have something that is really attractive. Hearing people who have already transitioned talk about their experiences will help pinpoint the kind of people who would be ready for a new kind of job and how to convince them. Thanks, Brandon Keith Biggs On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 11:39 AM, Coby <wctwig@sbcglobal.net<mailto:wctwig@sbcglobal.net>> wrote: I agree...make high school students aware of the profession. My wife and I are in our 40's...she was approached 4 years ago by the soon to be retiring TVI, asking if she would be interested in becoming a TVI. Even though we both started teaching in 1998, it never occurred to us that there were TVIs and O&Ms. She is now a TVI and I should have my O&M certification in about 10 months. She loves her job and I'm excited for the next step in my career. Coby Twilligear On Nov 17, 2016, at 1:31 PM, Laurent, Joanne (DSB) <joanne.laurent@dsb.wa.gov<mailto:joanne.laurent@dsb.wa.gov>> wrote: This question Grace asked caught my attention.” I am not sure how we can meet the growing demand for VRT, O&M and TVI professionals. Does anyone have any good ideas?” Maybe we should be talking to high schools students (even much younger) to make people aware of this career option? I had never heard of O&M or any profession that involved working with blind people until I was old enough to already have grey hair. Then—while searching for a new career idea—I found out I could actually get paid for teaching people how to shop AT A MALL! That sounded like fun and I started planning my new career that very day and I’ve never looked back! I kind of stumbled across the blind rehabilitation profession while unsuccessfully trying to investigate how to become a dog guide instructor. After numerous phone calls I eventually got routed to someone at a state agency for the blind who told me about rehab teaching and O&M. I wish I had known about this career when I was young because this is what I was meant to do all along. Joanne Laurent, Program Specialist/Certified O&M Specialist If you can’t learn it, I’m not teaching it right! (360) 696-6239 Dept. of Services for the Blind 2214 East 13th St. Suite 208 Vancouver, WA 98661 From: OrientationAndMobility [mailto:orientationandmobility-bounces@lists.blindcanadians.ca] On Behalf Of Grace Ambrose Zaken Sent: Thursday, November 17, 2016 10:22 AM To: 'Orientation and Mobility'; 'O&M Listserv'; aernet@lists.aerbvi.org<mailto:aernet@lists.aerbvi.org> Subject: [OrientationAndMobility] Dire Shortages of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals in New York - everybody's retiring!! Have you all noticed the age of our VRTs?? Not to mention that most O&Ms leave direct practice for administrative positions as soon as they show some gray-LOL. :) This time of year I get oodles of requests from employers in vision rehabilitation and education– Hunter College can’t fill them because all of Hunter’s graduates are immediately absorbed into a giant vacuum of stable employment. :) I am not sure how we can meet the growing demand for VRT, O&M and TVI professionals. Does anyone have any good ideas? I know that Fall Registration Deadline for Hunter College is in March – maybe we could all encourage a friend to consider checking out one of the programs in the field?? Replace yourself – that’s our motto! It is easy at Hunter as our distance learning program allows folks to live at home and attend in real time through video/audio weekly classes. No matter what– remember your alma mater they want you to replace yourself too!! Encourage someone to make the call today for a rewarding career as a VRT, O&M or TVI!! What do you think? Grace Grace Ambrose Zaken, Ed.D. Project Coordinator RT and O&M Programs Programs in Blindness and Visual Impairments Department of Special Education 916W Hunter College of The City University of New York 695 Park Avenue New York, NY 10065 212-772-4741<tel:212-772-4741> Top 5 reasons to choose Hunter Programs in Blindness and Visual Impairments https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw6UrTzkdYE Combined Masters in RT and O&M webpage: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/school-of-education/programs/graduate/special-education/blind-visually-impaired/rehabilitation Video on Hunter VRT and O&M Programs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lszZBf7jhs&feature=youtu.be ITI Brochure: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/school-of-education/repository/files/ITI_BrochureWEB.pdf Video on ITI TVI and O&M Programs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9fgfEnwMfc&feature=youtu.be ________________________________ _______________________________________________ The operators of this mailing list are not responsible for material posted on this list and the views expressed are solely those of their respective authors. 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