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VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 3
English clubs, using a slate and stylus to make worksheets, would help me
figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The Hadley School
helped set me up as one of their most distant students even in learning
braille, and they also took the time to explain to me how services for
students with visual impairments works in the US and where I could get
certified.
After I completed my service in the Peace Corps, I studied for my
master's degree at Northern Illinois University. I was lucky during my
studies to be accepted into an exposure program run by the NFB. Rose
Carranza and the NFB Teachers of Tomorrow program were incredibly
impactful for my professional practice and in many ways this experience
has shaped my philosophy for research. Meeting with people who are blind,
talking about their varied experiences and educational opportunities, and
even hearing from them the struggles that they knew their teachers faced,
helped form my schema for understanding services to support students
with visual impairments. It helped draw the lines connecting what we do in
the classroom as teachers and researchers with outcomes for adults with
visual impairments.
I would be remiss to leave out my day job, what keeps me grounded
in the field and maintains my connection to students with visual
