VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 3
Presidential Awards
Presidents of the Division on Visual Impairment and Deafblindness (Dr.
Nicole Johnson) and the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind
and Visually Impaired (Emily Coleman) collaborated to recognize individuals who
went above and beyond in the field of blindness during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Three presidential awards were given to very deserving individuals for their hard
work and dedication to the field through trying times. The awards were given to
Dr. Penny Rosenblum for research and collaboration, Texas School for the Blind
and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) outreach program for "coffee hour", and to Virtual
ExCEL Academy (Charlotte Cushman, Dr. Cheryl Hannan, & Leanne Grillot).
Below are comments from the award winners on their projects that greatly aided
the field over the past months.
Comments from Dr. Penny Rosenblum
In response to COVID-19, American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) took
the lead in designing, deploying, analyzing, and reporting on the results of two
surveys. Flatten Inaccessibility examined how COVID-19 is impacting the lives of
adults in the US. We had 1,921 usable responses and our report should be out in
Spotlight: Recognition in the Field