VIDBE-Q Volume 66, Issue 2
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process. Teachers created outlines of materials to be used remotely, strategies for
engaging parents in the evaluation process, and language guidelines to use in
reports to indicate the potential limitations of remote assessments, including the
need for re-evaluation once children returned to in-person services.
Outreach Short Courses offers a variety (weekend, week-long, 3-week, 5-
week) of year-round residential programs on the Perkins campus for public school
students ages 7 to 22 who are blind and visually impaired across the United States.
Each program, built around the 9 areas of the Expanded Core Curriculum and the
unique learning needs of students, exposes students to a range of experiences and
skill building activities while meeting peers who are blind and visually impaired.
Outreach quickly pivoted their program delivery at the start of the pandemic, with
the goal of remaining connected to students, albeit virtually. This goal was often
challenged by the Zoom fatigue that students experienced over the year, as their
online school demands increased.
In April 2020, leveraging Perkins staff expertise, we offered 1-hour drop-in
sessions 4 afternoons each week. Session topics included: independent living skill
education; guided cooking lessons; student-driven trivia; adaptive workouts; and a
Perkins Radio class. Concurrently, Outreach collaborated with Community
Programs' TVIs and O&Ms to create additional programs that would gain student
interest resulting in two new virtual summer programs, Virtual Five Week and
