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VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 2
Illinois State University
Council for Exceptional Children
Division on Visual Impairments and Deafblindness
Presents 2018 Awards
At International Conference in Tampa, FL
The Council for Exceptional Children, Division on Visual Impairments and
Deafblindness (DVIDB) is proud to present the Exemplary Advocate Award to Dr. Landa
Vialard at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention and Expo in Tampa, Florida,
on February 8, 2018. The Exemplary Advocate Award honors an individual whose
personal and professional activities have significantly promoted and improved quality of
life for people with visual impairments and deafblindness.
Dr. Landa Vialard is a full-time professor at Illinois State University (ISU), whose
mascot is the Redbird. She is the advisor of the student group the Braille Birds. She has
assisted this group in a variety of community engagement activities, so that members of
the university and local community can learn about and support concerns related to
blindness. One example was the Sports in the Dark event featuring Army Veteran Steve
Baskis. In addition, ISU community members are invited on field trips to the state school
for the blind and visually impaired. In addition to raising awareness, this trip often recruits
students from the field of general education to the Blindness and Low Vision field, helping
to address the shortage of service providers in Illinois and nationally. Bringing additional
teachers into our field will help ensure fewer students with visual impairments and
Exemplary Advocate Award: Dr. Olaya Landa-Vialard
