We were invited to present at the Mountain State Council of the Blind’s annual convention in two sessions last weekend.
On Friday, I presented to itinerant teachers from several of the counties in West Virginia, along with teachers and specialists from the West Virginia Schools for the Blind and Deaf. The teachers learned about our gamified curriculum, watched audio-described videos of children using our skill-based apps, and tested our some of the games on their iPads. Each teacher told me she had several students that these games could really help.
On Saturday, I spoke with visually impaired adults about our entertainment games in the Blindfold series, and of mission to improve educational outcomes for visually impaired students.
I also had the opportunity to talk extensively with Jeff Thom; we met at the Pittsburgh airport and drove together to the MSCB conference. Jeff has been on the board of the American Council of the Blind, previously worked for the California Disability Rights Legal Center and now is part of the nonpartisan California Office of Legislative Counsel. They just successfully advocated to pass legislation to ensure that O&M services continue to be provided to students in California. At the banquet dinner, Jeff talked about the exchange students that he and his wife have hosted over the past decade.
Thanks to all the members of MCSB and especially to Donna and Debbie for inviting us.