Welcome to the website of the

O&M Division Conference Within a Conference (CWC)!

This conference will be a first-ever, unique-in-all-the-world event – a huge O&M conference being held within an international AER conference, with one registration fee covering both.  You’ll want to tell your grandchildren you participated in this historic event (or at least your colleagues who will have wished they’d been able to come)!

And because of this unique arrangement of a CWC, participants can do “All-O&M, all-the-time” or choose a lot of O&M sessions plus some great sessions from the general AER conference, with a range of topics such as itinerant teaching, psychosocial issues, rehabilitation teaching, low vision, etc.

Preliminary Schedule:

Tuesday, July 22nd

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm O&M Awards Ceremony and Reception

Wednesday, July 23rd

8:00 am - 10:00 am Division Business Meeting

10:00 am - 10:30 Break

10:30 am - 11:30 am O&M Division General Session

11:30 am - 1:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Concurrent Sessions

-Twenty-First Century Issues Demand Twenty-First Century Solutions - Barrie Madasu, Lisa Harvey

 -On My Clock - Consumers Hiring Orientation & Mobility Professionals - Jenine Stanley

-Encompassing Individual Needs While Embracing the Whole Person - a Sergeant Majors Success -   Felicia Echeverria

2:00 pm - 2:15 pm Break

2:15 pm - 2:45 pm Concurrent Sessions

-Exploring the FUNdamentals of Independent Travel - Jay H. Stiteley

-Examining Objective Mobility Outcomes- Michael Williams, Bruce Blasch, Christopher Ray

-Unified Cane and Dog Mobility--Is It Possible? - Beth W. Helmers

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Concurrent Sessions

-Mobility Training at Guide Dogs for the Blind; A Deliberate Shift to Adult Learning Methods - Hilary Evart, Stacey E. Ellison

-Access to Roundabouts and Channelized Turn Lanes: Implications for O&M - Robert Wall-Emerson, Dae Shik Kim, Janet M. Barlow, Richard G. Long, Billie Louise (Beezy) Bentzen, David A. Guth

4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Concurrent Sessions

-Physical Activity among Youth with Vision Loss - Alexander Shaw, Deborah Gold

-Paws for Cause 101 - Marcia Vickroy, Cheryl Besden

-RoundTable discussion on the Roots of O&M

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - AER Opening Ceremony

9:00 pm - 11:00 pm - AER Opening Reception

Thursday, July 24th

8:00 am - 9:30 am Concurrent Sessions

-An International Perspective in O&M: Haiti and the Czech Republic - Dirk Martin, Pavel Wiener, Petr Cervenka, Richard G. Long

- Paratransit, Mobility & You
Jane R. Rosen, M.A., COMS; Brenda Ozan-Pitts

-A Unified Methodology for Performance Training in O&M, GPS Travel and Computer Technology -

Erica S. Ihrke

-OM Improvement - Judy Holmes

-Crossing Streets with No Traffic Control -- Can You Hear Me Now? - Dona Sauerburger, Rob Wall Emerson

-HOW to GET 'EM HOOKED! Creative, Developmentally-Appropriate O&M Teaching Strategies for Infants and Preschoolers - Kay L. Clarke

-Laughter Yoga for All - Dawn F. Werner

10:45 am  - 11:45 am Concurrent Sessions

-Safety on the Streets - Lauren B. Ross,Ginger Irwin

- Right Stuff at Right Time: Applying Grade Level Content Standards to O&M - Diane L. Fazzi, Brenda Naimi

- Street Crossings 2.0: Upgrade Crossing Strategies / Wise in Brave New World - Janet M. Barlow, Lukas Franck

- An O&M Teaching Approach for Guide-Dog Travel for Users with Low VISION - Helene Guerette, Carole Zabihaylo

1:45 pm - 2:45 pm Concurrent Sessions

- Evaluation of Confidence/Autonomy Provided by A Simple GPS Device - Carole Zabihaylo

-Playful O&M - Maya Delgado Greenberg

-Rating Scale for O&M: A New Look at A Popular Resource - Susan Langendonk, Susan Bradley

-Is A Dog Guide Right for Your Client? - Malinda Carlson, Brian Francis

-Environmental Cues for Nonvisual Alignment: The Impact of Underfoot Materials - Richard G. Long, Janet Barlow
-Accessible Pedestrian Signals: Effect on Pedestrians Who Are Blind - Billie Louise (Beezy) Bentzen, Janet M. Barlow

-Providing Cane Clinics to Encourage Cane Use - Annalyn Courtney Barbier, Jenny Santiago

Friday, July 25th

8:00 am - 9:00 am Concurrent Sessions

-Accessible Design for People with Vision Impairments - Beth W. Helmers

-Movin' to Music: Motivating Kids toward O&M - Dede Ackerman, Paula Jordan, JoAnne Riddell
-Strategic Use of Spatial Representations to Maintain Orientation by Indivduals Who Are Congenitally Totally Blind - Peg A. Cummins

-There Is Always A Way - Michael G. May, Cheng Hock Kua

-An O&M Teaching Approach for Guide-Dog Travel for the Elderly or Reduced Mobility Population - Carole Zabihaylo, Helene Guerette

1:00 pm - 3:00 pm  Concurrent Sessions

-Teaching Personal Safety to Children with Visual Impairments
Al Kaufman, Karissa Hoff

-Deaf-Blind Travelers and Communication - Eugene A. Bourquin, Dona Sauerburger, Monica Godfrey, Sook Hee Choi

-SupaSleuths--Crime Scene Investigation for Young Detectives -
Beth W. Helmers

-O & M Toys - Ann Hegstrom

-O&M for Visually Impaired Wheelchair Users - James Scott Crawford

-Putting ORIENTATION Back into O&M - Diane M. Brauner

-What Does That Funny Symbol Mean? Learning to Read Engineering Plans - Erin L.W.K.D. Kavanagh, Janet M. Barlow

-Human Service Transportation Coordination - What Is Your Role? - Laura A. Park-Leach

-The Role of the O&M Specialist in Exploring Transportation Options in Rural Communities - Penny A. Everline

-What's in A Name: Understanding Complex Syndromes - Sandra Stirnweis

3:45 pm - 5:15 pm Concurrent Sessions

-Sequencing O&M Skills - Diane M. Brauner

-Maps for Everyone! - Sandra Stirnweis

-Mobility Issues Facing Older VI Clients - Sarah A. Johnson, Milo A. Borich

-APS 101 (Accessible Pedestrian Signals) 6 Questions-6 Answers - Linda Myers, Bonnie Dodson-Burk

-Accessible GPS: Reorientation and Target Location among Users with Visual Impairments - Paul E. Ponchillia, Amy Freeland, Steve LaGrow

Saturday, July 26th

8:00 am - 9:00 am Concurrent Discussions and Roundtables

10 Roundtable Discussions

-Getting in Step - Marching Band Basics - Jenine Stanley, Janet Barlow

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Concurrent Sessions

-Effect of Hybrid Vehicles on Street Crossing Decision Making -
Robert Shawn Wall Emerson, Julie Hapeman, Bill Wiener, Koorosh Naghshineh

-O&M Training Experiences Utilizing the Trekker GPS - Patrick Zeinstra, Anthony D. Cleveland II

-Finding Your Way: A Practical Approach to Teaching /Learning BrailleNote GPS - Maya Delgado Greenberg, Jerry Kuns

-Guide Dogs for Teenagers: Conclusive Experience - Helene Gurette, Nathalie Malo

-Designing Access to Light Rail Transit - Laura A. Park-Leach, and Sarah Heinrich

-Roundtable Discussion

3:45 pm - 4:45 pm Concurrent Sessions

-Yellow Tape Is Not A Barrier! ADA & Sidewalk Construction Barriers - Meg Robertson

-A New Instrument to Evaluate and Motivate Your O&M  Students
Thomas Rotunno, Lea Ann Myers

-O&M Services for the Geriatric Low Vision Patient: Who Will Provide /Pay? - Jim Deremeik, Duane Geruschat, Robert Massof; Anne T. Riddering

-Travel Instruction for Students with Disabilities Other Than Blindness - William Wiener, Bruce Blasch, Patti Voorhees, Jay Furlong

-Orientation & Mobility and the Question of Ownership - Fabiana Perla