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April 27, 2024 | 8:00 AM

Early Connections Conference 2024

Learn, connect, and ask questions for your child, student and family in a supportive environment made up of experts and families like yours—with children from birth to age 7 who are blind, deafblind, or low-vision, including those who have multiple complex disabilities.
A young Nolan wears glasses and smiles.

You’re invited

Let’s connect!

Join us April 27, 2024, on our Watertown campus or via our conference app. For 2024, the theme is Educate!

Come explore resources, share your story, and learn from experts who are here to meet the needs of families and educators of children with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. Early Connections is a day dedicated to you—to meeting other families who are also starting their journey in special education, celebrating your children, and helping you find guidance on next steps for you and your child.

Find and build a community for the rest of your child’s life.

The 2024 Early Connections Conference is presented by the Van Sloun Foundation.

Registration is open!

We’re excited to offer both in-person and virtual tickets.

In-person tickets

The in-person experience includes breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Plus activities like raffles and exploring vendor booths. Please note that childcare is not provided at the 2024 conference.

Regular: $50 starting March 1, 2024

Virtual tickets

Sessions will be available on our conference app. Login instructions will be emailed to registered participants closer to the conference date.

Regular: $35

Groups and scholarships

Groups: Purchase 3 tickets and receive a 4th at no cost. Contact us for more information and next steps.

Attendance and Personal Care Attendant Scholarships: A limited amount of scholarships are available for families and Personal Care Attendants of attendees. Contact us for more information and next steps.

Justification letter for employers

Why should your employer send you to our conference? Use our sample justification letter as a template to help explain the benefits you will get (and be able to share) by attending the 2024 Early Connections Conference.

Register today

Tickets

The numbers below include tickets for this event already in your cart. Clicking “Get Tickets” will allow you to edit any existing attendee information as well as change ticket quantities.
Standard in-person admission
$50.00
Unlimited
Virtual admission
$35.00
Unlimited

Keynote

Empowering Through Education: Expecting, Experiencing, and Experimenting with the Expanded Core Curriculum

Robbin Clark is the Curriculum & Instruction Specialist at the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, specializing in the Expanded Core Curriculum. She has been in the field for 2 decades, half of which have been at USDB. Prior to her role as Curriculum & Instruction Specialist, Robbin served as the Expanded Core Curriculum Coordinator.

Robbin is passionate about supporting teachers, partnering in learning with students and empowering parents, and she believes in 21st century efficacious, rigorous Expanded Core instruction for students of all abilities.

What to expect

Sessions will include valuable advice and tips to help you make connections with, and for, your child or student — including time to connect with other families and professionals to swap stories, share tips and just get to know one another.

Our speakers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise including:

  • Accessible Technology 
  • Literacy 
  • Adapted physical education
  • Orientation and Mobility 
  • Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) 
  • Deafblindness
  • Medically complex diagnoses

2024 Sessions

Description

Parents play a crucial role in creating a supportive home environment that addresses accessibility, learning and accommodation needs for the successful implementation of a personalized program for children with visual impairment and multiple disabilities. This presentation explores the seven golden guidelines for effectively facilitating inclusive learning  for a child with visual impairment and multiple disabilities to reach their maximum potential.

Meet the presenter

Dr. Sini Regi Thomas,MA, M.Ed., Ph.D, DSE(ID), DSE(Db) Educational Leadership Program (ELP) Scholar

Description

In this presentation, attendees can expect to receive a comprehensive introduction to psychological testing. The presenter will delve into the nuances of psychological testing for students who are visually impaired, blind, or deafblind, and how it differs from testing for the general population. The audience will also gain insight into the objectives of psychological testing, along with the essential questions to ask before undergoing an evaluation. Furthermore, the speaker will provide an overview of the various psychological services available to young children.

Meet the presenter

Description

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) have undertaken an IEP Improvement Project, and released a new IEP form at the start of the 2023-24 school year. By the 2024-25 school year, all school districts in Massachusetts are expected to implement use of this revised form. Some schools, including Perkins, have begun using the new IEP form during the 2023-24 school year. DESE considered significant stakeholder input throughout this project, and the resulting form includes renewed focus on student-driven and student-centered planning, as well as collaboration between families and school-based teams. This presentation will provide an overview of the IEP form, and the ways in which students and families contribute to development of the student’s plan.

Meet the presenters

Jordynn Nowak, M.Ed. Sp.Ed., Moderate and Severe Disabilities-Assistant Education Director

Stephanie Provenzano, M.Ed. IEP Coordinator, Teacher of Students with Severe Disabilities

Laura Maloney, Special Education, BS. Ed. Teacher

Description

This presentation reviews the importance of posture and positioning, what is ideal, what is seen, and what we can do to improve it. Case studies, benefits of changing positions, and positioning tools will be discussed as a group. Attendees will leave understanding why positioning and postural support is significant for the child with visual needs, what positioning options are available, and how this information will support their child or the children they work with.

Meet the presenter

Description

This presentation will focus on the basics of structured literacy (also described as “Science of Reading”) via considerations and inclusive practices in reading for students with vision impairment and other disabilities. School based and outside literacy supports will be showcased, as well as practical resources and activity ideas for home and daily living.

Meet the presenters

Kate LeBlanc, TVI, M.Ed.- Secondary and Admissions Evaluations

Ellen Barber, MS CCC-SLP Speech-Language Pathologist, Secondary

Description

Join Katie Norton, a Deaf adult with bilateral hearing aids, as she shares her experience growing up with hearing loss, being mainstreamed in her town’s public school system, navigating building friendships, and ultimately her acceptance of her Deaf Identity. Throughout her story, Katie will reflect on what she wishes her mom knew about raising a Deaf child, and her advice for parents who are raising a child with a disability. Following, there will be a round table discussion and participants are encouraged to bring questions.

Meet the presenter

Katie Norton, Perkins Social Media Strategist

As a parent of a young child with a visual impairment, it often feels like you are consumed with the here and now. Understandably. Yet, knowledge about different transitions for your child, including formal and informal ones, can help anticipate and plan ahead so your child is as ready as they can be for the next step. Join Andrea Rutherford, TVI, Director of Compass @ Perkins, a college readiness program, and Leslie Thatcher, EdM, Director of Program Development and Planning at the Transition Center @ Perkins, to learn more about transitions, and how you can be prepared as an advocate, parent and key player in your child’s growth. We will explore the skills, including skills through the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC), your student can work on at home and school, to create a range of opportunities and options as your child grows.

Meet the presenters

Description

In this presentation, learn how to adapt board games and other types of games for families to play together, and what materials are needed to do so. Attendees will also get a chance to see examples and discuss how they were made accessible.

Meet the presenters

Marie Russo-Amaral, M.Ed.TVI

Mireya Canto Diaz, M.Ed. TVI, COMS, CATIS-Itinerant Teacher

Description

Sign up for a CVI Parent Support mini-session. Whether you are new to CVI, just received a diagnosis, or are more experienced but seeking answers, we are here to talk and provide you with information and resources. We know how hard this is and all the challenges parents have to navigate raising their child with CVI. Lean in. We’ve got you. We can focus on what’s heavy on your mind and heart, including what comes after a new diagnosis, wondering if your child has CVI, navigating early intervention and the school system, transition, adaptations, and/or any other relevant CVI topic.

The skills and technology that will be discussed have a focus towards academic and functional use, but we welcome all families to join!

Meet the presenters

Description

In this presentation, apps suited for visually-impaired children and the technology used to engage with them will be explored. These apps will be separated into different centers of learning, providing a broad spectrum of subjects ranging from early language development to fine-motor skills.

Meet the presenter

Sarah E. Hart, Assistant Coordinator of Residential Living at Perkins School for the Blind

Description

Supporting your child’s ability to share their wants, needs, and desires can be one of the most challenging and important steps in parenting a child with complex needs, especially if they have Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI). This presentation will review the total communication approach to Augmentative-Alternative Communication (AAC) and the Communication Bill of Rights, and will share case study examples of students with CVI exercising their rights to communicate.

Meet the presenter

Description

Families of children who are either blind, have low vision, or DeafBlind (where the child has a combination of hearing and vision loss) will gain an awareness, knowledge, and confidence in creating a supportive virtual environment that addresses safety, accessibility, and accommodation needs of their child. In
doing so, families will learn how to co-navigate (through touch) the digital world for a successful implementation of a positive experience when using various technologies (e.g., mobile phones, tablets/iPad, computers, etc.). This presentation explores the three Cs for an effective and inclusive user
experience for their child. In addition to learning how to conavigate the digital world, families will also learn the resources and services that are available for them and their child about accessible technologies. Moreover, families will learn how to advocate for their child to ensure they are not only safe in the digital world, but also have the tools they need for a promising outcome.

Meet the presenter

Sar Morrison, M.Ed.

An Associate Accessibility Relationship Manager for the DeafBlind Outreach Team at T-Mobile, S. Morrison is a fierce advocate for disability equity and inclusion. With a master’s in Education from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Morrison is an ambassador and advocate for the DeafBlind community. They are guided by their own passion to ensure that, as Stevie Wonder says, “every single thing is accessible to every single person with a disability.”

Fall foliage with Howe Tower in background

Traveling to Perkins

Perkins is located in Watertown, MA, just 20 minutes from downtown Boston and Logan International Airport, and only 10 minutes from Harvard Square.

Driving and public transport

Directions to Perkins, public transportation information, and a campus map can be found on our visit Perkins webpage.

Hotel discount

We’re excited to offer a hotel block with the Hampton Inn & Suites Watertown Boston at a discounted rate of $249/night for a King Room and $269/night for a two Queen room. And it’s less than a mile from our campus!

Deadline: March 28, 2024

How to reserve: Book using the custom reservation link or call 617-926-0005.

Amenities and location: Hotel amenities include a free breakfast and access to the hotel fitness center. The Hampton Inn is located in the new Arsenal Yards shopping center, neighboring several shops, and restaurants for your enjoyment.

Aira Visual Interpretation Services

Did you know that the Perkins campus is an Aira access location? Aira is a live, human-to-human professional assistance service, an accommodation or productivity tool that enhances independence by delivering on-demand, skilled and reliable visual interpreting for just about any task. Using the camera and an app on your smartphone, a trained agent will assist by visually interpreting your surroundings, from describing to reading, from explaining to navigating – just about anything, safely and securely.


As an Aira access location, any visitor to Perkins can use the service free of charge. To connect with an agent, download the app for iOS or Android then create an account using your email or phone number. Once you have an account, simply make a call when you are on the Perkins campus, and you can use the service for navigating, reading, or any task that requires visual assistance.

Download the app

We’re thrilled to announce that the Early Connections Conference now has an app! You will be able to view sessions live, create your own schedule, access session and exhibitor resources, receive immediate conference updates, and more!

How to download: Instructions are on the Early Connections Conference vFairs page.

How to login: Closer to the conference date, we will email registered participants with login instructions.

Questions about the app? Email us at [email protected]

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Thank you to our conference sponsors!

A logo reads Van Sloun Foundation with a line outlining it.

The Van Sloun Foundation

A multicolored circle above the company name, "Scope".

Scope Eyecare

What are people saying about the Early Connections Conference?

Parent

“It’s always great to listen to tips on making learning more accessible for our kiddos. I always enjoy hearing from the other parents’ perspective – it is extremely powerful!”

Educator

“I love the opportunity to hear from other professionals in the field! I especially enjoyed when [the CVI moms] shared their journey. I found this so inspiring. ”

Parent

“What I liked most about this conference is the knowledge that I’m taking away that will help my daughter.”

Recordings from past sessions

Get a sense of the expertise and insight available at the Early Connections Conference. Browse past sessions for best practices, advice, and action plans from some of the best in early education for children with vision impairment.

Inclusion and access are our priority.

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully, including those with disabilities.

For questions or to request accommodations at the Early Connections Conference, please contact our team today.