Michael T. Collins

International Programs

Director

On Friday, May 16, 2008, we lost our dear friend, Mike Collins, an invaluable member of the Perkins family. Because we know Mike touched so many lives, we have created the webpage, www.RememberingMikeCollins.com , where you can share your memories and see what family members, friends, and colleagues from around the world have said about this great man.

Mike Collins led the International Programs from 1993-2008, and previously served as Program Supervisor for Perkins' Deafblind Program. He worked as an educational consultant to the Michigan Department of Education and was a teacher of students who are deafblind. Mike was a frequent speaker at national and international conferences that address the education and development of children who are blind and deafblind, and was a strong proponent of teacher training for people who are blind and deafblind, domestically and in developing countries.

A past President of Deafblind International, Mike was awarded that organization's Distinguished Service Award in 1999. He was also the founder and co-chair of the National Coalition on Deafblindness, a national advocacy organization. Additionally, he was an active member of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) and chaired that organization's Division for Multiply Impaired from 1980 to 1988. In 1995, he received AER's Northeast Region Distinguished Service Award. He also received American Foundation for the Blind's Access Award in 1990.

Mike held a master's degree in Special Education, with an emphasis in education of children who are deafblind or with multiple disabilities from Boston College (1972) and held a B.A. in philosophy and theological studies from St. John's Seminary, Brighton, MA (1969).