Discover the Possibilities
The Discover Conference for Families of School Age Children who are Blind or Deafblind Ages 6-22 brings families and professionals from several states to Perkins' Watertown, MA campus. For many parents, this is the first opportunity to meet others with children who are blind or deafblind. Everyone leaves with new skills, strategies and, above all, hope for their children’s success.
The 2008 Discover Conference was held on Saturday, October 18. The all-day event echoes the mission of Perkins' Annual New England Regional Seminar for Children (birth-7) with Visual Impairments and Families, which celebrated its 25th year in 2008. The Discover Conference began its own tradition last year, reaching out to families of children 6-22 years old.
Perkins' Lower School Principal Rob Hair talked about the conference, which focuses on families, in a radio interview with WBOS-FM host George Knight:
"If you are a parent of a child with these special needs it's often very difficult to find information that you need to educate your child. That's why we call this the Discover Conference - you can discover information, you can connect with people, you can find out special tools and technology, and all these things that are so bewildering for parents to try to figure out on their own." Listen to the full interview.
This year's keynote speaker was Education Specialist Robbie Blaha from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Robbie has extensive experience working with families and has been a teacher, trainer and consultant in the field of visually impaired, blind, and deafblind education for the past 37 years.
The conference featured workshops on a range of topics including assistive technology, daily living skills, orientation and mobility, and transition planning for students with significant disabilities.