News

We periodically share a young adult’s story of success. In this profile, Morgan Vanwell shares her journey after losing her vision at 19, just as she was deciding which path to take after high school. While her vision loss may have set her on a different track than she expected, she is grateful for all that has happened, and is excitedly looking ahead to the future, with binoculars at the ready. 

Jack Meagher, who was a pioneer in the field of sports massage, once said that “massage is the study of anatomy in braille.” Morgan Vanwell agrees with Meagher’s statement, because like all massage therapists, Morgan relies on her sense of touch to find the places in her clients’ bodies that are adhered, or knotted up, and to help them relax and recover from injury or overexertion. But, as someone with a visual impairment, Morgan’s trust in her sense of touch may be greater than other massage therapists’.

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NDVS/SB Houseparent
Student, Future TSVI, Hidden Hero

There are many hidden heroes at North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind. The hard work of maintenance staff and administrative assistants often go unnoticed. The person who produces braille and large print materials is often taken for granted. And houseparents – who are frequently declared “favorites” by students and clients – also fall into this category. 

What is a houseparent? Houseparents are the hidden heroes who swoop in after the teachers and instructors go home for the day and work with the students and clients in the evenings and overnights during short-term program weeks. In houseparent Amy Follette’s own words, a houseparent is “someone who helps with homework, outings, making or assisting with dinner, and being the student’s and client’s friend.” That last part – simply being a friend – is what endears many of the students and clients to the houseparents, and to the rest of the staff. 

For 4 years, Amy Follette has been a friend to dozens of students and adult clients who have come to the School for short-term programs. You could say it’s in her blood. Her mother is a TSVI in Minnesota and encouraged her to apply for a houseparent position when she started attending UND. “Honestly, I really needed a job,” Amy said, “but I stayed because I fell in love with the School, the staff, their mission, and most of all the students and clients.” This spring will be Amy’s last with NDVS/SB, but before she moves on, we asked her to share what she’s learned from her time here. Keep reading because she’s got some trivia to share!

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by Tracy Wicken
NDVS/SB Assistive Technology Specialist

Something new that Bookshare has launched for Individual Memberships is the ability to read their books via an Alexa-enabled device. Using an Alexa skill called Bookshare Reader, a reader can link their Bookshare library account, list books on their Alexa Reading list, and listen to books read aloud via their Alexa device. They can stop a book while reading, save their reading spot to pick up where they left off later, and adjust the reading speed.  

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by Paul Olson
NDVS/SB Superintendent

I am excited to share that a diverse group of leaders in North Dakota have agreed to serve on a council to provide valuable input and help guide NDVS/SB in our effort to be continually improving. The Guide Council will meet via video conference several times a year to discuss and provide thoughts on the bigger issues we face as an organization. Any comments and suggestions will be brought back to our Staff Council and Visions Team for consideration to help us in policy development, or even the smallest changes to make on how we can serve children and adults better.

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by Cindy Williams
Student Program Coordinator

As the end of the 2021-22 school year draws to a close, I reflect on how wonderful it has been to have our students attend student programs in-person! We’ve had our usual student programs occurring on-site and had additional learning and social events occurring off-site as well. 

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NDVS/SB Student Program Coordinator
TVI, Student Advocate, Collaborator, Cat Person

When Cindy Williams is asked how she became the Coordinator of Student Programs at NDVS/SB, she claims, “the stars aligned.” And like the stars in the sky, her path was not straight. While she knew from a young age that she wanted to be a teacher, she attended a business college after high school. She ended up in Grand Forks after her husband accepted a position here and found a job as secretary at NDVS/SB. “After working for a little over a year and seeing what the teachers’ roles were, I decided I had to pursue my dream and educational degree. That was my first step,” she says. 

While attending UND for her elementary education degree, she continued working at NDVS/SB as a houseparent. Then, she became the Evening Activities Coordinator, a position that oversees the houseparents and plans recreational activities for the students attending in-house programs. As she neared the completion of her master’s degree as a Teacher of the Visually Impaired, she was hired as the Outreach Teacher serving the Devils Lake region. A few years later, the Outreach Teacher position serving the Grand Forks region opened up, and she was able to work closer to home. Since 2018, Cindy has been the Coordinator of Student Programs. “Looking back on my career thus far, I am thankful for every position I have held as I have learned so much, and each one has contributed knowledge and experience which I use in my current role,” Cindy says. Read on to learn more about how her knowledge and experiences have turned into opportunities for the students she serves.

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Perkins worked with Sphero and SAS to make ‘CodeSnaps’ an app that is for visually impaired and blind learners that use the camera to scan QR-Codes to build out a program.

CodeSnaps empowers educators across the country to learn how they can implement computer science education for students with visual impairments with Sphero BOLT and SAS® CodeSnaps braille blocks. 

Individuals with a visual impairment share their experiences looking for and maintaining employment in a world that often discriminates against them and is uneducated about their needs and abilities.

When Lexee Steffen graduated from Dickinson State University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, she felt prepared for the real world and an independent life. “I had a degree and learned a lot during classes and felt I had plenty of experience working with a variety of people and advocating for my needs,” Lexee says, reflecting on her optimism post-college graduation. “I thought I would work in my hometown for a year or two to get my feet wet in the workforce and then move to a bigger city to work using my Spanish skills as an interpreter or in a bilingual setting and possibly get my masters,” she continues. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out as she planned. She has kept busy with part-time work and volunteering, which has helped her maintain her computer skills and allowed her to gain experience in different work settings. But she has yet to find full-time consistent employment. “I think employers sometimes see us as a liability,” Lexee says. “I think they are worried about things going wrong because of us or that something might happen in the workplace that is discriminatory and that we would use that against the company.”

The “us” Lexee is referring to are individuals like herself who have a visual impairment or are blind. Lexee, who has Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), is not alone in her inability to find full-time employment. According to research by the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), only 44% of people who are blind or visually impaired are employed. And those who are employed are often underemployed, meaning they work part time or only part of the year (Disability Employment Research: Key Takeaways, 2020). With assistive technology available to level the playing field and public schools and colleges and universities being held to the standards set forth by the ADA, the fact that more than half the blind and visually impaired population is unemployed is surprising and disappointing. But there are other factors at play that affect individuals’ rights and opportunities, and, ultimately, their employment. 

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Since 2006, the NDSB Foundation has sponsored a card contest to raise funds and awareness for its mission and programs. NDSB Foundation President Julie Anderson came up with the idea for the card contest, which is held every other year. “I was listening to a presentation during a Sunday school meeting,” Julie explains. “A company was telling us about how children from a Christian school were creating cards to sell for Christmas. I brought up the idea for an art contest for students in the state of North Dakota who are blind or visually impaired. I thought we could combine it with a medal ceremony, a speaker, and a meal, and get families together to get to know each other. Soon the card contest turned into so much more, and we began combining the awards ceremony with NDVS/SB’s Family Weekend.”

This year, a new set of student artists are being honored at a luncheon during NDVS/SB’s Family Weekend on April 23. At the ceremony, 15 student winners will be presented with a medal, a certificate, and a couple of cards with their own artwork on them.

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NDVS/SB Transition Specialist
Collaborator, Challenger, Grand Forks Native, Mom

One of the most exciting times in a young person’s life is high school graduation. As the time nears, students experience more and more rites of passage and more and more questions about the future. Will I work or go to college? Where will I work? Where will I go to college? How will I pay for college? And for students who are visually impaired or blind, there are even more unknowns. Luckily for students in North Dakota, North Dakota Vision Services/School for the Blind has someone on staff who can help them navigate all those questions and more.

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