SIXTH ANNUAL KANSAS VISION SYMPOSIUM 2023

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6th Annual Kansas Vision Symposium

Theme:  Growing, Changing, Empowering

Date: October 27, 2023 

Location: Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview Wichita

Cost:  FREE with lunch provided the day of the event

Who: Vision professionals (TSVIs, COMS, Braillists, Instructional Assistants, Early Intervention Providers) along with general and special education professionals, administrators & agencies who work with students with a visual impairment are encouraged to attend.

2023 Vision Symposium Speakers: Tanni Anthony, Derrick Smith, Stacey Chambers, Judy Endicott

​This one day FREE training will focus on the research and practice in effective Specialized Instruction for students with a Visual Impairment.

Breakout session topics will include: Development of Motor Skills for Students who are B/VI, STEM Resources for students who are B/VI, Strategies for working with students with CVI, ECC Routine Based Instruction, and many more! Door prizes throughout the day for registered attendees

Revised Agenda: 
7:30-8:15 Registration / KIRC Directory Headshots
8:15-8:45 Welcome and Kick-Off
9:00-10:00 Session 1
10:15-11:15 Session 2
11:30-11:50 20 Minute Spotlights
11:50-12:35 Lunch & Vendor Fair
12:45-1:45 Session 3
2:00-3:00 Session 4
3:00 Conference Ends

Join us at the session Roundtable: O&M Hot Topics in the Field where we will discuss relevant orientation and mobility questions, concerns and issues happening across the state! (Session 4 Option)

NOTE:  "The content and presentations of the Vision Symposium are intended to address the specific needs/interests of TSVIs/COMS in Kansas. Other district employees are welcome to register/attend with the understanding that the focus of the event will be geared toward certified professionals in the field of vision."

Featured Presenters:

Tanni Anthony

Dr. Tanni Anthony is the Director of the Access, Learning, and Literacy (ALL) Team with the Exceptional Student Services Unit within the Colorado Department of Education.  She serves as the State Consultant on Blindness/Low Vision and the Project Co- Director of the Colorado Services for Children and Youth with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss Project.  Dr. Anthony received her Ph.D. from the University of Denver in the area of Child and Family Studies.  She is a teacher of students with visual impairments and an orientation and mobility specialist.  Tanni presents frequently on the topics of sensory disabilities in the early years and working with children and youth with sensory and additional disabilities.  She has authored over 20 book chapters and has contributed to peer review journals.  She is currently an adjunct instructor with the University of Denver and the University of Northern Colorado and a past adjunct instructor with the University of Alaska - Anchorage, Florida State University and East Carolina University.

Judy Endicott

Judy Endicott has been retired from public school teaching for thirteen years. She earned an undergraduate degree in special education, K-12, earned a Master’s Degree in Reading, holds an additional writing certificate from the Pennsylvania Writing Project and is a certified Level 1 Wilson Reading Program instructor. With 26 years of experience working with special education students, students at risk for reading failure, and general education students, she faced one of her greatest challenges - how to teach her grandson with Cortical Visual Impairment to read.

Her passion and commitment, ever since her grandson was diagnosed with CVI, has been to learn about CVI, investigate the newest research in the area of literacy for all students, and to share this knowledge with families and professionals.  The Perkins School for the Blind webinar, “Our CVI Literacy Journey into Phase III,” documented the beginning of their literacy work.  She then developed Literacy and CVI: High Phase II and Phase III, a course for Perkins School for the Blind, e-learning.  She has conducted webinars for various organizations and consults with parents and teachers.  

Judy continues to research, participate in professional development conferences and webinars, and applies the “CVI lens” to everything she reads, learns and all experiences with her grandson.  

Derrick Smith

Derrick Smith is a professor and Associate Dean in the College of Education of the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). He started his educational career as the Secondary Mathematics teacher at the Alabama School for the Blind. Upon earning his doctorate in special education in visual impairments from Texas Tech University, he started his research and development career at UAH. 

Dr. Smith runs the STEM-VI Mathematics Research Laboratory where his team focuses on research on STEM education for students with visual impairments and blindness. As part of his work, he has collaborated on multiple National Science Foundation grants in STEM education for students with visual impairments as an education evaluator and principal investigator. He has published and presented extensively on topics related to STEM education for students with visual impairments, particularly on mathematics education. He is currently editing a textbook on teaching mathematics for students with visual impairments to be published by APH Press.

Stacey Chambers

Stacey Chambers earned her M.Ed. in Visual Disabilities from Vanderbilt University and has been an Itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in Texas for 13 years. She is also a consultant with the American Printing House for the blind, co-author of Sensing and Learning, and writing The Itinerant Teacher’s Guide to an Effective and Efficient School Year for APH Press. She is passionate about learners with visual and multiple impairments as well as making the ECC meaningful and fun for learners, educators, and families. 

KSSB's policy regarding outside presenters: "Sponsorship of presenters/workshops by KSSB does not imply endorsement of a particular philosophy, product, or procedure.  The educational material and techniques presented at this meeting reflect the views of the presenters and have been made available by KSSB "as is" for educational and informational purposes only and not as professional advice for specific cases or circumstances.  The material and techniques discussed in these presentations reflect the best practices at the time of their development and should be used with the clear understanding that continued new knowledge or recommendations could emerge."

Sponsored by: KSSB, KIRC & the KS Deafblind Project in partnership with TASN. ACVREP RPPLE CE Credits available. 

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For Learning Objectives for each session please see the file "Learning Objectives" under the Materials Tab