Professional Development

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
revised September 1, 2018

Taking initial coursework to become a vision professional is not enough to become or remain an effective vision professional. Part of professional practice is to remain a lifelong learner and stay current with developments in the field of visual impairments and also stay on top of current trends. This includes engaging in ongoing professional development to expand and develop your professional knowledge and skills.

Benefits of VI Professional Development

Involvement in vision-specific professional development provides you with instructional strategies and the latest in best practice to reflect on and incorporate into your instruction and share with teams on which you serve.
Physically attending workshops and conferences allows you to network as well as share practices through dialogue, modeling, and demonstration.
Staying current in best practice allows you to be a better mentor, coach, and educate teams.
Consistent involvement as a leader in VI activities allows you to contribute to a positive climate.

Professional Development Activities

If you don't work at a school for the blind or in a larger city with a large VI program, it can be difficult to find professional development opportunities specific to teaching students with visual impairments. The following is a list of activities to help you continue to develop your professional skills and knowledge:

Attend local, state, regional and/or international conferences on the unique needs of students who are blind or visually impaired.
Become a member of a professional organization such as the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Division on Visual Impairments of the Council for Exceptional Children. Membership to AERBVI includes an electronic subscription to the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.
Subscribe to professional list-serves on the internet to interact with colleagues.
Participate in workshops or webinars to maintain proficiency in braille and technology updates as well as to stay current on best practice. The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired has a wealth of articles and is a go-to resource in the vision field. Perkins School for the Blind offers Perkins eLearning. Additionally, they have a Paths to Technology site with many AT resources.
Ongoing research of best practices and strategies through the internet, professional resource books, and professional journals.
Even if you can't attend a live conference or webinar, you can sometimes access the PowerPoint presentations that were presented which can provide you with some details and links to resources. I have uploaded copies of my PowerPoint Presentations from conference workshops that you may access on the Presentations page.

AER Chapters

Becoming a member of the Association of Education of Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) will provide you with opportunities to network with fellow vision professionals and strengthen our field. However, even if you are not a member of AER, you can still attend meetings and conferences. Visit AER for a list of chapters and websites to view online resources and sometimes even handouts and PowerPoints from conferences.

Want to join me at an upcoming conference? I am currently serving on the Georgia AER board. Visit our GaAER website for upcoming conference information. Additionally, you can visit my Presentation page for a list of upcoming conferences I will be attending as well as view previous PowerPoint presentations.

I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way." ~Franklin P. Jones

Free Membership

Sign up for free membership to access the FREE downloadable templates, handbooks and handouts on the Printables page. Simply click on the Log In | Register link in the navigation bar. If you haven't joined yet, you will be prompted to create a password.