Agenda for Annual MCB Visions of Collaboration Conference 2019

7:30 AM - 8:00 AM       
Registration

8:00 AM – 8:45 AM      
Networking and Continental Breakfast

Regional Collaboration
Seating suggested by regional location. 

Question Box:
Participants can submit questions to be addressed during working lunch.

8:45 AM - 9:15 AM     
Welcome and Around the room introductions
MA Commission for the Blind (MCB)

Casey Hall, Director of Training

Opening Remarks

MCB Commissioner David D’Arcangelo
                                   

9:15 AM – 10:00 AM    
What Employers are looking for in an Employee: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Employer Panel Presentation

Moderator: John Oliveira, MCB Deputy Commissioner

Richard W. Curtis, Vice President | Workforce Development | Global Inclusion | State Street Corporation

10:00 AM – 10:15 AM 
MCB Partnerships for Pre-ETS Consumers

Joe Buizon, MCB Employee Services Supervisor

10:15 AM - 10:30 AM
Break

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM 
BREAKOUT SESSIONS-3 Choices A, B, C

A                     

Assistive Technology: How Much is Enough and How Much is Too Much

Rick Ely, PhD., TVI

William Hersh, M.Ed., MSLVR, CLVT, Low Vision Therapist/Assistive Technology Specialist

 

B

Being Ready for College

Panel Presentation

Moderator: Teri Turgeon, Director, Community Programs, Perkins School for the Blind

1. What to expect for services

College Office for Disability

Paul Hastings, Director of Disability,

Boston University/Wheelock

 

2. What are the Skills Needed for Success

Alan White, MCB Regional Director,

Vocational Rehabilitation

Meg Robertson, MCB Director, Orientation & Mobility

Carolyn Ovesen, MCB Supervisor, Rehabilitation Teaching

Alexander Pooler, MCB Director, Assistive Technology

 

C

Self-Advocacy & Buy-in

Panel Presentation

Moderator: Thomas Miller, Special Education & Training Consultant

Panel Representatives:

• Tammy Reisman, M.Ed., C.A.E.S.

Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments

Newton Public Schools

TVI Program Coordinator, UMass Boston

• O & M
• Lisa L. Fournier, EdD., Transition Specialist, South Coast Educational Collaborative
• Mayanne MacDonald-Briggs, MCB, Transition Counselor

12:00 PM - 12:45 PM  
Working Lunch

• Moderator: Casey Hall, Director of Training
• Table Hosts: Pre-ETS Program Providers, MCB Staff (AT, DBES, O & M, RDs)
• Networking, Q & A & Opportunity to visit the resource tables.

 

12:45  PM – 1:00 PM
Q and A from question boxes

                        MCB Staff and Conference Committee Members

 

1:00 PM - 1:45 PM      
Our Stories: Challenges & Successes

Consumer Panel Presentation

Moderator: Alan White, MCB Regional Director, Metro West

• Grace VanDyck, Senior, Dean College
• Melisar Nambatya, Junior, UMass Boston

1:45 PM - 1:55 PM 
Cookies and drinks

1:55 PM – 2:45 PM      
Pre-Employment Transition Services (Pre-ETS)
Students with Visual Impairments

Moderator: Casey Hall, MCB Director of Training

MCB Pre-ETS Program Providers

Introduction to Pre-ETS Programs

• What the programs have in common
• How to apply/get in to any program

6 Program Providers

• What is unique about their program
• Where their program is located
• When is their program offered

 (5 minutes to present, 5 minutes for Q & A)

Panel Members:

• Carroll Center for the Blind

Dina Rosenbaum, M.Ed., Chief Program Officer

• Lowell Association for the Blind

Elizabeth M. Cannon, Executive Director

• Our Space, Our Place

Cheryl Cumings, Founder/Executive Director

• Partners for Youth with Disabilities

Antonela Prifti, Mentoring Specialist

• Perkins School for the Blind

Teri Turgeon, Education Director, Community Programs

• The POLUS Center for Social & Economic Development, Inc.

Theresa E. Kane, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer

 

2:45PM - 3:00 PM     
Closing

Program Evaluation and CEU distribution

Casey Hall, MCB Director of Training

 

CEUs

• CRC
• ACVREP
• Certificate of Completion