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Meet The Educators: Teachers of The Visually Impaired (TVIs). The following video features three individuals seated in an office conference room, each speaking to the camera about their experiences with the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind or MCB. They are each Teachers of The Visually Impaired or TVIs in different districts across Massachusetts. Speakers include (in order): Lynn Shortis, Brendan Foley, and Mariesa Mills, all Teachers of Visually Impaired Students.
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Lynn Shortis: I am a Teacher for The Visually Impaired and a certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist for Pittsfield public schools. I have a caseload of about 42 students right now in Pittsfield. So it's interacting with their classroom teachers and connecting with them before school starts to get an understanding of what their curriculum will look like, what materials they'll use, and what we need to adapt for the students. And then just maintaining that connection throughout the school year, to ensure that they have consistent access.
01:07
Brendan Foley: My name is Brendan Foley, I'm a Teacher of The Visually Impaired and a certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist. I work with families whose children are about to turn three, to try to get them to understand the shift in services from what's called early intervention to school age services. I work with students in psychiatric hospitals, I work with students in preschools, I work with students in private schools. Wherever they are, that's where I am. So I keep everything in place from the individual education plan, and I just keep enabling the staff and the student to take responsibility and to become a member of the community and for the community to embrace the student. That's very important.
01:51
Mariesa Mills: My name is Mariesa Mills, and I'm a Teacher of The Visually Impaired and an Orientation and Mobility Specialist in New Bedford public schools. A big part of my role as a TVI is acting as a consultant, really. So I spend a lot of time consulting with general education teachers, special education teachers, other related service providers, occupational therapists, speech therapists. And what I do is I make curriculum and Instruction accessible for students with visual impairments.
02:17
Lynn Shortis: I think it's the combination of people that allow these students to be as successful as they can be. I've helped families in their homes, just getting things set up, so that their child can do what, you know, be as independent as possible. So I think it's just, you know, helping them determine the track that they're heading in, and then making…kind of getting the wheels in motion so that all of those pieces fall into place and they can be successful in whatever track it is they want to pursue.
02:47
Brendan Foley: I find it helpful to be with their caseworker and the student to say, “Hey, here's the situation, here's all the people at the table that are here to help you.” You're looking to produce a student who's confident and capable. So I try to see the possibility of my students, and I try to teach them to see it in themselves.
03:04
Mariesa Mills: Are they reaching their IEP goals, or…and or are they making good grades? Those are some real, you know, obvious ways to measure success. So more subtle ways I feel you can measure success, is to see how a student is involved in there at school. Oftentimes, students with visual impairments, they're isolated, they might be the only student with a visual impairment in the entire school. So to see a student, you know, become part of their school community and to have friends and, you know, truly be a part of their school and their community is a measure of success for me.
03:37
Lynn Shortis: Once high school is done for them, it's…it's…the MCB worker is the one that really steps in and is their go-to person.
03:44
Mariesa Mills: So whatever their, you know, post high school life is going to look like, whether that be college or a vocational program, they are a big part of that transition planning.
03:55
Brendan Foley: The way Mass Commission for the Blind operates and the availability of their counselors and their opportunities are seriously some of the best in the world from what I've experienced.
04:05
Lynn Shortis: Seeing the students do what they want, when they want, and how they want, and knowing that I was a piece of that, and I helped provide the tools to make that happen, that's what makes this worthwhile.
04:17
Brendan Foley: I really do feel at the end of the day that we are providing a service that changes people's lives for the better. And it's that experience of the new and just being of help to somebody that drives me.
04:31
To learn more about and contact the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind, find them online at mass.gov. Or call 800-392-6450.