Arizona AER

09/18/2026

The Tucson happy hour was a success! We had approximately 15 people in attendance with the most from SAAVI Services for the Blind. Marana School District, ASDB Outreach Services, UofA, and others joined us. We met at Jo Jo's downtown and had munchies and great conversations on the patio. Everyone had a chance to introduce themselves and share something they enjoyed about their work. Photos show individuals smiling and talking as people got to know each other or renewed old friendships.

09/10/2026

Just a Reminder, AzAER's first of 4 social events is coming up
📍 Phoenix West Valley
Monday, September 14 | 4–6 p.m.

AzAER is getting back together, and you’re invited!
This September and October, we’re hosting casual open-house/happy-hour-style gatherings around Arizona—and virtually—to reconnect with colleagues and begin building a stronger AzAER community.

You do NOT need to be an AER member to attend. Anyone working in the field of visual impairments is welcome!

🍴 Light appetizers at our in-person gatherings
🎁 Amazon gift card raffle
🙌 No RSVP necessary—just come join us!

Come for a little while or stay for the whole event. We want these gatherings to be easy, welcoming opportunities to connect with others doing this work throughout Arizona.

Please share! Tag a colleague, send this to someone in the field, and help us reconnect our Arizona visual impairment community.
Follow AzAER for individual event details and updates.

🔨 Let’s build connections. Let’s rebuild together.

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09/08/2026

Hello Everyone,

I definitely hope that you have been drafting your presentation and exhibitor proposals, as the time to fill out the official form is upon us. We have one form to fill out whether you are a possible presenter, exhibitor, or both.

Please complete all information on this form for the 2027 POSB STEM Institute for Instruction. Submissions must be received no later than October 30, 2026. The Conference Committee will only consider fully completed forms. Decisions on selected presentations and exhibitors will be announced by November 16, 2026. Please also RSVP. This is so we know if any special accommodations are needed. It also helps us guestimate how many and what size rooms and how many snacks and lunches we need.

Please click on the following link and submit your proposal.

Presentations and Exhibitors Link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhpUYYnCK7N7evR34URkcTC327GhofSyNzvmHcTraDK5yYkA/viewform?usp=header

Please spread the word about this Institute and urge your colleagues to present/exhibit. We are not a closed group. We welcome anyone and everyone who teaches or supports the teaching of the STEM subjects to students who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision.

Best wishes,
Sara and Susan,
Co-chairs POSB STEM Institute

09/08/2026

Hello Everyone,

Okay, we finally have the RSVP form ready to go for the 2027 POSB STEM Institute that will take place March 7 – 10, with a post-conference workshop on Music taking place most likely on March 11.

Why do you need to RSVP? If any of you need special accommodations, we need to know this well in advance and make very specific arrangements that can’t be accommodated at the last moment. If you need accommodations and want to attend, it is imperative that you fill this form out now and definitely by September 22, 2026. It also gives us a better idea of how many people we can expect to make sure that we have the right number of and sizes of presentation rooms, hotel rooms, snacks, and lunches!! We are also adding the possibility of a post-conference Music Day and need to know how many STEM folks would like to make this a STEAM conference for this year!! This is a STEM conference, so you know we love numbers!! If you are old-timers at this, you also know that we have no budget and rely on the generosity of others to make all this happen. We love our sponsors and donors, and they also need numbers. They are the best!!! We also strive to make this the best conference ever at the smallest cost possible for all of the attendees, presenters, and exhibitors.

Official registration for this conference will be coming at the end of November 2026 once the schedule and presentation list is announced. There will be no registration fee. All presenters and/or vendors will also need to register at that time.

So, ASAP click on the link below and fill out this extremely short RSVP.

RSVP Link
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScJEs3lo8dW_R1k0wB7QbH93ZUWnCCbTVF9ej3ltHd-O9HsDA/viewform?usp=header

Please spread the word about this Institute. We are not a closed group. We welcome anyone and everyone who teaches or supports the teaching of the STEM subjects to students who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision.

Best wishes,
Sara and Susan,
Co-chairs POSB STEM Institute

The institute will take place March 7-10, 2027, with a full-day music workshop on March 11th at the University of South Carolina Upstate. There will also be a tour of the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind in Spartanburg, South Carolina. We are looking into the possibility of a social....

09/01/2026

Arizona AER COMING SOON: We're rebuilding and reconnecting our statewide community of vision professionals. Website refresh, Listserv reactivation, Networking events across Arizona, Stronger statewide connections. Stay Tuned.

08/28/2026

So many students have benefited from Dolly’s generosity! https://www.today.com/health/childrens-health/dolly-parton-imagination-library-braille-books-blind-low-vision-kids-rcna594713

“None of my son’s needs are special,” Jessica Caromile says of her 12-year-old, who is blind — and she believes the late country music legend understood this, too.

08/18/2026

We are delighted to announce that the Global Braille Survey is now open!

As part of the Global Braille Literacy Campaign – More Braille: More Empowerment – the survey provides an important opportunity for people around the world to share their experiences and perspectives on braille literacy.

Led by the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), the World Blind Union (WBU), and collaborating organisations and individuals, this global research initiative aims to strengthen our understanding of how braille is learned, taught, accessed and used – and of the factors that enable or create barriers to braille literacy.

Who can participate?
We warmly invite responses from:
• Adults aged 18 years and over who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
• Parents and guardians of children of any age who are blind, have low vision, or are deafblind;
• Teachers and other professionals involved in braille education; and
• Braille transcribers.

Share your experience - Take the Global Braille Survey:
tiny.cc/braillesurvey

When you follow the above link, you will first be invited to select your preferred language, then review the informed consent information, and then complete a short set of questions to determine which survey or surveys are relevant to you.
If you are eligible for more than one survey – for example, if you are both an adult braille user and a braille transcriber – you are welcome to contribute from each perspective. Simply complete one survey and then return to the link when you are ready to complete another.

The survey is available in multiple languages
We are delighted that the Global Braille Survey is already available in a growing range of languages, helping to make it possible for more people around the world to participate.
The survey is currently available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Russian, Slovak, and Spanish.
Italian and Portuguese translations are awaiting verification, and we hope to make these languages available in the near future.
We also warmly welcome offers to assist with translations into additional languages so that the survey can reach an even wider range of countries, communities and language groups. If you have any questions about the survey, or would like to offer assistance with an additional language translation, please contact [email protected].

Why does your participation matter?
Every response adds to our global understanding of braille literacy. The findings will help build a stronger evidence base to inform advocacy, policy, research, resources and practice, and to support efforts to strengthen access to braille literacy around the world.

Please help us spread the word
We want to hear from people across countries, regions, languages and communities.

**Please share the Global Braille Survey widely through your organisations, professional and community networks, and directly with braille users, families, educators, professionals and transcribers who may wish to participate.
By sharing the survey widely – including with communities using the languages in which the survey is now available – you can help us hear from as broad and diverse a range of participants as possible.

Every experience matters. Every perspective adds to the evidence. Every voice can help strengthen the future of braille literacy.

Thank you for being part of this important global effort.

With warm regards,
Global Braille Literacy Campaign
More Braille: More Empowerment
Email [email protected]
Websites:
https://icevi.org/2026-global-braille-literacy-campaign/
https://wbu.ngo/about/global-braille-literacy-campaign

08/18/2026

Good morning,

Help us shape the future of APH Press publications by completing the APH Press Publications Needs Analysis Survey.

https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/cdzjCxoWYAIP0qBmOt8fEGhytmgm?domain=greatquestion.co

The survey is designed to gather feedback on current APH Press publications, identify areas for updates, and determine priorities for new content.

We greatly appreciate your input and expertise to help us guide our publishing plans for the next five years.

Heather Spence
Director, APH Press
1839 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206
502-899-2377

08/05/2026

Hope you all are having a fantastic summer. For anyone who missed the inaugural season of Tech in 20 last year, registration just opened for our second season.

Details:
• 20-minute demos on Zoom Wednesdays, 8:30am PT, all dedicated to math and AT for blind and low vision accessibility
• Register for access to the full training schedule and links to resources for every demo https://wssb.zoom.us/meeting/register/4j7ShwAoQZOl3DUcvtKnnQ
• All demos recorded and posted to our Tech in 20 playlist on YouTube -APH https://wssb.zoom.us/meeting/register/4j7ShwAoQZOl3DUcvtKnnQ
• Post questions/resources related to accessible math and coding on our CATT Slack https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/6v-yCM7nRPIvBgxMjtJiZ9h8LlX1?domain=catt-aph.slack.com

Hope to see some new and familiar friends join us, and consider submitting a topic to demo; demos from both professionals AND students are welcome!

Ting

Yue-Ting Siu, TVI/O&M, Ph.D (she/her)
Coordinator
Northwest Center for Assistive Technology Training (CATT-NW)
Washington State School for the Blind (WSSB)
Socials: (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIin)

Check out our CATT AT Resources website! https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/2_UpCP6q0kCJzOv8QhrulXhx6SmA?domain=sites.google.com

08/05/2026

Hello everyone,

We hope you had a great summer! The Arizona Vision Professionals Networking Group returns this month with a session on the Arizona Instructional Resource Center and the Federal Quota program.

Date: Wednesday, August 19th, 2026, from 2:30 to 3:30 PM
Title: Accessible Learning Services, Instructional Materials, & Assistive Technology for Students with Visual Impairments
Presenter: Cristina Quintana, Assistant Director of Accessible Learning Services Arizona Instructional Resource Center at the Foundation for Blind Children
Session Objectives:
1. Participants will learn about the role of the Arizona Instructional Resource Center (A.I.R.C.) and the resources it provides.
2. Participants will be taught how to register students for the Federal Quota Program to receive needed materials from the American Printing House for the Blind.

Agenda:
2:30: Welcome and brief announcements regarding presentation (must attend for entire hour and keep cameras on to receive certificate, process for questions, etc)
2:40: Introduction of Presenter
2:45: Presentation (AIRC, APH, Federal Quota Program, Census, Media Center Services, Who to call or email)
3:15: Questions and Answers regarding the presentation
3:25: Announcements regarding the Networking Group
3:30: Closing statements regarding certificates and session recording

In order to receive the ACVREP Continuing Education Certificate, you need to be signed into Zoom for the entire hour. Please make sure we have your email address and your formal name if you want a certificate.

Click Here to Join the Meeting https://url.usb.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/nUYbCWWA5rTNL6QMNf6fkEhoe5GI?domain=bit.ly

Please feel free to share this information with anyone who may benefit. If you have a colleague who would like to be added to this group's email list, please ask them to email us at [email protected]

Thank you.
Roxanne Zaad, M.Ed | Director of Early Intervention & Family Support
Office Phone: (602) 331-7902
FOUNDATION FOR BLIND CHILDREN
1234 East Northern Avenue | Phoenix, AZ 85020
SeeItOurWay.org | facebook.com/seeitourway