[nfbmi-talk] wmu awarded $3 million plus blindness grants

[joe harcz Comcast]

WMU awarded $3.7 million for programs in blindness and low vision

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by Mark Schwerin

November 10, 2014 | WMU News

Photo of Dr. Dae Shik Kim

 

Dr. Kim

Photo of Dr. Helen Lee

 

Dr. Lee

Photo of Dr. Jennipher Wiebold

 

Dr. Wiebold

Photo of Dr. Robert Wall Emerson

 

Dr. Emerson

 

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—Four recent grants totaling $3.7 million have been awarded to the Western Michigan University Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies

and are aimed at filling a severe shortage of specialists trained to assist people with vision problems live fuller, happier lives.

 

The personnel training grants are from the U.S. Department of Education and span five years. The grants will help prepare orientation and mobility specialists,

vision rehabilitation therapists, rehabilitation counselors and teachers of children who are visually impaired.

 

Ultimately, the grants will help thousands of people who are blind and visually impaired by educating the next generation of specialists who will work with

visually impaired youths and adults in schools and organizations, as well as recruiting scholars who represent the diverse populations they will serve.

 

The awards respond to severe personnel shortages nationally and statewide and address employment challenges faced by those with visual impairments.

 

The grants

 

The four grants, the principal investigator, amounts and a brief description are:

 

• Orientation and Mobility Personnel Preparation, Dr. Dae Shik Kim, associate professor, $746,971. Orientation and mobility professionals supported by this

award will teach safe and efficient travel skills to working age and older adults with blindness or low vision.

 

• Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Personnel Preparation, Dr. Helen Lee, associate professor, $697,140. These professionals work primarily with blind and visually

impaired adults, providing instruction and guidance in adaptive independent living skills, enabling them to confidently carry out their daily activities.

 

• Rehabilitation Counseling with an Emphasis in Employer Relations, Dr. Jennipher Wiebold, associate professor, $999,782. Rehabilitation counseling is focused

on assisting people with disabilities to achieve their personal, career and independent living goals. The project will prepare graduates from the rehabilitation

counseling program with an emphasis in employment and employer relations.

 

• Preparation of Teachers of Children with Visual Impairments and Orientation and Mobility Instructors of Children, Dr. Robert Wall Emerson, professor,

$1,248,723. The project will prepare teachers of children with visual impairments. Program graduates will work with students with visual impairments in

preschool through elementary and high school.

 

Source:

http://www.wmich.edu/news/2014/11/20138