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Planning for What’s Next: TN VR Career Building Resources for Students with VI (with and without Additional Disabilities)

Added Nov 04, 2021 •

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Presented by Tiffany Kelley and Jessica Villanueva (TN Sensory Services) on 11/4/2021 Unity Virtual Academy 2021-2022 Session Description: Attend this session to learn about the programs, services, and supports for students with VI who are pursuing employment before or after high school graduation. Colleagues from VR Sensory Disabilities Services will present and guide a discussion on the vocational rehabilitation journey and career building for students with VI considering independent and/or supported employment.

Show Transcript

okay so welcome everybody at the 202 on November 3rd and I'm here for a really exciting second session VR services available to students with lion and lioness and visual impairments do in Tennessee will have this led by Tiffany Kelly and Jessica Villanueva of the century part of the state and let them take it away and you will have this recorded for anyone else is going to watch this after the fact thank you preciate you will having us this is Tiffany Kelly I'm the sensory area director for vocational rehabilitation services I am responsible for I basically operations across the state of Tennessee that relate to working with individuals with vision loss or hearing loss and so I have a fabulous team which I will let Jess can induce her sale in just a moment but some of the programs that I oversee I mention death in blind Services really anything that falls under that per view so our business enterprises program and Tennessee in Tennessee Independent Living For the Blind visually impaired our employment service what's Jessica we'll talk a little bit more about and we have a council for the deaf deaf blind and hard of hearing I'll pass it to Jessica thank you hello I'm Jessica Villanueva AMC program director for deaf and blind services within VR so I report directly to Tiffany I'm one of the program directors for the programs that she ever sees which she mentioned she's got a few but she he covers for the state I am located in Knoxville but cover Statewide services so I have for supervisors throughout the state they they cover West Tennessee Middle Tennessee Chattanooga bill in an East Tennessee so we are spread out between for Regions and we work with individuals with hearing loss or business or a combination of both and assist with employment weather gaining employment for the first time or re-entering into the work for Workforce or maintaining their employment that they may already be in so that is my role so we will talk a little bit today we wanted to focus on what is vocational rehabilitation kind of walk you through the steps of the process this is very informal so we will not have a presentation but we are happy to share information with anyone who may want it but we thought just to keep it informal and just have an open dialogue about what is vocational rehabilitation what's the process you know what is our services how are they unit serving individuals for a blind and visually impaired and just talkin through that cuz I think a lot of times people just don't know when so we wanted to have this opportunity and so grateful for the collaboration of Vanderbilt NTSB to allow us to have this so first you know just talkin through how where do we start so who would be eligible who who do we serve and so really anyone who has a vision impairment or blindness or a combination of vision and hearing loss or any other disability whatever that maybe if we know that vision and hearing loss that sensory loss truly impacts the individual if they have additional disabilities or not and so that is the component that we have staff across the state is Jessica mention to specialize in working within those populations and so someone has a vision loss or hearing loss no matter if they have other disabilities or not we would be the ones that we would we would serve those individuals now I mention that I'm just going to touch on this very briefly I won't go into it too much but I mentioned Independent Living For the Blind and Visually Impaired Independent Living Services are provided within the home and assistant visuals with their self here learning techniques around their home or in Mobility really getting them to be in a point where they feel comfortable and confident to be independent in their home and also in the community and so it's really looking at what is this individual need to be able to feel confident and feel comfortable within their environment and said that could be something as simple as a magnifier for reading or could be something in the kitchen to help them be independent and make their own meals you know maybe it's using the microwave maybe it's maybe marking their stove or or maybe marking the washer and dryer so that they feel confident to do those tasks independently those services are provided at any age don't want to reiterate those going to be living services are provided at any age so we can get a referral from any one across the state any age there is no minimum there is no maximum I say that because that's unique about that Independent Living Program other programs we do have stage where we start for Independent Living we do not so again in the living can be different for each individual person it's also connected them to the resources in their community and really helping what I like to think I'm bringing resources together so that individual not only gets the learning techniques from our team but they also have the resources to continue that learning and continue that development if say we provide services right now and we we we make sure that person successful on what would call close their case it's a month from now that vision changes or a year 3 years down the road the vision changes call us back we can provide that service at we understand that Vision can change there are some Vision diagnoses that are progressive so we want to make sure we are a resource in a a I guess the support for that person as they go through those changes I just want to touch on that just briefly cuz it is a little different as far as who we can serve now it is we do require legal blindness and so as long as there's documentation on legal blindness then then we would be good to go for and he living service on a transition just a little bit to our transition Services because that is kind of if you're thinking about okay I can serve any age with independent living okay so what is the next phase if we have someone who is younger than his independent living and then by the time they get to the age of 14 so starting at age 14 we can serve individuals providing 5 Services throughout Implement transition Services we do have pre-employment transition specialist across the state who work alongside our be our counselors and really what that looks like is there like I said 5:00 services morning there's a job exploration workplace Readiness self-advocacy and post-secondary counseling and guidance those five services are provided to individuals again starting at age 14 and working with him through that transition through High School essentially they can do services are provided 14222 and so again that that that person that we work with individual is working with the school system working with of your counselor when it's the appropriate time and really working with the individual make sure they're getting those services in there on that path for planning their transition in what is to come helping them plan their feet sure if you will do specialist across the state they don't they don't personally provide the five services but they do connect with our service providers to make sure your services are provided some school system even have a transition school to work on person designated to provide the services and so each school system may look a little different so if there's ever any questions about what that may look like for your local school or within a school sis that you are familiar with please reach out and ask for happy to talk to that and see what that looks like because it does change depending on the area and what resources the school might have Jessica did you want anything about pre-employment transition okay so important transition like I said his age 18 to 22 starting around junior year let me back up on a transmission service is to be eligible for those Services has to have there has to be some sort of either medical documentation to show a disability or an IP or 504 something that just shows that this person has a disability or Vision Services you know typically we work really well with his High School for the Blind so I had Tennessee School for the Blind we do have a transition school to work so in this situation we have someone on site but we can contact I can say hey what can we do to help do students do you know you have students coming on board that are 14 at the other sophomores Junior seniors what can we do to help them with their transition so we're talking through those those five Services were talking what is their transition plan looks like one of their plans for after high school and so that's kind of a team effort we're coming together have this conversation for someone like I said was who has a disability if they have a vision loss it's really important that that transition specialist understands that this person has a vision laws so they can refer to the appropriate counselor even though we don't have transition specialist who are I would I specialize in vision loss they do have that counselor who works alongside them who is and so it's really important it really is a team approach so once we get those five services and we're working that sophomore junior year about junior year is ideally when we want to really start bringing in that VR counselor that they are counselor is going to be the one to come on board and really see that plan through once once I leave high school or once they hit 22 those transition Services the five I mention they're no longer going to be available it's a really helping that individual continue forward and be successful be self-sufficient and B attendance are really a specialist bringing my counselor alongside them to really provide a team approach including the school in that to make sure the students successful Jessica did you win anything on that I got a question can you can you list out those five Services again just so I could write them down work-based learning that's opportunities within the community that students can go to and learn experiences and learn really different work environment and our well we kind of had conversations around his let's make those more meaning you know let's see if there's a doctor's office that would be willing to have a work bass on inside let's see if there's other opportunities that you do outside of what we in the past I've just kind of gone to Let's broaden that stuff open so that's something we're having conversations about but is that something you all stand need for let us know because we really are interested in pursuing those opportunities I'm working with those businesses in the community is the goal for the the counselors to help see you just what businesses are in that in the in the students area to see what options are or their predetermined partnership states that are being explored so we do have our service providers that I mentioned that provide those five Services they will be the ones to make those connections within the community and and bridge that that opportunity for the students the next one is I believe it's workplace Readiness is that right Jessica workplace Readiness the workplace Readiness is really focused on those soft skills I'm really looking through I'm really looking through what is this person made on the job site what is an 8 to 5 job look like is that is that something this person is even interested in you know or they think more long is how long the terms of let's build up to that you know working through those soft skills and what it means to go to work and what does that look like and then you have a job exploration which is different so draw exploration is more looking at what jobs are out there what are options and really it should truly be really open because if you're a student you know you may not have been exposed to all of these different businesses and opportunities and so this this component of it is really to explore what jobs are out there what experiences can I potentially look into you know I'm what is that scenario is we give often and Jessica would tell the story much better but she used to work at the school for the deaf and most of the students there they only knew what they saw him cuz I knew about teachers I knew they could be a teacher one they could be a maintenance worker they could be you know someone who works out with outside on the buildings and on the lawn and all of these and so that's what they saw and that's what they experience but they didn't really know how much more outside of that in so that job exploration piece is willing to broaden their opportunities and show them what they may not have been exposed to previously for another what does the environment by grouping the other one and the fourth one is self-advocacy and that is preparing that individual to know how to advocate for themselves what when is it appropriate to share about your disability or how to talk about disability in and really share your your strengths and really the things that you focus more on the abilities and how to present that to employers how to present that to someone during an interview really building those self-advocacy skills not only for unemployment but I would say even in life in general just being an advocate for yourself and being comfortable to talk about your experiences the last one is post-secondary counseling and guidance and so that's four individuals who are seeking a post-secondary training possibly looking at Community College or 4 year college maybe you've been going further into a master's degree walking through what does that mean what does that look like how do we start and run in applying for college applying for the fastest so that is the fifth service that that most students who are on that path they get that fits service to help them prepare for Life After High School thank you yeah and then another separate comment because I know the what different lingo gets used the pre-employment transition Services is sometimes referred to as Prix X my only hear that vs. the full thing absolutely yes good point yes you may hear free apps or pre-ets or pre-employment transition services but it is all the same so Prius is the abbreviation for pre-employment transition services so moving along once we have those students now let me actually met back at the 5 service is it's not the every student gets all five Services it's going to be as me some students may just be interested into the fire somebody just be interested in one or some may be interested in Norfolk so it's really going to be dependent on the student and the service provider really making sure that we're meeting that students needs and calling them again with that transition component and giving them all of the resources all of the knowledge to make their decisions for their future and so once we get into like I said that junior year we're going to start pulling in that your counselor and that's when it's going to be very important that the specialist understands that there is a visual impairment or we have a visual component there and that's going to be important to the Wii connect to the right counselor I mentioned that we do have counselors or just mention sorry that we have counselors across the state who specialize in serving individuals with vision vision loss and hearing loss and so really leveraging those Partnerships and making sure that transmission specialist knows who refer to in and making sure we referring to the right counselor because I'm counselor's going to be able to join that team that student that specialist the school and accounts are all together to really look forward at 1 how do I move forward from here you know what is that future look like so once we are past High School planning for that employment piece and those five services are really the help button a base for that student get them toward that path of thinking about their future and so once we get to that senior year in a work applications taken eligibility should be determined we should be starting working on a plan if assessments are needed me reading assessments taken care of really thinking moving that that forward approach to get that student to where they need to be once they graduate from high school what we do not want is to do all of this work and that student graduates and them not know what to do next the goal of this is to make sure they know their options and they know who to contact and who to reach out to you once they graduate to continue moving forward and not really be complacent to really help them to be self-sufficient be independent however best suits their needs and their interest that's a big component here to is making sure that we are really hunting in on what that is what is interested in what the individual wants to be and wants to do with the rest of their lives we are looking at long-term goals I'm so you know getting an experience here on there that's fine but really bringing it back to what is your long-term goal what do you want to do for the rest of your life and they can change that's fine I think we've been all in high school when all doing what we thought we would be doing when we were in high school right so that's okay we can change that trajectory but as long as we are communicating and talking through that with the counselor that's the big piece of that communication piece I mentioned for pre-employment transition Services we just need that medical documentation IP your 504 will be transition over into the VR counselors case if you will and that counselor will be looking through that documentation again looking for legal blindness diagnosis looking for how that Vision really impacts our daily life what limitations division lost maid bring upon the individual and then how we can overcome those so if it's a vision loss that impact our ability to drive well then we know that we're going to be looking at transportation what options do we have such as walking through that with a customer talking through their options helping them to know you know these are our options right now in the future hear something to thing toward you know when you are earning an income may need to start budgeting for that rotation I'm just really talkin through those realistic life experiences and we're going to be experiencing soon after graduation now I don't mean they graduate the next day they're going to be all around it really a process and it's really helping them supporting that person through each step so they still again confident and comfortable to do these things independently and be successful on their own and sometimes we're doing for a while natural supports that's fine sometimes the family is able to provide transportation excellent let's bring everybody on board and get everyone together so that we can have that conversation and figure out how we can best make sure listen to visual is successful independent in the long long run long-term Jessica you add anyting I don't know I think you have heard so much you don't feel well well I know we wanted to share some success stories there's more of that we're going to add so we're not done yet but it's are you were going to say something some of the services so the locus of the counselor's going to be looking at that medical documentation looking at that visual for looking at the it really looking at what the vision loss is in a is a progressive is it something that is stable right now but could change at any moment is there something that is affecting their peripheral vision is it something that's affecting their central vision really looking through those documents to say okay do we need along with talking with individual to get their experiences what do we need to establish to make sure this person has the supports in place so I can mention that could be transportation we can look at an assistive technology assessment we could look at obviously Employment Services is what our goal is for everybody and so our employment services are really going to be around working with a service provider we have civil service providers across the state that we would refer the individual to based on their informed Choice as to who they want to work with and that provide it would help them with interview skills with filling out applications with resumes with enter actual setting up interviews if any transportation the interviews making sure that counselor is in the loop the whole time the counselor never goes away the counselor is that she component of this this whole experience and they're really leading the case forward and helping the provider's understand and helping a customer I understand and really supporting that person and if it ain't time the customer is dissatisfied with her again that communication pieces going to be important so that we can help resolve those issues along the way but I mentioned assistive technology so assessments to see what may be helpful for the individual typically that is done what we call a work site assessment and so that's once apply for a job with bought in interviews and we're actually about to start working on a job where there is a expected hire date we would do a work site assessment that's going to be one of our provider is coming into the work site waiting at learning what the job duties are in really making a good assessment of the situation in the making recommendations as to what assistive technology may be needed to help this person be successful on that job and working with the employer educating them for you that's something that the counselors do as well and we also have a business service unit until that unit is specifically geared toward working with employers so that Business Service Unit is one that we would say hey we have this employer they're not familiar with working with someone who's blind and vision-impaired did you go with the counselor to provide that support for the employer cuz you know we want to support everybody want to make sure everyone is comfortable everyone confidence cuz we know it's going to be a good fit if this is something the customer wants I do you know really setting that tone of this is something that you can be successful at and really helping them achieve that end so really looking through like I said getting all of the support someplace I mention Employment Services like I said we have providers to provide that that component of it so we do work a lot with outside providers as you can tell through the discussion we had and those providers you know we do hold them to a specific standard and they do have to meet her and trainings every year and they have to meet certain qualifications and so really trying to make sure we are bringing in those components to really support the individual any any comments about that just about the service providers no no nothing really to add about the service providers other than you know with our service providers who do work with them when they have their trainings that they go through but we also work with them as far as sensitivity trainings and trainings to become more familiar with working with individuals individuals with low vision or hearing loss so we we developed Partnerships with them so they're very comfortable to come to us with any questions are 18 centers like Tiffany had mentioned are are very skilled in that area and and making recommendations and you know our consumers they do have the choice of us are providers that they use so you know if maybe they don't Vibe with one which happens we can look at another provider and that's fine you know personalities sometimes may not match and that's okay so we do have options and we have opportunities for other providers that that match all requests is along those same lines thank you for all of that we have also orientation Mobility specialist that we partner with to make sure we made the needs of that orientation Mobility so on the job site the individual Bill acclimated to their job bringing someone on site to help them you know that sometimes may take a few days and that's fine I'm again working with an employer making sure you're communicating with simpler as to what this individual needs to be successful we rarely get pushed back once we get in there and explain it most people really open and willing to learning and providing whatever we need to provide to make sure this individual successful I'm trying to think so as far as you know we are estate agency so we do have processes in place and we do have certain things we have to follow and so I'm going to backtrack a little bit so once we have identified those we provide this pre-employment transition services and we brought in the VR counselor we taking that application for services so they fill out the application with the counselor that is something we do together it's really an opportunity for that counselor to learn about the individual contact and build that relationship and then if we have everything from the school like I mentioned like whether it's a medical report or an IEP we can use that to determine their eligibility and so then determine eligibility and after eligibility determined only talks through again what are those water services we may need to implement to make sure this person is successful so I mentioned driving maybe transportations mated maybe orientation abilities needed Maybe Employment Services obviously that's going to need it for everybody cuz like we are we are an employment agency our whole goal is to make sure employed and so that's a component that song thats related to everybody if someone is an interpreter if someone needs assistive technology like we mentioned will do assessments to make sure we have all of that soap really after me to Terminal A do they were looking at what are the things that this person is going to need to help them be successful and so talking through those Services talking through those barriers that they may face right now eventually we're going to set these things in place to help them overcome those barriers and really based on all of that information we have what's called priority categories I won't go too far into that because every state is going to different but we do have is for priority categories and so it's just basically based on the disability and the services that are needed and that's how it's determined until I guess I'm not going to go too much into that that's something that Glade the counselor handles a letter will be sent based on the priority category but that's not really something that I would say for this purpose of this call we have to worry about too much so I threw that conversation you know we are gathering the information of services and in support then and goals what are your goals do you know how do you want to be independent if you want to be independent okay do you want me to put in your home Community Living Services that I mentioned initially walking through it you know what are your experience is what are some of your interest what are some things you would like to achieve in your life and really have in those as real conversations and really learning about the individual and that is going to segue into that plan development once we develop the plan for services that is going to really ignite and initiate services so once that plan develop and all parties are in agreement to what is within the plan that's when Services can be initiated so we try and really move that process along quickly because if someone's interested in employment we don't want to be the I'm holding up those opportunities and they're really trying to talk through those and having that meaningful conversation that's why it's important during the application we're already Gathering some of the information so all along the way we're getting pieces to build up that plan for service sorry Jessica I was going to mention in there to when we meet with individual weiner stand that you know you may not just be one concerned that a customer has it may not just be I need a job I need money we we take the time to meet with them an application at and this is part of why it's so important for us to have the council meet that individual we don't send paperwork like applications home to be filled out and in the reason for that is really getting to know each other really to sit down and have conversations about that is what brought them to the ER and in it it may seem on the surface that this individual thing I just have to go to work and make money but it may be more than that it may be that there are also struggling with childcare may also be struggling with some of their utilities and it's important for us as we are to also linked them to other providers and other resources and agencies that we have available to them within Tennessee you know it made I need that they qualify for other programs that they're not even aware of it that time and that's that's important it is important to the ER it's very important to Tiffany and I we we really have a wraparound approach that we we want all give me mad because if child childcare isn't taken care of how are you going to go to work you know it you know that those are types of things that we need to get sorted out we need to talk about this on the front end what are your plans for your tree Tatian like Tiffany had mention we've had individuals that we supported them with Transportation they were employed we helped until they got their first attack but then afterwards they didn't know how to schedule us so then they missed work you know that's not us preparing them like we should so those are the things that we're thinking of throughout the entire case but really making note of at the beginning to say okay you know these are things that we're going to need to work on throughout to practice you know be aware of child care beware of calling into work sick be aware of scheduling your transportation or canceling Transportation if something comes up so you're not charged with so yeah it's it is employment services and that is what we are is here to do with supports but also linking individuals to other programs that are available to them so they are as successful as possible yes and I would have had to you know Jessica is on something very important I've been initially started out just thinking on a timeline you know starting age 14 and moving forward but you may know people who are at well out of high school you know who need our services and so just like Jessica was saying we definitely know there may be other barriers within their life that we need to talk about we need to overcome or figure out way to support all aspects of their life and that even could be true for high school students and he was really going to be individual to that person and that person's needs now the most important piece and I thinking of figure out how a referral is received to us for someone who's in high school it's usually through that specialist through the school sorry the transition school to work person at the school or the school at Southwest Lehigh I just had Sumner County Schools reach out for a referral do you know it's it's really a referral can come from anywhere you can be from the school it can be from you it can be from a friend that can be from the person directly if I was someone and I had a vision loss and I needed Services I could call my local office and ask for services there is an 800 phone number for blind services that I can put in the chair and that's something to that you can draw even mine and Jessica's numbers are are linked on there I think there's actually six or seven options but you know just really a referral can come anyway there is no one way to get a referral to vocational rehabilitation we have people calling people email with people refer a friend we have people refer a student we have people refer whomever we get them all kinds of ways so anyway that you can reach s please play in referrals as you come across them so referrals are a big piece and making sure we have referrals and that's why we have these sessions that's why we want to talk about it to really make sure people understand what we do we are vocational rehab patience our goal is employment helping people be self-sufficient and really looking through how we can support them as an individual through whatever limitations are barriers they are facing right now helping them overcome them settings Horton place to help them overcome and be successful and be independent and live their life as they envisioned that living it you know whatever their goals are talkin through each of their goals making sure we're setting things up to help support them to be to achieve those goals one of the things and I'll be briefed on this but just because I mentioned earlier our business Enterprise programme that program goes through Vocational Rehabilitation as well so if we have a student one individual who calls and for example had someone call and they said you know I've lost my vision I really I would like to see kind of what options I have and so I talk to random living and then yes I would love to have it if you let me come my home great I'll send the referral over so that I shared that information with my team in that area and then as we talked more on the phone the individual shared that they have a background in accounting very interesting you know when did you enjoy that and and they responded Yes they enjoyed it I would like to find something very similar and I said have you ever thought about owning your own business and so they hadn't so we talked through that so our business Enterprise programme it is again it goes through Vocational Rehabilitation goes right through Jessica's team a counselor is is informed that this individual is interested or are they have the experience or they have the background to be an entrepreneur and basically it's we provide the training and we connect them with facilities across the state to own their own business and the related to food service to Vending new cafeteria to commissary there's really a wide scope that's available but that's something that we just like to share to get the word out that that is also part of Vocational Rehabilitation and do you know like I said sometimes students come to us I'm not experienced in o t s b has an opportunity that students can actually experience of ending location but also just making sure the people are aware that that's an option you know if you if we have someone who's has that back and who has experienced or has the interest and through assessments and and interviews we determine that that is a really good fit then we're going to move forward and see what options we have you know maybe maybe we do move for her training do we move forward with you no different aspects to help them get to that in goal but it truly is a me and they are entrepreneurs they are business owners and they have facilities are within Federal I am State Property so it's really a neat opportunity and it is only for individuals who are blind and visually impaired so very neat opportunity that we are also able to offer will Shameless advertising anyone watching this video in the 20 21 22 school year we will have a session about the TV program in the spring and unless you guys have a new director at this point okay so we will figure out get with them and mr. Joyner who runs our program here at tsv and they will deleting that for us so come check that out of you if you want to learn more for your own students thank you so much thank you but I think is important is although we do start working with with individuals aged 14 for that employment that's been dishin component anyone can be referred to anytime after 14 so 40 Nazareth our starting point for that component of it for that employment in transition but past that anyone can be referred as we do not have an age maximum we don't have I mean we serve everybody and so as long as like I said there is medical documentation for the disability for us but if play vision loss or hearing loss or a combination of both then we are we're here to serve we're here to support the individual to support you to support the family and do whatever we can to make sure that individual successful and Tiffany you had mentioned earlier a success story so I thought I would share a success story here and now and it's a very recent success story so I didn't mention this before but when I started working with Vocational Rehabilitation I started out as a counselor for the Blind and Knoxville when I started in that position I had opened a case on an individual that was fresh out of high school and moving to what's post-secondary training this individual had always had a job goal as a pharmacist and I was super excited when I was a new counselor that yeah we're work would this with this person and they got accepted into school they went through their undergrad program they have gone through the whole thing this individual is low vision and there was several different pieces assistive technology that were purchased for them there was some of the school that was available there was some that be are assisted with and it was it was good teamwork between the two to make sure that this person had exactly what they needed I was in a meeting last week and found out that this person has graduated and they have been a hired straight out of school as a pharmacist in a hospital I felt compelled to email them directly and congratulate him I haven't talked to them in a few years now since I've been out of that role but I emailed them and was so excited to hear that they are engaged and getting married in March all the equipment that was purchased while they were in school is being used successfully on the job so that transition work really well for them so excited to hear those stories we love to her sister is also start her own Masters program soon just just accepted into school so we're really excited to see you know what's going on with that family and to keep up with them and it keep contact with it's so exciting for us and it is for them and so yeah that was just last week actually that I had found out about it so yeah that was a good one so this person not only way through college with us but also through being appointment piece the technology piece and yeah very proud to see but she ends up doing so and then I'll add you know thank you trying that Jessica that's exciting we love those success stories and truly we feel all of our customers are successful in their own way whether it's achieving Independence whether it's a learning resources weather in Sterling, two scheduled own transportation or whether it's getting employment and really I think for the purposes of this call we wanted to really focus on the employment component and what we can do what the processes what we can do for employers you working with them like Jessica said training not only our service providers but the employer sometimes you have to go in and train the employer on how to work with their new employee and that's fine we are happy to do that so that's something we can provide and again I'm just bringing a team approach I really am bringing Services together to support the individual making sure they are comfortable in their roles once we closed our case successful and they've been employed for a while one of the things that we like to make sure they know is that can call us anytime so it's not we're done with you once we closed our case we are here to help support you for the law terminos if five years from now you're still in the same job and something happens of work maybe you lose your vision even more or maybe something else impactful happens while you're at work or something you know even that just may impact work doesn't have to be at work or something that impacts your ability to work or or whatever call us because we want to follow back up we want to make sure that again we're looking at long-term goals here we're looking at how we can help someone be self-sufficient long-term and really support them through the entire process and so it's been 5 years that need to come back and something has changed or maybe they just need independent living in their home again maybe they moved you know whatever maybe we are here to really support the individuals within Tennessee I love it thank you so much I want to go fired up so I thunder we've got about maybe 5-10 minutes here before we need to finish out do you mind sharing those either like you know for sure the website that people should use as a starting point. I have it pulled up but I'll let you share it and as well as contact information so that people watching will know at least they have these places that are good starting point yes I'm going to pull up all I did in just in case you forget the link I just Googled blind services Tennessee and what I came across I think it was the second option is blind and visually impaired services Tennessee www.tn.gov I think the first option was actually a provider Maxi aid but but I'm going to put it in the chat bar link when you go there it's going to talk it'll show Vocational Rehabilitation Independent Living Services I'm one of the things I did we mention a little bit is deaf blind Services we have services to support individuals who have combined pitch and hearing loss the news on for the blind in his compared our new pet living team really helps people get connected to that and it's really getting people connected to news and and articles in magazines who have vision loss I mention our business price program so you'll see referred to as Tennessee business enterprises every state has one we call ours Tennessee business enterprises you may also he referred to as the business Enterprise programme Morty b e r b e e p wheel of acronyms so yeah so we have a lot of information there on that link to School for the Blind is going there as well as well as the library for the blind I'm so going got shared should take you there take out to get information like I I just clicked on Independent Living Services to the left there's contact in from the information they are for each of our offices let me find the 800 number so I can put it in Chattanooga I'll just in case you want that there were three number with two numbers on the that main page the right ones C6 to 871-813-4914 yes that's it that's it sorry not call that give you options like I said I think there's there's several options one of them is me one is Jessica Webb Independent Living we have TV so we're all in there cool and of course email email us call us we will take referrals we are happy if you have a group of people that you feel this information be very good for here we're happy to share this information again I'm if you need something more formal we can make it more more formal we just like to kind of keep things informal just feel like people have more dialogue but when you have someone like me who talks a lot kind of share thank you again for sharing let me I'm going to stop this recording in a second but I'm just so grateful to have all this great information put on here and now it's just kind of be readily available to anyone who just need some quick information about what exactly is available I think I don't know how often I've ever heard you know enable to hear all these Services between the the first session you guys did and this one is just breaking down what is available from the horse's mouth in that Ideal World of How It's working I think it's just a quick people to just understand the process better so thanks for doing that I'm going to stop

56:27 Social Emotional Learning & Crisis Support for Visually Impaired Students Featured
Presented by Andrea Word, MSW (TSB) on 9/1/2021
Unity Virtual Academy 2021-2022
Session Description:
This session is designed for TVIs to learn more about SEL (social emotional learning) for students with VI, learn signs of when a student is in a mental health crisis, and discuss appropriate resources in and out of school to support students.
Uploaded Sep 07, 2021
1:46:30 Essential Assessments (FVA) Strategies for Students with Visual Impairments and Complex Profiles
Presented by Suzanne Dinwiddie (TN Deaf-Blind Project) on 2/18/2022
Unity Virtual Academy 2021-2022
Session Description:
Project will share tips and
Hear about strategies that TVIs and O&M specialists can use when conducting functional vision, learning media and expanded core curriculum assessments with students with VI and complex profiles, including students with CVI.
Uploaded Feb 22, 2022
51:27 Lightbox Stories & Literacy Programming for Students with Complex Profiles Featured
Presented by Dr. Adam Wilson on 2/17/2021
Unity Virtual Academy 2020-2021
Session Description:
Looking for ways to integrate literacy and lightboxes? In this session we will take a deep dive into the creation of lightbox stories and digital books, adapted so they are accessible for students with more complex profiles that include VI. We will also look at opportunities for meaningful engagement for learners so they become part of the story!
Uploaded Oct 14, 2021
1:21:12 RCVI Welcome Back to School! (2022-23) Featured
Presented by Allen Huang (TN RCVI) on 8/19/2022
TN VIVA 2022-2023
Session Description:
Welcome back to school! Join us to hear about exciting RCVI updates and what is planned for TN VIVA in the year ahead. Updates regarding the 2023 Federal Quota census and a review of the RCVI textbook ordering process will be provided as well.
Uploaded Aug 22, 2022
1:53:44 Hindsight is 20/20: What We Wish We Knew Sooner & Lessons Learned from Experienced TVIs (Panel Discussion with Q&A) Featured
Presented by Dr. Karen Blankenship, Nancy Toelle, Mary Ann Siller, and Amy Covington on 10/21/2022
TN VIVA 2022-2023
Session Description:
In such a unique, sometimes isolating field, TVIs may not realize what they don’t know about working in the profession. In this panel discussion seasoned TVIs shared their experiences, knowledge, and tricks of the trade, passing along their wisdom from one generation of TVIs to another.
Uploaded Oct 24, 2022

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