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Keep up with the current changes to RSA requirements, learn about newly released OIB-TAC courses, upcoming events, and find links to curated resources for older blind service providers. Information is shared through the Weekly Brief. 

 
 
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Featured News

OIB-TAC May Webinar: Lessons for Living: A Free Resource to Enhance Services

Join OIB-TAC on May 16, 2025, at 2:00 CT, for our next webinar! Are you or your service providers finding it difficult to serve clients comprehensively with the limited time available? The OIB-TAC’s Lessons for Living with Vision Loss may be able to help! Join Kendra Farrow, OIB-TAC Project Director, to learn about the content of the lessons and how they are being used by a professional and a peer support group leader to enhance the services they provide. Lessons for Living are available in both English and Spanish, can be accessed in multiple formats, and are free of charge. Come and learn how your program may be able to enhance services by using Lessons for Living.          

Click here to register for the May Webinar!

Bonus Webinar Recording Now Available

In addition to the recording for our April webinar, Exploring Effective Models for Retreat Training, we now have a bonus recording posted on our website. Learn about retreat programs held in New Jersey, Virginia, and Wisconsin in our Part 1 webinar recording, and check out information about programs held in New Hampshire, Louisiana, and California in our Part 2 recording. Learn how this type of offering provides older adults the chance to receive concentrated and comprehensive introductory training, along with opportunities for developing social connections and creating lasting friendships. Explore how these examples show the variety of settings and approaches for conducting such training. Get inspired and consider how a retreat training program could benefit the individuals you serve.  Find the recordings at: https://www.oib-tac.org/events/2025/03/exploring-effective-models-retreat-training

FREE Assistive Technology Webinar

Ally, Envision, and Voice Transcription

Wednesday, May 21, 4 PM Pacific Time

Join The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. for an exciting and interactive webinar featuring Ally, the new AI assistant from Envision. Specifically designed for the blind and visually impaired community, Ally is a powerful new tool designed to help you get things done, learn on the go, gather information, and interact with the world around you. We’ll explore and demonstrate Ally, its capabilities, and test its performance compared to other leading AI tools. We’ll also explore the tools available in the Envision app, including text recognition, barcode scanning, document formatting, and detailed scene descriptions. Finally, we’ll walk through how to use your iPhone to capture spoken notes and have them transcribed instantly with just a few taps using the built-in Voice Memos app. This engaging, hands-on session will be packed with live demos, real-world use cases, and plenty of time for Q&A. You won’t want to miss this deep dive into next-generation accessibility tools.

Click here to register now and secure your spot for the assistive technology webinar!

 

T.I.P.S. Course Printable QR Code for Sharing

Consider sharing this new FREE resource today! Please copy this image onto your agency flyers, website, or social media pages to help get the word out about the T.I.P.S. course and help us get interested people connected to this new course. 

Shareable QR Code linking to T.I.P.S. Course registration

Association of Vision Rehabilitation Therapists Professional Development Conference Call for Papers

Brewing Up Innovative Services: The Melting Pot of Rehabilitation

August 5 – 7, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Association of Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (AVRT) is a professional organization dedicated to bringing together rehabilitation experts to share ideas, information, professional practices, and experiences.

AVRT strives to provide stellar professional development opportunities to Vision Rehabilitation Therapists, rehabilitation professionals, and educators working in the field of blindness, low vision, or related fields.

We are pleased to host the 2025 Annual Professional Development Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rehabilitation professionals, educators, administrators, researchers, and others are invited to submit a proposal for a presentation. This year we want to highlight the innovative nature of rehabilitation therapist services. We encourage presentations across the individuality, diversity, and variety of teaching techniques and resources.  

The Call for Papers form may be submitted via e-mail attachment as a Word document. Call for Papers is due by Monday, March 3, 2025. Should you require additional information, kindly contact:

Dr. Linda Fugate, CVRT, AVRT Vice President, 2025 Conference Chair: avrtconferenceinfo@gmail.com

Looking for Success Stories

Do you have videos or articles that have been published online about the success of your older vision impaired clients? Maybe you have some videos on your website, or maybe some clients were interviewed related to participation in one of your programs for a newsletter or newspaper article. Please send us links to these success stories at info@oib-tac.org, so we can share them.

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