The Discover Conference is for families of school age children who are blind, visually impaired and deafblind, including those with additional disabilities. It will be held at Perkins’ Watertown, MA campus.

The focus of our 2010 conference is on helping families build networks and find support from each other. Our keynote speaker is Marlyn Minkin, a licensed family therapist and mental health counselor, with nearly 30 years of experience working with families of children with these disabilities around the world. In her work facilitating parent groups and providing individual counseling, Minkin has identified common themes parents face. She believes families can learn from each other and take comfort in the fact that even though their experiences are unique, they share common challenges and concerns. “Once people get to know each other life is easier. They talk to other parents and they share their experience. It’s important for parents to know they are not alone.”

Conference discussion topics will include:

• Strategies to take care of ourselves and our relationships
• Sharing ideas about how to help kids make the most out of their free time
• Supporting brothers and sisters
• Making decisions about the focus of your child’s educational program
• Dreams, hopes and fears about life beyond school
• What every parent needs to know about sex education

This event is presented by Perkins School for the Blind, the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI), and the New England Consortium of Deafblind Projects (NEC).

Online registration will be active in early September 2010.

For updates, visit: www.Perkins.org/Discover

Thanks Fran! You can read more about Fran and her visit to the conference on her blog: LCA Blog.

Mark your calendars for the 6th Biannual Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) Family Conference sponsored by the Foundation for Retinal Research and Chicago Cubs’ First Baseman Derrrek Lee’s 1st Touch Foundation.

The dates for the Conference are Friday, July 30th through Sunday, August 1st, 2010. The Conference itself will be held at the Inn at Penn, a Hilton Hotel in Philadelphia, PA.

For more information please visit www.tfrr.org or contact Sally Lewinski at sally@tfrr.org.

The following programs are scheduled live for November 19 & 20 from Jacksonville, Florida.

• Keynote Address: General James T. Conway, 34th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps: Thursday, November 19, 10:00AM
• Seizures & Seizure Management: Confirming Diagnosis and Assessing Treatment: Friday, November 20, 11:30AM – 12:20PM
  Steve Wolf, MD, Beth Israel Medical Center, NY
  Patricia E. McGoldrick, NP, MPA, Beth Israel Medical Center, NY
• Seizures & Seizure Management: Brain Mapping & Surgical Intervention: Friday, November 20, 1:15PM – 3:05PM
  Saadi Ghatan, MD, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, NY
  Patricia E. McGoldrick, NP, MPA, Beth Israel Medical Center, NY
  Steve Wolf, MD, Beth Israel Medical Center, NY
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy – its Efficacy and Safety in the Treatment of Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Traumatic Brain Injury: Friday, November 20, 3:15PM – 4:05PM
  Pauline Filipek, MD, University of Houston Medical School, TX
  Daniel A. Rossignol, MD, International Child Development Resource Center, FL
  James Jeffrey Bradstreet, MD, International Child Development Resource Center, FL
  Moderated by Rick Rader, MD, Morton J. Kent Habilitation Center, TN

This year’s NEAER Conference, hosted by the Northeast Chapter of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, will be held at the Marriott in Hartford Connecticut November 4th through 6th. Visit their website to download the Registration Forms.

Conference sessions will include a range of topics…

• Transportation Issues and O&M
• Early Childhood Development
• Assessing Vision with Tests, Toys and Tips
• Alternative Career Training in Field of Blindness
• Getting “In Touch” with Art
• Strategies for Organization for Preschoolers with Vision Impairments
• Painting & Crafts Using Acrobat Reader

This year’s Discover Conference at the Perkins School for the Blind will be held on Saturday, October 24th. Registration is currently open online.

The Discover Conference brings families and professionals from several states to the Perkins’ campus. For many parents, this is the first opportunity to meet others with school age children (ages 6-22) who are blind, visually impaired, and deafblind, including those with additional disabilities. Everyone leaves with new skills, strategies and, above all, hope for their children’s future success.

The keynote address, “Equals in Partnership in Education; Parent’s Voice; Parents’ Strengths,” will be delivered by Susan LaVenture from the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI) and Katharine Shepherd, Project Director of Parents as Collaborative Leaders, University of Vermont.

There will also be workshops on a range of topics, including…

• How families can find balance in their lives
• Strategies to help parents be heard
• Making the most of assistive technology
• Developing effective IEPs
• Daily living skills
• Transition planning
• Father’s forum
• Young adults talk about transportation

The closing remarks, “Achieving Balance in Your Life,” will be presented by Mike and Djenne Morris, Family Specialist at the North Carolina Project for Children and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind. Mike and Djenne have a son of their own who is deafblind.

For those of you thinking about traveling to the conference, hotel accommodations are available at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Newton at a special conference rate of $149 a night. Reservations need to be made by October 14th. Call 1-877-227-6963 and reference the Perkins School for the Blind Discover Conference.

The conference is a wonderful way to meet other families, learn new skills, and attend interesting seminars. Registration is now open!

Last year, Tom Sullivan delivered the key note address at the Perkins Parents Conference. His speech was very motivating and many parents of blind children found him to be very inspiring.

Perkins has now added videos of Tom’s speech to their website so you can listen to his talk from home.

Rick Guidotti, co-founder of Positive Exposure, will be giving a talk and presenting a slide show of his photographs at the Perkins School for the blind on May 20, 2009 at 10:30 am in the Hilton Building Auditorium.

Rick’s work challenges our concept of beauty and highlights the richness in our genetic diversity. Most of Rick’s subjects have special needs, but Rick wants us to see past their diagnoses and focus on their personalities instead.