The VisionAWARE web site is generously supported by Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation

AWARE gives sincere thanks to the Board of Directors of the Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation for supporting the establishment of the VisionAWARE.org web site. Special thanks are also owed to Susan Olivo, Vice President and General Manager, and Dianna Kelly-Naghizadeh, Grant Program Manager, for their tremendous belief, commitment and support, in making this website a reality, and to Rob Hilliard, Vice President of Customer Technologies, Reader's Digest Association, Inc., for his generous contributions.

THE VisionAWARE TEAM

Editorial Team

Meet the professionals who share their experiences and knowlege on our site.

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Anne Yeadon, M.A., VRT

Anne is founder and President of AWARE and co-founder of the AWARE Europe Foundation (both not-for-profit organizations). She has 20 years experience as a Rehabilitation Teacher and an additional 15+ years evaluating and designing innovative and/or expanded vision rehabilitation services. As a Rehabilitation Teacher she taught daily living and communication skills to individuals of all ages with vision impairment. She has served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Kyushu University of Health and Social Welfare in Japan, and lectured in the post-graduate Rehabilitation Teaching and Orientation Mobility programs with AWARE's sister organization, the AWARE Europe Foundation, at the Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education in Warsaw, Poland.

As a private consultant to US-based and overseas organizations she has conducted extensive vision rehabilitation work in Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Africa, and South America, and also served as Helen Keller International's global Director of Rehabilitation Services.

Anne has received awards for her services in the US, including the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI) Past New York State President Award; George E. Keene Award for outstanding leadership and service in Rehabilitation Teaching, and the Bruce McKenzie Award for outstanding contributions to the field of Rehabilitation Teaching. She has written numerous articles and publications including the long-standing book Toward Independence: The Use of Instructional Objectives in Teaching Daily Living Skills to the Blind published by the American Foundation for the Blind.

Anne also works alongside her husband, David, author of many adventure travel books, who plays an active role in the design and illustration of AWARE's materials.

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Maureen A. Duffy, M.S., CVRT

Maureen is Editorial Director of AWARE. She is the author of Making Life More Livable (AFB, 2002), New Independence! Environmental Adaptations in Community Facilities for Adults with Vision Impairments (AWARE, 1997), and co-editor of New Independence! For Older Persons with Vision Loss in Long-Term Care Facilities (AWARE, 1991), in addition to numerous book chapters and articles on blindness, vision loss, and aging.

She is Past President of the Rehabilitation Teaching Division (11) of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI), and is a recipient of the Bruce McKenzie Award for lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to Rehabilitation Teaching.

Maureen is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and past Director of the Graduate Programs in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy/Rehabilitation Teaching at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, where she twice received the Educator of the Year Award. She also teaches in the post-graduate Rehabilitation Teaching and Orientation and Mobility programs with AWARE's sister organization, AWARE Europe Foundation, at the Academy of Special Education in Warsaw, Poland.

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Nancy Paskin, M.Ed., CVRT

Nancy is the past chair of the national Rehabilitation Teaching Division of AERBVI and the current Editor of the Division's Newsletter, RT NEWS. Nancy is well recognized for over 34 years of contributions to the field of rehabilitation teaching and vision impairment. She is the recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award, from Western Michigan University's Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies; the prestigious Bruce McKenzie Award for lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions in Rehabilitation Teaching; the Charlyn Allen Award, the Meritorious Achievement Award of Merit, and NYS Rehabilitation Teacher of the Year.

Nancy served as consultant to Al Pacino in the film Scent of a Woman and to other actors including Nathan Lane, Cicily Tyson, Brice Howard and the shows As the World Turns and Guiding Light.

She has taught in four of the university training programs in rehabilitation teaching in the US and has contributed to several publications.

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Susan Hart, M.S., TVI, CVRT

Susan has 30+ years experience in the field of special education and rehabilitation of persons who are blind or have low vision. She is currently a Technology Specialist, Braille Instructor, and Transcriber at St. Joseph's School for the Blind in New Jersey where she teaches braille and provides student instruction in the use of personal computers and adaptive software programs specifically designed for people with vision impairments.

She has served as Assistant Project Coordinator of a paraprofessional training program in vision rehabilitation at Lighthouse International and as a Teacher of the Blind and Visually Impaired in their certification paraprofessional training program. Susan has overseen field placement supervision of graduate students attending the MA Program for Rehabilitation Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired at Hunter College of the City University of New York.

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Mary Ann Lang, Ph.D.

Dr. Lang is an Advisor to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness Vision 2020: The Right to Sight Advocacy and Public Relations Committee, and Senior Consultant to Lighthouse International. In 2005 she retired from her position as Vice President for International Programs after 29 years at the Lighthouse. She has been a university educator of professionals in the United States and Chile in the fields of psychology, education, and blindness and visual impairment.

Mary Ann has served as one of the Editors in Chief of The Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation published by Oxford University Press in April 2000 and an author of chapters on Children's Environments and on The Role of Psychosocial Factors in Adaptation to Visual Impairment and Habilitation Outcomes in Children and Youth. Other publications include the Assessment Compendium: Instruments for Assessing the Skills and Interests of Individuals with Visual Impairments, Toys and Play: A Guide to Fun and Development for Children with Impaired Vision, and Getting in Touch with Play: Creating Play Environments for Children with Visual Impairments.

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Anisio Correia, M.Ed.

Anisio brings to the AWARE team a rich and extensive experience in the field of vision rehabilitation spanning a period of thirty years. A teacher at heart, Anisio began his contributions to the field of vision rehabilitation as a Rehabilitation Teacher, providing both center-based and itinerant instruction to blind and visually impaired adults. He has held numerous senior and executive management positions for small and larger nonprofit organizations in the United States.

Throughout his long career, Anisio has dedicated himself to changing public attitudes about vision loss and increasing the scope and quality of services for people who are blind and have low vision both in the United States and overseas. Blind since childhood, Anisio has been a user of many of the skills and techniques highlighted throughout this website.

Currently, he is the Director of Adult Rehabilitation Programs at the Center for the Visually Impaired in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Lawrence Miller, O.D.

Dr. Miller has been a Doctor of Optometry for 16 years. He is the Director of Low Vision Services at Staten Island University Hospital, and a faculty member of the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry.

Lawrence is also a member of Lions Club International and Volunteer Optometric Services To Humanity (VOSH). He has conducted overseas work, lectured extensively on various topics related to vision and vision loss, and received several awards for community service.

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Lisa-Anne Mowerson, M.A., TVI, CVRT

Lisa-Anne has been involved in the field of vision impairment for over 29 years. She has worked for a number of agencies in New York and Pennsylvania and is currently a private contractor in the State of Connecticut.

Lisa-Anne has been a lecturer and adjunct faculty member on blindness and visual impairment for several universities. She has served on the International Board of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AERBVI), and on local and regional boards of AERBVI.

She is a recipient of the Bruce McKenzie Award for lifetime achievement and outstanding contributions to Rehabilitation Teaching, and the New York State Rehabilitation Teacher of the Year Award. She has published a number of articles and is a frequent speaker at conferences and professional training programs.

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Victoria M. Sheffield

Victoria is the Executive Director of the International Eye Foundation and has 34 years experience in ophthalmology and 27 years in international blindness prevention. She is a recognized leader in the field of blindness prevention and has worked with WHO's "Programme for Prevention of Blindness" in Geneva where she designed and produced public education materials.

She lectures at US and UK universities and at international conferences; has authored over 21 articles and contributed to three book chapters on blindness in the developing world. She is a Co-Chair of the North America Region of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness; Chaired the "Partnership Committee of International NGOs Dedicated to the Prevention of Blindness and the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind" in collaboration with WHO, 1993-1998; is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) Committee on International Ophthalmology; and was an officer of InterAction. She received an AAO Achievement Award in 1999, and the 1990 Statesmanship Award from the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology. She has served on the UN Association/National Capital Area Board and received its Human Rights Award in 1998. She has professional experience in 39 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.

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Valerie Ward, LMSW, LCSW

Valerie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Manager of Social Services in primary health care at Montefiore Hospital's Comprehensive Family Care Center in Bronx, New York.

Prior to her current position, Valerie was employed for twenty years at Lighthouse International where she served as Director of Community Awareness for New York City, overseeing the Direct Services Department's citywide programs. During her 20 year career at the Lighthouse, Ms. Ward also served as the Director of Independent Living Services for Manhattan and the Bronx. In this capacity, she provided clinical supervision to licensed Social Workers, Field Work Supervisors and Graduate Students as well as administrative supervision to Vision Rehabilitation Therapists, and Orientation/ Mobility Specialists and the Intake/Registration staff.

She is Assistant Adjunct Professor at New York University's Graduate School of Social Work, and serves as a member of NYU's School of Social Work Undergraduate Advisory Committee, the Bronx Borough President's Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities, and the Board of The Fund for the Advancement of Social Services (FASS) a not-for- profit, research, educational and advocacy organization addressing social policy issues in New York City.

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John Zamora, M.S., CDMS

John has been a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and Consultant for over 26 years. He was the president of Independent Consultants, Vocational Rehabilitation Inc., and initiated the position of Youth/Career Coordinator with the Braille Institute of America. The California State Rehabilitation Bureau appointed him as an Independent Vocational Evaluator (IVE) on more than 200 cases, and he has served as an expert witness for numerous legal cases pertaining to disability and work issues.

He served as Co-Chairperson of the 2006 California Transcribers and Educators of the Visually Handicapped Conference, and as a Board Member of the Southern California chapter of AER. While at the Braille Institute, he developed job fairs and work training programs that resulted in dozens of individuals returning to and maintaining employment.

He also spearheaded the development of the "Braille Challenge," an annual braille skills contest that involves hundreds of braille reading students across the United States and Canada. He has published a number of articles and is a frequent instructor and speaker at conferences and professional training programs.

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Stephanie Stephens Van, M.A., CVLT

Stephanie has 26 years experience as a Rehabilitation Teacher and Certified Low Vision Therapist. She has been an Activities Director, Supervisor of Rehabilitation and Social Services, and consultant for a variety of public and private vision rehabilitation agencies in Pennsylvania. Stephanie has lectured nationally on adapted crafts and leisure activities; adjustment to blindness and low vision; functional vision skills; and activities of daily living. She is also an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Graduate Studies in Vision Impairment at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.

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Technical Team

Meet the technical experts who have shared their experience and knowledge in the development of our site

Betsy January, M.S.

Betsy launched her computer career at the National Security Agency, where she received an award for Outstanding Achievement. She went on to co-design and develop one of the earliest decision support systems for financial planners. She then served as the Product Manager for ColorStudio, a high-end graphic arts program on the Macintosh, and trained graphic designers on a number of graphic programs.

As a consultant for the past 20 years, she served as the Project Manager on the design and delivery of software products and enterprise-level software utilizing relational databases, multi-tiered architecture, and web e-commerce.

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Sandra Combs, M.S.

Sandra has a varied background that includes technical documentation and editing, software quality control, computer programming and web design.

Her interest in health issues led her to design and develop a personal health records application used by hundreds of health-conscious consumers. Her experience as a caregiver to elderly parents with macular degeneration and cataracts gave her a personal perspective on this project.

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Richard Lucker

Richard has worked in the multimedia industry in the UK for ten years, across a range of disciplines ranging from technical development and architecture through to product management and, most recently, customer marketing. Richard has extensive experience of content management principles, information architecture and technical infrastructure design for high volume online services.

During the late 1990s, Richard worked for PA New Media, the division of the UK press association responsible for the repurposing and distribution of news and information to the growing internet market. PA New Media developed their own sophisticated content management tools long before the practice found its way into the mainstream.

While at PA New Media, Richard was responsible for the concept development, design, technical architecture and management of the development team behind Ananova.com both prior to and following its launch. At its launch, ananova.com was a groundbreaking news and information service based on an advanced real-time content management system, developed by Richard's team. Traffic levels on ananova.com were in excess of 40 million page impressions per month by the time Richard stopped working on it in 2001.

Since Ananova was acquired by Orange SA in 2000, Richard's focus has remained on multimedia, although it has recently shifted towards online and interactive services for mobile devices. Richard currently works in the multimedia and convergence marketing team at Orange in the UK where he is responsible for planning and strategy.

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And a special thanks to VISIONS/Services for the Blind:

We also give our sincere thanks to Roger Blum, Reginald Brown, Lenny Gaskin, Carmen Gomez, Eleanor Isaacson, Larry Matlaw, Bill Sharp, Debbie Zanca and Dawn Suvino, Director of Information Services and Technology Training at Visions/Services for the Blind for their enthusiasm and generosity in evaluating the initial pilot VisionAWARE web site. Special thanks are also owed to Nancy Miller, Executive Director of Visions/Services for the Blind for generously welcoming AWARE to VISIONS.