Keynote Speaker

Tyler Merren

Tyler Merren is a 4 time Paralympic athlete, Motivational Speaker, Personal Trainer, and owner of ReVision Training LLC. Born in Michigan with an eye condition known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, Merren despite his visual challenges grew up with a love for sports and activities, which transferred into his Baccalaureate in Exercise Science and career as a Personal Trainer and Elite Athlete. His wife Leanne, who is also blind, and he, have four children and currently live in Fort Wayne Indiana where Tyler is running his business, developing the ReVision Fitness audio fitness program, homeschooling his children, training for the USA Team, and being the best husband and father he can be.

Producer of ReVision Fitness - The Audio Fitness Program
iOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/revision-fitness/id1561742182
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.revision.fitness
Website: https://www.revisionfitnessapp.com
Personal Trainer, Motivational Speaker, Paralympic Athlete
Personal Website: www.tylermerren.com
Facebook Fitness Group: https://m.facebook.com/groups/49211299806718/?refid=27
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOPyMcRYmIrxb8p3gkfHVRQ

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Out of State Presenters

Denise Fitzgerald

Denise leads the Perkins School for the Blind transition and vocational teams as they support teens and their families in the transition process. The student population includes students accessing the standard curriculum and college bound, as well as those students who will engage in volunteerism,  work or community based day support programming. Working collaboratively with colleagues, Denise designed the Total Life Learning Curriculum, Perkins Person Centered Planning process, and other practical “tools for transition.” Denise lives with her beautiful dog Lily and enjoys travel, reading, and gardening.

Bruce McClanahan

Bruce McClanahan is an assistive technology consultant for the Outreach Programs at the Washington State School for the Blind.  Bruce worked as a teacher of the visually impaired in Marshalltown, Iowa. He has a Masters in the Education of the Visually Impaired from the University of Arizona and Orientation and Mobility from San Francisco State.  Bruce provides technical assistance to school districts across Washington.  Bruce regularly presents at CSUN and AER conferences.

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Debbie "Cricket" Park

Cricket’s life passion of working with individuals with visual impairment started in 6th grade, when she wrote a research paper on braille, spent a day at the Louisiana State School for the Blind and Deaf to shadow the teachers, and volunteered at their Lion’s Club annual outing to Thunderbird Beach theme park. She began teaching in the field of visual impairment after graduating with a bachelor’s from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1978. She taught in Texas and Louisiana, before going on to the University of Northern Colorado, where she graduated with a master’s in 1990, with additional certification in Orientation & Mobility. She made presentations on the theme of functional vision evaluations and assessment kits in Colorado, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Texas, and Indiana AER conferences and Regional Education workshops, as she continued in the field of both VI and O&M. In 2010, she was recruited to become a part of the full-time faculty in VI and O&M at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU). She is now officially retired but is far from finished, assisting as much as possible in the field, through keeping up an informational website, giving workshops, and serving as an adjunct professor for SFA. While in Colorado, with the strong encouragement from her professor, Dean Tuttle, she wrote the booklet, The Functional Vision Evaluation Dilemma: Too Many Pieces and Too Many Parts in 1991. The second edition came out several years later in 2015, entitled Fun & Valuable Experience Literally Mastering Assessments (FVELMA), and now a third edition called Cricket’s Vision: Fun & Valuable Experience Literally Mastering Assessments is available. This booklet is intended to help strengthen the teacher of students with visual impairment in confidence as they learn to make the assessments fun and valuable in programming for their individual students, instead of the process being something that is resisted. Cricket is married to the love of her life that she met when she was 18, lost touch with, and then reconnected with just a few years ago. They plan to make their home in the Niceville, Florida area, along with their little 14-year-old poodle, Poppy Joy. Cricket lights up when asked about her two beautiful grown daughters and three precious grandchildren. Between workshops and classes, she enjoys reading, listening to audio books especially when traveling, walking, singing, watching good romance and sci-fi movies, and just sitting on the back porch swing, watching the birds congregating around the birdfeeders.

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Marty Schultz

Marty is a cofounder of ObjectiveEd, which builds reinforcement digital curriculum for BVI students to reinforce the skills taught by their TVIs and O&Ms. He has coordinated several NIH and HHS grants for developing products for BVI students. ObjectiveEd products are used in hundreds of school districts, including some of the largest districts in the country and schools for the blind. He has degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and Harvard Business School.

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Jeff Schwartz

Jeff represents Alabama, his home state of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the Virgin Islands. He has served as a TVI and O&M Specialist since 1992. He has also worked as an advisor for disability services at Miami Dade College; taught American Sign Language (ASL) as a foreign language course at Turner Technical High School in Miami; contracted with Lighthouse programs for college transition programs; and served as an Access Technology Specialist along with many other hats over the years. In his free time, Jeff enjoys gardening, traveling, riding roller coasters, and spending time with his dogs.

Dr. Yue-Ting Siu ​

Dr. Yue Ting-Siu is a Teacher of Blind and Low Vision Students (TVI), and coordinates the teacher preparation program in Visual Impairments at San Francisco State University. She has worked with blind and low vision students of all ages including those with additional disabilities. Ting began her teaching career as a paraprofessional in the Deafblind Program at the Perkins School for the Blind and later taught at the Jewish Guild for the Blind, NYC Department of Education, and currently in local Bay Area school districts. Ting’s work focuses on advancing TVIs’ proficiency with access technology, promoting innovations in multimedia accessibility, and training new generations of “techie TVIs”. She consults in the following areas: inclusive educational technologies research and design, community education to design and deliver accessible instruction, and trainings to facilitate accessibility and technology in the classroom. Ting is the author of Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility (2020), available from APH Press. Connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @TVI_ting (www.tplus.education)

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Dr. Kathy Zwald

Dr. Kathy Zwald has worked in the field of blindness and visual impairment as an Orientation & Mobility Specialist and Rehabilitation Specialist for over 40 years.  She was drawn to the field as an undergraduate looking for a vocation of study that would fulfill her need for service to others.  Since that moment, she went on to receive her Bachelor's Degree in Orientation & Mobility and has since served in that capacity. She has also received a Master's Degree in Recreation Therapy, another Master's Degree in Adapted Physical Education and her Doctorate from the University of Arizona in Visual Impairment and Education. Her work in the field of Blindness and Visual Impairment has given her the opportunity to work in a variety of settings including direct service delivery, administration, university program coordination and consultation with other blind agencies. She has worked in Australia, England and Lebanon in direct service and as a consultant, in addition to Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana and Arizona.

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Georgia Presenters

Mary Ann Boger

Mary Ann loves working as an itinerant TVI in Gwinnett County Public Schools and is particularly enthusiastic about assistive/access technology. She earned a Master’s degree in Visual Impairments from North Carolina Central University in 2019 and a Master’s degree in Special Education, Adapted Curriculum from Western Carolina University in 2018. She is currently pursuing an Ed. S. in Special Education from the University of Georgia. Prior to working as a TVI, Mary Ann had many adventures in the wine industry for over a decade as the co-owner of Persimmon Creek Vineyards in North Georgia where she was the director of Marketing and Sales. Mary Ann lives in Atlanta and has 3 grown sons, including a set of twins.

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Tara N. Bowie

Tara started her journey in the world of VI, at the University of Pittsburgh in the Dual Master’s Program for Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist (ACVREP). She spent time serving as an intern at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind and the Blind & Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh. Her first official employment opportunity was in Lancaster Pennsylvania at Intermediate Unit 13. There she worked as a dual certified TVI/COMS serving public schools in rural areas. It was an exciting new opportunity that kick started her 24-year career in this field. Tara came to Georgia in 1999, where she began working for Northeast Georgia RESA, serving multiple districts, once again as a dual certified TVI/COMS and as the RESA Coordinator of Vision Services. For the last 2 years Tara has been working for the GaDOE/Smokey Powell Center in the Outreach Division of the Georgia Academy for the Blind as an Education Program Specialist. Over the many years as a TVI/COMS Tara has trained in various additional areas such as Assistive Technology, Cortical Visual Impairment, Early Intervention and Educational Leadership. She is dedicated to serving TVI’s, VI Para’s, and COMS working with students with visual impairments. 

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Heather Boyle

Heather Boyle earned her M. Ed. from Texas Tech University. She has worked in special education for eleven years serving students with a variety of low incidence disabilities including orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, and most recently hearing loss. She joined the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project last year after working for five years as an itinerant TVI in the Fannin County School System. She now serves as an Education Specialist supporting school teams and families in implementing best practice instructional strategies for students with dual sensory loss.

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Sarah Bussey

Sarah Bussey is a Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist, Certified Teacher of Students with Vision Impairments and Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist. She earned her undergraduate degree in Vision Disabilities from Florida State University and her two Master’s Degrees in Orientation & Mobility and Vision Rehabilitation Therapy from Hunter College CUNY. Over the past 16 years, Sarah has worked with state agencies, non-profits, and school districts to provide vision services to their consumers. She has taken the opportunity to work with both children and adults with vision impairments and to teach them how to thrive in their home, school and community environments. Sarah enjoys working alongside her colleagues with the goal of sharing professional experiences and teaching techniques which take students to the next level. 

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Jose Cintron

Jose Cintron has led the speech and braille products division of Florida Vision Technology for the past six years. In addition, he worked for many years as a braille & screen reader instructor for a local community rehabilitation program in South Florida. Jose has worked one-on-one with hundreds of clients, assisting them in determining the best device for their needs, advocating for the purchase of the devices, and training them to be successful and independent at work, home, school, and leisure activities.

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Sharon De Mille

Sharon De Mille graduated from University of Georgia with a Masters in Rehabilitation Counseling. She later returned to school at Georgia College & State University where she obtained a Masters in Special Education for Middle School. She currently holds CRC, CCM, and NCC certifications and LPC license. She began her career with Travelers Insurance as a private sector Rehabilitation Counselor specializing in Workers Compensation and Long Term Disability cases. After 13 years in that field, she came to GVRA in 1999, where she was assigned a dedicated Behavioral Health caseload. She worked as a counselor with that caseload until 2014, when she became the IPS counselor, essentially serving the same population. In 2017, she worked as the Behavioral Health Coordinator for 4 years. She is now the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator, which includes her work as BH Coordinator and adds several new dimensions, including Developmental Disabilities and Supported Employment. She participates in several committees and groups that focus on providing services to those with diagnoses in the areas of Developmental Disabilities and Behavioral Health. ​

Mike Fish

Mike Fish, AT Services Coordinator – Blindness Division at AIS, has a master's degree in Special Education and a licensure in Teaching Students with Visual Impairment from George Mason University through the Virginia Visual Impairment Consortium. He taught students with visual impairments in the Arlington Public School system in Virginia for 2.5 years before spending the next 10.5 years working as the Lead Technology Instructor at the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision impaired. At the Center he taught students computer and assistive technology skills, including screen readers, braille notetakers, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and iOS/Android devices. He also developed and provided training and seminars to the public on those same skills. In July of 2022 Mike joined the AIS team as the Assistive Technology Coordinator for the Blindness Division where he develops, implements, trains and teaches consumers how to use nonvisual skills to access digital materials, including the use of screen readers and braille devices.

Stephanie Hardwick

Stephanie has been a TVI and COMS for over 10 years and is employed with Forsyth County Schools. While working on her master’s degree in VI, she was a Helen Keller Fellow in the 1st cohort. Prior to working with students with visual impairments, she received a master’s degree in School Psychology and worked in various capacities for UAB School of Optometry, Vision Science Research, Education and Outreach modules for over 14 years intermittently. She is the Georgia AER treasurer and is looking to make a difference for not only students, but for the organization as well.

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Allison Hawkins

Allison has been an OT for 15 years. She began her OT career working at a medically fragile, day treatment center for children birth to five. In 2008, she completed her certification in Sensory Integration and Praxis through WPS/USC. That same year, she began working at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. Allison also has experience working in the outpatient pediatric setting at Atrium Health Navicent in Macon. Across each setting, she has always had a passion for assessing the whole child and gaining an understanding of how their sensory processing impacts their learning and skill development. In 2016, she completed her certification in the SOS (Sequential Oral Sensory) approach to feeding. This multisensory approach has been the foundation of developing successful mealtime strategies for the multiple/complex needs students at The Georgia Academy for the Blind. In 2017, she received training on administering Millie Smith’s Sensory Learning Kit (SLK) and developing meaningful routines based on the findings. She facilitates this assessment process for staff at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. In 2019, she participated in the Georgia CVI cohort and completed the Roman-Lantzy CVI endorsement process. Allison facilitates and organizes CVI assessments and programing at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. ​

Patricia Hendrix

Patricia Hendrix has been teaching since 1993 and has been teaching at Georgia Academy for the Blind for 7 years.  She graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida, with a degree in special education.  She received her TVI and Transition endorsement from Middle Georgia RESA and is currently working as the transition coordinator at GAB. 

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Carey Jackson

​Carey Jackson - Carey serves as Braille Coordinator at the Center for Inclusive Design and innovation (CIDI). He is recognized as a national expert in While not quoting or on a sales call, Carey can be found building lasting and viable relationships with customers, vendors, and the visually impaired community. Carey strives to make CIDI the leading source for anyone needing braille material.

Toni Kimbrough

Toni Kimbrough is beginning her 13th year at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. She holds a Master of Education in Special Education Degree, is a Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired, and serves as Work Based Learning Coordinator. Mrs. Kimbrough is very passionate about student success beyond high school. The most important connection for this to occur is in the collaboration between students & teachers & resource providers & families – as evidenced in Student Led Transition Plans. The confirmation is in the student’s preparedness to enter the workforce with a foundation of hands-on job skills and classroom knowledge. The student’s reaction is “I can and I will”!!!

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Chris Maniscalco

Chris began his career as a TVI in 2012 with Coweta County Schools. In 2014, he transferred to the mountains of Gilmer County where he continues to teach as well as coach tennis. ​

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Tyrene Neil

Tyrene Neil – Tyrene has been working with children and adults with disabilities for 32 years and is currently the Special Education Director at the Georgia Academy for the Blind. Prior to GAB she was a classroom teacher for students with severe and profound intellectual disabilities in Houston County. Work hard and play harder is her life motto and when she is able to scrape up some free time she enjoys going to the movies, Geocaching, solving puzzles and escape rooms and spending time with family, particularly her grandson!

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Carolyn Phillips

Carolyn Phillips - Carolyn P. Phillips is internationally recognized in the fields of assistive technology, inclusive design, accessibility and disabilities. Carolyn serves as Co-Director of CIDI at Georgia Tech and Director & Principal Investigator of Tools for Life, Georgia’s Assistive Technology (AT) Act Program. As a person living with specific Learning Disabilities, Carolyn has dedicated her time and energy to promoting independence of all people, including those with disabilities through advocacy, education, assistive technology and systems change. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, her Master's Degree from the University of Kentucky and is currently pursuing her PhD at Texas Tech University.

Chelsea Shoop

Chelsea Shoop is a pediatric speech-language pathologist at the Georgia Academy for the Blind, located in Macon, Georgia. Ms. Shoop received her undergraduate degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders from The Pennsylvania State University in 2010 and M.S. in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Armstrong Atlantic State University (now Armstrong Campus, Georgia Southern University) in Savannah, Georgia in 2013. Since 2013, Ms. Shoop has worked as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in the public school system, private practice, and comprehensive pediatric outpatient therapy facility throughout the state of Georgia. Upon taking her current position at The Georgia Academy for the Blind, in 2019, her eyes were opened (pun intended) to the world of visual impairments and how to best incorporate her passion of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to allow each child the most efficient and effective means to communication. 

Hal Simpson

Hal Simpson founded the Georgia Blind Sports Association to bring the sport of goalball to the Greater Atlanta area. In 2016 Hal Simpson was presented with the Community Hero award for his work with blind and visually impaired youth. Hal's son, Matt Simpson, is a two-time Paralympian and a one-time Paralympic medalist in the sport of Goalball. 

Ginger Schmidt

Ginger Schmidt has been a TVI since 1995, serving students in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Tasmania, Australia, and Georgia. She is currently the Lead TVI with Northeast Georgia RESA. Ginger is especially interested in best practices for students with multiple disabilities. ​

Cristina Sprattling

​Christine is the INSITE / VIISA Coordinator for Georgia PINES. Previously, Christine worked
for the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project as an Education Specialist providing technical
assistance to school teams and families of students with deafblindness in Georgia.
Christine is a teacher of the deaf/hard-of-hearing and has served students across all grade levels
and eligibility areas for almost 30 years. In addition to that, Christine has been a Georgia PINES
early intervention specialist since 1988 - with brief pauses in between to raise her own family.

Stephanie Steffer

Stephanie Steffer is the Business Director at CViConnect and one of the founding teachers for the platform. Before this role, Stephanie was a Teacher Consultant serving children with visual impairments for ten years. She earned her degree from Eastern Michigan University for Special Education for the Visually Impaired and Early Childhood Education. Additionally, Stephanie is a Perkins-Roman CVI Range Endorsed professional. Beyond her role as a TCVI, Stephanie was the Program Coordinator for the Visually Impaired Youth Camp at Lions Bear Lake Camp for 12 years. Stephanie has had a spark for finding solutions for students with CVI since her first teaching position. This was further enhanced when she was asked to join the Michigan Department of Education-Low Incidence Outreach CVI Mentor Team from 2011-2013. Since training under Dr. Roman’s guidance of the MDE-LIO CVI Mentor Team, Stephanie has shared her experiences working with individuals with CVI, from birth to 26, at several invited and peer reviewed conferences. Some of these have included presentations at various AER conferences, COSB, MDE-LIO Early Childhood Conference, and local school professional development. Additionally, Stephanie records various learning modules and hosts monthly trainings with CViConnect.

Amanda Thompson

​Amanda Thompson, Director of Assistive Technology for Allied Instructional Services, has been a TVI since 2009, graduating from the Virginia Visual Impairment Consortium with a Master’s in Education from James Madison University in Special Education (Accessing the General Education Curriculum) and Visual Impairments. In 2017, Amanda completed her certificate in Orientation and Mobility through a partnership between George Mason University and the University of Massachusetts – Boston. She worked as a school employed TBVI in Winchester City and Shenandoah County at the beginning of her career and came to work with AIS as an independent contractor in 2014. In 2021, Amanda received her CATIS Certification from ACVREP and ATP from RESNA after completing the CATIS-preparation program at Western Michigan University to work towards her personal goal of specializing in assessment, procurement, and instruction of assistive/access technology for students with disabilities. Amanda has also supervised student teachers in their internships with the Visual Impairment Consortium at James Madison University and served on the advisory board for the Virginia Deaf-Blind Educators Community of Practice. She has a Facebook Page titled TVI Tips from Amanda where she actively shares resources and tips for people in our field.

Guy Toles

Guy Toles - Guy, as the Braille Production Manager, he leads a dynamic Braille team at CIDI. He also serves on the board of the Braille Authority of North America (BANA). Mr. Toles helps process braille orders from our members. This includes transcribing, proofing, and creating tactiles for orders completed internally as well as managing projects that are outsourced. Guy is an international expert in the field, bringing over 15 years of braille transcribing experience. He has served on multiple committees for the National Braille Association, including in the role of Vice President, and the California Transcribers and Educators of the Blind and Visually Impaired. Guy earned a Bachelor's in Marketing from the University of Georgia. He also is certified through the Library of Congress as a Literary and Mathematics Braille Transcriber.

Martha Veto

Martha Veto is an Educational Specialist for the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (GSAP), an OSEP-funded project, housed at UGA, which helps educational teams and families who are working with children and youth with combined vision and hearing loss. Mrs. Veto received her M.Ed. in Special Education- Visual Impairment at the University of Pittsburgh and has worked at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Blind as a classroom teacher, the Virginia Beach Public Schools as a Vision Resource Room teacher, and with the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind Outreach Department as an Orientation and Mobility Instructor. In 2004, she began working for the South Carolina Interagency Deaf-Blind Project as Project Manager. Since moving to Georgia in 2008, Martha has worked for GSAP.

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Carmen Willings

Carmen Willings is an itinerant TVI and the founder and developer of the web resource Teaching Students with Visual Impairments, found at teachingvisuallyimpaired.com. She has taught students with special needs for 27 years, with the last 23 years working with students that are blind or have low vision. She began her career in the vision field in 1999 where she taught in the inclusive preschool classroom at the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina. She became a certified Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments through the North Carolina Central University Visual Impairment Program. In 2012 she developed the web resource, Teaching Students with Visual Impairments. In 2018 She published the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC along with several supporting print on demand workbooks to support teaching the ECC. She currently works with the Forsyth County Schools in Cumming, Georgia and serves on the Georgia AER Board as immediate past president and is a member of the Georgia Vision Educators Statewide Training committee. Additionally, she serves on the GVEST conference planning committee and on the Smokey Powell Low Vision Clinic Advisory Board. 

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Joel Zimba

Joel Zimba, a West Virginia native, graduated from West Virginia University in 1996 with a degree in Computer Science. Over the past twenty years, he has worked as a software engineer, Assistive Technology trainer, Accessibility advocate, and project manager of an award-winning mobile app designed for the blind. Joel believes his facility with Braille, coupled with a solid foundation in the alternative skills of blindness, is vital to his professional journey. As Blindness Product Specialist for HumanWare USA, he provides tools and strategies allowing blind students and professionals to realize their full potential.

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