Curriculum & Instruction

The Importance of Braille Literacy 1 hour 33 minutes

Image Description: Photo of Rhonda Voight-Campbell, a white middle-aged female with short, wavy brown hair, smiling at the camera. She is layered with a dark plaid shirt and a navy blue vest and is seated indoors in a restaurant.

Rhonda Voight-Campbell, DeafBlind Community Member & Educator

Rhonda is adjunct faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute for the Deaf in the ASL and Interpreting Education Department. Specifically, she teaches undergraduate students the necessary skills to work effectively with DeafBlind people. Rhonda also has extensive training in Protactile communication strategies and provides consultation on the topic throughout the DeafBlind community and other parties. Rhonda believes in the full inclusion of DeafBlind people by fostering fuller access to information through the sense of touch. Rhonda has a bachelor degree in Packaging Science from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Rhonda is the mother of two Deaf children, is an avid biker, having completed over 100 miles on a tandem bike, has been the keynote speaker at the Jr. National Association of the Deaf Conference, has received the Deaf Woman of the Year award from Deaf Women of Rochester, has coordinated DeafBlind Awareness Day in Rochester, NY and was a guest curator for “Please Touch,” a tactile art exhibit at the National Technical Institute of Technology for the Deaf (NTID).

NYDBC is thrilled to have a continued partnership with Rhonda as she has acted in various advisory and consultative capacities over the years. Rhonda has also contributed to the NYDBC e-newsletter circulation on critical topics of access and inclusion for DeafBlind people.

Providing Accessible Math for DeafBlind Students  49 minutes
Presentation slides 15.2 MB
NYDBC Tip Sheet 209 kb

Amanda Crayton, MSEd.
DeafBlind Specialist

Amanda has worked for over 10 years with students with multiple disabilities, including Deafblindness. She was one of the first certified Interveners in New York State before becoming a teacher and opening a classroom for DeafBlind children. During her time as an educator, Amanda mentored several interveners in training, provided professional development in multi-sensory learning and developed materials and adaptations for her classroom. She was a finalist for the Helen Bach Moss Memorial Better Beginnings award in 2020 based on the work she did developing this classroom and building knowledge of deafblindness across her team and school.

Amanda continues to develop learning materials for students with vision loss, deafblindness and multiple disabilities. She has extensive knowledge in AAC, pre-symbolic communication and intervener strategies and is an avid 3D printer and maker. Amanda also works closely with the Deafblind International Youth Network, especially on the Friends in Touch global letter exchange for DeafBlind youth. Amanda believes in building communication as a pathway to community.

Students with Low Vision Presentation slides 6 MB

Students with Cortical Visual Impairment Presentation slides 4 MB

Students who are Tactile Learners  (Part 3 – 1 hour 28 minutes)
Presentation slides 4 MB

Jonathan Hooper, TVI, NYCDOE Teacher of the Blind/Visually Impaired

Jonathan Hooper is a Teacher for the Visually Impaired (TVI) who works in the New York City Department of Education Educational Vision Services (NYCDOE EVS). Prior to his eight years with the NYCDOE EVS team, he taught at the Tennessee School for the Blind. Jonathan holds a Master degree in working with students with visual impairments from Vanderbilt University and has published his graduate research in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

Jonathan currently teaches the Braille course in the graduate program for TVIs at Hunter College in New York City. He routinely leads professional development in a variety of areas, including curriculum adaptations for students with visual impairments, making distance learning accessible, creating materials for students with cortical visual impairment, and braille literacy programs for students with visual impairments.

Additionally, he serves as a DeafBlind Advisor for the New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative and is a board member for the New York State Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.

He is the NYS lead coordinator for the Braille Challenge, a national competition for students who are Braille users and, most recently, he was named 2020 Teacher of the Year by the Braille Institute!

For more information about Jonathan and how to contact him, his website is www.jonathantvi.com

Presentation slides 3 MB

Shani Chill, TVI, Director of Vision Services
iHOPE Academy

Presentation slides 3 MB
Literacy Resources for School Teams & Families 37 Kb
Audio recording
Julie Maier, Educational Consultant
California Deafblind Services