In This Issue:
Editor's Note.
The President's Message
A Full Spectrum of Possibilities
MACRT Elections
MACRT International Connection
Did You Know?
From the editor's kitchen
Editor's Note
By: Zeze Miller
There is a little bit of a chill in the air which signals that Fall is here again with all its glorious regalia. For many of us with vision, there is nothing in nature that is more stunning than Autumn's leaf display. The brilliant arrays of gold, orange, brown and yellow ease the heart and soothe the summer tired eyes. It emits the fragrance of a world preparing itself for a long winter's nap that is somehow refreshing to the human soul; it can even be uplifting because of its musty and earthy aromas.
For those who love camping, Fall is the best season to be in the open air. In fact, all across America, campers find special pleasures in being outdoors this time of year. There is crispness in the air and that certain fragrance that is unmistakably autumnal.
Oh wait! Fall sports you say?
Yes of course! In the fall there is college football and the NFL is starting up, the NHL and the NBA are just getting underway soon after, but you mainly have the prep sports right away. The other thing that is always awesome about the Fall season is the playoffs for MLB. Although they start further in the Fall season it is still one of the best things to watch. I like the short series because you get the pitching matchups and manager strategies playing out to full effect. Managers will make riskier moves during the postseason or pull some guy off the bench to pinch hit because they have a hunch it will pay off. Then when it does, it's amazing.
Bring on Fall, but hold off on Winter. Not that I don't like winter sports, I just don't want to think about the cold weather just yet.
The deadline for the Winter edition of the MACRT newsletter is Friday, January 16, 2009.
If you have suggestions or ideas, please contact Zeze Miller at zeze.o.miller@dss.mo.gov or call at 573-751-8903. Thank you in advance for your contribution.
You can have your newsletter e-mailed which will cut down on the cost of postage and paper. If you are interested in a newsletter via e-mail please contact Sue Dalton or Lucille Dolan at transvis@mc.net.
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The President's Message
Latisha Houston,
Hello MACRT members, we would like to extend an invitation to all MACRT members to participate on one of our Committees. Listed below are the various committees in MACRT and the chairperson of each committee. If you would like to be on a committee please contact me.
Nominations chairperson:
Jennifer Ottowitz, Marcia Gevers and Zeze Miller.
Charlyn Allen chairperson:
Zeze Miller and Sue Dalton.
Scholarship committee chairperson:
Ann Laughlin and Brian Mulvany.
Membership committee:
Sue Dalton
Professional standard committee:
No chairperson at this time.
Latisha Houston, CVRT latisha.houston@illinois.gov
Rehabilitation Instructor 312-633-1724
ICRE-Wood 1151 S. Wood, Chicago, IL 60612
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A Full Spectrum of Possibilities
ASERT/MACRT Professional Development Conference
By Lenore Dillon, CVRT
Vision Rehabilitation Therapists formerly known as Rehabilitation Teachers are currently being faced with many challenges. Each of us is striving to provide high quality service delivery using fewer case-service dollars.
Rehab Rainbow; A Full Spectrum of Possibilities: is a professional development training conference designed to equip us to meet the challenges set before us. Each session will explore a full spectrum of possibilities available to enable today's Vision Rehabilitation Therapist to meet consumer needs. Each session is designed to help us expand our teaching techniques and resources. There will be presentations of historic techniques used in the past, such as "moon print", as we are challenged to grasp new ideas and technology presented in the future.
Robert Dillon will be presenting our key note presentation; A Color Commentary on the Broad Spectrum of Light
Mr. Dillon is currently founder and President of Lumen Laboratories, Inc., an optical engineering and manufacturing firm located in Burlington Massachusetts. Mr. Dillon has helped found several high technology optical instrumentation companies in the Boston area over his 25 year career. As a systems engineer, Mr. Dillon specializes in the development of products that require a mix of many different science and engineering disciplines, including physics, mathematics, mechanics, optics, electronics and software. As such, he is often required to down-select the most promising design approaches from a broad spectrum of possibilities.
Mr. Dillon received a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982. He holds about two dozen issued or pending Patents in the U.S. and abroad.
It is our hope that the key note presentation will inspire us to embrace other disciplines as we meet the challenges of the new century.
On Thursday and Friday evening a resource room will be available. This room will provide you with the opportunity to exchange resource information with colleagues. If you have any good resource information or teaching equipment please bring it along.
It is not too late to join us in Birmingham, November 13th - 15th, 2008. We will meet at the Birmingham Sheraton Hotel. See you there!!!!
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MACRT Elections
Every two years we elect a new MACRT Board. Some serve a second term; while others step down to make room for new members in order to add fresh energy and innovative ideas. So here is your chance to serve on the Board adding your experience and expertise to this professional body.
This is the year for elections; not only do you get to vote on November fourth, but you get to cast your vote on November 13th for your choice of nominees to represent you in promoting professional development for the rehabilitation teaching field. This year's elections for the MACRT Board will be held during the MACRT/ASERT conference in Birmingham, Alabama November 13th -15th, 2008. We will also be accepting nominations from the floor during the elections. If you are interested in nominating someone or yourself, be sure to have a biography available to share with the participants. We need you and your expertise. We greatly appreciate and thank all of those who expressed an interest and willingness to become involved in the leadership of our organization. We hope to see you at the MACRT/ASERT conference where your vote will indeed count. To help you make an informed choice, here are the biographies the Nomination Committee received.
Nominee for President:
Latisha Houston
Ms. Houston, CVRT, is currently a rehabilitation mobility/instructor for the Illinois Department of Human Services, Bureau of Blind Services. Ms. Houston has a Bachelor's degree in human resources and a Master's degree in adult blind rehabilitation teaching from Northern Illinois University. For the past three years she has served as the President of the Mid-America Conference of Rehabilitation Teachers. She serves as the chairperson of the Illinois Braille Committee and is currently serving on the planning committee for the Illinois AER Conference. Ms. Houston is very passionate about working with her clients and is most excited when they have successfully accomplished their goals.
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Nominee for Treasurer:
Susan Dalton
Ms. Dalton, CVRT, is currently a transition specialist with the Illinois Bureau of Blind Services where she directs TransVision, the state program for youth who are blind or visually impaired. Ms. Dalton holds a Bachelor's degree for Teacher of Visually Impaired and a master's degree in Rehabilitation Teaching from Northern Illinois University.
Ms. Dalton holds several voluntary positions including; secretary for the Illinois Chapter of AER, secretary-treasurer of AER Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Division, secretary of the Union Lions Club, chapter president of Northern Illinois NOAH and advisor for NIU-AER student chapter.
Nominee for Past President:
Jennifer Ottowitz
Ms. Ottowitz, CVRT, is a certified vision rehabilitation therapist at the Badger Association of the Blind & Visually Impaired in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Ms. Ottowitz received a Bachelor's degree in special education for the multiple and orthopedically handicapped from Kent State University and a Master's degree in special education for the visually impaired from Northern Illinois University. In addition to the president position, Ms. Ottowitz served as treasurer of the Board. She has also held officer and Board positions with the Wisconsin AER chapter and the International AER Board of Directors. Ms. Ottowitz has presented on a wide variety of topics related to the field of vision rehabilitation at the local, state, and national level.
Nominees for Board Member-at-large (four positions available):
Lenore Dillon
Ms. Dillon has a Bachelor's Degree in Rehabilitation Teaching from Florida State University and a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Administration from DePaul University in Chicago. Ms. Dillon worked for the State of Indiana's Blind Rehabilitation agency, first as an Itinerant Rehabilitation Teacher for eight years and then as a Director of the Itinerant Rehabilitation Teaching Program for 13 years. One year was spent as an instructor at Northern Illinois University.
Ms. Dillon then moved to Mobile AL, where she served as a Rehabilitation Teacher for four years. The next two and a half years were spent at Korea Nazarene University, where she taught in the Rehabilitation Department. She now resides in Gadsden, AL. Ms. Dillon is working as a Rehabilitation Teacher in Gadsden.
Terrie (Mary T.) Terlau, PhD
Ms. Terlau is currently working for the American Printing House for the Blind as the Adult Life Project Leader. Her responsibilities include, research, development, field testing, and revision of adult life products.
Ms. Terlau obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English from Centre College of Kentucky in 1974, and then received a second Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 1977, a Masters of Education in Counseling Psychology in 1978, and a PhD in Counseling Psychology in 1991 from the University of Kentucky. In 1991 she procured her Kentucky Counseling Psychology License and opened her own private practice. There, she worked with community agencies as a psychotherapist helping adult abuse survivors. Prior to owning her private practice, she worked as a Rehabilitation Counselor for the Kentucky Office for the Blind and at the Ohio State University Counseling and consultation Service Program providing students with personal and career counseling.
Ms. Terlau enjoys walking, swimming, writing poetry, singing and playing the guitar, reading, cooking, and traveling. She is currently working with her fifth dog guide.
Ian Shadrick
Mr. Shadrick is currently a Blind Rehabilitation Instructor for the Michigan Commission for the Blind at the Training Center in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His other experience includes: Itinerant Rehabilitation Teacher at Rehabilitation Services for the Blind of Missouri in the southwest office, a Graduate Assistant in the Western Michigan University Low Vision Clinic, vocational counselor intern, and as a private Braille instructor to individuals who are deaf blind. He is currently pursuing his Ed.D. in Special Education at Western Michigan University, with an emphasis in Rehabilitation Counseling. His particular area of research interest is in Low Vision service delivery.
Mr. Shadrick is currently a Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies at WMU. He is also serving as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies. He will complete his Master of Arts in Counseling: Emphasis in Rehabilitation Counseling in May 2009 from the University of Arkansas Little Rock. He has a Master of Arts in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy from Western Michigan University, and his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Visual Impairment Studies from Missouri State University.
Tanya Stewart
Ms. Stewart was born in upstate New York. Ms. Stewart has always been legally blind, and had usable vision until she was 18. When she lost her vision Ms. Stewart sought out programs and professionals to help her to adjust to living with vision loss. She was fortunate to attend a training center that taught her adaptive skills. After completing her training program, Ms. Stewart attended Louisiana Tech where she earned a degree in Elementary education.
Ms. Stewart has worked in several different employment settings including food service, teaching preschool and children with autism. This experience allowed her to recognize the value of receiving professional rehabilitation and travel instruction. Although Ms. Stewart enjoyed her work she discovered that her greatest enjoyment was found when she was teaching or counseling other visually impaired individuals. She decided to become a professional Vision Rehabilitation Teacher and counselor. She sought out employment with an organization that provided services to blind and visually impaired individuals. Ms. Stewart is currently working at the Oklahoma League for the Blind, a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of visually impaired Oklahomans by offering employment opportunities, rehabilitation services, adjustment counseling and community education for those who are visually impaired or who desire to know how to assist individuals who are visually impaired.
Ms. Stewart holds a Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling with an emphasis on vision loss.
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MACRT International Connection
by Elaine Kitchel
Recently the MACRT Board voted to award a $250 scholarship to a young Nigerian student who works in a rehabilitation center in Nigeria, Ms. Amao Grace Odunayo. As is the convention in Nigeria, Amao is the family name, and Odunayo is the given name. Odunayo means "born around Christmas time." She has given us permission to call her Grace, one of several middle names given to her.
Even though she has attended one of Nigeria's colleges, Grace has had a dream to come to the United States to get her degree and certification in rehabilitation teaching for the blind. She holds this desire because the few American universities that offer degrees in rehabilitation teaching have better training and more resources than those in Nigeria.
Grace would like to attend Western Michigan University. However, many barriers stand in her way, most pervasive of which is funding. In order to attend a U.S. university, Grace needed to meet two criteria. First, she had to take a test to prove that she speaks, reads and writes English well enough to successfully participate in classes at an American university. Fortunately, she managed to get that requirement waved because all her collegiate studies in Nigeria were conducted in English. Second, she had to officially be accepted as a student to Western Michigan University. To meet the second criteria, Grace was faced with financial problems. She did not have the money needed to apply for the application, nor did she have the money to get her application to the United States.
Apparently the Nigerian post office has several complications. Most significantly, it is riddled with corruption and therefore is undependable. In order to mail an application to the US, Grace has to hire a courier, which requires a month's salary. To get applications to her, Mary, her sister who lives in the US, has to send them by courier. Usually these couriers are friends who are traveling to Nigeria, their homeland.
Grace's sister, who lives in Mississippi, has been her strongest advocate. She and Elaine Kitchel, with the help and generosity of the MACRT Board and contributions of the membership have provided Grace with some seed money to obtain and send her application, health information and other documents. Here is what Mary wrote. As you read this, remember that the title "Ma" is a term of respect in many African cultures: "MACRT is such a blessing to us, you made it all happen anyway, and we will forever be grateful ma. Ms Susan Dalton is such a helpful person too. Despite the additional task of sending the money to my sister directly, she wasn't weary of me, she still sounds so sweet and encouraging in ALL her e-mails even till the night time. Without mincing words, I can sincerely say that the MACRT membership is a composition of awesome and angelic people who go out of their ways to put a smile on other people's faces. I'm going to send them an appreciation message as an association. I called my sister overnight to give her the good news but the call couldn't go through. I guess there was power outage and she couldn't charge her cell phone but I sent my brother to tell her to check her e-mail today."
E-mail is difficult too. Grace has to go to the only internet café near her and has to ride a bicycle many miles after work to get there. It costs quite a bit of money just for a few minutes on the internet. Then she bicycles home in the dark. As you can see, mail, e-mail, and telephone usage, are only a few of the ongoing problems for the people of the developing nation of Nigeria. Transportation, availability of energy, and corruption in state and local governments complicate their lives on a daily basis. Thank goodness MACRT is not that complicated. Board members voted unanimously to help Grace take the first steps toward getting her degree. MACRT members can be proud that they helped a young lady who touches the lives of great numbers of Nigeria's blind citizens. Hopefully, she will one day be able to fulfill her dream of coming to America to finalize her education and certification. Isn't this what we are all about? Thanks MACRT!
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Did You Know?
By Jennifer Ottowitz, CVRT
Of course you know about the wide variety of excellent resources available on the Internet. Did you know about this one? It's a website geared to seniors that provides health information on a variety of topics related to aging. What's great about the site is that it automatically has the ability to increase the text size, change the contrast, and talk without any special software needed. The controls to do these things are easy to use as is the entire site. Topics related to vision include: cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, low vision, and macular degeneration. The information is presented in a concise and easy-to-understand manner with the option to take quizzes to test your understanding along the way. The website even offers a free downloadable curriculum for teaching seniors to use the Internet to obtain health information. This curriculum includes reminders of how to set up a senior-friendly learning environment. The site is marketed to the general public but their advertisements promote the accessibility features, too. They made the need for such features seem very common and acceptable. The site is http://www.nihseniorhealth.gov/
Please check it out and give us your feedback. I think your clients will find it very helpful as well.
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From the editor's Kitchen
We are fast approaching the holiday season, which means there will be plenty of food to prepare and eat. My hope is to provide you with recipes that will require minimum preparation time and contain a low number of carbohydrates and fats.
Pumpkin Pudding
Ingredients
1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
1 pkg (4 serving size) sugar free vanilla pudding
1 cup skim milk
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, (or try, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. each of ground cloves and ginger - optional)
Preparation
1. Put all ingredients into a quart jar and shake until mixed thoroughly (or mix briskly with wire wisk or blender).
2. Pour into individual tart shell, 8-inch shell or graham cracker crust. May also be served as pudding or in pumpkin parfait recipe below.
Chill for 1 hour before serving.
Nutritional Information per Serving:
Number of servings: 4; Calories: 56 per serving; Carbohydrates: 11 grams (1 carb)
Fat: trace
Pumpkin Parfait
Ingredients
Prepared Shaker Pumpkin mix (recipe above)
1 cup of commercial low-fat whipped topping
1 cup fresh raspberries or any seasonal berry (if you use frozen berries, thaw partially and drain off excess liquid
Preparation
1. Spoon 2 layers of the following ingredients into each parfait glass, each layer to go in this order:
2 tbsp Shaker Pumpkin mix
1 tbsp low fat whipped topping
1 layer of berries
2. Garnish top with cinnamon. Chill for one hour and serve.
Nutritional Information per Serving:
Number of servings 4; Serving size: 1 parfait; Calories: 88; Carbohydrates: 16 grams (1 carb); Fat: 1 gram
Remember that Ziploc Omelet in a Bag that was printed in the previous issue? I thought I would share another quick and easy recipe in a bag that requires minimum clean-up.
Taco Salad in a Bag
Ingredients
Individual 1 oz. bags of Fritos, Doritos, or similar corn chip
Extra-lean ground beef, browned and seasoned with taco seasoning
Grated cheddar cheese
Lettuce, finely shredded
Roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded
Salsa
Preparation
In a medium size skillet, cook on medium to high heat 1 pound of lean ground beef until brown. Add one package of Taco Seasoning, ¾ cup water and stir until seasoning is evenly mixed. Then remove from heat and set a side. Chop roma tomatoes in a separate container. You can buy the Grated Cheddar Cheese, finely shredded Lettuce, and Salsa already prepared.
Crush chips in each individual bag. Open bag of crushed chips and add one tablespoon of each of the individual ingredients listed. Close bag securely and shake to mix ingredients. Open bag and eat right from the bag using a plastic fork. No clean up!
Nutritional Information per Serving:
Number of servings: 1 per bag; Carbohydrates: 15-20 grams
Have your cake and eat it too!
Cakes are fun desserts, simple to prepare and do not have exceptionally high amounts of added sugar. Most of the sugar is found in the icing or frosting. If you are counting carbohydrate grams, you'll find that a mere tablespoon of icing can have as many carbohydrates as a whole apple or a large bowl of strawberries.
Alternate toppings for cakes which you might find pleasing include:
Fruit, "Lite" Whipped Topping, Cream Cheese Frosting, and Glaze.
These toppings are low in added sugar and fat and allow you to have your cake - and eat it too!
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Note:
One half recipe will frost a 9x13 cake
Full recipe will frost an 8 inch double layer round cake
Ingredients
3 eight ounce containers fat-free cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter flavor extract
8 packets Equal®
2 cups "lite" whipped topping
Preparation
1. In deep mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter flavor extract.
2. Mix at medium speed with electric mixer.
3. Add Equal® and beat until smooth.
4. Add topping and continue beating until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
5. Must be refrigerated.
To make Chocolate Cream Frosting, add 2 ounces of melted unsweetened chocolate or ½ cup cocoa to the above recipe and blend thoroughly.
Nutrition Information per Serving:
Yields: 4 cups; Serving size: 2 tablespoons; Calories: 35; Carbohydrates: 3.5 grams; Protein: 3 grams; Fat: 1 gram
If making Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, there is no nutritional difference.
If using cocoa; if using baking chocolate, fat content will increase by .5 grams.
GLAZE
Ingredients
1 tablespoon cornstarch
One half cup dry milk powder
1 cup water
1 tablespoon margarine
1 teaspoon butter flavor extract
8 packets Equal®
Preparation
1. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch and dry milk and mix.
2. Gradually add water, stirring to dissolve dry milk and cornstarch. Add margarine.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until glaze thickens and boils.
4. Remove from heat and add butter flavor extract and Equal, stirring to blend.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 cup; Adds minimal carbohydrate, protein, or fat
Note:
Use approximately one half cup glaze for cinnamon rolls, breads (sweet variety), bundt cakes, etc. Keeps well when refrigerated.
To find more recipes, go to: http://www.thesweetdiabetic.com/the_sweet_diabetic/2008/02/taco-salad-in-a.html
If you like these recipes, visit them often or submit one of your own!
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