NMSBVI Short-Term Programs.
About the Program:
NMSBVI strives to adapt to the ever changing needs of students with visual impairments. A review of the service delivery model—which has revolved around placements on the NMSBVI campuses in Alamogordo and Albuquerque and through the state wide Outreach program—has revealed the need for an addition to the previous options. Some students with visual impairments have identified needs for VI specific skills that are difficult to meet in the itinerant based model employed by many New Mexico school districts. At the same time, those students are not in need of placement on an NMSBVI campus.
To assist the district Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and Orientation & Mobility (O&M) staff meet the needs of their students, NMSBVI has developed a program for short-term stays in which students will focus intensively on one or two VI specific skills. The VI specific skill areas are those which can prove challenging for some district TVI/O&M personnel to teach due to factors beyond their control, such as lack of the ability to transport students to meaningful O&M lesson sites, difficulty in obtaining needed materials, or time pressures. District TVI/O&M personnel will now have another option when it comes to ensuring that students with visual impairments have the opportunity to master much needed VI specific skills.
The focal areas for the short-term stays are included in the links below. Selecting a link will open a page with more specific options, including the times needed for instruction (1 or 2 weeks) and descriptions of what will be taught. Students will bring work for the duration of their stays from the district to help minimize the disruption to their core curriculum classes. NMSBVI staff will send reports to the district TVI/O&M personnel recapping what the students learned so the skills can be reinforced and built upon.
Orientation & Mobility
Math
Independent Living Skills
Science
Technology
Braille
Transition
Overarching Skills
Request a VI-Specific Skill
Acceptance Process:
Once district TVI/O&M staff have identified students who will benefit from a short term stay with an intense focus on one or two VI specific skills, there is an abbreviated process by which students are accepted. The link below includes contact information as well as the steps in the acceptance process.
Acceptance Process Information
The following steps describe the process to be followed for short-term placements:
The local TVI/O&M determines that a student (a) needs to develop a VI specific skill
and (b) is capable of learning that skill in the intensive format offered via the NMSBVI
short term program.
The local TVI/O&M contacts NMSBVI to get more information about the module that addresses
the VI specific skill the student needs to learn as well as about the short term program generally.
The local TVI/O&M contacts the parents of the student and lets them know that the short term
program at NMSBVI will help the student master the specific VI skill in question.
Assuming the parent, local TVI/O&M, district and NMSBVI agree that the short term program
is appropriate for the student, a date is set for the student to attend.
The local TVI/O&M and parent complete the necessary forms.
The parent, local TVI/O&M, district and NMSBVI complete an IEP addendum.
The local core content teachers develop a packet of work for the student to complete while
at NMSBVI. This will help prevent the student from falling behind in core content areas. Student
who attend the short term program at NMSBVI will have at least two periods a day to work on core
content assignments from the district plus the opportunity to access the resource room after school.
Students from outside of the Alamogordo area will come to NMSBVI on Sunday evening and
return Friday afternoon/evening.
Please contact Julie Johnson for more information.
Julie Johnson
(575) 439-4432
NMSBVI Summer Programs.
About the Programs:
Due to the ongoing health issue, the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI) will not be able to run face-to-face summer programs in 2020. NMSBVI will be running an online program for 6 weeks, from June 8th through July 17th. Each day of the week will feature a different content area with specific sessions throughout the day.
Sessions will be conducted via Zoom. Session lengths will be between 45-60 minutes, with the Preschool & Early Elementary sessions being about 30 minutes to accommodate the shorter attention spans of younger students. Session times will be scheduled shortly, after more consultation with families who have expressed interest in the summer program.
Sessions will have a limited number of participants in order to allow for greater interaction between the teachers and the students. Because this is an on-line program, NMSBVI does not need a camp application. Please contact Ron Later at Ron Later if you are interested in your student participating in any of the following sessions.
Summer Programs Page
Please contact Ron Later for more information.
Ron Later
(575) 439-4478
