Overview

AT is often vital for employment success of people who are blind or who have low vision (B/LV), but it involves a learning curve. We do not know much about how people who are B/LV learn to use AT or their preferences for learning new AT. In this presentation, we will provide findings from a recent survey with 315 employed people who are B/LV on (a) preferred and actual AT learning methods, (b) whether preferred learning method differs by age or age at vision loss, and (c) whether perceived skill level is associated with primary learning method for specific AT.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe preferences for employed people who are blind or who have low vision for learning methods for 10 types of AT.
2. Determine whether preferred learning method differs by age or age at vision loss for 315 employed people who are blind or who have low vision.
3. Discuss whether perceived skill level is associated with primary learning method for ten different types of AT for employed people who are blind or who have low vision.

Strand(s)

Vision & Hearing Technologies; Research

Target Audience

ADA Coordinator; AT Specialists; Consultants/Trainers; Government/Non-Profit Agencies; Occupational Therapists; Rehabilitation Counselor; Speech-Language Pathologists; Teachers of the Visually Impaired; Visual Impairment Specialists; Vocational Rehabilitation

Experience Level

Introductory; Intermediate; Advanced

Primary Life Cycle Addressed

Adult/Senior

Session Delivery Format

In-person presentation with live-stream

Course Schedule

This course was given at the ATIA 2024 Conference on Friday, January 26 from 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM (EST)

Continuing Education Credits

For Satisfactory Completion and Continuing Education information, please visit: ATIA Online Education CEUs

This course is offered for the following CE Provider Credits:
ACVREP; AOTA; ASHA; CRC; IACET
For: 0.10 CEU Units or 1.0 CEU Hours

Speaker/s:

Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky, PhD, CRC, CATIS, CPACC

UMass Boston, AT Program Coordinator

Biography

Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky, PhD, CRC, CATIS, CPACC is the Assistive Technology Program Coordinator for the Vision Studies department at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). Additionally, she is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) in their Assistive Technology Certificate Program. Dr. Sessler Trinkowsky holds a BA degree in Special Education and a Masters of Health Science in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Florida. She has also earned an Educational Specialist and a PhD from Nova Southeastern University’s College of Engineering and Computing in Computing Technology in Education. Her dissertation topic focused on accessibility awareness and practices in online learning environments. Rachael is serving as the member-at-large Rehabilitation for Florida AER since 2018 and she also serves as the Accessibility Committee Chair for the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. She is a Google Chromebook Accessibility Ambassador.
Dr. Sessler Trinkowsky has been a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) since 1999. She was the recipient of the Florida Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (Florida FAER) award for Outstanding Rehabilitation Professional for the Blind Award (2017), as well as the FAER Innovator of the Year Award (2021). She was honored to be a member of the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Committee for the development of the much-needed specialization, called Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist for People with Visual Impairments (CATIS) through the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation & Education Professionals (ACVREP). She is also a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) from the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).

Relevant Financial Relationship: Yes
Dr. Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky is the Strand Advisor for the Vision & Hearing Strand for ATIA 2024. For this role, the ATIA Conference registration fee has been waived for participation in ATIA. As a pre-conference speaker, the presenters earn a revenue share. Rachael receives a salary from the University of Massachusetts Boston as AT Program Coordinator. Additionally, she receives compensation for work as an adjunct faculty member with the University of Illinois, Chicago. Rachael is also a contractor with Mississippi State University on research related to Access Technology in the Workplace.

Relevant Non-Financial Relationship: Yes
Dr. Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky is on the Subject Matter Expert (SME) Committee for the CATIS certification, and was also on the Study Guide Committee for CATIS through ACVREP. These are volunteer positions. Rachael is a Chromebook Accessibility Ambassador with Google. This is a volunteer position.

Michele McDonnall, CRC

Mississippi State University, Director and Research Professor

Biography

Dr. Michele McDonnall, PhD, CRC, is the Director of The National Research and Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision at Mississippi State University. She has 29 years of experience in the field of rehabilitation for persons with disabilities and has been conducting research involving individuals with blindness and low vision for the past 20 years. She is the Principal Investigator of the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Employment of People who are Blind or Have Low Vision grant, funded by NIDILRR. Her research in the field of blindness and low vision has covered a wide range of populations and topics including predictors of employment for youth and adults, the effect of sensory loss on depression, employer attitudes, training for VR professionals on interacting with businesses, and the effectiveness of different approaches to employer meetings. In 2020, Dr. McDonnall and her team began a longitudinal study about assistive technology use in the workplace by people who are blind or have low vision.

Relevant Financial Relationship: Yes
I receive a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) and received an honorarium from NIDILRR in 2023 for peer reviews. I receive a salary from Mississippi State University.

Relevant Non-Financial Relationship: No