Presenters

We're very grateful to be joined by a group of excellent presenters!

Dr. Amy Parker

Dr. Amy Parker is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Portland State University. She has worked with people who are deafblind and their families as an advocate, community support, technical assistance specialist and O&M specialist. She is the PI on personnel development grants to prepare future O&M Specialists and she leads transportation research grants investigating improved transit design. Her research interests include participatory research focusing on building more inclusive curricula, communities, and policies. 

Anne Olson-Murphy

Anne Olson-Murphy, M.S., is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI) beginning her 30th year teaching students through the Willamette ESD in Salem, Oregon. She also serves as the Deafblind Consulting Teacher for her region.

Anne's professional interests include early communication systems, early literacy, and supporting access for complex learners including deafblindness. She also enjoys exploring technology options that help students with low vision solve everyday issues, access their education and increase their independence. Anne is currently learning more about how 3D printing, AI, and Apple Shortcuts can be used to create greater access and new possibilities for students with visual impairments.

Outside of work, Anne is a lover of the beach, gardening and hanging out with Libby, her Golden Retreiver. 

Becky Morton

Becky Morton is a Teacher of Blind & Low Vision Learners (TBLV) and a Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist (COMS) at Columbia Regional Inclusive Services. For the last 6  years, she has provided Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education services (EI/ECSE) to families in Multnomah and Clackamas Counties. She received her Masters in Special Education from Portland State University. 

Bob Wohlers

Bob is a TVI/COMS who believes maps are one of life’s great inventions, and that Bend, Oregon is pretty much impossible to leave.

By day, Bob helps people navigate the world with confidence. By night, or at least in spirit, he’s usually somewhere on a mountain bike, enjoying some singletrack and pretending he isn’t getting older.

He lives in Grants Pass with his partner, two well-behaved teenagers, Emma the Border Collie, and Debbie the chicken. Debbie, notably, has no interest in orientation or mobility.

Brooke Painter

Brooke Painter is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) within the Student Services division at the Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD).  Based in Douglas County, Oregon, she provides specialized instructional support, accessible media modifications, and educational advocacy for children and youth who are blind or have low vision. Her work across the education service district focuses on ensuring local students receive the necessary accommodations, assistive technology, and curriculum adaptations to thrive in their academic environments.

Dan Glowicki

Dan Glowicki, M.S. in Ed, is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, Orientation and Mobility Specialist, and Perkins Level 3 Certified Repair Technician.  He’s been teaching since 2001 for Linn-Benton-Lincoln Education Service District (LBL-ESD) in Albany, Oregon.   In 2025 he became certified by Perkins School for the Blind as a brailler repair technician and started the PNW Brailler Service. 

Darlene Daniels

Darlene Daniels, M.S. is a TOSA and Educational Consultant with the Oregon Deafblind Project. She is also a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI) and an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist. Darlene currently works part-time in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education (EI/ECSE) and part-time with the Oregon Deafblind Project.  Darlene has been a TVI for 15 years and an Orientation and Mobility Specialist for 6 years. She also holds specialized credentials in teaching students who are blind or visually impaired with multiple disabilities, with an emphasis on learners in the sensorimotor stage of development.  Darlene has worked in the field of special education for more than 35 years in a variety of capacities. Her experience includes 19 years as a Research Associate with Design to Learn Projects, where she contributed to the development of the Communication Matrix and other research-based projects focused on supporting individuals with complex communication and learning needs. Her diverse experience brings together expertise in visual impairment, DeafBlind education, early childhood, orientation and mobility, communication, and supporting learners with complex needs.

Deborah Lesher

Deborah Lesher, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist specializing in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and emergent communication. She supports educational teams through Columbia Regional Inclusive Services in Portland, Oregon. Deborah has worked across a range of educational settings, including traditional school programs, structured learning centers supporting students with complex communication and behavioral needs, and specialized AAC services. She has served as an AAC Specialist with Portland Public Schools and with the Orthopedic Impairment program at Columbia Regional Inclusive Services. Her professional interests and passions include supporting emergent communicators, fostering emergent literacy, and helping teams create meaningful and accessible opportunities for communication and learning.

Eli Sanchez

Semi-professional blind guy at night, AT specialist on a mission to lower the unemployment number of blind and low vision individuals by day. Part of the CATT-NW team!

JJ Isaacson

JJ is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments, accessibility enthusiast, and enthusiastic AI tinkerer who firmly believes there has to be a better way to do paperwork. A familiar face at conferences and trainings across Oregon, she is known for exploring new ideas, asking big questions, and occasionally disappearing down an AI rabbit hole in pursuit of a solution that saves time and improves outcomes for students.  Her recent work has focused on using artificial intelligence to reduce administrative friction, streamline professional workflows, create accessible resources, and support student independence. While she is excited about what AI can do, she remains convinced that the most important part of education is still the human sitting across from the student.  JJ's favorite technology is the kind that quietly handles the busywork so educators can spend more time doing the work only humans can do: teaching, connecting, advocating, and changing lives.

Kate Dilworth

Kate Dilworth is an Orientation & Mobility teacher, a TBLV, and the Teacher on Special Assignment for the Blind/Low Vision Program at Columbia Regional. She has been teaching blind and low vision students since 1998, was a writer for the Building on Patterns braille curriculum, and would love to talk your ear off about outrigger canoeing.

Kristin Gault

Kristin Gault is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI) with the Lane Regional Inclusive Program and the proud parent of two adult sons who are visually impaired. Driven by a lifelong passion for Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), Kristin developed a specialized program during the COVID-19 pandemic to better support her students. This initiative blossomed into the VistaQuest BaseKit—an intervention tool that equips families, educators, and teams to understand CVI through ready-made activities. Designed to help students transfer learned strategies into daily routines, the VistaQuest BaseKit is now utilized in school districts across the United States.

Kristy McFarland

Kristy McFarland, MOT, OTR/L, brings nearly two decades of occupational therapy expertise to her role at Columbia Regional Inclusive Services (CRIS). She acquired her B.S. in Human Development at the University of Maine at Orono and worked in community mental health with children and families prior to attending Pacific University for her Masters in Occupational Therapy. For the past 14 years, Kristy has specialized in the area of assistive technology. She focuses on empowering learners with complex motor and communication needs. Kristy presents locally on a variety of alternative access and accessibility topics and provides hands-on support to educational teams across Region 6. Driven by the belief that every individual has the capacity to learn, she works to expand access to all sorts of occupations, including literacy, play, academics, and meaningful social connection. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, playing outdoors, and anything to do with plants.

Ky Hansen

Ky Hansen, MS, COMS, is a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist working with K–21 students across the Portland area. Ky provides assessment, instruction, and consultation in orientation and mobility, the Expanded Core Curriculum, assistive technology, and accessible materials, including tactile graphics. They also serve as a Clinical Lab Evaluator at Portland State University, where they teach and evaluate graduate students developing their orientation and mobility skills and instructional practice. Ky holds a Master of Science in Special Education from Portland State University and a Bachelor of Arts in ASL/English Interpreting from Western Oregon University. Before becoming a COMS and TVI, Ky spent seven years working in education as a paraeducator and ASL interpreter with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing students. Their longstanding involvement with the DeafBlind community, including volunteer work and professional experience, played an important role in shaping their career in vision rehabilitation. Ky is fluent in American Sign Language and has experience with ProTactile and other communication approaches used with DeafBlind individuals. Ky is particularly passionate about working with DeafBlind individuals and helping learners develop the skills, confidence, and problem-solving abilities needed to travel safely and independently across a variety of environments. Outside of work, Ky enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest through hiking, backpacking, and taking entirely too many pictures. They share their home with Olive, their dog, and Tigger, their cat.

Leslie Romeo

Leslie Romeo is a Teacher of Blind and Low Vision Students and Access Technology Trainer for the CATT-NW program. Leslie is a credentialed teacher in California, Oregon, and Alaska. She is also adjunct faculty at San Francisco State University and North Coast School of Education special education credentialing programs. Leslie is passionate about accessible STEAM education and assisting underserved and rural communities with blind and low vision students of all ages and abilities.

Leslie Weilbacher 

Leslie works in APH Outreach, providing professional development and training for teachers on APH products, services, and assistive technology. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and German from the University of Oregon, accompanied by her first guide dog, Cammy. After interning with Mobility International USA (MIUSA) and the Wesley Foundation, she pursued a Master of Arts in Special Education with an emphasis in Visual Impairment and Orientation & Mobility from the University of Northern Colorado, alongside her second guide dog, Gwenny. Leslie also holds certification as an Assistive Technology Professional through RESNA. She has more than 10 years of experience working with students with visual impairments, serving as a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and an Orientation & Mobility Specialist. Her work includes summer programs focused on independent living skills and career development, completed with her third guide dog, Neil. Leslie currently lives in Washington State with her guide dog, Othello, and her three horses.

Michael Cantino

Michael Cantino is an assistive technology specialist and braille transcriber with over 20 years of experience supporting students with disabilities, from kindergarten through higher education. Michael currently serves as the Blind and Low Vision Technology Specialist for Oregon's public schools, and he previously served as an Accessibility Specialist at Portland Community College. Michael specializes in creating tactile materials for complex subjects, including STEM, wayfinding, and art. Michael has a collection of 3D printed tactile art pieces at the Portland Art Museum, and he's currently working on 4 new pieces for the museum's collection, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ruth McKee

Ruth McKee, ATP, is a consultant, coach, and trainer with Columbia Regional Inclusive Services (CRIS) in Portland, Oregon, specializing in Assistive Technology and supporting students with low-incidence and complex disabilities. Ruth brings more than 36 years of hands-on experience in Assistive Technology and has worked alongside students, families, educators, and related service professionals to develop practical solutions that increase access, participation, communication, independence, and autonomy. She is a local and national presenter and particularly enjoys sharing strategies related to adapted play, switch selection, and creative access for children with complex needs. Ruth is passionate about helping teams create meaningful opportunities for students to make choices, express themselves, engage with others, and have greater control over their everyday experiences. She earned her Associate of Applied Science from Mt. Hood Community College, became a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA) in 1990, earned her ATACP in 2005, and became an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) in 2008. 

Saaron Putnam Almaguer

Saaron Putnam-Almaguer, M.S., COMS, TVI, CVI Certificate, is a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist with Northwest Regional ESD in Oregon. She has worked in the field of visual impairment for over 16 years and holds a Master of Science in Special Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education. In 2025, Saaron completed the Graduate Certificate in Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) through the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her professional interests include CVI assessment, Functional Vision and Learning Media Assessments, accessibility, assistive technology, and educational programming for students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities. She is passionate about helping educational teams translate assessment findings into meaningful instruction and student access.

Stephanie McAlexander 

Stephanie McAlexander has been working as a Teacher of Blind & Low Vision Learners (TBLV) and Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist (COMS) with Columbia Regional Inclusive Services Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education program for the past 5 years. After graduating from Northern Illinois University with an M.S.Ed in Visual Impairment in 2018, she worked for Los Angeles Unified School District as TBLV for 3 years. Before entering the field of education, Stephanie worked as an actor, farmer, and Peace Corps Volunteer. She was inspired to enter this field by her mother, who worked as an outreach and early intervention TBLV for Washington State School for the Blind for over 20 years. 

Dr. Yue-Ting (Ting) Siu

Dr. Yue-Ting (Ting) Siu is a teacher of blind and low vision students (TVI) and coordinates the Northwest Center for Assistive Technology Training (CATT-NW) at the WA State School for the Blind (WSSB). She loves working with students of all ages with visual impairments and additional disabilities including deafblindness. Her mission is to advance teachers’ proficiency with access technology, promote innovations in multimedia accessibility, and motivate a new generation of “techie TVIs”. Ting is the author of the textbook Access Technology for Blind and Low Vision Accessibility (2020), available from APH Press.