Illinois AER

May 1, 2023

IAER generously awarded a mini-grant to me for the purchase of materials for Early Intervention. These items are not available through Quota Funds. I was able to purchase Ambutech canes, roller ball tips, toddler flat floor scooters and bell balls. All of these items are distributed to families and children receiving services through EI. The canes are typically recycled back to me and the child will “graduate” to preschool services with one cane they keep. The scooters are shared with families of toddlers and returned back to me before they age out of services. I will be able to use these with several families throughout the years. These scooters are a great way to motivate little ones who are not yet motivated to walk on their own. Providing the scooters allows the family to initiate movement with the child around the home on a flat surface so the child can explore with assistance. The bell balls I purchase from the Braille Superstore are small, soft balls that are easy for the child to roll, throw and retrieve. The balls are great for indoors and outdoors. Several of my littles use these in a daycare setting and enjoy the balls as a social activity with the other children. Thank you IAER for your continued support of professionals in our state.

Carol Otten, COMS

Illinois AER member, Taurus Smith, received the Alice Raftary Rising Star Award from the Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Division of AER at the International AER Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. This award was named for Alice Raftary for her mentoring and support of many new professionals to this field along with her years of creative and dedicated work. She is a Living Legend whose story can be found in the APH Hall of Fame.

The award is presented to an individual who demonstrates potential for exceptional leadership and is expected to provide a unique and lasting contribution to the field of Vision Rehabilitation Therapy.

Taurus works as a vision rehabilitation therapist for Second Sense in Chicago. He has only been working in the field for a little over a year. He previously worked doing sound recording and continues to do work in this area. He helped others with vision
impairment learn how to work in this setting. He has also become known for his ability to instruct on MAC computers. Eventually he realized he wanted to instruct in a broader sense and become a Vision Rehabilitation Therapist. It is important to him to be a good role model to others. He has demonstrated exemplary skills and knowledge for a VRT.

He exhibits not only superb knowledge relating to vision rehabilitation, but also
possesses a natural ability to quickly develop rapport with clients of diverse
backgrounds. His talent for rapport building is not a skill learned, but one that is inherent to his personality and essential to success in vision rehabilitation.

Professionally, he is Already very engaged in AER by attending biennial conferences
and presenting at Illinois AER.

Congratulations to Taurus! Keep up the great work!

December 13, 2022

My name is Neem Owens and attending SCI-VIS Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama was one of the most amazing times of my life. This was the first time that I was at a sleepaway camp and I was glad to meet new friends. I was part of the Andromeda group. Each day was a full day of learning and fun. We all worked as a team. I met friends from Delaware, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and Costa Rica.

I had many favorite experiences. There was a huge Saturn V and Saturn I on the campus. The Saturn V and Saturn I are rockets. The Saturn V was the rocket used for the Apollo 11 launch that landed two astronauts on the moon. The Saturn V hall was probably my favorite place on the campus. I specifically liked that you could see the connections where the different parts of the rocket were separated into stages to fall off during orbit entry. There was so much information on the different missions of Apollo and people that worked on the program. To see the rocket you have to walk under it. It was a little bit nerve racking because I thought that the rocket might come off of the supports and fall on us!

Another thing that I loved was Moonshot, a simulator that simulates the experience of taking off and landing including the pressure. It was a tower that had a platform connected to it and there were seats on the platform that had squishy harnesses that wrap around you. When you sat in the seats and got the harness around you the loudspeaker said, “Please keep your head back against the headrest and your feet out in front of you.” I tried to do that but I had to put my feet down because the machine shot the chairs up along the tower and back down again really, really fast. It was really disorienting but I really liked it because I was floating in the seat and it felt like I was levitating.

One of the things that I found challenging was the Multi Axis Trainer. It is a machine that spins you around in every direction possible. I loved understanding the geometry of the trainer but when it was my turn to try spinning, I had to get off early. I was very scared because you had to hold on to bars over your head and not let go. I started to wonder what would happen if I accidentally let go.

The whole week was such a great time. My family and friends back at home were very excited to hear about my stories. Thank you for the opportunity to come to Space Camp. I hope to go again one day soon.