So have you accessed any resources lately?

For the over 150 of you who attended the FAER annual confernce in November, you know what I'm talking about. Laura Brown, Conference Coordinator, did an incredible job of introducing us all to a myriad of resources - both from within our field and from those related fields that have so much to offer our students and clients, and ourselves as professionals. As usual, I left the hotel with a bag with far more paper in it than I brought, as I tried to save ev ery handout, even from the sessions I didn't get to.

And while my bag was heavier my mind was thinkig more freely. It's funny how a few days away from "the office," talking "shop" with others who work with people with visual impairments, can open my mind to new possibilities. The rigidity that sets in when I try to control the day to day details of my job melts away somehow, and I start getting excited about what I can change that will result in better programs for my students. The challenge, of course, is being able to maintain that free thought and enthusiasm over the long haul.

It seems kind of contradictory, but maintaining the kind of fresh thinking and enthusiasm that leads to long-term changes requires some work on our part. If we leave change to chance, then we have little opportunity to direct it. If, however, we take the initiative to make change happen--to turn into reality those ideas that arise when we're enthusiastically imagining what is possible--we can discover how very powerful we really are. The trick is to start small and to use those tools that we find so very useful for our clients, the IEP and the IPE.

So have you made any resolutions lately?

Actually, the first step is to decide you want to make some aspect of your job better. Take that good idea that occurred to you during the diabetes education workshop or when the ladies from the Florida Inclusion Network were describing their project and resolve to make the change. Then, write yourself an IEP. If you want, you can skip the parts about strengths and weaknesses; instead, concentrate on your long-term goal and the benchmarks, or measures of progress, that you plan to use to mark your path along the way. Be sure to make these bench-

marks realistically attainable--short, simple steps that don't feel too overwhelming.

The next step is to establish some time lines. Again, be sure to make them realistic. Obviously, you don't want to push yourself too hard, but it's best not to give yourself too much time either. (You don't want to lose track of your goal).

Every nine weeks or so, have a meeting with yourself and review your progress toward your goal. If progress has been slow, you might want to consider that your steps are too big and revise them appropiately. If you are hitting your targets, take yourself to lunch, or if that's not possible, at least pat yourself of the back. You'll deserve it!

So have you heard any goo Helen Keller quotes lately?

Take some advice from our first student/client/consumer/teacher, Helen Keller: "I do not like the world as it is, so I am trying to make it a little more as I want it." Resolve this year to write yourself a plan to improve your services to your clients, your students, and to your profession. For as Ms. Keller also stated, "The power of effecting change for the better is within ourselves, no in the favorableness of circumstances."

We can't count on the changes we want to happen--we have to make them so.

The new members of the FAER Board of Directors are:

Member-at-Large, Education - Kay Ratzlaff

Member-at-Large, Rehabilitation - Amy Johnson

Scholarship Chair - Dr. Joan Chase

Thank you to those people who did run, but for whom the ballots just didn't add up this time.

Some of you may already receive the ACVREP Newsletter. For those of you who don't I am including a couple of items from the December 1, 2003. If you do not receive the email newsletter from the Academy and would like to, just send your email address to them and asked to be added to the list.

Did You Recently Receive A Letter About Your Certification Expiring December 31, 2005?

As you are aware, AER is no longer in the certification business. When they transferred three of their certification programs to ACVREP in 2000 (they discontinued the other programs), a number of AER certificants elected to transfer their "permanent certification" to ACVREP. As part of this arrangement, AER paid for their certification through December 31, 2003. If you recently received an invoice for $100 (AER member rate) or $150 (non-AER member rate), this is to cover your certification through December 31, 2005 (for the last two years of the five year certification period). If you have any questions regarding your invoice, please don't hesitate to contact the ACVREP office at 520-887-6816.

New "Continuing Education Provider Information" Page On ACVREP's Website

ACVREP has a new page on its website for individuals/entities interested in becoming ACVREP approved continuing educations (CE) providers. The page lists and answers ten frequently asked questions that potential CE providers may have about seeking and obtaining ACVREP approval. It provides a wealth of important information (e.g., application and offering fees, how long the application is effective). To access this page, go to the ACVREP website at www.acvrep.org. Then, after you select a site, look at the main menu on the left. Scroll down to the "Continuing Education Provider Information" button and click on it to access this page. Although this page contains a link to the new Continuing Education application, this application can also be found by clicking on the "Downloads" button on the main menu. Current ACVREP approved CE programs/activities can be found on the "Continuing Education Opportunities" page.

ACVREP Needs More Off-Site Internship Supervisors - Can You Help?

The ACVREP office has been receiving more requests from applicants who need an off-site internship supervisor, especially in the Low Vision Therapy area. Currently, we have two applicants working with off-site supervisors. However, we have another two applicants who need off-site supervisors. Would you be willing to help these applicants so that they can apply for ACVREP certification? Do you have time to supervise an intern? Please call the ACVREP office if you are willing and able to supervise an intern.

Although the two requests mentioned above are for Low Vision Therapy off-site supervisors (CLVTs), our Rehabilitation Teaching certification program also allows for off-site supervisors. As most of you know, off-site supervision is a new endeavor for ACVREP. To ensure that this type of supervision meets the needs of both the applicant and supervisor and results in a successful internship/placement, ACVREP plans on developing guidelines for off-site internship supervisors. Once the first two off-site internships have been completed, we will disseminate draft guidelines for review and feedback. Not only will our Low Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation Teaching Committees review the guidelines but we also plan on requesting feedback from AER's Division 7 (Low Vision) and Division 11 (Rehabilitation Teaching) members. If you are interested in providing input/feedback on the draft guidelines (once developed), please contact Sharon Mikrut at 520-887-6816.

O&M'n on the River

by Amy Johnson

For those Mobility Specialists who were not able to attend the Division 9 conference in New Orleans, you missed an excellent time. There were approximately 700 people in attendance. There was at least one activity before the opening session on Saturday afternoon.

The first session began at 12:30 on December 13, with the welcome by our Division Chair, Grace Ambrose Zaken. She was followed by Mark Richert, Executive Director of AER. After that was a highlight of the exhibits, given by the exhibitors themselves. There was a Townhall Luncheon on Sunday with the topic being Liability and O&M. (Unfortunately, I missed this due to going to a demonstration of the `K' Sonar Cane. I was told that it was so crowded and noisy that some people had trouble being able to hear what was said.) There was another general session that afternoon on Choice in O&M Certification - A Look at Two Certification Bodies. This proved to be rather interesting and thought provoking, although no conclusion was reached (surprise!)! There was a general session on Monday morning on Certified O&M Specialists Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: Strategies for Training and Teaching. On the panel were two totally blind, Academy certified O&M Specialists. I did find this quite educational. Probably one of the highlights for most people was the Riverboat Dinner Cruise on Monday night, on the Creole Queen.

There were 10 concurrent sessions with approximately 48 choices (including the Dog Guide Track). Topics included cognitive/developmental disabilities, environmental access, infant/toddler, low vision, multiple disabilites, orientation and problem-solving, street-crossing, personnel prep, and wheelchair or physical disabilities. Most sessions were presented twice, so you had the opportunity to attend 10. In addition to all of these sessions there were RoundTable discussions and Poster Sessions.

Combine all of these educational experiences with meeting new friends, visiting with old friends, networking, door prizes (see next article), and the MAGIC of New Orleans; this was an experience not soon forgotten! If you were not able to go, but, know someone who did, get together with them and hope they will share the information that they gained. You won't be sorry.

AND THE WINNER IS...

by Amy Johnson

At the Division 9 Conference, door prizes were given out during the opening session, and that did not stop until they were all gone during the final general session and closing remarks. There were all types of prizes: stuffed animals, cookbooks, cajun spices, gift certificates, shirts, patriotic things, decorative items, food baskets, and the list goes on and on. Most people kept their ticket stubs attached to their name tags, so they were always within easy reach! The trick, as usual, was you had to be present to win. During the final session new tickets were given out, since quite a few people had already left for the airport. Yes, I did win a stuffed labrador with a harness on from Guide Dog Foundation, along with a sweatshirt. (I gave the shirt to my brother since I didn't buy him anything.) The dog sits in my office, inside my real dog guide harness.

Besides the door prizes provided by the division, many of the exhibitors also gave out door prizes. Some required that you take part in an exercise or demonstration of some sort. One of these was the demonstration that I went to instead of the Town Hall Luncheon. This was for the `K' Sonar Cane. This is a device that will be manufactured by Bay Advanced Technologies. It was developed by Leslie Kay in New Zealand, and is based on KASPA (Kay's Advanced Spatial Perception Aid) technology. It is a sonar "torch" that clips to almost any white cane. It allows the user to identify objects and their texture as well as distance from the object. It will be available for sale later this year. At this time there are 10 in existence. And guess who won the one they were giving away! That's right, me! I have the only one currently in the continental U.S. If anyone else in Florida is interested in seeing it, contact me at amyfaer@earthlink.net, and we will see what we can arrange. By the way the retail price will be $600 plus shipping from New Zealand, when it is available. (They are hoping that it will be ready in July of 2004). That's one way of meeting new people!

What flies but has no wings? What do we always run out of, or, need more of but can't buy any of? The answer of course is time. We measure time in moments, seconds, hours, years, centuries, millennia and so forth, but we can't create time. Or, can we?

Consider the parent who works all the time and has no time for family. In today's fast paced world there is more to do than one can do. The trick is to set your time priorities. Time is all you have to work with. You sell your time to your employer, you give your time to your family or church. You make meetings on a timely basis and give time to charity. All of the sudden you realize you have run out of time. Now it becomes important to prioritize your time and make the best use of it.

How to make time! Well we all know we can't "make" time. But we can reset our priorities to make the best use of time.

For instance, I come home from the workshop and find the elves need milk and bread. So, I fly to the store and buy bread and milk, run home and feed the elves. It took 15 minutes in the sleigh to get to the store, 15 minutes to find the bread and milk, 15 minutes to go through check out, and 15 minutes to get home. That is a total of 60 minutes I did not need to waste, if only I had planned ahead and bought enough bread and milk to last until the next grocery buying trip. That is 1 whole hour I could spend with Ms. Santa and the elves, 1 hour I could spend making toys, or 1 hour I could spend just relaxing. Notice the key word spend. Although we can't buy time, we can spend it. If you spend it wisely, you will find you have more time. Plan ahead! Put minutes in your "time bank" and then you will find the "extra time" you have been looking for.

We can also lose time. We lose time in many ways. Lost moments and wasted seconds add up rapidly. I lost 10 minuets arguing with my spouse over the syntax of a sentence, or something equally as ridiculous. I lost another 20 by being mad about the argument. Gee Whiz! That was a half hour lost over a silly little comma. A little more "elf" control and I would have had an extra 30 minutes to make 2 toys! The moral: Arguing is a waste of time.

We lose time daily in our travels to and from work. Hours spent in a car being unproductive. How can we make use of some of this time we are wasting. Well, we can plan ahead. Go over that grocery list in our head. Stop at the store on the way home instead of having to go out again. This not only saves time but money too! I didn't have to waste reindeer magic flying fuel, and wear and tear on my sleigh. While planning my next day out, I realized that by making a few small schedule changes, I would be time ahead by not having to back track all over the north pole.

Rearranging my workshop saved me time too. Making toys is not difficult but, running back and forth to the tool box wastes a few seconds each time I need another tool. By placing all my tools nearby, I saved a few seconds many times per day, which adds up to hours by the end of the month. Now that I have these hours I have saved, I can spend them as I choose. Mostly making more toys.

Another way to save time is an alternative work schedule. A 10 hour work day, 4 days a week will often allow you to accomplish more than the common 8 hour day. This is because an elf does not have to spend the 15 minutes, twice a day starting and stopping their job and bringing it to a tidy conclusion for the day.

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, as if they want fries with that.

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "In."

5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine additions, switch to espresso.

6. In the memo field of all you checks, write "for sexual favors."

7. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."

8. Don't use any punctuation

9. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.

10. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.

11. Specify that you drive-through order is "to go."

12. Sing along at the opera.

13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.

15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.

16. Have you co-workers address you by your wrestling name, Rock Hard.

17. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I won!, I won!"

18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "run for your lives, they're loose!!"