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Contributors
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Lauren Lieberman Ph.D.
Lauren J. Lieberman Ph.D. is a Distinguished Service Professor in the Kinesiology Department at The College at Brockport, State University of New York (SUNY) in adapted physical education. She started her career teaching at The Perkins School for the Blind in the Deafblind program. She is co-director of The Institute on Movement Studies for Individuals with Visual Impairments or Deafblindness (IMSVI)( See www.brockport.edu/IMSVI) . She is the founder and director of Camp Abilities: An educational sports camp for children with visual impairments. Camp Abilities has been replicated in 20 states and eight countries. (www.campabilities.org and www.campabilitiesworld.com) She has published over 145 peer-reviewed articles and 20 books. Most recently she has been awarded a Global Fulbright Scholarship to promote Camp Abilities world-wide.
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Neva Fairchild, MS
Neva Fairchild, MS, of Flower Mound, Texas, is the National Aging & Vision Loss Specialist at the American Foundation for the Blind, where she has worked since 2008. She was employed for over 15 years by the state of Texas as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor and as an Employment Assistance Specialist. She began her career in vision rehabilitation at the Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind as a Vocational Evaluator.
She earned her Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Science in 1988 and a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling Psychology in 1992 at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
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Maurice Belote
Maurice Belote is a graduate of the federally-funded teacher training program in DeafBlindness at San Francisco State University and has worked exclusively in the field of DeafBlindness for 39 years. Maurice has served as Project Coordinator for California DeafBlind Services since 1992. Maurice provides technical assistance and training throughout California and can tell you where to find the best tacos most anywhere along California’s north/south highways. His passions are ensuring that students leave school with functional, well-documented communication systems, and that students are fully prepared to have the same kinds of wonderful lives that any of us would wish for ourselves. Prior to joining the state TA and training project, he served for ten years as a teacher of DeafBlind young adults at the California School for the Blind, where he developed a competitive employment training program and rehabilitated a vacant apartment complex to open an independent living training program for transition-age students. Maurice is a frequent presenter at state, national, and international conferences and has written extensively on educational issues specific to children and youth with DeafBlindness. He represents students with DeafBlindness on numerous state and national groups and organizations, including as the specialist in DeafBlindness for the California Transcribers and Educators of the Blind and Visually Impaired. He also serves as Co-Chair of the National Coalition on DeafBlindness, which has advocated for federal recognition of interveners in IDEA. Maurice’s favorite quote is from renowned implementation scientist Dean Fixsen: “Students cannot benefit from interventions they do not experience.”
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Hillary Keys, M.Ed.
Hillary Keys is the DeafBlind Specialist for the Texas Sensory Support Network (TxSSN) though ESC Region 11 in Fort Worth. Hillary collaborates with the Texas DeafBlind Outreach Project and ESC 11 colleagues on statewide initiatives and keeps the network of regional Education Service Centers apprised. She is the current Chair of AER’s Multiple Disabilities and Deafblind Division.
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Chris Tabb, M.A., COMS
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Leslie Thatcher, EdM
Leslie Thatcher is the Director of College Success@Perkins, Perkins School for the Blind's College Readiness Initiative. Leslie has been an educator for over 30 years. She taught for 20 years, after 7 years in college admissions and student life. She leverages her background and leadership in student development to create innovative programs in mainstream and blindness education to move diverse students forward in their chosen environments after high school. Currently, Leslie is leading a multi year project to launch a national conversation about the college readiness crisis for students with visual impairments. Leslie received her BA in History from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR and her EdM from Harvard Graduate School of Education, in Cambridge, MA.