Families Connecting with Families Conference
July 13-15, 2007
 
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July 9, 2007 Dear Families and Professionals: As of July 9, 2007, registration for the Families Connecting with Families Conference will be onsite in Hilton Omaha, Nebraska. Registration will be open on the second floor of the Hilton hotel at 2:00 p.m., July 13, 2007. Credit cards and checks will be accepted, but no cash please. Please download and complete the child background, media and activity permission forms prior to coming to Omaha. These forms are at www.afb.org at the permission form section of the family conference page. This will save you time when you register. Make your check or purchase order payable to NAPVI. At this time, the planning committee has turned in the food count to the hotel, so we are not able to accommodate refunds. If you are planning on registering onsite, please email Mary Ann Siller (AFB) at siller@afb.net. We are looking forward to seeing you in Nebraska. Thank you! Dear Families of Children with Visual Impairments: We hope that you are making plans to join us in Omaha, Nebraska, from July 13 to 15, 2007, for this year's Families Connecting with Families in the Heartland of America Conference. American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI), and The Seeing Eye, Inc. are pleased to be cosponsoring this event. This will be an exciting time for families and professionals alike. This conference is designed to meet many goals that support the growth and lifelong skills needed by children and youths with visual impairments. It will cover all aspects of raising and educating a child with a visual impairment. The conference will be important for the families of children who are deaf-blind, blind or visually impaired, or multiply disabled, and the professionals who work with them. The conference will include outstanding panel discussions and workshops given by talented leaders in education, psychology, social services, and medicine. The activities and workshops will target families, infants and toddlers, schoolchildren, and youth to age 22 years. You will have many opportunities to meet and learn from other families and professionals. Each day our keynote speakers will salute the family/community/professional partnership. They include Carl R. Augusto, president and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind; Mike May, president and CEO of the Sendero Group, a developer and producer of talking GPS; and Dr. Linda Lawrence, a pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in assessment and intervention for visually impaired children with special needs. The exhibit hall will be filled with local and national vendors. To showcase vendors' products and materials, the conference opens on Friday at 3:00 p.m. for special sessions by vendors. Attendees will have ample time throughout the weekend to meet the vendors and discuss their products and resources. If you are interested in exhibiting at the conference, please send a message, with your e-mail address in the body, to fcfexhibit@seeingeye.org. If you have any questions contact either Jay Stiteley or Dawn Turco. Numerous fun activities are planned for the children. One outstanding adventure will be on Saturday, July 14. Children ages 4-18 will have the opportunity to attend a special program at the world renowned Henry Doorly Zoo for a unique look at the world's animals. Lunch will be provided.
Courtesy of the Kansas State School for the Blind Pioneer Trail Drive The registration cost for the weekend conference includes extensive opportunities to gain new educational information for your child's school and community programs, network with other parents and professionals in the field of blindness and visual impairments, and enjoy unique family-fun activities. The weekend fun includes four meals and the opening reception on Friday night. The early bird price is $75.00 for adults (19 years old and older) and $25.00 for children (4-18 years of age) and children under three may attend free of charge. After May 30, 2007, the price will be $100 (19 and older) and $35.00 (4-18 years of age) and children under three may still attend free of charge. The hotel selected for this year's conference is the Hilton Omaha hotel, Nebraska's only four diamond property. The hotel offers free airport shuttle service and is only 10 minutes from the airport. The Hilton Omaha is connected to the brand new Qwest Center Omaha, just blocks from the historic Old Market, and is located minutes from Henry Doorly Zoo, Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha Children's Museum, the Durham Western Heritage Museum, Joslyn Art Museum, SAC Space, and Air Museum. The block of rooms at the Omaha Hilton is sold out. However, rooms have been secured at the Hilton Garden Inn. The Hilton Garden Inn is 2 blocks from the Hilton Omaha and provides a free a shuttle service for hotel guests. Hilton Garden Inn People making reservations should mention NAPVI National Family Conference. Special group rate of $139.00 per night single/ or double/double.
Hilton Omaha — SOLD OUT
Deluxe guest room, single and double: $114 Rooms must be guaranteed with a credit card. Special accommodations can be arranged through the hotel staff when you make your reservation. We are fortunate to have an outstanding planning committee helping to organize the July event. The sponsors salute their work and creative ideas. You may register quickly and conveniently at www.afb.org after March 21, 2007. Fill out the online form and submit your credit card number (credit cards are required for online registration). If you wish to register by check or purchase order, you can download the form from the site and mail it to NAPVI. The instructions are listed for you in the registration form. Go to AFB's web page to download our promotional flyer. For more information about the conference, please contact NAPVI at 800-562-6265. Sincerely yours,
Judy Deuschle
Susan LaVenture
Mary Ann Siller, M.Ed. |
For Saturday night, the conference planning committee has planned an unforgettable, authentic pioneer-style family cookout with campfires, music, and stories of the Wild West. The pioneer evening will be held at the Iowa School for the Deaf, once the mustering grounds for the Mormon Militia during their westward migration. A barbeque dinner will be served indoors, complemented by fresh corn on the cob, drinks, and ice-cold watermelon. Following the meal there will be a pioneer music hoe-down featuring two of Nebraska's favorite ol' time musicians. The evening program will end as the sun sinks slowly over the plains.
Families Connecting with Families Conference |
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A Parents' Guide to Special Education for Children
edited by Susan LaVenture 
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