Hello Jeff and all, I was in attendance. I have heard their presentation before at IMC18. I did notice some differences in the presentation which I found interesting. First, they said that they primarily found NOMCs available and willing to be observed but put it differently in Poland where they said it more along the lines of these are the successful strategies and these are the people who are using them. This could have been based on the audience, but I felt like they were hiding behind the "this was who was available" comment. Also, they were focused more on accommodations last night rather than methods which did led to an interesting discussion in both the chat and conversation. Methods are not accommodations and maybe that was the point they were trying to make. While at IMC Casey and I had several conversations with Nora, and she did seem truly interested when we were discussing the merits of the type of training our NOMC candidates go through at Louisiana Tech. She is also Southern so maybe it was just that we could understand each other in a group of people who did not speak English. I doubt the 900+ hours of occlusion practice will be adopted into other programs due to the mass skepticism we received when Casey and I presented about our program at IMC. What makes me worry is that they may be missing the point, or at least not stressing it, that the reason those individuals they observed were able to use non-visual techniques effectively was because of the hundreds of hours they spent honing their personal travel skills through immersion/training and then practicing these methods under an instructor who is also using these techniques during internships or apprenticeships for hundreds more. There was another section that they glossed over but I found important and that was the student perspective of having a blind instructor. Far and away the students felt not only "no fear" -- I say that in quotes because of course they didn't-- but the students benefitted from the role modeling the instructor was able to provide. We already know this, but it is nice to have validation. I plan to keep watching this research for updates and will share information as I receive it especially about the focus group that was mentioned in the presentation. Just as an FYI, the next OMSA PD presentation will be in November, and it will be on using mobility aids such as walkers and wheelchairs. The person presenting is from the UK and will be discussing the implications for people who are using a cane or guide dog. OMSA also has a Mobility Monday which is a similar format as last night's presentation. There is also a town hall meeting every month which are also informative as it I feel like it gives me perspective on what O&M professionals are dealing with in other states. That is my plug for being involved in OMSA if you made it this far into my email! Kristen J. Sims, MEd. NOMC NCUEB Instructor, Orientation and Mobility Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness Louisiana Tech University 210 Woodard Hall 318-257-4554 ksims at latech.edu From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of Altman, Jeff Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2023 10:46 AM To: NOMC Mailing list <NOMC at lists.nbpcb.org> Subject: [Nomc] Wonderring about how many attended the Presentation last evening Hello Everyone, I'm wondering how many of you attended the "Successful Strategies Employed by O&M Candidates and Blind O&M Specialists," presented by Dr. Nora Griffin-Shirley last evening? I'm also interested in hearing your thoughts on it. I certainly have my own thoughts on it, but I would like to hear what others think before I give my thoughts. Jeff