CPD Opportunities

Please read below for various upcoming CPD opportunities.

Conferences

Please head to our Conferences page for a list of upcoming national and international conferences.

CPD earning ACVREP recertification credits

• International Orientation & Mobility Online Symposium: online, EST, 26-28 January 2022
• Common Eye Disorders in Childhood: on demand three-part webinar, delivered by NextSense. This webinar is a multi part series investigating the common eye disorders in children and the impact that these have on their development. Offers 2.5 CPD points towards COMS recertification.
• Blindness and Low Vision Masterclass Series 2021: on demand six-part webinar, delivered by NextSense. This series of 6 webinars will investigate and provide advice about specific eye conditions. Can be viewed as a complete series or separate webinars can be purchased individually. Offers 6 CPD points towards COMS recertification.
• APH Hive (American Printing House for the Blind): offering online short courses on a range of Expanded Core Curriculum subjects, including Orientation & Mobility.
• HumanWare Live Webinar Series: interesting back-to-school topics that focus on the use of braille devices or smart magnification tools. Their sessions are free of charge and allow you to earn one-hour of continuing education credit for each session. A range of upcoming webinar dates throughout September and October 2020 are available, as well as access to recordings of previous webinars.
• AER eLearning: a range of topics available, with discounts offered to AER members (Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired) with upcoming dates throughout February 2021.
• Perkins School for the Blind eLearning: a large range of courses available, with some spanning several weeks and others a self-paced style of one hour.
• Perkins eLearning professional development opportunities

Non-ACVREP CPD

Here are some other O&M/vision specific online professional development opportunities:

• 2021 Online Tactile Reading Conference, 28-30 April (Oslo) – recorded presentations available for public viewing on demand.
• Save Sight Community Information Day, 18 September 2021 – online and in-person, Sydney Australia. An annual event for people living with low vision or blindness and those who care for them.This event is an opportunity for people in the vision impairment community to connect with each other, share experiences and get up-to-date information.
• ATSA Independent Living Expo, 24 – 25 November 2021, Canberra, Australia. Free entry. The role of occupational therapy driving instructors and orientation mobility specialists in the bioptic driving framework – Belinda O’Connor, Bioptic Drivers Australia (BDA) & Chuck Huss, COMS. Presentation 11.30am – 12.15pm Thursday 25 November 2021.

• NextSense webinars: These are convenient, accessible and can be accessed at anytime. These sessions are presented by NextSense staff and external experts in the field.
• Perkins eLearning free webinars
• The Renwick Centre Podcast: The Renwick Centre Podcast is a regular series that discusses hearing and vision education and health- everything from new resources, emerging ideas and hot-button issues!
• A Step Forward Podcast: a podcast for Orientation & Mobility specialists.
• RO&Ming with Lil: provides a forum for people to learn more about functional vision, and orientation and mobility practice, from an Australian perspective. It offers professional development for O&M specialists and guide dog mobility instructors worldwide.
• Challenge Solutions: a podcast made by a group of blind students for other blind students and teachers of the visually impaired. Their mission is to provide audio lessons on various forms of assistive technology and create a conversation about the challenges faced by blind students and their teachers.
• Be My Eyes Podcast: interviews with the world’s most interesting, passionate people from the blind and low vision community – about living blind in a sighted world.
• Sydney Eye Podcast: this podcast explores topics related to eye health and answers common questions about eye conditions from Sydney, Australia.

Communities of Practice Meetings

These meetings are a means of staying in touch with other O&M specialists around Australasia to share resources, knowledge and experience outside of our organisations. The Membership Engagement Committee will be running these meetings quarterly with different topics to be covered in each session. To find out about upcoming meetings, or to view recordings of previous meetings, check out the CoP Meetings page.

Other PD

There is also a range of Australian focused disability related learning opportunities. These are not vision specific, but may have relevance to your professional practice.

• NDS Training and Development; range of topics, prices, durations and delivery methods. Many free online options available. Provided by NDS (National Disability Services).
• Team DSC Training; range of topics, prices, durations and delivery methods. Provided by Disability Services Consulting.