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Ross
E. Deforrest |
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Objective:
· Continue to work as a COMS (Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist).
Education:
ACVREP re-certiciation, August 2007
RTA
certification, AURORA of CNY, 2001
·
Orientation
& Mobility Certification, SFASU, 2000
·
American
Red Cross Lifeguard Training, City of Austin, 1996
·
American
Red Cross CPR for the Profession Rescuer, City of Austin, 1996
·
Bachelors
degree in elementary Education, U.T. Austin, 1982
·
Teachers
Certificate, elementary, U.T. Austin, 1982
Work Experience:
·
Two
years working for Child Incorporated, an Austin based HEW Headstart Day
care
program for low-income families. June '76 - June '78
·
Three
years working at Austin State School in the Developmental Training
Program with
mild to severe mentally retarded children. Sep '79 - Aug'82.
·
Fifteen
Years at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired as a
residential
instructor. This includes three years as a houseparent with the younger
elementary students, six years as a residential Instructor with the
elementary
Independent Living students, three years with Independent Living middle
school students, and three years working on a dorm that houses both
middle and
high school students. My responsibilities have always included
training,
monitoring, implementing, and documenting daily living, social, and
community
access skills. September 1984 - August 1999
·
Ten
years Experience programming web pages. Examples:
I designed and created the page for Strickland Arms Bed and
Breakfast, located in Austin,
Texas and owned by my good friends James and Barbara strickland, who
report to me that fully 90% of their very successful business comes to
through the page.
As a graduate project at SFASU, I designed the SFASU Human Services Web Page
In August of 2007, I designed the web page for a rock band from my home
town -- friends of mine who formed the band in the 60s when we were
teenagers, and who after and after going in lifes various directions
for all those years, decided to get the group together again.
They are The Villagers.
.
·
(6/8/00
- 9/2/00) I completed O&M intern working with consumers who are in
a summer
college preparatory program at Chris Cole Rehabilitation Center in
Austin, TX.
·
9/11/00
-- hired by AURORA of Central New York as a COMS. I do itinerant
O&M
training in North Central New York State. The office is in
Syracuse and I
serve mostly an area from there, north to Oswego. I work mostly
with
elderly clients.
·
9/24/01
- 1/14/02 -- Received on the job training and certification as a
Rehabilitation
Teaching Assistant. In Addition O&M I have for the past four
years,
taught Rehabilitation to visually impaired and blind individuals in
their
homes. elderly clients.
Memberships:
·
ACVERP re-certlification, August, 2007
AER
Certification, September 1, 2000
·
SFASU
Braille & Cane Club, charter public relations officer, Dec 1999 -
May 2000
·
Austin
Cha Yon Ryu martial arts school, Jan 94 - present (purple Belt-
Instructor
level, Dec 98)
·
TSBVI
Playground planning committee, Sep '93 - May 95
·
Independent
Living Curriculum planning committee, Sep 90 - May 92
Awards:
·
I
received four merit raises while at Texas School for the Blind and
Visually
Impaired.
Personal:
·
I
enjoy reading, writing, staying fit, training martial art, cooking
Asian food
and traveling to mountainous places, that also have beaches and jungles.
·
The
use of computers is a personal hobby of mine that I have cultivated for
twentyfive
years. I have been able to use my
computer skills to greatly enhance my work as an O&M specialist and
rehabilitation teacher, by turning
all of the mountains of necessary paper work -- case notes, reports,
checklists, forms(including all of the NYS forms), statistics, time
sheets, call a bus applications, milage sheets, etc. -- all of
these a tranformed into fill-in forms using Microsoft Ecel Workbooks. I then trained the other staff in their use and they now use
them exclusively to complete their paperwork. This
greatly reduces
the amount of daily time spent on paperwork, thus increasing the time
spent in
direct contact with consumers. In addition, I have passed the
forms I created on to the the other 7 staff in Blind services at
AURORA of cny, and they all use my forms exclusively to do their
paperwork as well. Contrast this with the fact that when I
arrived at AURORA seven years ago, although each person had a desk with
a computer on it, all paperwork was done with pen and
paper. I estimate that I have made blind services 40% more
efficient with my system.
Salary:
·
As
indicated
References:
·
Deborah
Chaiken, Executive Director, AURORA of CNY
·
Melissa
Blaine, Director of Blind Services, AURORA of CNY
·
Dr.
Anna Bradfield, Human Services Chair, SFASU
·
Bill
Bryan, Professor of O&M, SFASU
·
Marnee
Loftin, School Psychologist, TSBVI
·
Shelly
Allen, Residential Supervisor, TSBVI
·
James
Strickland, Executive Director, Child Incorporated
Updated August 21, 2007
The independent living program at TSBVI, offers an environment where the student is familiarized with and encouraged to perform tasks that will help him or her become an independent and productive member of society. The student participates in menu/activity planning sessions to decide the meals eaten in the house and which activities in the community the group will attend. The student accompanies staff on a regular basis to the grocery store to buy the food to be used in the Independent Living cooking program. A staff and a student helper prepare each meal, with the student cooking as much of the meal as personal abilities allow. The staffs also eat meals with the students, monitoring and instructing them on proper etiquette and eating procedures. Each student is also responsible for laundering and storing his or her own clothes. The students are also responsible for the cleanliness and neatness of their living areas, as well as the rest of the house. The staffs take the students into the community to experience a wide variety of social situations and traveling conditions.