New Course from OIB-TAC: Sew Independent: Teaching Sewing to Individuals with Vision Impairment

OIB-TAC is excited to share that we have a new course available, Sew Independent: Teaching Sewing to Individuals with Vision Impairment.

This course equips vision rehabilitation professionals with the foundational skills and strategies needed to teach basic hand sewing to adults with vision loss. Participants will learn adaptive techniques for threading needles, making essential stitches, and attaching buttons, while fostering confidence and independence in learners. The course emphasizes safety, organization, and practical teaching methods to overcome common barriers and promote success. By the end, professionals will be prepared to integrate sewing into independent living and clothing management training as both a functional and leisure activity.

Course Objectives:

1. Identify three common barriers that prevent individuals with vision impairment from completing basic sewing tasks.
2. Demonstrate competence in threading a needle and sewing a basting stitch, back stitch, hemming stitch, and attaching a button using adaptive techniques.
3. Describe three instructional strategies that promote learner success and a positive attitude toward sewing. 

This course is available for 2 ACVREP credits.

Click here to learn more or enroll in the course!

OIB-TAC February Webinar: Navajo Elders, Blindness, and Cultural Competence: Part 2

Join OIB-TAC on February 20, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. CT, for our next webinar! Join us for Part 2 of this enlightening presentation by disability advocate, Sacheen Smith. This webinar explores culturally competent practices when working with Navajo (Diné) Elders who are blind or have low vision. Drawing on key insights from Native Communities on Health and Disability: Borderland Dialogues, the session highlights how cultural worldviews, relational communication styles, and traditional understandings of disability shape the experiences of Navajo Elders.

Participants will learn how oral tradition, cultural silence, family-centered decision-making, and concepts of hózhó (balance and harmony) influence service engagement and trust-building. This guidance emphasizes respectful collaboration with families, recognition of traditional healing perspectives, and strategies that honor autonomy, dignity, and cultural identity.

Attendees will gain practical approaches to enhance service delivery, reduce barriers, and support self-determination for Navajo Elders with blindness or low vision.

Sacheen Smith is a Diné (Navajo) artist, advocate, and presenter dedicated to advancing disability rights, youth empowerment, and creative expression. With decades of leadership in national organizations, she brings her lived experience as a blind Diné woman to keynote talks, policy advocacy, mentorship, and arts education. Her work spans exhibitions, publications, and community initiatives, championing accessible education and uplifting individuals with disabilities across diverse communities. This webinar is supported by the New Mexico Commission for the Blind.

This webinar is available for one ACVREP credit. Visit the following link to find instructions on how to obtain CE credits.

Click here to register for our February Webinar!

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