I founded and chaired the Special Needs Vision Clinic; a non-profit United Way/ Lions/Lioness International Center for handicapped children, low vision individuals, and seniors. The clinic also serves indigent populations. The Special Needs Clinic has been serving Mid-Michigan since 1982.
I am the founder and first director of The Institute for Innovative Blind Navigation (IIBN). This center was established in October, 1997. After a year of planning and working collaboratively with Michigan State University, we established the Institute in Saginaw, Michigan. Through a grant with NEC Foundation of America, IIBN put on four regional seminars between 2000 and 2002, called "Advances in Wayfinding Technology". These seminars were held in Michigan, California, the State of Washington, and in Florida.
I am one of the founders of "The John Moore Community of Tomorrow School." I helped an inner city elementary school form partnerships that resulted in the reorganization and re-energizing of the school. We wired the entire school to the internet, set up a "super computer", and bought (and updated) state of the art technologies. Budget cuts killed the John Moore School (building and all!) at the end of 2004, but it was a great ride and many kids benefited while it lasted.
I created a program at the Millet Center (where I work) called "Community Travel for Physically Impaired Students." The community travel program now serves about 45 to 50 students, mostly physically impaired children in wheelchairs, but also including deaf/blind, blind, LD (perceptually impaired), and deaf kids. This program uses principles from my orientation and mobility curriculum to teach navigationally impaired students (whether they are, or are not blind).
I created and still manage three listserves: The orientation and mobility list (800 members); the navigation experts list (100 members); and a Wayfinding Curriculum list linking teachers of blind children in a common project (25 members).
In about 1998, I became the first president of the Heritage Square Association, a historic district where I live in Saginaw, Michigan. I suggested to my neighbors that we use the park in the center of our community as a focal point for bringing us together. Thanks to the hard work and exceptional individual effort of neighbors, this park is now 75% complete (we have raised over $200,000 for park development). We plant flowers every spring throughout the historic district (called Neighbor's Growing Together).
In 2003, I founded the Old Town Saginaw Music Association (OTSMA). This is an organization of grass roots Saginaw Valley musicians. For the past ten years, I played in a Celtic band called Equinox. After I left the band, I felt the need to continue creating and playing music with friends. OTSMA took off like a rocket as talented musicians from the area stepped up to lead the way (with great energy). OTSMA has open microphone nights, jam sessions in local restaurants, a song writers group, and their own converted church for performances.
In 2004, I began a collaboration with Dan Kish, CEO of World Access for the Blind. Dan and I work on wearable computer solutions for the blind. It is too soon to say where this partnership might lead, but the journey is fun. Our two agencies sponsored and managed the first World Congress on Blind Navigation Technologies- at the NFB Jernigan Institute (Baltimore), October, 2005. As a result of the international gathering, I became the national chairman for the development of autonomous vehicles for the blind, and Dan became the national chairman for the Alternative Perception team. Our agencies are also collaborating on a book about the state of the art of sophisticated wayfinding technologies for the blind.
I am the author of four internet "books" and a couple internet-based special education curriculums.
In 2005, I began advocating for a Mid-Michigan Center for Assistive Technology. My goal is to connect the special education world with the scientists and engineers who are creating the future, and with the medical, university, and business communities in the Saginaw Valley. I am most interested in wearable computers (digital vision- thanks to the ideas of Steve Mann at the University of Toronto and Dan Kish, CEO of World Access for the Blind) and in intelligent ground vehicles- for blind and visually impaired consumers, especially children.
Many, many years ago, I received a Dr. of Optometry diploma from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. Prior to that degree I attained a Bachelors in Visual Science, based on credits from four years of work at Mott College in Flint Michigan, and at the University of Michigan. After the doctorate, I got a Masters of Blind Rehabilitation from Western Michigan University, specializing in Orientation and Mobility.
All of my professional career has been with handicapped children at the Millet Learning Center in Saginaw, Michigan. I did work for a while during the summers with elderly blind individuals through the Michigan Commission for the blind. I have been working at the Millet Center since January, 1980.
On a more personal note, I have been married since 1968 (my wife is a very talented school psychologist), and I am blessed with three beautiful children (Noah, Tyler, and Anna), and one awesome grand kid, Jared. Life is hectic, but good.
I have special interests in several areas, including: the neuropsychology of vision (brain mechanisms), child development, international blindness, human navigation and orientation, and in the area of technology and education (the future and its impact). This e-book enables me to continually think about these areas of interest; it's a "playground in the mind" for me; a mental place I go for pleasure.
doug@wayfinding.net