Dr. Elyse Connors Presentation at WARTCLOR

Dr. Elyse M Connors, an Associate Professor at the Department of Blindness & Low Vision Studies, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo Michigan, USA. She has received a Fulbright Scholar grant to visit the University of Lagos, Nigeria, between February and June 2024. Through the visit, she will be assisting in capacity building to implement the newly approved postgraduate degree programmes at the West Africa Regional Research & Training Centre for Low Vision Rehabilitation (WARTCLOR). The first cohort of students for the PGD & MSC Vision Rehabilitation Therapy Program, and the Orientation & Mobility (O&M) programme are expected to commence in September of 2024. Dr. Connors will be working to build capacity for the implementation of the newly approved programs, through the development of lecture materials and resources for new clinical classes. In addition, she will be working with faculty on research projects related to Low Vision Rehabilitation. Dr. Connors coordinates post-graduate programs in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy at her home university.

Vision Rehabilitation Therapists teach persons with visual impairment how to carry out activities of daily living in safe and efficient ways. For example, how to cook safely without vision, how to access print information using technology, and how to keep track of money non-visually. Her home university also has postgraduate programs in Orientation and Mobility. Mobility instructors teach persons with visual impairment how to use the long cane, and orientation techniques to keep track of their location in space, to be able to travel safely and efficiently. Dr. Connors earned her Master of Religion at Asbury Seminary, a second Masters degree in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy and Orientation and Mobility at Western Michigan University, and her Ph.D. at Western Michigan University in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. She has published papers on safer medication management for persons with low vision, the use of GIS mapping to target limited resources to address health disparities, and strategies for grass-roots organizations to strengthen the professional discipline of Vision Rehabilitation Therapy.