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The Visual Disabilities program at Northern Illinois University
>> [Female]: We're known in our community as being top notch.
>> Jennifer Yesaitis: And so it wasn't a hard choice.
It was the most, kind of, the most "duh" decision I've ever made.
>> Tamera Tillman: It's not your average graduate program.
It's a two-year program - high-intensity.
>>Tara Brown-Ogilvie: In the area they're like, "Oh you're from NIU? Okay, like, I want to hire you."
Like, a lot of people are like, "Wow, NIU is the best!"
>> Yesaitis: Its one of the top programs in the nation.
We have rave reviews and people call from everywhere around the United States to try and get our graduates.
>>Tillman: Certain universities were only offering one braille class
and it was combined with the advanced braille class they had.
But this one is specifically distinguished literary braille
and namath code which is the braille code for math.
>> Steve Pohl: there are a lot of opportunities to be under blindfold in the program and
and that really is a good teacher to a student of
of all the challenges of having a visual impairment.
>> Anna Peskin: And I can teach the skills to someone else and give them the freedom to
safely and independently travel.
>> Yesaitis: Faculty are absolutely amazing.
I have never been more close with a set of professionals in my life.
>> Pohl: The faculty has been very positive that was when the reasons I
chose to come here.
>> Tillman: There's, you know, a Nemeth Mathematics method called the Kapperman Method
and he's sitting right downstairs.
Brown-Ogilvie: There's high demand and not enough supply so there tends to be a lot of jobs.
They just tend to be in different locations throughout the United States,
so as long as you're willing to relocate, there should probably be a job.
>> Tillman: And so there's a really huge demand
for people who are coming out of this program.
>> Gaylen Kapperman: Teaching blind people is a career that brings with it many, many advantages.
First of all, there is a desperate need for
well trained individuals to work with both blinded children and adults.
The job market is extraordinarily favorable for those who are looking for jobs in the area.
And it's an extraordinarily rewarding career.
If you really want to make your life count for something
that is - leave the world better then you found it -
then teaching blind individuals is the career for you.
Contact the Visual Disabilities program
at Northern Illinois University by email at seed@niu.edu.