Fall 2007 Table of Contents
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A Note From the Texas Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (TAPVI)

By Shawna Tausch, TAPVI President, Lockhart, TX

Abstract: President of a state parent association tells about her family. Texas Association for the Parents of Children with Visual Impairment (TAPVI) schedules monthly membership meetings.

Keywords: parent association, visual impairment, blind, TAPVI

Hello to all. It has been a busy summer and is shaping up to be an even busier year. Let me introduce myself. My name is Shawna Tausch and I will be your TAPVI president for the 2007-2008 year.

My husband, Eddie, and I currently have seven children in our household. We are a foster family, so the number changes periodically. There are two girls and five boys that range in age from 13 years to 8 months. Two of my biological children are visually impaired. Ben and Logan are ten- and eight-years-old. Both boys inherited the gene for x-linked recessive juvenile retinoschisis from me. Ben also has a prosthetic eye (with which he has developed quite a comedic following).

Those that know me will attest to my talkative and outgoing nature. If you have any questions about the boys’ condition or any other aspect of our family life, feel free to ask. I am not shy about sharing.

Professionally, I am a parent. I serve on several educational advisory committees as well the board of directors for AVIT (Association of and for Visually Impaired Texans). I also volunteer to assist parents in preparing for ARD meetings.

Now that the introductions are out of the way, I want to share with you my vision for TAPVI this year, as well as the years to come. As most of you know, TAPVI membership requirements have changed. If you have any questions regarding the dual TAPVI/NAPVI membership please call me. I also want to establish a support group in each region. TAPVI decided in the beginning that we would establish our regions to match the ESCs in Texas. That means we will need 20 regional representatives. If you are interested in fulfilling this role, or assisting in any way, call me.

Ultimately, I would love to see TAPVI host a family conference in addition to being able to sponsor families at the NAPVI family conference in Los Angeles, during the summer of 2008. We are going to need everyone’s help to build a strong family network.

The toll free number 1-877-55TAPVI (82784) is up and running. It rings directly to my cell phone between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. Use it!!!! I want to hear from our members. Without your input we will go nowhere.

We will also be conducting monthly one-hour conference calls for the general membership. These conferences take place on the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. (October 17, 2007, November 19, 2007, December 17, 2007, January 21, 2008, February 18, 2008, March 17, 2008, April 21, 2008, May 19, 2008.) For those wishing to participate, an 800 number and password will be posted on the family listserv, <http://lists.topica.com/lists/txvifamily/>. Please join us when you can.

I look forward to working with all of you. It’s going to be a great year.

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Last Revision: December 11, 2007