Northern Illinois University's nationally known program to prepare educators for visually impaired people continues to answer the desperate call for more teachers in the field. The program, led by 25-year professor Gaylen Kapperman, combines the experience of its four instructors with the latest technology to meet the swelling demand. The numbers of visually impaired children and adults in need of services severely outpaces the numbers of those trained to help.
Artificial vision is a long way off.
Alums from Kapperman's program usually enjoy several good job offers. Their NIU degrees are strong selling points. Student Clare Campagna, who will graduate in December, came to NIU for graduate school after abandoning plans to stay at Purdue University for a master's degree in school counseling. Inspired by a fellow psychology students who was blind, Campagna spent one day observing the work of the Indiana School for the Blind in Indianapolis and changed her plans for the future. Everyone I talked to said Northern Illinois had a program.