FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

APRIL 13, 2002

COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN DIVISION ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS PRESENTS 2002 AWARDS AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY

DIVISION ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

          The Council for Exceptional Children’s Division on Visual Impairments was proud to present the Distinguished Service Award to Lou Alonso at the International Conference in New York City last week.

          Ms. Alonso was awarded this distinguished honor for her decades of service and contribution to the field of blindness and visual impairments.  For more than 40 years at Michigan State University she recruited and mentored students while coordinating the teacher preparation program in blindness and visual impairment.  She also initiated the program in deaf blindness, and advocated for the addition of the Orientation and Mobility curriculum.  Through Ms. Alonso’s leadership, most graduates of the program were dually or triply certified resulting in a higher level of service to the student population they assisted.

          Her commitment to the field was further demonstrated by her involvement in the development of the Special Education Program Outcomes Guide, Visual Impairment and the companion volume, Performance Checklists.  These guides functioned as tools for assessment, curriculum planning, and advocacy, and dramatically improved services for students with blindness and visual impairment in Michigan .  Other contributions included editorial support for the development of Foundations of Blindness and Hand in Hand: It Can Be Done.

          In addition to teaching, mentoring, and scholarship, Ms. Alonso was actively involved in service to the field.  From 1969 to 1970, she served as president of the Division on Visual Impairments.  She also served on the Council for Exceptional Children’s Standing Committee on Professional Standards and Practice to establish teacher competencies in the field of blindness and visual impairment.  From 1968 to 1989 she served as co-founder, associate editor, and field reader for the Council’s Teaching Exceptional Children as well as associate editor of Exceptional Children from 1972 to 1978.  She was a contributing editor to American Foundation for the Blind’s Low Vision Abstracts, and was a long-term advisor and consultant to The Blind Children’s Fund.

          Over the years Ms. Alonso has received several other prominent awards.  In 1988 she was the recipient of Michigan State University ’s Outstanding Faculty Award and in 1989 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Michigan Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. She was also awarded Michigan State University ’s Outstanding Alumni award in 1990 as well as the Anne Sullivan Medal for dedication to children with deafblindness. 

The Division on Visual Impairments is proud and honored to award Ms. Lou Alonso the Distinguished Service Award for 2002.

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For further information about the Division on Visual Impairments Distinguished Service Award, contact Dr. Stuart Wittenstein at (510) 794-3816.