vision rehabilitation

Alyssa first started in the field of vision rehabilitation as a job coach for neurodiverse adults in 2013. Working with YAI Seeing Beyond Disability, she partnered with corporate and nonprofit companies to mentor and support ethical job placements in NYC.

She went on to pursue her Master’s in Special Education at the City University of New York (CUNY) Hunter College combined Orientation and Mobility (O&M) / Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT) program with scholarships from The Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. She was awarded the Elena D. Gall Award upon graduation and has maintained national certifications in O&M and VRT since 2015.

Since completing her degree Alyssa has had the privilege of working with VISIONS Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the NYC Department of Education, and the Iowa City Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System to provide services to families in NYC, Long Island, and across the state of Iowa. She has presented at professional conferences, while continuing education in Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) both in the USA and abroad.

Alyssa is an adjunct professor at CUNY Hunter College, guiding Orientation and Mobility lab and advanced theory courses for graduate students. She has provided professional development for vision educators in Latvia, while continuing to work as a mentor for new practitioners entering the field. As an independent provider she has collaborated with Dr. Christine Roman-Lantzy of the Children’s Home in Pittsburgh, PA; Dr. Lotfi Merabet of the The Laboratory for Visual Neuroplasticity at Massachusetts Eye & Ear and Schepens Eye Research Institute in affiliation with Harvard Medical School; and most recently with Dr. John-Ross (JR) Rizzo of NYU Department of Rehabilitation Medicine.