The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's Office for Exceptional Children used its Nov. 10, 2026 bulletin to promote sensory-disability preparation programs, a state vision-screening revision and several free training sessions.
A consortium focused on low-incidence sensory disabilities, supported by the Ohio Deans Compact and the department, offers graduate and undergraduate tracks that cover tuition, books and materials. The visual-impairment licensure sequence spans 22 credit hours over four semesters, and participants must already hold an Ohio teaching license; the hearing-impairment track runs 24 credit hours.
Both require 12 credit hours of reading instruction, three of them in phonics, though candidates who completed those courses earlier need not repeat them. A separate deafblind education certificate — five courses across autumn, spring and summer — is open to people without an Ohio teaching license.
An undergraduate intervener certificate of 30 credit hours includes braille, sign language and assistive technology coursework. Inquiries are directed to Gail Chinn.
The bulletin also relays Ohio Department of Health vision-screening guidance for preschool and school-age children, described as the first revision since 2017 and largely procedural. Listed changes include advice for online and virtual schools, withdrawal of mass-screening language, an observation framework, stereopsis testing alongside 5-foot LEA screening, a revised definition of what counts as a completed referral, and added recordkeeping material.
Upcoming free professional learning includes a virtual math series for upper-elementary intervention specialists, general educators and teams (Dec. 9, 2026; Jan. 20, Feb. 24 and March 3, 2027, 4–5:15 p.m. ET), an OCALI assistive-technology session on device access Dec. 9 at 3:30 p.m., and a UDL Power Hour on trauma and school engagement Dec. 1, 7:30–8:30 a.m.