L Penny Rosenblum, Ph.D.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Rosenblum is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona where she joined the faculty in August 1999. She prepares teachers to work with children with visual impairments (TVIs) and currently coordinate a project to prepare ten TVIs for the state of Nevada.  From December 2008 to August 2010, Dr. Rosenblum worked with Dr. Carole Beal in Cognitive Sciences on a NSF project to explore the experiences of middle school blind children in regards to math problem solving.

As a person with low vision Dr. Rosenblum is able to share first-hand information with future teachers about the impact of a visual impairment on the lives of children and adults. Dr. Rosenblum has been a teacher of children with visual impairments and multiple disabilities in Pennsylvania (2 years), South Carolina (3 years), and Arizona (3 years). She is especially interested in the social aspects of having a disability and in how best to prepare teachers to meet both the academic and social needs of children.

Dr. Rosenblum received her bachelor’s degree from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania (1986), her master’s from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee (1989), and the her doctorate from the University of Arizona (1997). Her dissertation examined the best friendships of 40 adolescents with visual impairment. She is the co-author of Finding Wheels with Dr. Anne Corn. This curriculum is designed to assist adolescents with visual impairments to explore their options as nondrivers. With staff at the American Printing House for the Blind she produced the video Reclaiming Independence: Staying in the Driver’s Seat When You No Longer Drive and wrote the accompanying resource guide. She has published in journals, has written book chapters and curricula. Dr. Rosenblum has been invited to present workshops in several states and Canadian provinces on topics ranging from nondriving for individuals with visual impairments, social skills, Nemeth code, and early literacy for braille readers.

Dr. Rosenblum has worked as a consultant for the Hadley School for the Blind in the development of curriculum for family members of children with visual impairments. She has worked with the American Foundation for the Blind, specifically on the development of content for the FamilyConnect web site. Dr. Rosenblum worked for Touch Graphics, a New York based company, on the development of the Authoring Tool to be used with the Talking Tactile Tablet.