Meet APH Scholar Missy Garber

APH is proud to recognize Missy Garber, nominated by Gregory Gerhart, Educational Consultant and Ex-Officio Trustee, as one of our 2025-2026 APH Scholars.  

Missy’s connection with APH spans 28 years, beginning as a parent using APH products with her daughter who has Lebers Congenital Amaurosis, continuing through her work in TVI preparation programs, and extending to her 16 years as an itinerant Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments in Pennsylvania. Her professional contributions to the field of blindness or low vision are multifaceted. Beyond her Pennsylvania TVI certification, she recently completed the DeafBlind graduate program at the University of Utah, earning a teaching endorsement in DeafBlindness. She has served as an instructor in TVI preparation coursework in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Indiana, helping to shape the next generation of vision professionals.  

Her commitment to the field also extends to policy and advisory roles. She serves on two sensory advisory committees for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Special Education: Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Education of Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired (PACES-BVI) and Pennsylvania Advisory Committee on Education of Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired (PaDBAC). Additionally (and when not injured), she volunteers as a guide for runners who are blind or low vision through Achilles International, demonstrating her dedication to supporting individuals with blindness or low vision beyond the educational context. 

Utilizing APH Products 

Missy’s journey with APH began with the iconic yellow APH light box, which she and her (then) toddler played with to help maximize her available vision in exploring 2-dimensional representations of common objects in her world. “Throughout her education, my daughter benefited from numerous APH products, from the Light Box Pattern Set, to tactile graph paper, to Quick Pick math flash cards − all undoubtedly contributing to her development into the independent and successful blind adult she is today,” says Missy Garber. 

As a practicing TVI and teacher educator, Missy has maintained an extensive working knowledge of APH materials, ordering and utilizing approximately two-thirds of the products in the 2024-2025 catalog with her students. In her current role, she serves a diverse caseload of school-age students, including braille learners, those with low vision, and students with multiple disabilities such as CVI and DeafBlindness. She implements APH products through both direct instruction and classroom integration, ensuring students have consistent access to essential tools like light boxes, slant boards, tactile graphics binders, hundreds charts, as well as large print and braille measuring tools. This dual approach to implementation ensures that students can access appropriate materials not only during their sessions, but throughout their school day.  

The broad spectrum of student characteristics she works with has inspired Missy to develop creative uses of APH products to meet each individual student’s needs. For instance, she repurposed components of the Classroom Calendar Kit to create individualized desk copies for calendar and weather activities and used a Tactile Book Builder Kit as a portable communication book for a student with DeafBlindness. When able, she shares these innovative applications through social media to help other professionals maximize the potential of APH resources. 

Praise for Missy 

In her current role, Missy serves a diverse caseload of school-age students, including those with low vision, braille learners, and students with multiple disabilities. She creatively adapts APH products to meet individual student needs, ensuring they have consistent access to essential tools. Her innovative approaches have a profound impact on her students’ education and beyond. 

“I have had the privilege of working closely with Missy on multiple projects, committees, and stakeholder groups, where I have witnessed her exceptional contributions firsthand,” says Gregory Gerhart, Educational Consultant and Ex-Officio Trustee. 

Looking Toward the Future 

Attending the APH Annual Meeting as an APH Scholar provides invaluable opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with other professionals in the field of blindness or low vision, including state and national leaders. “I am particularly eager to learn about new APH products, initiatives, and services that could benefit my K-12 students and their educational teams,” says Garber. “My combined experience as a parent, practitioner, teacher educator, and advisory committee member position me to contribute meaningful insights to discussions about product development, implementation strategies, and policy considerations.”  

“Attending the APH Annual Meeting as an APH Scholar would provide Missy with invaluable opportunities to exchange ideas with other professionals,” says Gerhart. “Her passion, dedication, and unwavering commitment to her students exemplify the qualities that the American Printing House Scholar Program seeks to recognize. I am confident that she will continue to positively impact the lives of blind or low vision students.” 

More About the Program 

Each year, EOTs are asked to nominate someone they feel provides outstanding service in their region. Through a scholarship, awardees attend the APH Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY as a guest of APH. APH pays for all expenses in attending the conference, including transportation to the meeting, conference registration, and hotel accommodations.  

APH invites these scholars to share their experiences with the rest of the users of APH products and services via webinars and course reviews. During the spring Trustee Advisory Committee Meeting, scholars will be asked to participate in a panel discussion about their service to individuals who are blind or have a visual impairment as well as participate in the review of APH products and services with the committee.  

We look forward to meeting all our APH 2025-2026 Scholars at this year’s Annual Meeting.