Danene Fast

Assistant Professor – Clinical, Department of Teaching and Learning

Faculty Lead for the Programs in Visual Impairments

Program Areas:

• Sensory Impairments

• Primary Education

• Inclusive STEM

Danene Fast is an Assistant Professor – Clinical and Faculty Lead for the Programs in Visual Impairments and Orientation and Mobility (O&M) in the Department of Teaching and Learning. Prior to her time at OSU, she was an Outreach Specialist at the Ohio State School for the Blind, dually certified as an orientation and mobility specialist (COMS) and teacher of students with visual impairments. She earned a dual BSEd in elementary and special education from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, an MA in orientation and mobility from Western Michigan University, and her PhD from The Ohio State University.

Her research is centered on accessibility with the goal of improving services for individuals with visual impairments. Applying a constructivist lens, her research emphasizes that learning is a process actualized through both personal experiences and cognitive processes. Informed by a need within the of field of visual impairments and personal experiences, her research agenda focuses on three key areas: (1) transportation accessibility, (2) educational services and accessibility for students with diverse needs in school settings, and (3) addressing teacher shortages in the field of visual impairments to improve accessibility to services. 

• PhD, Visual Impairments, Early Childhood Education & Public Policy, The Ohio State University, 2018 
• MA, Orientation and Mobility, Western Michigan University, 1999
• BSEd, Elementary Education & Special Education for Students with Visual Impairments, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1995

• Ohio State Schoool for the Blind (PK-12)
• State of Delaware, Division for the Visually Impaired (PK-12)

Campus Involvement

• National Leadership Consortium for Sensory Disabilities (NLCSD) Scholar – 2015-2018
• Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Ohio (AERO) – Treasurer – 2014-Present
• Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) – Division for Visual Impairments and Deaf-blindness (DVIDB) – Board Member – 2016-2018

Favorite aspect of Ohio State

I love being a Buckeye and I am incredibly proud of the work we do at The Ohio State University to support future educators. My favorite aspects of this job are direct teaching of university students, collaborating with university personnel to continuously improve programming for future cohorts, and increasing services for students with visual impairments throughout the state of Ohio through these interactions and the implementation of a quality teacher preparation.

• Preparation of O&M Specialists Grant – 2021-22 – State of Ohio, Office of Exceptional Children Project #60078498 ($150,030 – Principal Investigator)
• Preparation of O&M Specialists Grant – 2020-21 – State of Ohio, Office of Exceptional Children Project #60078498 ($150,030 – Principal Investigator)
• Delta Gamma Foundation 2018 – Braillewriter Purchase of Equipment to Support Education of Students with Visual Impairment ($10,000 – co-author of grant (Wild and Fast) and administrator of funds)

Journal Articles:

• Miyauchi, H., Fast, D., & Wild, T. (in-press). Keeping Schools for the Blind Vital in an Era of Inclusion:  Key Elements for Success. Journal of Visual Impairments and Blindness.
• Wild, T., Shaheen, N., Fast, D., Averill, J., Koehler, K., & Farrand, K. (2020). Students' with blindness and visual impairments level of engagement in science and engineering practices. Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, 23(1). Available at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/jsesd/vol23/iss1/16
• Fast, D. & Wild, T. (2019). Transporting persons with visual impairments:  knowledge of university campus transportation workers. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.113(2),156–164.
• Wild, T. & Fast, D.  (2019). Presenting at the National Science Teacher’s Associate
• Meeting: Advocating and educating teachers about accessible science for students with visual impairments.  Visual Impairment and Deafblind Education Quarterly.  64(3), 29-34.  Available at: http://dvi.uberflip.com/i/1158233-vidbe-q-64-3-summer-2019 [Invited]
• Wild, T. & Fast, D.  (2019). The Ohio State University Early Childhood Education and Visual Impairment Education Program.  Visual Impairment and Deafblind Education Quarterly.  64(1), 41-87.  Available at: http://dvi.uberflip.com/i/1070942-vidbe-q-64-1-winter-2019 [Invited]
• Fast, D. & Allen, A. (2018). Needs of students with visual impairments in rural settings. The Educator - International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI):  Law and Policy Edition, 32(1), 7-14. Available at: http://icevi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/The-Educator-July-2018.pdf
• Fast, D. & Wild, T. (2018). Teaching science through inquiry based field experiences using orientation and mobility.  Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities, 21(1). Available at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/jsesd/vol21/iss1/4
• Fast, D.  (2018). Transportation accessibility:  Exploring the input of individuals with vision loss to create an in-service training for bus drivers.  The Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, 8(2). Available at: https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir18/jbir0802tc.html
• Fast, D. & Wild, T. (2018). Traveling with science. Science and Children, 55(5), 54-59.
• Fast, D. (2017). Higher education doesn’t always mean, “back-to-school”: CEC conference 2016. Visual Impairment and Deafblind Education Quarterly, 62(1), 25-28. [Invited]
• Farrand, K., Wild, T., Averil, J., Shaheen, K., & Fast, D. (2018).  Improving student self-efficacy: the role of inclusive and innovative out of school programming for students with blindness and visual impairments.  Journal of Blindness, Innovation and Research, 8(2). Available at:  https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir18/jbir0802tc.html
• Rhoads, C., Fast, D., & Travers, H. (2017). An initiative to refine the characteristics and roles of teachers of students with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 111(3), 298-301. [Invited]

Book Chapter

• Fast, D. (2018). Including children with visual impairments in the early childhood classroom. In Farland-Smith, D. Early childhood education. InTechOpen

Edited Research Reports

• Rosenblum, L. P., Chanes-Mora, P., Fast, D., Kaiser, J. T., Wild, T., Herzberg, T. S., Rhoads, C. R., Botsford, K. D., DeGrant, J. N., Hicks, M. A. C., Cook, L. K., & Welch-Grenier, S. (2021). Access and Engagement II: An Examination of How the COVID-19 Pandemic Continued to Impact Students with Visual Impairments, Their Families, and Professionals Nine Months Later, American Foundation for the Blind.
• Rosenblum, L. P., Herzberg, T. S., Wild, T., Botsford, K. D., Fast, D., Kaiser, J. T., Cook, L. K., Hicks, M. A. C., DeGrant, J. N., & McBride, C. R. (2020). Access and Engagement:  Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Students Birth-21 with Visual Impairments, Their Families, and Professionals in the United States and Canada. American Foundation for the Blind.

• Wild, T., Rosenblum, P., Herzberg, T., Fast, D., & Hicks, M. (2021, March). Access and engagement in education of children with visual impairments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES), Online Conference.
• Brock, M., Sato, T., Wild, T., Fast, D., Matsuda, S., Sasaki, G., Todo, N., & Fuchigami, M. (2021, February). Meeting the needs of all learners with disabilities. Interdisciplinary and International Perspectives on Diversity and Inclusion:  Effective Approaches in Education. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
• Wild, T.& Fast, D. (2021, February). Access and Engagement of Students with Visual Impairments during COVID-19. College of Education and Human Ecology (EHE) Research Forum, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
• Bigham, R., Fast, D., &Wild, T.(2021, February).  Blast Off Beyond Blindness. Presented at the annual Ohio Educational Technology Conference, Columbus, Ohio.  (Invited)
• Buoni, S., LaBarre, A., Fast, D., Koehler, K. & Croyle, C. (2021, January).  Learning Media Assessment: An Introduction. Presented for the Outreach Center for Deafness and Blindness. Found at:  https://deafandblindoutreach.org/bvi-screenings-assessments-and-edu-evaluations/LMA-An-Introduction 
• Herbster, H., Croyle, C., Fast, D., & Koehler, K. (2021, January). Low Incidence SensoryDisabilities:  Promoting Access. Ohio Deans Compact, 2021 On-Line Conference.
• Bigham, R., Fast, D., & Wild, T. (2020, November). Blast off beyond blindness. OCALICONLINE 2020, Online Conference.
•  Fast, D. & Kaiser, J. (2020, November). Access and engagement:  O&M responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Orientation and Mobility Specialists Association (OMSA), Online Presentation.
•  Fast, D. & Chiu, Y. (2019, November). Accessibility and the expanded core curriculum in general education settings. OCALICON 2019, Columbus, OH.
•  Wild, T. & Fast. D. (2019, November). Teaching together:  Interdisciplinary teacher education at The Ohio State University. OCALICON 2019, Columbus, OH.
• Fast, D. (2019, September). Improving accessibility, improving access. Sharing Perspectives of Special Education:  A Conversation of Research in the US and Japan, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
•  Wild. T. & Fast, D. (2019, June). Working together: Innovative interdisciplinary teacher education programs at The Ohio State University. Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Ohio: 2019 Summer Forum, Columbus, OH.
• Fast, D. & Wild, T.  (2019, April).  Traveling with science:  Working with specialists to make science accessible for all students. National Science Teacher Association (NSTA), Elementary Extravaganza, St. Louis, MO.
• Chiu, Y. & Fast, D.  (2019, April). Using the expanded core curriculum to accommodate students with visual impairments in science classes. Science Education for Students with   Disabilities (SESD), St. Louis, MO. 
• Fast, D. (2019, February).  Service delivery models for students with vision loss:  An ethnographic study. Poster presented at the 2019 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Conference, Indianapolis, IN.
• Fast, D. (2018, July). Elevating pre-service teaching development through field-based experiences. University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
• Fast, D.  (2018, March).  Traveling with science:  Working with specialists to make science accessible for all students.  National Science Teacher Association (NSTA), Elementary Extravaganza, Atlanta, GA.
• Fast, D.  (2018, March).  Inclusive science practices for students with visual impairments. Science Education for Students with Disabilities (SESD), Atlanta, GA.
• Fast, D. & Pilewskie, A. (2018, February). Racial perceptions of individuals who are blind or visually impaired. Poster presented at CEC-DVIDB, 2018 Council for Exceptional Children, Tampa, FL.
• Fast, D. (2017, July). Transporting persons with visual impairments:  Knowledge of university campus public transportation workers. AER International O&M Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.