After a short-lived career teaching middle school math, Bristowan Christina Evans found her calling in teaching and supporting Oklahoma’s blind and visually impaired students. In answering the call she felt God make upon her life, she fell in love with serving her students. She has been teaching those students for 24 years and operates her own business, Mobilized Vision, LLC.
While recalling the length of her career as a Certified Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, COMS, her heart audibly smiled. Her words bore an unmistakable grateful and joyous tone as she spoke: “Really, I came into teaching visually impaired students by what seemed like a surprise circumstance. It’s rare for there to be openings at the Oklahoma School for the Blind. It happens, but it’s rare. A distant relative, who taught at the school, actually alerted my dad to the opening after a long-time teacher retired, thinking I might be interested. Although I knew nothing about teaching blind students, I could not stop thinking about it and felt God calling me to the role. … My goodness! I’ve been working with those students and their families for 24 years now! It’s so incredibly rewarding, meeting them sometimes at age 3 and working with them until they graduate.”
For students and Evans alike, services begin only after the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, DRS, has set up evaluations and determined required thresholds of need have been met. Next, Individualized Education Program, IEP, meetings are set, when services are determined for students. Along with primary caregivers, teachers, professional providers, and the students, themselves, Evans’ serves as an integral part of the students’ teams, saying “My role is to set up students for success in schools and learning with the ultimate goal of the students transitioning to DRS as an adult and being able to join the workforce.”
For students, Evans’ helps to secure assistive technology and materials to help them learn, including iPads or laptops “with special programs that can talk to them”, talking textbooks, and large print and braille books. She has also aided families and students in locating resources to pay for college, vocational/ technical programs, and other methods of continuing education, previously. In the classroom, Evans sometimes classroom, Evans sometimes supports students with a camera that points at the instruction area and projects the lesson material in larger format on a flat screen.
Evans teaches students to read braille, utilize technology, and safely navigate their environments. Specifically, she teaches students cane skills and travel techniques, including how to use technology or listening skills to safely cross streets in her role as a COMS—a professional in short supply with dire need. She said, “It’s a hard skill to learn [crossing by listening], especially when your life’s dependent on it.” She encourages students and families to secure guide dogs when possible. Finally, Evans also instructs teachers on necessary accommodations and how to utilize appropriate technology to support and help students succeed.
As students graduate, Evans remains committed to her calling: “As they transfer to DRS for updated assessments, I can explain what they know and have learned. I make myself available to students as they take their next steps forward if they need it.”
Through her business, Evans contracts with multiple school districts and works in more than 40 buildings throughout the state. She serves students in Edmond, Oklahoma City, Duncan, Pauls Valley, Rush Springs, Broken Arrow, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Bixby, Owasso, Hominy, and more. She also serves students enrolled with Epic Charter Schools. Evans may be reached by email at christina@mobilizedvision.co m.
In answering God’s call upon her life, Evans has supported and served her students and their families for decades, helping them to succeed and live productive lives in spite of their seemingly physical limitations. Bristow is blessed beyond measure to count her as one its own.