About the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

NCDB is a national technical assistance (TA) and dissemination center for children and youth who are deaf-blind. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In partnership with state deaf-blind TA projects throughout the U.S., NCDB conducts initiatives and activities to achieve the following goals:

• increase the capacity of state and local early intervention and education agencies to improve policies and practices for children and youth who are deaf-blind;
• promote the use of evidence-based practices; and
• increase the capacity of families to develop relationships with fellow families, service providers, and others, and expand their knowledge of deaf-blindness and skills in self-advocacy and self-empowerment.

NCDB brings together the resources of three agencies with long histories of expertise in the field of deaf-blindness, The Teaching Research Institute (TRI) at Western Oregon University, the Helen Keller National Center (HKNC), and the Hilton/Perkins Program at Perkins School for the Blind.

In September, 2011, NCDB was awarded two additional years of funding to continue building on work done in the previous funding cycle and to incorporate new focus areas. The new work targets technical assistance and dissemination efforts through four initiatives: Early Identification, Family Engagement, Interveners, and Technology Solutions. NCDB, in collaboration with state projects, will explore new infrastructures and innovations for the delivery of technical assistance that serve to strengthen and build the capacity of the national Deaf-Blind Project network.