The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

NCDB
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NCDB Highlights
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NCDB HIGHLIGHTS

CHILD COUNT

NCDB staff conducted an instructional webinar on changes to the 2007 National Deaf-Blind Child Count. The webinar provided an overview of the new 2007 forms to be used by all state/multi-state deaf-blind projects for the December 1st, 2007 child count. The new National Child Count Reporting Materials can be found on the NCDB website.

LITERACY

The NCDB Literacy work group has developed outcomes and performance indicators in the area of literacy for both the Service Provider and Child domains. Literacy will also be the focus of the NCDB Topical workshop to be held in May, 2007.

PERSONNEL TRAINING

NCDB will host the second Personnel Training Focus Group meeting in New Orleans in early November to continue work on developing a national personnel training consortium related to deaf-blindness.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Area 1

Technical assistance with the Idaho state deaf-blind project has focused on developing a short, easy to use video (DVD format) to share with new staff when a student who is deaf-blind is transitioning to an educational and/or work setting. The video content demonstrates the student's communication skills, daily schedule, work aptitudes, and behavior. The new staff can easily watch and review the video to get to know the student.

Area 2

NCDB partnered with the North Dakota state deaf-blind project to offer a three-day workshop on communication development. The training involved conducting on-site assessments of children in the child’s natural environment, sharing information and resources related to communication, and developing action plans to address the child’s communication needs. Long-term follow-up will be conducted to determine the impact of the workshop on both the service providers and the children.

Area 3

NCDB collaborated with South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida in an effort to improve post secondary outcomes for youth who are deaf-blind. Twenty young adults with dual sensory impairments attended a three day workshop focused on increasing leadership and self-advocacy skills.

Area 4

NCDB is working with all of the 14 states in the Area 4 Community of Practice, Creativity and Supports (COPCS) endeavor. COPCS has identified several key areas of work for the coming year. In September, members will begin a major initiative to aggregate child change data across the region. In preparation, NCDB sponsored on-site TA visits with each state project in order to set up an evaluation system that can be used to capture the data.

NEWS & EVENTS

Getting in Touch with Literacy Conference 2007

Charting a Course to Literacy is the theme of this national conference highlighting the literacy needs of individuals with visual impairment. Many of the planned sessions will address strategies for children with multiple impairments or deaf-blindness. To be held in St. Pete Beach, Florida, November 29th - December 2nd, 2007. Complete conference information can be found on the conference website.

Dr. Jan van Dijk to present at fall conferences

State projects in Mississippi, New York, and Wisconsin will each feature Dr. Jan van Dijk at workshops in October and November. For contact and registration info visit News and Announcements at NCDB.

Deafblindness: Educational Service Guidelines

The current draft of the guidelines is now in the peer review process with comments due October 1st. It is anticipated that the guidelines will support efforts in advocating for services for students who are deaf-blind and provide a foundation for training. For more information about this publication contact Marianne.Riggio@perkins.org.

PRODUCTS & PUBLICATIONS

Practice Perspectives
NCDB has published the first issue of Practice Perspectives, a new serial publication highlighting information in deaf-blindness. The first issue, Harmonious Interactions, describes the importance of teaching families and educators the techniques to create and maintain high-quality interactions with children who are deaf-blind.

New Book on Cortical Visual Impairment
Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention by Christine Roman-Lantzy is now available from AFB.

Intervener Booklet
Interveners in the Classroom: Guidelines for Teams Working with Students Who Are Deafblind is a new publication out of SKI-HI Institute at Utah State University. Authors are Linda Alsop, Cindy Robinson, Karen Goehl, Jenny Lace, Maurice Belote, & Gloria Rodriguez-Gil. Contact Linda Alsop for availability and cost.

Teacher Info
NCDB provides a selected group of informational materials for those classroom teachers who are new to the student who is deaf-blind. This New Teacher Packet is available from the NCDB website. The packet can also be ordered from an information specialist at (800) 438-9376 or email info@nationaldb.org.

E-News Subscription info

Would you like to receive the NCDB e-News? Send a blank message to; ncdb_e-news-subscribe-request@tr.wou.edu or contact Randy Klumph klumphr@wou.edu for assistance. NCDB e-News is also available online.

Funded through award #H326T060002 by the U.S. Department of Education, OSERS, OSEP. The opinions and policies expressed by this publication do not necessarily reflect those of The Teaching Research Institute, or the U.S. Department of Education.