January Monthly Update
2019 National Child Count Report
The 2019 National Child Count Report has been published. Annual National Deaf-Blind Child Count reports provide critical information to guide technical assistance, personnel preparation, scholarship, and research related to deaf-blindness in children and youth. If you have questions, contact Robbin Bull.
New Transition Success Story
A new transition success story has been posted. Alex Steinbrick, a young adult who is deaf-blind, first wrote about his transition experiences for NCDB in 2018. Two years later he provides an update called College and Work: A New Phase of My Life, in which he discusses the many skills he learned, the importance of supportive colleagues, and how technology has helped him along the way.
Intervener Success Story: West Virginia
West Virginia SensAbilities has worked hard to get interveners recognized in their state. In the last year, the number of children with interveners increased from 9 to 23. Quite an accomplishment. They achieved this by understanding their state's educational system and aligning their efforts with existing educational structures and cultures.
Read stories about other states efforts to increase recognition of interveners in their state.
2020 Virtual DB Summit Comes to a Close
We are wrapping up the 2020 Virtual DB Summit series this month. The last session will be on January 20th at 3 pm ET, when Sam Morgan, Emma Nelson, and Robbin Bull will discuss key elements of increasing identification and referral.
We want to thank all of the presenters who gave their time and effort to make this comprehensive series of events possible. The recordings for the Child-specific TA and Systems TA strands are available in the State Deaf-Blind Project Basecamp group (must be logged in to access). The recordings for the Deaf-Blind Strategies Strand are on our website.
Website Highlight: TA Resources
Did you know that key technical assistance resources are available in one location on our website? You'll find them at the bottom of the NCDB Support for State Deaf-Blind Projects page. They include links to national initiatives, technical assistance guides, information from OSEP, and more! If you need assistance or have questions, contact Sam Morgan.
Accessibility Resource: Inclusive Design for Accessible Presentations
With the increase of online events, it's important to use inclusive design when developing every aspect of a presentation. The tips in Inclusive Design for Accessible Presentations explain how to create accessible slides, structure your presentation, and prepare post production materials.
New Family Key Topic
Authentic connection is essential for growth and development. It takes place in many ways. A new "Key Topic for Families" on the NCDB website called The Power of Connection provides resources to help families understand this important topic.
New Articles
The Fall 2020 issue of reSources (Vol. 25, No. 2) from California Deafblind Services has several new articles about distance learning.
Other new articles of interest:
Costain, K. (2020). Tactile hypersensitivity and “overwhelming subjectivity” in the touch experience of people with congenital deafblindness: Implications for a touch-based pedagogy. Frontiers in Education, 5 (article 582808).
Lund, E. M. (2020). Post-secondary employment and education outcomes of young adults reporting both vision and hearing impairments in the high school longitudinal study of 2009. JADARA, 53(3), 11-23.
Programs for deafblind youth and adults. (2020). American Annals of the Deaf, 165(2),
255-265.
If you need help accessing any of these articles, contact support@nationaldb.org.
Past Webinars
Upcoming Events
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Did you miss last month's update? Click on the link below to read about the activities and events that were posted last month.