DISCLAIMER: Raw, unedited transcript from webinar. No guarantees are made for the accuracy of the content. ---------- >>"Please stand by for realtime captions." >> We are hearing an echo. >> It is gone. >> That was strange. >> I didn't know where it was coming from. >> I think the trick is if it's not our time, we mute. >> Okay. >> How would you know if I directed a question at you? Okay. Yes. >> I'd like to welcome those of you who have just joined, this is Megan, from NCDB. We will wait two more minutes and then start the webinar . Sit back and we will get going in a minute or two. Thank you. >>[Captioner standing by] >> I am seeing additional people joining in the room. We would like to welcome you. To the webinar today. We will wait one more minute, then we will get going. It is just now at the top of the hour. To make sure people that are trying to login can get that settled. >> Okay. Mr. Mike according to my clock it's 201 according to my clock it's 2:01 PM central time. 12:01 PM Pacific time. Do you want to start with housekeeping then we will get going on the webinar. >> Okay. Yes, thank you Megan. Let me see. Hello everyone. This is Mike Bicknell with NCDB , and I want to begin by welcoming everybody. I will go through some housekeeping items before I handed over to Megan Cody who will kickoff today's webinar. First, all telephone lines have been muted to alleviate background noise. If you find your phone line is not muted you can press*six to meet your phone food , The question-and-answer session will occur at the end of the presentation, however you can put your westerns in the chat box at any time in the presentation. It will be monitored throughout the webinar in preparation for the Q&A session. This webinar will be recorded and archived for future viewing. Please be mindful of any comments, and the chat box and refrain from writing any personal message information. >> I will start recording. >> [This meeting is now being recorded] >> Hello everybody. My name is Megan Cody and I would like to welcome you all to today's webinar on Dakota Cohort Trainings in Deaf-Blindness for Early Interventionists . >> With us today I'm happy to say we have the esteemed Dakota team, known as Rose Moehring and Sherri Nelson from North and South Dakota, to share about their knowledge of what they have done with the open hands, open access module, to help early intervention providers understand about how to identify deaf blindness and high-quality innervation strategies. Without further ado I will turn it over to Rosen Sherry. Also with Sherry today, she will introduce Paul. Look forward to hearing from him as well . >> Rose, take it away. >> Hello everybody. Some of you might have heard part of the presentation when we were at the project officer meeting. We just focus primarily on early interventionist. I did use some of the same materials and have added some things as an introduction. Sherry and I started the Dakota cohort in the summer 2015. We are going into our third year. It's really a dual state collaboration between North and South Dakota deaf blind project and and South Dakota where I work with the advantage of collaborating with the University, able to offer university credits for students. We also use the national deaf blind modules exactly as they are. We need to know how many hours each module worked and then try to get the amount 412 41 credit or two credits. >> Also, the Texas Society for interpreters, to get the ID credits for interpreters. That seems to be the big drive for participating in the module. We realize that our main goal is to work with families and service providers of children with deaf blindness. And what we find is many of the students that we do have do not have, kids that are deaf blind. Some do but almost all of them can apply the information. >> So you all probably know the module by heart now. The order and how many there are, almost 27 now available. From day one we have always offered them in packages are what we call series. Series 1 has always been the first module.. It is a mandatory series, a foundation for the rest of the modules. We strongly suggest people go into series 2 right after. Because it just seems to really flow and build a foundation. It's not mandatory. In series 3 has another four modules. Because so many people were interested in calendars, we removed one of them come module 12 and put in module 13. Those have remained consistent from the get go. >> Series for, it varies from the rest of the remaining modules. This year we added a series 5. We had people kind of spread out. When we did the survey, some people were missing or had gaps in their learning. So we added a series 5 as you can see. This is what is left over as far as initial modules. >> Because we initially tried to have these cut this training at undergraduate and graduate level, the University system really sees it as a continuing education program. So they really lean towards pretty much graduate credits, in the event that we offered it or a student wanted it undergraduate, we had to make the learning a little more challenging or have additional activities. That's when we came up with the idea of additional assignments. Kind of explore resource and do a reflection paper on what you found and how it applies to your life. For series 1 we have always used the video from Perkins reflections on deaf blindness and for the touch, and that by far makes a big impact on all students. >> It really is a nice way to sum up the first four modules. For series 2 because it deals with communication, we always direct them to the communication matrix website. And a lot of the students [indiscernible- static] helpful. A lot of people not familiar with that tool. >> With series 3, we initially started with the Texas school for the blind website on calendar system. And later we added the NCDB literacy site so we give them two options . Again they are really good options. People report back favorable things from both of those sites . >> On series for number four, we varied what the assignment is based on the module package. When we talked about assessment, or accommodations, we gave them an option of the learning media assessment. When we talked about transition we talked about the family matters story of Jake, a student they could look at how his transition was planned and where he is at. And also the national Center website in the I can connect website. The feedback we get from students with the national Center website, they love the personal stories. And I think they can see there are students as adults when they view that site, it makes quite an impression. >> When you start something new, it's like you really don't know if it will work. And you put it out there and try to get advertisement efforts. I will not read through all of these but you will see how South Dakota has advertised, and North Dakota has advertised. Keep in mind that I am not part of the Department of Education agency. So I feel like sometimes I don't have those inroads to list serves or groups of people for advertisement, where Sherry is part of the Department of Education. She has a little bit more access. We do get good participation. I will say North Dakota has more participation than South Dakota. I am not sure if it's due to the pay raises they get or completing credits. Or more active group, whatever. Sherry if you have anything to add on the advertisement? >> I do agree it is probably a lot easier for me to do the advertising. I can send information to Paulette vision services. I know the person that's in charge of the interpreter training program. The offices have access to listserv for teachers of the deaf. I do have access to people, much more readily than you do. I do think that is easier. I do have very good support from the Department of Public instruction, to send out to all of the special ed directors. All of the emails, and most of them I do know. So it is Easy Access that way. >> One of the things that also impacts advertisement and participation, I believe is our models of service delivery. We are in South Dakota it is me. I travel the state and there's no other support, no other collaboration, just me. I might work without reach for school for the deaf, or school for the blind, and when I talk about a student. However North Dakota's module, they are actually, the school for the blind, TA delivery people. There is an expanded word-of-mouth type ongoing process within that agency. It's kind of reflected and who is taking the modules. The school for the deaf or the school for the blind in South Dakota, have not taken the modules and Sherry has had many. I will let Sherry talk about that later, how they support that . that is just something to think about if you're thinking about duplicating this, who your partners are, what your service for the remodel is. >> [indiscernible- static] >> A review of the credit options again. As you are aware, we offer the Dakota cohort certificate of completion for everybody to based on what they have done. And those taking it for University credit, get a transcript. Those list interpreters for the RAD, they have provided me with a form and I give it to the interpreters who track when they complete modules. R ID. It cost $10. Their documentation is that certification of completion, that validates they actually got those modules. >> We did approach agencies at the state level and have gotten approval from therapist, interpreters, to use these credits to meet their needs basically. You always wonder about Ashok -- a SHA, to see if they get it approved or preapproved. We felt like there is kind of a back way to do that under their professional ASHA umbrella. You being a speech an audiologist, have you used ASHA for credit ? >> Yes, we are not a ASHA approved cohort. We have in the past talked about the hoop you have to jump through to become a ASHA approved core. It is expensive. However I have had all of the SLPs send in their certificates, and the information on the modules. We have had no trouble as far as getting professional development continuing education hours. They have been very respecting of that. My background is audiology. Every three years I get audited as far as my continuing education. And I just have to send in like the workshop brochure. A little bit of information and the certificate. And we have had a number of the SLPs send information and now. They have had no trouble with it. >> So for the continuing education for professional development, this has worked out very well. >> Thank you. >> So again we will kind of see the progression of each semester, what we have offered the semester it was offered, and the series that was offered, how many modules. And the number of participants. We hang in there about 30 per semester. Which is kind of a nice number to manage. Sherry and I coteach. We each review the lessons every day, we are in the modules. If we have a problem it is nice to call the other person and say what you think about this one, or is it something that falls more into Sherry's background. Someone made a comment about a cochlear implant, and I didn't know for sure. We kind of let the other person deal with it. It's quite a few people that have been trained, 228 people signed up for the sessions. Some were duplicates. When I counted the actual number, it was 110. Megan had ask us to break down the participants so we could determine who were early interventionist. I have to say, putting together this PowerPoint was a learning experience for Sherry and I, because we've never had that answer. Now we do. We do have a nice graph. Mike Oracle person put it together that I can look at. If somebody says how many modules have so-and-so completed, I can tell you exactly and when they completed it. If somebody jumps out and is gone for a year, I can tell they need this. They all do online registration. Sometimes they forget especially if they have jumped around a little bit. Of those 37, Sherry went through because she knows multiple personnel from North Dakota, better than I do. There were 11 early childhood specialist teachers. We refer to the seven who refer to themselves as early interventionist. We had a large group of pathologist. The teachers of deaf was to and teachers of vision impaired was five, and there were fourth specialist teachers. >> This is kind of a repeat from the prior sessions we did. Kind of a visual map. You can see basically how the modules have grown in numbers in the regions. And spread out across the state. They are color-coded, from the summer of 2016 and we are currently in the fall of 2015. Sherry if you have something to add with North Dakota being your first estate. >> When we first started you could see those that are maybe on the phone, some of the states had very similar, rural, link the states. We were able to get participants from about four of the regions of the state. More dominantly on the eastern part of the state. That is where the greatest number is as far as the census. We did have somebody from central North Dakota and one from the Southwest part of the state. The first summer. >> Okay, keep in mind, these modules were originally intended for interveners. North Dakota has not had an intervenor. South Dakota had three, in the first three were trained from the Utah State University program. These primarily, the first group you see are going to be teachers or interpreters, they will be professional staff, not peer educators participating. >> This is my map to start out with. Where I reside is the largest city, the other city a significantly larger are -- smaller. Where the school for the blind is in both of those regions, there are students who are deaf/blind. >> This is the next map of the North Dakota. Sherry I don't know if you want to explain anything. >> Once again we have had predominance more in the eastern part of the state. We did pull a couple of groups from the Bismarck, the capital area. The green ones in the center of the state, we got a couple of staff members working together on the modules in the fall. That is kind of the pattern we have seen more and more. Of educators. Like SLP, General. Ed teachers , teachers of the death or vision impaired -- death -- teachers of the deaf, and deaf blind . >> [indiscernible] >> South Dakota again you see those, and it's like word-of-mouth. We did have a time when interveners quit and we had to train new people, instead of going through the Utah program they went through the modules. >> You will see Rapid City has a number. We did expand into that area. It wasn't necessarily intervenor, because that person went to the Utah program, but other staff that work with that student developed a interest in deaf/blindness. >> Spring 2016 Sherry. >> This is something I think has evolved on its own. As Rose mentioned, the offering of credits is phenomenal for the participants in North Dakota did so we were able to get somebody way over in the West. Some in the center, teachers of the deaf that had an upcoming child with deaf/blindness leaving the parts he program and transitioning to preschool and part B. Unfortunately, after they completed the modules, the next month the child passed away. We had three staff members that have actually gone through an entire semester of the module in preparation for the child to be moving to preschool. We also even had the preschool coordinator from that area take the modules. That was kind of unfortunate. Just a real demonstration of dedication of staff. For the thirst of the knowledge, and to prepare themselves for a future deaf/blind child coming up in their preschool. Once again we still had more people from the West. I live in the Fargo area. About a fourth of the population lives in the Jamestown area. So we tend to get a lot more participation on the eastern part of the state. >> Again you see the same three cities primarily accessing the modules, kind of interstate, along the interstate, neighboring towns again. Word-of-mouth or access to the modules. >> Again I see also where teachers will pair up and go to the modules together. In the beginning this one set thought they could except the one assignment. And it's like no you have to do your own assignment. The summer 2016 with the yellow, again North Dakota just continues to grow in numbers. South Dakota again, those cities, I did get into the city and I have a student who is deaf/blind whose mother is special ed, a teacher. The new teacher for the student has gone through the modules together. We get at the bang for the buck there. That teacher has shared all of her information of in-service training with other teachers in the school system. That particular community has a lot of immigrants. [indiscernible] the jobs available. I grew up in that neighborhood and the whole appearance of the classroom is not just Caucasian, it is very mixed culture. >> This is the fall 2016. It continues to grow. This is South Dakota 2016. And we have the current, I am not sure. I think the other one was supposed to be, I lost the purple. >>[laughter] >> I think they jumped off the page. Sherry still has just tons more as far as participants. We are happy with what we get. I think it's fair to say Sherry, you and I have talked but this has changed how we do technical assistance in our state. You can just reach so many more people without having to drive six hours or seven hours across the state. We initially provided the modules for free. And just because of the amount of work that goes into them in the clerical support, we charge a fee of $25 per module. If they want university credit it is $40. It is way cheaper than taking up full university course. And it is online, on their own time, and we open up one module at a time. However we have people who are really on the fast pace. We don't hold them back. We just open up the next module and people, we send out a lot of reminders to make sure most of them try to get it done by the end of the semester. Some people, like a parent who had a child that got sick, she had to quit the module for a while. We let her jump in where she left off. To finish the module. And then left them in module three the next semester. We felt like we were very flexible, which is another advantage. >> Rose, I wanted to share some of the comments that were made by the early interventionist. We would interview people, watch videos, but that doesn't work quite so easily. So what we did was gather some comments they made. We did some separate interviews that we will share next after this. But this was in the summer of 2015, information we collected from an early interventionist that works with what we call the Carlson Center. Of private facility in North Dakota. They had early intervention program is one of the providers throughout the state. For those that don't have access, I will read some of the comments that were made. The Dakota cohort has been an exceptional learning experience. Is a new early interventionist I had very little experience working with the deaf blind population. I can now say I feel prepared to teach and assist in the learning process of individuals with deaf blindness. These modules not only provide valuable information on research and educating the deaf blind population, but with hands-on learning. The simulations you complete with the information being prevented his real-life application. Whether you have experience or do not have experience working with the deaf blind, I highly recommend this training for anyone who is in the general Ed/special education field. It has been very rewarding to work with modules. High quality product. We have had nothing but very positive comments. So it is really a great experience. >> Another early interventionist in the fall of 2016, she also works for the and Carlson program in a different town. She said I have learned so much through the first four modules in the Barbara miles video. Trust, respect and integrity through teaching can lead teaching children and wanting to explore and learn and environments that they feel comfortable in, lowering their exam the and raising their self-esteem in the process lowering their anxiety and raising their self-esteem in the process. >> Profound statements. People after a few hours of training feel it is a significant impact on their learning. Many of them have many years of experience. But just haven't worked with a child with deaf/blindness. >> I think these comments are just a few of the ones we chose. There are many more. The next one was in the fall of 2016. This was in early childhood special ed teacher in the summer school. She said it is really difficult to describe to my Perez that when a child does not have hearing or vision, they are seeing and hearing through touch. I taught them how to touch a child so you can create that bond and they can communicate with us. After taking the modules and watching the Barbara miles video, I am altering how I am teaching my students. That was just following modules one through four that she had taken. She also commented before taking this module I had never thought of the calendar as being part of a huge communication network. However, as I have now learned calendars are very much an important part of communication, especially for people who are deaf and blind. That was after modules five through eight. >> Just a couple more that we wanted to share. In the fall of 2017, the residential setting early interventionist. Throughout this class I have been thinking about how I can make accommodations for toddlers who at daycare or learning the calendar. These are people like I said that come from different professions, different semesters. Some very positive comments . >> One more for the summer 2016, this was also another person providing home visiting two families in the Fargo area. I did an interview with Kathy and I will share more about her in just a little bit. She said I have studied levels of communication in the past and am familiar with the categories of communication behavior. However exploring the communication matrix was a real eye-opener for me. I can better understand how the levels of learning and behaviors have an impact on communication attempts and success for each individual child. After filling out the matrix on my student, I came to see that while he made tremendous progress he still has a ways to go.'s parents and I have been focusing on the progress which is wonderful but I still have a lot of coaching to do when encouraging them to an continue to work with him. The matrix form easily shows which categories are mastered, emerging, or not used yet . he is a strong level III. He does well in levels four and five, except for social communication. This is an area we know is a challenge for him but the matrix really points out the special area of needs and gives details about how to address each area. >>'s background is with special education and early childhood special ed. So she has worked in the area of special ed for 25 or more years. And so like I said, this person is very experienced and has been doing home visits a long time. Just another one from 2017. This is a person from South Dakota that's early childhood special ed. >> My opinion prior to taking this class and watching the Barbara miles video is that my student who is four years old and has a visual impairment, along with cognitive and motor delays, is not ready to identify items by touch. However, I have learned how important touches to the students with visual impairment and that it must be a part of their life, because of it is how it he will learn. I will take terms that are completely different from each other and have distinct features to start introducing this task to my student. I will also want these items to be functional for him and the items that he uses or has in his environment. Such as a cup or spoon, plate, fork, sock. I have approached the early childhood speech therapist that sees my student and we are going to work on this together. Our plan is to work on the same three items in her room and in the classroom so he has more chances to become familiar with the items. >> So we are seeing they definitely are impacting not only the person that takes the module, but also the team members they are working with . they are really branching out, sharing resources. Utilizing the information that is being presented. >> I don't know if you want to say anything more about this person. >> She is currently in the modules. She was. And she told me that her student was blind, not deaf blind. She had gotten information about the modules from the visually impaired that consult with their school. To demonstrate many of the comments, maybe not for kids with deaf/blindness but other forms of disability. You really have a huge impact in my mind, for the providers. >> I wanted to share another comment. I mentioned the team from Mina. They were anticipating the child transition to preschool. Wendy was a preschool coordinator. Rose thought it was important to hear, we have had people at the administrative level that have taken the modules. Even her comments were very relevant. She made a note that one point that struck a code much -- struck a chord with me was getting to know families and how they function at home in terms of touch was essential in meeting that same level of touch at school. She talked about how modules had changed her way of doing some of the home visits. And also the respect for the hand, how that impacted her learning. And she also commented I thought it was amazing that I could now see how our students that are nonverbal, likely interpret the adult emotion, just based on how they are handled and cared for during the day. Jerky versus slow and calm movements for example. This is something we should share with all staff. The other item was a notion of joint attention happening through the hands. Such a great example was the little girl's barrette that she only knew after the adult touched the barrette that they experienced the same thing. She said I enjoyed the modules. Doing modules one through four was a great way to integrate new information to make meaningful connections with children. >> We thought that was really important, and administrator that was a teacher for a number of years, actually worked with the Eddie program for 12 to 10 years. And now working with preschool. >> It has been universal as for as the staff we have had participate in the modules. >> Rosen I wanted to share with out one way of gathering information was to interview a couple of our staff. The first one on the left, with a group of five ladies. Alanna is the one in the middle. [indiscernible] and Deb is to the left. To other staff. These are all [indiscernible]. They are outreach staff that go into the homes and do joint visits with the early interventionist. Lana has been in the field for a number of years, a teacher of the visually impaired. She has taken 13 of the modules. And when I ask what does she see as far as her knowledge now. She said I think I'm better at using strategies [music playing in the background] >>. Can everybody hear me okay? When asked how she implements when she learns, she said I use the community, communication matrix much more. I use it to develop goals much more than I ever did in the past. >> Another question we asked, since the modules were not an originally intended for young children, did you have to do anything to translate the knowledge you gained into your practice? Lana commented no. You look at them as young learners and you look at the development level, not age. One thing she mentioned, there were a couple of hours that have said this, there may be not enough videos for example for a six-month-old who has just identified as blind. And to look at those very early on identification videos. As far as what she shared with others, she said she shared the communication matrix, the information in the website. That and some of the videos for transition. >> The second person that I interviewed I wanted to share with Kathy. She's an early childhood specialist teacher. She does home visits in the Fargo area. And you know when asked why she participated she said of course, sorry Sherry but I needed credits for my licensure. That has been a big selling point for most of the participants in the state of North Dakota. Teachers can get a pay raise by getting so many credits. A BA +15, BA +45. A Masters, etc., etc. Said continuing education is seen as a real benefit and they are reimbursed financially for that. >> A couple of points I wanted to make about what Kathy had to say, we asked which modules did she find most helpful. Module number four. Relationship. That was the most beneficial for her. I learned the hard way working with kids, I often would jump in and play with them that they would often backup and not want to do anything for me. I had to relearn to give them time and to pace my time with them. Also she said she definitely enjoyed the communication module. >> When asked as she was implementing what she learned, she said I am a lot more careful about the response I use. I no longer grab hands and try to get a child to clap or sing along with me. When I play peekaboo I don't grab their hands like I used to. I have them place their hands on mine, it's much more effective. I get them to request help or teach my hands much more often now. This information has brought to my attention through the module. You must develop trust and work on relationship first. I thought that was very impactful . >> The next person I wanted to mention, Sandy. Also early childhood specialist. Working for and Carlson. The mission and Carlson. And why she enrolled was not only the credits but it's very cost effective and so convenient to do them online. >> Her knowledge prior to the module, she had no training in early childhood special ed. In hearing loss or vision. She took 13 of the modules. What she noted was I am much more aware of what it feels like to have the combination of vision and hearing loss. I feel I can relate better to infants and toddlers. She said that she doesn't feel that the module has helped her identify or make new referrals. However I talked to her supervisor, who is a coordinator for the early intervention program. That was the first thing that Stephanie said to me was that Andy had picked up three kids that had vision losses and hearing losses, just in the last two months. After she had taken about 13 of the modules. She didn't feel like it had made a big impact on her, but her supervisor had definitely noted that she picked up on those sensory losses much better than she had. That is phenomenal. To think that she has been working in that field many years, but now she is better able to identify sensory losses. >> When I asked her how she implemented what she had learned, she said everything I have learned to be modified. The simulations were so helpful that we know how children feel. But I was able to adapt everything to the age group, based on the ability level of the child I worked with. She said I would disagree that the modules are just for interveners. Actually I feel they were designed for all teachers. I adapt everything to the work I do, everything you said applies to all, any age, any ability. And she talked about she had a new teacher this semester for the summer and she had encourage the teacher to take the modules. She feels that she shares the resources to all her coworkers and she has used many of them with the parents. She commented that she felt the videos were the most powerful tool in the course. >> I do have a few more. I don't know Rose if you have anything to add? >> I have a couple of interviews also. Did you do more interviews, do you want to mention them? >> Those are the three I did. I did have a couple of comments from people, from this semester. But we can do that after your interviews. >> Sure. >> The very first comment you saw, really comments that Sherry and I grabbed off of the reflection paper. You will see them referred to the Rebbe site to the website through review. We wanted more targeted questions and that's why Sherry and I developed a list. Now you are hearing the responses from people that we actually interviewed over the phone. I do not have pictures. I people didn't want to send them in. It's okay their information is good. To people that I interviewed were both speech language pathologist. And early childhood settings. Of they found out about the modules, one principle of the school shared the information. Throughout the school. And the other one, she sent an email and visited with a friend who had taken the modules. One participated because she definitely was looking for the credit. However, this is Miss superwoman. One summer she took for series all at once. We told people take one series but when we saw she can do all for, I was amazed, so it is possible to do all four of the series. She is back into the modules. One of the significant changes is her school has just decided that in order to climb the career ladder, you do not need university credit, you just need a certificate of completion. So she is back into the modules. Not having to pay for the University credit in order to climb the ladder. >> That particular person said she didn't know very much about death/blindness when she started. She has taken 16 modules. Now she is in 21, 25 and 26. She feels like she has a moderate level of understanding. However she did comment it's pretty hard to know if you understand it well if you don't have a student that is deaf/blind to implement it on. She does have some kids with vision impairment in her classroom. She thought for sure module number two which has lots of deaf and blindness, and the module 13, calendar system, was the most helpful for her. She has not identified a student with deaf/blindness so she uses the information such as the calendar system. More to concrete objects. Pictures. She realizes through the boxes that deaf blindness you need to individualize everything for the student. With CIGNA your -- with severe cognitive impairment. She is also using more picture in schedules, so a combination of objects and pictures. >> She does have a coworker who just started taking the modules. Again prompted by the supervisor. In my mind if you have a coworker, that gives you now a strong foundation of shared knowledge. The ability to make better plans. >> She really didn't think there was much missing but she did really like the progression of the modules and what she gleaned from them. Curious wise are you planning on continuing I asked, I thought she would drop out after the first 16. She said she plans to continue. Actually upon completion of the credit or program, she will get reimbursed $50 from her supervisor. So a kickback for her in that way. >> This other one was so heartwarming for me. You know your students from a distance you don't always know their situation, and to you interview them. This particular person works in a public school in the same town that the school for the blind is located and they share mutual facilities. I believe she wanted to take the modules because she had a student who was blind but she knew a little bit about death/blindness. So she described having no knowledge at that time. And she has completed the first four of the modules and modules five through eight. She feels she is at an 80% understanding of deaf/blindness in compared to her staff. She realizes if she referred herself to someone in the field she would be [indiscernible]. Her favorite modules were communication. It is interesting because sometimes I wonder are these modules really useful for speech pathologist. They probably learned it all in school and we are finding most, they struggle with how to provide services to those children with significant disability. And she's doing an awesome job. She does not have a student with deaf/blindness, however she implemented what she learned. She is more comped as conscious of having a controlled environment, to be a good observer of the student, to figure what they are communicating. To be in tuned to the sense of touch and spatial expression of nonverbal. Translating the modules for younger kids, she said you always need to tweak what you're doing anyway for the individual. She has focused on the developmental level I guess, uses objects more. I asked her how she used the schemes and the parents. And she shared what she knows at IT meetings. Like a lone soldier like the rest of the team, they did understand the language. However they shared the student with a speech pathologist from the school for the blind come mention that person had taken some of the modules and have more extensive training in deaf blindness. They are able to support each other. I think having two people say the same thing probably makes a greater impact . >> So that was kind of the interviews. The first thought we had about how to gather information was with the survey. We had such a low response, we sent it to everybody. I keep list serves and every semesters students involved in learning. I sent it out to everybody. We got like three back. That's why we went to the interviews. The three that we got back however were pretty awesome. I would kind of describe what they said. They are all from North Dakota. One person is a teacher of vision impaired, certified mobility instructor but she is going to school to become a teacher of the deaf/blind, look out world she's coming our way. She doesn't awesome job. I have seen her present at EIR conferences. She really shares her knowledge with people. Reading her knowledge prior to the module was some, working with students 3 to 5. She is among five people who by the end of the summer will have been done with all of the modules. Everything. She is a full-time student, has a full-time job and doing the modules. It amazes me her energy. She is a kid, that's probably how. Modules 11 and 13 were her favorite. Her strategies were really helpful for working with students with multiple disabilities. She liked the calendars. >> The strategies she now uses his hand underhand technique for many students. She developed several detectable an object calendar systems. She does have a para, visual impaired para. That person is completing the modules also. She will be North Dakota's first, she could have the title of intervenor because she will have had the courses. She's also doing an excellent job. What she found most useful was the videos. And also many attached resources and websites. >> She shared her knowledge with parents and other staff. During IEP meetings, it changed her practice. These modules have changed her approach in working with students with multiple disabilities. Made her a better teacher. Which in turn has made her students better learners. She thinks they are appropriate for the early childhood education arena. And they are very comprehensive and she would like to see more in transition and working with adult agencies. She has had not that module yet so we will have her covered. >> Another one. This person also works in North Dakota as a teacher for the deaf. She has a hearing loss herself so you will see some of that reflected in her responses. She is a long time staff person. Her knowledge about deaf blindness she thought was adequate. The most useful module was you module tool number two, and strategies she liked understanding the information about brain development. Really realizes we take a lot for granted. She loved the video stories. She shared information with others and she talks about the modules and how useful they are with other people. She changed her practice, it made her relook at the children she serves and share with teams what they need to be addressing. What really warmed my heart was she said that how it impacted students and that teams are asking her to help write more appropriate goals to meet the child's needs, versus the systems needs. She reminds teachers and parents that even though the strategies found in modules look like they for older kids they can be used for younger kids. And she did comment that she thought maybe there could be some more videos on early intervention, video clips or strategies. What to watch for at that young age. >> The only comment she had was because of her hearing loss, some of the, I think a video that deals with water. That was kind of hard for her to hear with the water in the background. There is close captioning on the module so that would be an option for her I guess. >> And the last one, the speech person that's taken modules one through four, and before 3 to 5 she had no knowledge prior to taking the modules. The most useful module, she didn't really have anything specific in that area, but said it opened her eyes to better understanding of students and families about deaf blindness. It kind of struck her that it is important as an intervenor to hit home with her. She liked all modules. She has been able to identify with kids with dual sensory loss as part of her training. She did have a comment about she hasn't really shared the information with any parent or providers. But she does have a student with deaf blindness and the parent speaks Spanish. They are dealing with that. The difficulty in communicating in general, let alone the strategies she has learned. >> Have you shared your knowledge you gain with team members, yes. The teacher of the deaf who also did one of these surveys, worked with her team to observe and screen the child. The team of teachers were so impressed to see the support . so we see where we are crossing over, going to a team meeting and they are sharing the information. >> And how the modules help, the students you're helping with yes. More so I feel like I can tap into the resources to better support him because I don't have all the answers. >> I think that was pretty much it from her. That is kind of a summary of the interviews and the information we have to provide. I think we were going to also have Paul say a few comments. If there's any questions we can take those at the end. >> She put a picture of me. I would be happy to. Every time I have an opportunity to visit with Sherry and Rose I learn more. I have seen the statistics in the past, in terms of for instance, how many people have taken the modules and how it breaks down. I might not always have the perfect memory of all of that. But those are impressive numbers. I think for two rule states working together, that has been something that is really amazing, that we have been able to put up numbers like that. I want to give you a little bit of background of my interest in this. As an administrator, it can be easy to not pay enough attention to an important program like this. Because it is a small population of students in North Dakota. I don't recall but typically the Midshipman-30s in Dakota . A number of those kids I have had direct contact with. Sherry mentioned the comment that [indiscernible] made previously. Much of my experience over the last 25 years, perhaps maybe more in the last 15, looking at 10 to 15 years ago, Mona and I were working closely together with the number of students with dual sensory loss. Her level of ability has always been pretty high and her commitment is high. But what I noticed, confidence in improving her ability to solve, using the main tricks matrix. One of the things I believe and I hear this from several of our staff who are all teachers of the visually impaired and regional coordinators. Two or three that have had the most experience with working in recent years, with these children, since taking modules is that they are starting point, it's at a much higher level. They themselves are doing the problem-solving and working with parents and other providers. In terms of looking at basic communication. Again Lana's commitment has always been impressive to me. And my background as a mobility instructor, I worked with her collaboratively. It was me working with her, she would give me a rundown on what the students program was like, sharing IEP information with me. But I was there to assist with mobility primarily. In doing that I learned a lot about that student and what their communication was like across the board. How they were doing in every aspect of their life. And again, some of those components were in place, but I think as she said, her level of confidence has really improved. My original exposure to students with visual impairment and the hearing impairment, was my very's, my first year at the school 25 years ago, working with young adults and youth. I would say there were little items of success. But there was a lot of just following our gut in terms of how to work effectively with those young people. Again to me, it's sometimes a forgotten population. And maybe even more so, when one of those sensory losses is predominant in the other is less. So the lesser or less visible, less obvious sensory impairment, I think many times is neglected. And I think through this training, people are learning it is really, it is all impacting that student's education and with the benefit could be, when this training is in place. >> Again that starting point for individuals, I think is really enhanced. >> I do want to just say, I look at myself as being an objective person. I am pretty bias I say, I think the program has been pretty good here. The collaboration between Sherry and Rose, the comments I hear from our staff. They are very positive in terms of several things. First of all the platform in which they are delivering the modules has been very effective. One of our staff members, my coworkers who has a low-vision condition, was new to taking the first set of modules the past year. With the accessibility issues. I don't recall all the issues with that. But using his computer to access that material, initially they had to work through some bug so he could access that most effectively. He commented also it was a great deal of support. But I think for an individual who first of all is getting accustomed to learning this way, the learning curve there is with getting content through the modules, I think that has gone fairly well. I understand things change periodically, and everyone including Rose and Sherry, sometimes have to really quickly learn. Ahead of the students. I have been very impressed with that. I am bias, I think it has gone about as smoothly as one could expect. But the most important part is besides the content being very high-quality, just looking at Lacey longs comment about the quality of the content. She is a very smart woman. If she was not impressed with the content, she would either be polite about it and say, or not say anything at all. But it is very good content. My exposure to modules unfortunately is helping one of them through NCDB. That was my first assignment and I halted . I know the content is very good and I have quite an interest in it. I do have the goal of participating at some point again in the future . >> The last thing I wanted to say, part of my motivation to seeing this be successful is one of the states I visited in the past a couple of times is Utah. Utah has been a leader in this area. Working with students with dual impairments. I was on an accreditation visit with Utah schools for the deaf and blind. I recall asking at that point in time, because I had been working with Sherry, and she expressed an interest in [indiscernible]. Can you hear me? >> I can hear you. >> Good. We lost our monitor. I will finish up by saying this Utah is a larger state population -wise. But I recall asking when I was down there, because it was an interest of mine, how many interveners there were. I know there were more than 70 at that point in time. I was appalled that although we are smaller we did not have a single person, again the knowledge and awareness that that training was available, but secondly the gumption to see it through. To have some people appropriately trained. We may be on the verge of getting our first intervener in North Dakota but the modules are going a long way to get people good training. That is all I have to say. >> Okay, thank you Paul. This kind of sums up what we have done through the cohort. I don't know if there's any particular questions on your end? >> This is Megan. I see someone typing so she may be putting in a question. Hugely encouraging report out, for people that cannot see. It is a huge and encouraging report out. Especially when you consider you have been able to train 37 early intervention as. We all know that access to quality training is always an issue. For providers to learn about deaf blindness. The innovation using the modules, with direct providers, is really amazing. Knowing the content helps not only with the intervention practice, but also with referrals. I was interested to hear when you were talking about the fact one director had mentioned there person that had been to the training had found five more. That's remarkable in such a rural state. You guys are to be commended for that. I admin are -- admire your commitment. I know it's an evening, weekend, nonstop, attention to detail task you have taken on. It is great. >> Linda asked the question what will be next steps based on the successes you have experienced to date? And in training for EI providers and in training of interveners? >> This is Rose. There were a couple, professional programs released. I did write for one for the teachers of deaf blind certificate programs, through three universities collaboration. I think we will hear sometime in July, we realize that we've been doing this three years. At some point we may have trained everybody, or [indiscernible]. That personal grant, one of the options was to choose early intervention. In my mind, the way the modules are set up, you could have gone that way, instead of the local part B. Were always looking at tying in what we do with other agencies. Now that we have that early intervention framework in my mind, I am thinking if we grab some of those videos, maybe take it as a resource. If people are wanting to know how this really applies, I can't use the calendar system with a baby, but just tweaking it and making it better. We are making it better by your suggestions. >> Thank you for answering that question. I would like to hear feedback, there's always the concern that the videos in the home modules don't really necessarily pertain to infants. But the concept of the practice of intervention does, but there's not actually babies in the videos. There were concerns from states. I know about using them to teach intervention practices to make sure they can transfer the skills. It seems like you guys have had some success doing that, through adding additional things here and there that >> My thought is, we have like five people who will be done with everything. They are hungry for knowledge. If we get a module on the literacy side, I could see maybe setting a separate class, something with that. Or I have to admit, I haven't spent much time at all on the early intervention framework, to package that into a class. Just seeing what is out there. And then meeting our need by training people, but meeting the teachers need by giving them credit. So I'm not sure what will happen. It depends on what happens on your guys end. >> This is Sherry. I was gonna mention, Linda, Rose and I talked about setting up a community of practice. Having one maybe around SLPs. One around early intervention. Quite honestly we don't have a lot of time in between. We are so busy trying to get people through the modules, set up for the next semester, and surveying everybody. On what to do next. But we have talked about really wanting to get more of a community of practice to facilitate some kind of Facebook page or something that we can share resources specific to early intervention. That is something that we are talking about. And we would appreciate any input or suggestions you would have. We see that is people want to hear more about ideas and strategies, evidence-based practices. To really focus on early intervention. >> And Linda back to your question about specific training for early intervention providers, interveners, the use of the early intervention framework we see one idea. I feel in South Dakota, we started on a good track with interveners and they all went to Utah State University. I was fine with that. It doesn't matter. But we had a group of them from one school take the modules. The kind of quit after a while. Like to 16 and no desire to get a certificate or continue learning. I'm not quite sure how to deal with that issue. Three people working with one student because of the burnout rate. I do not support that but I have no control over that. I have another intervener that takes four modules every semester. She will be 90. Again she is not pushing for the certificate. I think what you have to do, providing TA, it has to be based on the level of interest . if you don't have anybody interested like interveners, I am happy to train teachers. Maybe that's what the focuses for a while. I will have to problem solve on what I will do with these interveners. I am not part of the Department of Education, I don't have the state support . they don't feel like unless there's a mandate that they have interveners, that they will support that. You could build up your training through interveners, or marketed to teachers. Maybe the teachers themselves will recognize that students need interveners. We will see what happens. >> This is Megan from NCDB . That is a great point. The other thing I noticed, I think it was Sherry that said it. The word of mouth piece has helped with creating continued enrollment in your cohort. Which is excited it, if you can get the early in her meanest early, it becomes more of their practice early interveners early, it becomes more of their practice. So they can make transition plans, to be for them to begin to use those modules to be prepared for that child that they will receive. A cool part of coaching the parents and the part C people. Part of what you are to do is coach the part B providers to get ready to use these to prepare yourself. >> Linda says for those that cannot see the chat pod, your comments from your experiences are so informative for our TA planning. Lots of efforts are underway in our DB TA network so we can share the load by doing training collaboratively, including setting up communities of practice together amongst practitioners, perhaps with a focus on part C and focus on part B. >> A good idea. >> That is great Linda. >> Does anybody else have any questions for Rose or Sherry. Feel free to hit*six to unmute your phone. Or you can type it into the chat pod. >> Roast you want to put contact information combat slide up next -- Rose, do you want to put the contact information slide up next? >> There it is. One of the things, when you move to charges a fee for credit. Teachers have been doing that all this time. But how do you sort out between meeting teacher needs and meeting the needs of teachers of students with deaf blindness. If the school doesn't support the training, then that trait, teacher, it's doing more TA. I don't want to make a buck off of this at the risk of not serving a student. Sherry and I talked about setting up guidelines like maybe we should offer any new referral with the deaf blind student, get modules one through four for free. Make it hard to say no to. That it meets our needs and their needs also. Like the intervener we just got, this girl from North Dakota, wants to take these modules. She's an intervener and doesn't get any pay really, no kickback. We thought let her in free. It is meeting her need and the North Dakota needs. We need to set up some guidelines so that it is not just all about teacher credit. We have to look at the TA part as well. >> This is Megan again, a quick question. You may have mentioned it, do you allow people from other states to enroll in your cohort? >> We are careful because we don't want to step on toes. Usually what we do is we say does your state offer anything similar? Some states, that is the direction they want to go. I don't want to pull their people if they have a plan. They might have a different plan than what we do. And if I call the project director in that state like Iowa, and they say no, we are moving in that direction. So I back out. I long time ago when we first started, and we had our flyers and we were asked to talk about the project, somebody from Wyoming thought she could join. You have to be careful because you can't say yes to somebody and no to somebody else. She has been with us since day one. Currently we have an interpreter from that state that has jumped on. Again if we give the teachers the deaf blind certificate, that is kind of for the Midwest so it might open doors for anybody in our region to participate in the program. >> I do think with as many interpreters as we get, wanting to take the modules for really cheap credits, $10 for them to get in [indiscernible] credit. Maybe we should develop something for interpreters. The Texas Society for interpreters who works with me, has been easy getting this approved. She thought is it okay if I market this at my training. And its, we cannot get an undated. In undated. It could be interpreters are looking for summer jobs and some of the interpreters I work within the North Dakota have taken the modules. You could possibly set something up just for them. It could be multistate. We have somebody from the state of Pennsylvania, an interpreter. So it could be one of the cheapest ways they can get credit. Interveners I have had in South Dakota, interpreters first, it makes sense to train interpreters because they might get a student with deaf blindness. >> That is helpful. Deanna says thank you for sharing this information. It was nice to hear what other states are doing and how they are using the modules. It is very exciting for the kids. I would actually agree with her. It is exciting. I keep going back to the miracle that we have gotten 37 part C providers to engage in learning online. To change those intervention practices. It is awesome. >> We have about eight minutes left. Does anyone else have any questions for Rose and Sherry today? >> Particularly related to the next steps, follow-up TA, things related to part C. >> Linda is typing. Hang on. >> She said it was powerful to hear from the school for the blind administrator. It is, thank you Paul again for coming. >> Everybody is afraid to unmute. [laughter] >> All right. It doesn't appear that we have any more questions. I'm sure everybody that joined today, has been sitting and thinking about how they can use these modules and other creative ways. For part C and beyond, to get more training to more people because they know it is needed across our great states, great country. All around. Everybody needs it. Thank you for your time. Thank you Paul for pulling away. For comments and sharing insight. Sherry for taking your time to talk about how it's made such an impact in your state. Really remarkable. From the archive, this will be available on the NCDB site . Mike put the link in the chat pod. It will be available in the next few days if you want to go back and look at the slides or hear what Sherry, Rose and Paul had to say again. Without further ado, a huge thanks to everybody for joining. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. And for making sure tons of people in your state get high-quality training. Everyone have a happy fourth of July. We look forward to seeing everybody again soon. >> If I might, happy birthday to Sherry. >> Yes, we started off with that. Today is Sherry's birthday. Several thanks for teaching on your birthday. >> Rose said to put the slides forward because the top dial TA DA. A perfect example of the Dakotas also. >> So cute. >> Sherry made me put all three of her grandkids slides in their. In their. Anyway, thank you did >> Adorable. >> Thank you everybody. Thank you Mike for your help. Thank you everyone. >> Goodbye. >>[Event concluded]