Products
NCDB produces materials and products that are relevant to services for children who are deaf-blind. In collaboration with state deaf-blind projects and other partners, we create resources designed to help technical assistance providers, service providers, and families improve outcomes for children.
Identification and Referral
Early Identification and Referral Self-Assessment Guide
This guide provides state deaf-blind projects with a systematic process to make decisions about their early identification efforts.
Early Identification and Referral Toolbox
This resource provides information and materials that state deaf-blind projects can use in collaboration with state service systems to improve identification of infants and young children who are deaf-blind.
Family Engagement
Providing Technical Assistance to Families: A Guide for State Deaf-Blind Projects
Supporting families is a key responsibility of state deaf-blind projects. This typically involves helping family members learn about deaf-blindness, bringing families together, and providing referrals. This guide provides information and resources to help state deaf-blind projects carry out these essential activities.
Recommended Knowledge and Skills for State Deaf-Blind Project Family Engagement Coordinators
This document outlines recommended knowledge and skills for individuals who serve in the role of family engagement coordinator for state deaf-blind projects. Areas covered include the educational and developmental needs of children who are deaf-blind, accessing and influencing services and systems, and consultation, training, and technical assistance.
This report emerged in response to a growing need to elevate family voices as a driving force in the decision-making and collaborative efforts of the Deaf-Blind Technical Assistance Network.
In these video stories, families share their children's experiences in the following areas: communication, literacy, movement, transition, empowerment, and teaming.
This series of webpages on a variety of topics provides information and resources that families of children who are deaf-blind can use to help them navigate their child's services and support their families.
This report highlights collaborative activities between state deaf-blind projects and state parent centers in their work to support families.
Interveners and Qualified Personnel
Intervener Services and Interveners in Educational Settings: Definition
This national definition of intervener services was developed to fulfill one of the implementation strategies that emerged in the Recommendations for Improving Intervener Services (2012). It was initially published 2013 and updated in 2018 and 2021.
This discussion guide was designed to help IEP teams make informed decisions about whether intervener services are appropriate for a particular student.
Recommendations for Improving Intervener Services
Published at the request of the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), these recommendations provide a road map for the development of intervener services in the U.S.
Tools to Employ and Support Interveners
This resource describes the work interveners do to provide one-to-one support for children who are deaf-blind and offers detailed information on employing and supporting them. Additionally it describes intervener roles and responsibilities, how to navigate the employment process, and intervener training and certification.
Increasing Recognition and Use of Qualified Personnel: State Success Stories
This resource describes progress made by a number of state deaf-blind projects that have engaged in systemic-change activities to establish or strengthen intervener or teacher of the deaf-blind services, including training and support.
Transition
This video product used footage from interviews with youth, families, and service providers who shared their transition experiences during institutes held in 2012 and 2015. It offers insights and understanding into best practices in transition planning.
READY Tool: Readiness Evaluation of Transition to Adulthood for Deaf-Blind Youth
A tool to help transition teams, which include the student who is deaf-blind, parents, and professionals determine essential activities during the transition process.
A repository of information, tools, and resources for hosting transition institutes for youth who are deaf-blind and their families.
These recommendations are based on a comprehensive review of laws, policies, and best practices related to transition as well extensive interviews with experts. Topics include work experiences, community activities, school and adult agency collaboration, qualified personnel, and education for families.
This series of articles provides a variety of perspectives on navigating the challenges and opportunities of adult life including building self-determination, establishing community connections, and developing the skills needed for future employment and lifelong learning.
Technical Assistance
Implementing Evidence-Based Practices for Children Who Are Deaf-Blind: A TA Reference Guide
This guide is intended for use by state deaf-blind projects to inform the provision of technical assistance to early intervention providers, school-based teams, and families. It is based on a synthesis and adaptation of implementation science and TA literature and input from state deaf-blind project personnel.
Changing Systems: Moving Beyond Child-Specific Technical Assistance
The purpose of this guide is to support state deaf-blind projects in addressing the needs of children and families by planning and implementing systems-change activities. Based on implementation science but summarized and adapted for the unique needs of low-incidence disabilities, it covers a wide variety of topics including assessing needs and capacity, defining problems, identifying outcomes, and working with partners and implementation teams.
Access to the General Education Curriculum
Providing access to the general education curriculum (GEC) is required by law for all students with disabilities. This webpage includes resources for state deaf-blind projects to learn about this important topic and what they can do to help families and educators provide access to the GEC for students who are deaf-blind.
Professional Development
Module 1: The Impact of Deafblindness on Learning and Development
Module 1 provides need-to-know, practical information that teachers and early intervention providers can put to use right away in their classrooms and other settings, with children birth through 21.
Open Hands, Open Access (OHOA): Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning Modules
These modules are designed to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills related to intervention for students who are deaf-blind and being served in educational settings.
Professional Development Opportunities
This webpage provides information about opportunities in the U.S. for teachers and related service providers to learn about deaf-blindness and instructional practices for children and youth who are deaf-blind. Available opportunities come in a variety of forms including online courses, webinars, and self-study modules. It includes details about continuing education points.
These practice guides outline essential components of instructional practices commonly used with children who are deaf-blind. They are primarily intended as a tool for state deaf-blind project personnel and practitioners to inform training and coaching needs.
Literacy for Children with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss Website
This site provides many strategies for teaching literacy to students at any development level. It is designed to be used by teachers, state deaf-blind projects, and families.
Literacy for Children Who Are Deaf-Blind: Building a Foundation Module
This module is meant to be used in conjunction with the website Literacy for Children with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss. The website covers a full range of literacy skills, but this module focuses primarily on two topics: foundations for literacy and early emergent literacy.
This collection of resources was designed to be used by state deaf-blind projects to provide customized training and technical assistance to early intervention providers and families.
National Child Count
National Deaf-Blind Child Count Annual Reports
This report provides extensive information on the population of children identified with deaf-blindness in the U.S., aged birth through 21. Data includes state and national information on demographics, type and severity of vision and hearing loss, causes of deaf-blindness, additional disabilities, and more.
National Deaf-Blind Child Count Interactive Maps
These maps offer a visual display of data from National Deaf-Blind Child Count Reports for 2008 through 2019.
Accessibility
Accessibility Toolkit for State Deaf-Blind Projects
This toolkit provides basic information and resources intended to help state deaf-blind projects evaluate the accessibility of their current materials and create accessible documents and online content.