The
fundamental goal of Montana's
IDEA Services For Children And
Young Adults With Deaf-Blindness
Project, including the Advisory
committee and all its members,
is to empower Montana's individuals
with deaf-blindness, by providing
them, their families and service
providers an array of technical
assistance and training opportunities
specifically designed to meet
the individual and unique needs
of children and young adults
0-21 that are identified as having
deaf-blindness. The services
provided by the Deaf-Blind Project
are available in all settings
and environments dictated by
the precise and unique needs
of each individual with deaf-blindness.
Deaf-blindness is a loss in both the vision
and hearing senses. This condition affects over
8,000 children between birth and 21 years of age in
the United States. Deaf-blindness has over 70 known
causes; however, regardless of the cause, the challenges
of Deaf-blindness are lifelong. Appropriate education
must address both the hearing and vision impairments,
as well as any other disabilities that may be present.
The impact of hearing and visual loss varies greatly
across individuals. The sensory losses occur in varying
degrees with each person and a child need not exhibit
all of the symptomatic behaviors identified in this
brochure to be considered Deaf-Blind. For example,
a child may show only one of the behaviors that indicates
a hearing impairment, but show several of the behaviors
that indicate a vision impairment. The combined effects
of both of these sensory losses, even if both are
mild, may qualify him or her for Deaf-Blind services.
Parents and professionals, upon observing these behaviors,
may need assistance in confirming the sensory loss.
Contacting the Montana IDEA Services for Children
and Youth with Deaf-Blindness is the first step to
securing assistance. The U.S. Department
of Education defines children with Deaf-Blindness
as "children and youth having auditory and visual
impairments, the combination of which creates such
severe communication and other developmental and learning
needs that they cannot be appropriately educated without
special education and related services, beyond those
that would be provided solely for children with hearing
impairments, visual impairments, or severe disabilities,
to address their educational needs due to these concurrent
disabilities."
Behaviors that may
indicate a Dual Sensory Impairment
The following questions are designed to help parents
and professionals determine if there is a possibility
of a vision and hearing loss. If you answer yes to
questions in both of the following sections, the child
may have a dual sensory loss (Deaf-Blindness) and
should receive complete vision and hearing assessments.
The Montana IDEA Services for Children and Youth with
Deaf-Blindness can assist with referrals for assessments.
Behaviors
that may indicate a visual impairment
Does the child or student…
bump into objects?
move hesitantly or walks close to the wall?
search for objects or touches them in an uncertain
way?
tilt his/her head to see?
request additional or different kinds of lighting?
hold books or other visual material close to
the face?
drop objects or knocks them over?
show difficulty making out faces or the numbers
that designate rooms or floors?
act confused or disoriented; for example, walks
into the wrong room by mistake?
Behaviors
that may indicate a hearing impairment
Does the child or student…
give no response when spoken to?
often give irrelevant or incorrect responses
to questions?
seem unable to follow spoken directions to carry
out an activity?
often say, "huh?" or "what?"
and requires repetition?
seem unaware that others are talking and interrupts
conversations?
seem to have a behavioral problem or is irritable?
express confusion or uncertainty when unable
to understand?
hold head in an abnormal position to listen "better";
seems unable to locate the source of sound?
watch a speaker's face intently?
seem inattentive, but pays more attention to
visual things?
speak more loudly or softly than expected for
a situation; have an unusual vocal tone, resonance,
or pattern of speaking?
use gestures and objects to get attention more
than would be expected?
seem to have language problems (structure, syntax,
and vocabulary)?
seem to withdraw from interaction
in groups?have
frequent colds, earaches or ear infections,
and allergies?
breathe through his/her mouth more than through
his/her nose?
complain or show signs of ear pain, fullness
in the ear, dizziness, or balance problems?
Montana
IDEA Services for Children and Young Adults with
with Deaf-Blindness Project
Assistance in identification
Functional vision and/or hearing assessment
On-site technical assistance (e.g., one-on-one
consultation, group or staff consultation, program
design and/or review, observation, etc.) for families,
educators, and others based on individual needs,
requests, and/or referrals.
Information on Deaf-Blindness and educational implications
Additional trainings, consultants, resources
Interagency/Interdisciplinary collaboration
In service
workshops
based at
Access to programs, professionals, and parents
who are involved with individuals who are Deaf-Blind
and their families
Assistance and/or participation in Individualized
Education Program (IEP) meetings/writing
Assistance and/or participation in Child Study
Team (CST) meetings/writing
Project Goals
The services provided by the Montana Deaf-Blind
Project are based upon the following Project
Goals:
Goal 1
Public Awareness: Provide essential
information through Project dissemination activities
to families, family support organizations, child
and family service providers, early intervention
agencies, local education agencies, medical facilities,
professional organizations, and state agencies
concerning services and resources for children
and young adults with deaf-blindness and their
families.
Goal 2
Identification of Children who are
Deaf-Blind: To synchronize the Project ’s child find
activities with other state and private agencies
in order to seek out, identify and refer children
who are, or may be, at risk for being deaf-blind.
Goal 3
Family Services: Provide individual family
oriented technical assistance and training designed
to empower families on their involvement in the
education of children who are deaf-blind.
Goal 4
Technical Assistance to Education and
Service Provider Personnel: Provide technical assistance
and training designed to make possible the implementation
of best practices in the provision of education
and related services for children with deaf-blindness.
Goal 5
Community Coordination and Collaboration: To
promote interagency collaboration, coordination
and development of resources devised to educate
and support children with deaf-blindness and
their families in their school and community
environments
Goal 6
Project Evaluation and Management: Evaluate
the impact of Project services and activities
on consumers and partners and methodically administer
the Project based on suitable and practical evaluation
information.
A - Z to Deafblindness http://www.deafblind.com
James Gallagher, who is deaf blind, compiled information and links to useful information
about deafness, blindness, and especially deaf blindness.
American Association of the Deaf-Blind http://www.aadb.org
American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB) is a national consumer advocacy
organization for people who have combined hearing and vision impairments. AADB
is open to all persons who are deaf-blind and individuals directly concerned
with their well being, including spouses, children, friends, and health care
professionals.
Deaf-Blind Perspectives http://www.tr.wou.edu/tr/dbp/
Deaf Blind Perspectives is a free publication with articles, essays, and topics
related to deaf-blind people. Published three times a year by Teaching Research
Division of Western Oregon
Helen Keller National Center (HKNC) http://www.hknc.org
HKNC is a national program, with headquarters in New York, which provides diagnostic
evaluation, short-term comprehensive rehabilitation and personal adjustment training,
work experience, and placement to youths and adults, in the United States, who
are deaf-blind. HKNC's role is to ensure that these youths and adults receive
the skills, training, and support necessary to live and work in the community
of their choice.
DB-LINK: The National Information Clearinghouse
on Children Who Are Deaf-Blind http://www.tr.wou.edu/dblink/
DB-LINK is a federally funded information and referral service that identifies,
coordinates, and disseminates (at no cost) information related to children and
youth who are deaf-blind (ages 0 to 21 years
NTAC: The National Technical Assistance Consortium
for Children and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind http://tr.wou.edu/ntac
The National Technical Assistance Consortium for Children
and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind provides technical
assistance to families and agencies serving children
and young adults who are deaf-blind. The primary mission
of NTAC is to assist states in improving the quality
of services for individuals (birth to age 28) who are
deaf-blind; and to increase the numbers of children,
young adults, their families, and their service providers
who will benefit from these services.
