This webpage and series of practice guides includes practical resources on assessment and instruction for children and youth with deaf-blindness. The Info Topics covered on the educational practices webpage, contain a collection of information and resources developed by researchers and practitioners.
Deaf-blindness is a rare condition in which an individual has combined hearing and vision loss, thus limiting access to both auditory and visual information. This webpage provides an introduction to deaf-blindness—it's causes, and the diversity of the population of children who are deaf-blind. It includes an overview and links to additional resources on the following aspects of deaf-blindness for children and youth:
- What is deaf-blindness?
- Profiles of children who are deaf-blind
- Causes
- Vision and hearing characteristics
- Education
This course from the National Center on Intensive Intervention provides the foundational information for users interested in learning more about intensive intervention and the DBI process. The module defines intensive intervention and DBI, describes how intensive intervention fits within a tiered system such as MTSS, RTI, or PBIS, demonstrates how intensive intervention can provide a systemic process to deliver specialized instruction for students with disabilities, and provides two case examples to allow viewers to apply new knowledge.
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) is issuing this guidance to provide charter schools, States, State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), other public agencies, parents, and other stakeholders with information regarding the rights of children with disabilities attending charter schools and their parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA or Act).
This document is designed to help parents, students, and the charter school community better understand the rights of students with disabilities under Federal disability-related laws. This includes information about Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
This section from the Training Manual: Collaborative Problem Solving and Dispute Resolution in Special Education, focuses on communication skills which are essential for effective collaboration, including collaborating with parents and families within the development and implementation of high-quality educational programming. This section of the training manual covers types of communication, receiving information, sharing information, and barriers to effective communication.
In this multi-part webinar from the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) presenters Lorig Charkoudian, Ph.D. and Erricka Bridgeford of Community Mediation Maryland introduced participants to the concepts and strategies of Inclusive Listening, a system for listening and reflecting for mediation and facilitation. Inclusive Listening has been developed over the last 15 years by mediators and trainers in Maryland. Inclusive listening honors participants' experiences, supporting them to have the conversation in an authentic way.
IEP teams are intentionally composed of parents, educators, and service providers who bring different expertise to the development of effective educational programs. This resource from the Center for Appropriate Dispute Resolution in Special Education (CADRE) includes suggestions on how educators and service providers can effectively collaborate with parents including specific recommendations for IEP meetings.
The National Center on Intensive Intervention has developed the tools charts to assist educators and families in becoming informed consumers who can select academic and behavioral interventions. The charts display reviews of studies of interventions including information about the quality of the study, outcomes, and implementation information. The charts are interactive so that users can filter, sort, compare, and review the data in order to select an intervention that meets their needs.