The East Carolina University Teacher Support Program for Learners with DeafBlindness offers services for teachers, administrators, and other professionals who work with students on the North Carolina DeafBlind census. We are here to help as you begin your school year or anytime through the year that you may want/need assistance! Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns you may have about serving learners with DeafBlindness.
Meet Our Team!
Andrea Blackwood M.Ed. serves as the Technical Assistance Coordinator for the ECU Teacher Support Program for Learners with DeafBlindness by providing intensive technical assistance to a number of LEAs for teachers of learners who are DeafBlind, conducting follow-up visits as requested, and providing 1:1 coaching. Andrea has extensive teaching experience with learners who have DeafBlindness and additional disabilities. She has an MAEd in special education and holds North Carolina teacher licensure in the adapted curriculum for hearing impairments, and visual impairments. Additionally, she has earned ECU graduate certificates in assistive technology and DeafBlindness. Andrea works collaboratively with team members from the NC DeafBlind project to provide intensive and targeted training to teachers and personnel who serve learners with deaf-blindness. In her spare time, you will most often find her at the beach. The ocean is her happy place that always brings peace and contentment!
Julie Brickhouse M.Ed, NBCT serves as a Technical Assistance Consultant for the ECU Teacher Support Program for Learners with DeafBlindness. She is also an adjunct instructor and university supervisor within the special education program at East Carolina University. She retired as a special education teacher. During her years of teaching, she worked directly with students with significant disabilities and DeafBlindness. Her classroom was one of three model sites in North Carolina for demonstrating teaching literacy methods to students with these disabilities. She is a Kenan Fellow and has completed projects related to special education and STEM education. Julie completed the ECU Graduate Certificate in DeafBlindness and continues to consult with teachers and related service personnel throughout the state who serve learners with DeafBlindness. She has participated in various research projects through ECU related to teaching math and literacy to students with significant disabilities and DeafBlindness. She values spending time with family, completing home improvement projects, and hanging out at the beach. She also enjoys working with the Christian disability ministry.
Patty Dischinger M.Ed. is a certified teacher of students with hearing and visual impairments and has a graduate certificate from ECU in DeafBlindness. She worked in special education in NC for 36 years, most of that time for Early Learning Sensory Support (hearing impairments) and Governor Morehead Preschool (visual impairments). Patty worked as a technical assistant for the South Carolina DeafBlind Project for the 2017-2018 school year and joined the ECU DeafBlind Teacher Support Project as a technical assistance consultant focusing on early intervention in 2019. In her spare time, she enjoys reading mysteries!
Moniqua Gallop serves as the Digital Communications Consultant for the ECU DeafBlind Teacher Support Program. In her role, she facilitates much of our universal technical assistance including our website, DB Tip of the Week, and social media. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Pre-Health and the DeafBlind Graduate Certificate from East Carolina University. Purple and gold run deep for Moniqua! Her hobbies include making cakes and treats, drawing, and making ping pong tables.
Sandra Hopfengardner Warren, Ph.D., is the director of the ECU DeafBlind Teacher Support Program and co-director of the North Carolina DeafBlind Project. She is also a professor in the ECU Department of Special Education, Foundations, and Research and serves as the director of special education graduate programs. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, watching her chickens and fish, and hanging out with grandkids!
Are you interested in receiving technical assistance from our team?
Please fill out our assistance request form using the link or QR code below:
https://ecu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7TY9q3ieIRjdLxj
