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Building relationships takes time to experience communication and gain trust in one another.  For learners with DeafBlindness, the need for building these experiences is significant. Trust occurs through consistent interactions over time for learners with DeafBlindness. The most important component for creating communication opportunities is knowing your learner. You have to know what they can … Read more

We all have things we like and things we don’t like. At the risk of sounding old, I like watching old Columbo reruns. I’ve seen the episodes multiple times and still enjoy them all. I don’t like old cowboy TV shows but my husband loves watching them. They are just an invitation to fall asleep … Read more

Recently, I did a presentation for the NC Beginnings Parent Educators about services available for learners with DeafBlindness and I happened to mention the iCanConnect DeafBlind Equipment Distribution Program. Immediately several of the parent educators asked me to stop and explain what this program was! iCanConnect is a federal program administered locally in all 50 … Read more

Several Early Intervention teachers have told me that they would like to know more about how to use the results they get on the Communication Matrix Assessment to plan for the next communication steps for their students and develop activities to reach those targets. After you have completed the Communication Matrix and received input from … Read more

After working for the DeafBlind Project’s ECU teacher support program as the designated person for Early Intervention, I have come to find out that one of the biggest issues facing DeafBlind Projects all over the country is the under-reporting of children with DeafBlindness 0-3 on the states’ DeafBlind Census.  The graph below shows the percentage … Read more

As teachers and support staff, how do you describe your students with DeafBlindness to other professionals? Do you tend to focus on their abilities or their disabilities? We have all likely heard the idea of using ‘people first’ language but do we also think and speak in ‘ability first’ language?  It’s important to take into … Read more

The annual DeafBlind Census is just around the corner.  In some ways, the DeafBlind Census reminds me of my favorite childhood swimming pool game of Marco Polo.  We know that learners with DeafBlindness and their families live throughout the State of North Carolina, but identifying and locating them can be a challenge. Imagine being a … Read more

So you may have heard about person-centered planning but you’re not sure of the details. Well, we’ve provided our own question-and-answer session to help you understand! What is Person-Centered Planning? A valuable tool that can be used in a variety of ways to assist in meaningful educational and life planning using a holistic approach for … Read more

Touch is the primary sense of all sensorimotor learners. ~ Millie Smith, 2015 When we think of communication, we tend to think of auditory and visual options first. But how does this affect learners with DeafBlindness? Are visual and auditory methods their first line of communication? Are they the most effective routes if the learner … Read more