Overview
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 04) defines deaf-blindness as “concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness [34 CFR §300.8(c)(2)].
Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committees must have professionals certified in education of students with auditory impairments (AI) and professionals certified in the education of students with visual impairments (VI) participate as an individualized educational program (IEP) is developed for students who are DeafBlind [(19 TAC §89.1131(b)(4)].
State Resources
Three Low Incidence Disabilities (Region 3 ESC) | 20 ESC Network
Region III Education Service Center (ESC) has the responsibility to provide leadership to the Texas Regional ESCs for building capacity to meet the needs of students who are severely and profoundly cognitively disabled, medically fragile, and or deafblind.
Texas DeafBlind Project
The Texas Deafblind Project is funded by a federal grant to provide information and training about deafblindness to families and the professionals that work with them. Subcontracted through the Texas Education Agency, the Deafblind Outreach team provides technical assistance that is designed to meet the unique needs of children, birth through 21 years of age, who have both a vision and hearing impairment.
National Resources
National Consortium on Deafblindness
The National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) is a national technical assistance and dissemination center for children and youth who are deaf-blind.
Personnel Preparation
National Personnel Training Activities
NCDB is facilitating the development of a national deaf-blind personnel preparation consortium.
Intervener Resources
An intervener is an individual who has received specialized training to assist children who are deaf-blind by (a) facilitating access to environmental information, such as who is present, what is being said, and what activities are occurring, (b) supporting their development and use of communication skills, and (c) promoting their social and emotional well-being by maintaining a trusting and interactive relationship (Alsop, Blaha, & Kloos, 2000). For further information regarding interveners see: http://www.nationaldb.org/ISSelectedTopics.php?topicCatID=10.
Texas Education Agency | Division of IDEA Coordination
1701 North Congress Avenue | Austin, Texas 78701-1494
Telephone: 512.463.9414 | Fax: 512.463.9560
Last Updated: January 20, 2009 | Created: December 8, 2008
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