THE IMPORTANCE OF CONMECTION IN DEAF-BLINDNESS

Deaf-blindness may also occur later in childhood or during adulthood due to causes such as meningitis, brain injury, or inherited conditions. Because deaf-blindness significantly impacts an individual's ability to access information and communicate with others, children who are deaf-blind have a unique experience of the world. [...]it is critical that both families and educators have access to training and support to know how to best support the growth and development of the child with deaf-blindness. [...]families often find themselves in the dual role of care provider and educator. Most of NCDB's goals are aligned with four national initiatives designed to address key needs of children with deaf-blindness, their families, and service providers: * Family Engagement - Increasing the quality of family support and helping families acquire knowledge and skills to help thempartner with service providers and advocate for their children's needs * Identification and Referral - Increasing the identification of children and youth who are deaf-blind so they can begin receiving appropriate services as early as possible * Interveners and Qualified Personnel - Building the knowledge and skills of educators serving children who are deaf-blind through expansion of personnel development opportunities and adoption of interveners and teachers of the deaf-blind * Transition - Improving transition outcomes so that students successfully move from high school to post-secondary education or employment and community life Like the state deaf-blind projects, NCDB is funded by OSEP.