The National Center on Deaf-Blindness
FACEBOOK TWITTER
June, 2015

NCDB eNews

The more we share, the more effective we can be in meeting the needs of the families and children we serve.
~ Megan Cote, NCDB Initiative Lead for Family Engagement & EI&R.

Network News icon  Network News

Projects to Gather in Utah
In July, staff from NCDB and state deaf-blind projects will meet in Salt Lake City for DB Summit 2015. This meeting offers the opportunity to work together over the course of two full days and we will be joined by others from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), personnel prep projects, and family organizations.

Sessions at Summit will cover national technical assistance initiatives, implementation frameworks, technical assistance strategies, and project management. These are working group sessions and the goal is to come away with a series of action plans and collaborative commitments that will move us closer to improved national supports for the education of children who are deaf-blind.

Whether you will be in Salt Lake or on your back porch, you can find information and follow events on the NCDB website by checking in with the DB Summit 2015 Group.

Personnel Prep Group Meeting Pre-Summit
It takes more than a village to solve issues related to trained personnel for low incidence populations of students. We are excited that 15 representatives from personnel preparation programs that currently train teachers to work with students who are deaf-blind are coming together for a meeting the day before Summit to address the pre-service training needs of the field.

Family Engagement
Calling all state deaf-blind project Family Specialists!!! Since January 2015 a growing group of Family Specialists have been meeting monthly via Adobe to network, share ideas and resources. The results have been remarkable! Here is what some of them have to say about the meetings:
"This group is full of inspiring people."
"I leave these meetings with concrete solutions for my work."
"These meetings are the highlight of my month."
If you are working as a consultant or as a contracted employee for your state deaf-blind project in the role of a Family Specialist and would like to join this dynamic group, please contact Megan Cote. These meetings are held once a month for an hour and follow the Mastermind format.

State DB Projects and Parent Centers
Several months back, a Family Engagement Technical Work Group (TWG) representing partners from the state deaf-blind projects, NFADB and regional parent centers was formed to discuss steps towards highlighting partnerships between state deaf-blind projects and parent centers. The decision was made to solicit information from state deaf-blind projects and parent centers that have established collaborative relationships (big or small) to describe their shared efforts. A short form was developed to be completed by project and center staff working together to describe their partnership. Once this information has been collected, collaborative pairs will be highlighted through a variety of activities.

The desired outcome is to be able to share effective strategies and activities of significance to projects and centers. To date, six collaborative pairs have submitted their forms and we look forward to receiving more in the weeks ahead. There is no deadline for submission, as we know this work is always growing and changing. However, the sooner we receive the information, the sooner the sharing can begin. Feel free to contact Megan Cote for more information.

Child Count
Thanks to all state projects for your child count submissions. We are currently in the process of cleaning and merging the data for analysis. We hope to have preliminary results to share at Summit and will send out a DRAFT for your review in early August. Again, thank you for all your hard work in collecting this information that supplements the Annual Special Education Child Count to provide a true picture of the population we serve.

Transition Institute
Young Adults and families at Transition Institute This past weekend, the Kentucky Deaf-Blind Project hosted the Deaf-Blind Transition Institute - Access the Dream 2015. Twenty young adults who are deaf-blind gathered together to learn about self-determination, advocacy and access. For some of them, this was their first opportunity to meet other peers who are deaf-blind.All Young Adults at Transition Institute 2015

This was a family affair and parents were also full participants in sharing experiences and making connections.

Summer icon  Summer To Do's

The 7th Annual Usher Syndrome Family Conference is being held on July 11, 2015 in New Orleans. Registration information.

The CHARGE Syndrome Foundation's 12th International Conference is being held July 30-August 2, 2015 in Chicago. Registration Information.

NCDB Staff

NCDB Home | Give us Your Feedback | info@nationaldb.org | Unsubscribe | Fax: 503.838.8150
OSEP IDEA Logo, TA&D Network

The contents of this communication were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education #H326T130013. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Teaching Research Institute, nor the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Jo Ann McCann.