A national survey of state coordinators of specialized service programs for children with deaf-blindness examined program characteristics including administrative structure, teacher certification requirements, technical assistance, eligibility determination, educational placement, curricula/instructional settings, transition, and unmet educational…

This volume is a guide for assessing children with dual sensory or severe impairments between the ages of 6 and 15. It presents a functional-ecological assessment process that is individually determined, contextually based, and leads directly to intervention. It begins by discussing the benefits of this model over standardized assessment…

This final report describes the activities and outcomes of a project designed to develop and establish a psychoeducational assessment model to enhance the ability of educators, psychologists, and learning specialists to design and conduct meaningful evaluations of students who are deaf-blind. By focusing on psychoeducational assessment, this…

Children learn about their environment as they move through it--about people and objects, sizes, shapes, and distances. For typically developing children the senses of sight and hearing provide the greatest motivation for exploration. These children will use their vision and hearing to gather information about their surroundings while growing in…

Originally part of a symposium on educational media for the deaf, the paper reports on developments which enable computer conversion of text into grade 2 braille text, especially useful for deaf-blind students. The steps in the conversion of a text are outlined and future applications, such as a computerized message system, are explored. (PHR)

Section 2 of the journal covers educational programs and services for the deaf and hearing impaired from preschool schools and classes through postsecondary programs to university programs training personnel in deafness, with a separate section on programs for the deaf-blind. (PHR)

This article describes seminars in which newly blind persons, blind senior citizens, deaf-blind individuals, or couples in which one spouse is blind develop self-confidence and motivation to learn new skills and adjust to vision loss. Procedures for planning and running such programs are outlined, along with steps to ensure lasting benefits. (PB)

Personal accounts describe the lives of 2 individuals with deaf-blindness, one an 87-year-old woman who was deaf from birth and became totally blind over a 50-year period and the other of a woman who became deaf-blind as a result of a fever at the age of 7. Managing activities of daily life and experiencing sensory hallucinations are among topics…

This article describes the development and field-test evaluation of a set of materials designed to provide inservice training for teachers not specifically trained to work with students who are deaf-blind. The materials focus on training of communication and orientation/mobility skills in this population. Pretest/posttest knowledge and attitudes…

Teachers and habilitative specialists (n=120) of multiply handicapped blind and deaf-blind children in Massachusetts responded to a survey on the use of assistive technology. Respondents reported problems in knowledge of electronic mobility aids and communication devices; the availability, maintenance, and funding of devices; and adequate…

This article describes a federally supported program of the American Federation of the Blind, which has developed training materials for individuals working with students who are deaf-blind. The article offers a rationale for the program; notes critical shortages of qualified teachers; discusses materials development; and reviews the program's…

This study sought to determine the effects of using a talking pedometer on walking behavior and the value placed on walking by 22 children who are visually impaired or deaf-blind. The results revealed that the children were motivated to set challenging goals for increasing daily activity levels through the feedback provided by the talking…

The "National Child Count of Children and Youth who are Deaf-Blind" is the first and longest running registry and knowledge base of children who are deaf-blind in the world. It represents a 25 year collaborative effort between the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB), its predecessors and each state/multi-state deaf-blind project…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally supported project to improve services to children (ages 0-21) with deaf-blindness in Alabama. The project utilized a service delivery model based on provision of state, regional, local, and individual technical assistance to service providers and families through three…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Wyoming Deaf-Blind Grant, a 3-year federally supported project to identify children who have deaf-blindness and to provide technical assistance in the development of educational services for these children. Major accomplishments of the project included: identification of more…