Project REACH: Illinois Deaf-Blind Services

The purpose of Project Reach: Illinois Deaf-Blind Services is to improve services and results for Illinois children who are deaf-blind. The goal of the project is: To promote academic achievement by providing technical assistance, disseminating information, and implementing activities that are supported by scientifically based research in deaf-blindness and related fields.

Technical assistance and dissemination activities will:

1. Facilitate collaborative partnerships among family members of children who are deaf-blind; early intervention, special and regular education, and related services personnel; and SEAs, LEAs, and state lead agencies to develop and implement individualized supports that improve children’s outcomes and educational achievement.
2. Provide information and technical assistance, including distance-learning activities and ongoing professional development opportunities paired with onsite coaching, to family members of children who are deaf-blind, and early intervention, special and regular education, and related services personnel working with children who are deaf-blind. Information and technical assistance will focus on helping family members and early intervention, special and regular education, and related services personnel.
3. Work with families, SEAs, state lead agencies, LEAs, and institutions of higher education to use information from the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness and other appropriate sources.
4. Work with SEAs, LEAs, state lead agencies, and, as appropriate, institutions of higher education to implement the professional development plan.
5. Maintain a website that meets government or industry-recognized standards for accessibility and links to the website operated by the Technical Assistance Coordination Center.

Project Reach, through a comprehensive array of activities, including child identification, needs assessment, a multi-tired system of technical assistance, training and workshops, family support, and a fully accessible materials resource center, will make a significant contribution to the increased knowledge and understanding of the unique and complex educational needs of children and youth with deaf-blindness, including the implementation of research-based educational strategies.

The population of children and youth with deaf-blindness is a highly heterogeneous group. According to a DB-Link summary of the 2005 National Deaf-Blind Child Count, a total of 77 different primary etiologies were identified for children and youth with deaf-blindness. (Miles, 2005) The range of impairment of vision and hearing in students identified as “deaf-blind” is great. Many have some usable vision and/or hearing, while others may be profoundly blind and/or deaf. More than 90 percent of students also have additional disabilities, commonly health, cognitive, or physical, anywhere from mild to severe. (NCDB, 2007).

As a result, the needs of children and youth with deaf-blindness are as diverse as their ranges and levels of disability. Educational settings range from regular classrooms to resource rooms, special education classrooms, separate schools, and residential facilities. Children from birth to age 3 are served in home settings, hospitals and clinics, early intervention centers, and residential facilities. (NTAC, 2007) The level of specialized support may range from very little to very intense.

Project Reach will respond to the need for building local capacity and will facilitate best practices by increasing teaming, improving classroom observation instruments, assessing validity of deaf-blind assessments, evaluating effectiveness of intervention, providing packets of interest topics, and conducting training and follow-up activities with small groups. Families will become more effective advocates for their children as more opportunities for training and new family packets and guides become available to them. Better links to web-based information will allow consumers, families, medical groups, providers, projects, and agencies to better understand dual sensory loss and its implications across settings.

“Appropriate early intervention services are important for the development of communication skills in infants who are deaf-blind. Oftentimes, however, early intervention programs are not staffed by people knowledgeable about the specialized needs of infants who have both visual impairment and hearing loss.” (Chen, Alsop, Minor, 2000) As a result of Project Reach services, children with, or at risk for, deaf-blindness will be identified at an earlier age, with an increase of infants and toddlers being identified during a crucial developmental time. Developmental specialists throughout the state will have improved knowledge and skills to provide services to students with sensory impairments, thus better preparing them for an early childhood setting.

Many LEAs do not have teachers or related service providers with expertise in deaf-blindness (Muller, 2006). There is currently no Illinois teacher training program specific to the field of deaf-blindness. Training of educators and related service personnel by Project Reach deaf-blind specialists at the preservice and inservice levels helps to increase knowledge, and, ultimately, the quality of the service they provide. Since the focus of training is providing usable skills and knowledge, participants return to their districts and programs better equipped to implement long-term changes that will result in improved student outcomes.

With access to the innovative technical assistance activities of Project Reach, general and special education teachers serving students with deaf-blindness will increase their knowledge and understanding of their students’ needs in order to increase student access to the general education curriculum, and be more involved in the curricular and extracurricular community of the school. Students who are able will increase participation in standard statewide assessments. Project Reach activities are consistent with the No Child Left Behind Act in providing support to teachers who are administering alternate assessments to students who are deaf-blind, ensuring that their vision and hearing needs are taken into consideration, and that the appropriate accommodations and adaptations are in place for these assessments. In addition, technical assistance from Project Reach will be provided across age levels, including for students at the critical point of transition to adult services.