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VIDBE - Q Volume 6 4 Issue 1
The framework of the assessment was formalized and detailed in a
CD ROM (van Dijk & Nelson, 2001) and a journal article (Nelson, et al.,
2002). In 2009, it was published by the American Printing House fo r the
Blind in a user - friendly manual format. However, because the assessment
process is a holistic model and is guided by child interests, there are no
standard materials or instructions. In an attempt to discover if practitioners
could implement the ass essment with fidelity to the assessment methods,
and come to reliable or consistent conclusions, a study was conducted in
2010 by Nelson, Janssen, Oster, & Jayaraman. The study concluded that
after a half day training, practitioners, on average, were able to implement
the assessment with fidelity and reach similar conclusions in all
assessment areas.
At the 2019 conference of the Council for Exceptional Children
(CEC), Dr. Catherine Nelson, Associate Professor at the University of Utah
and long - time collab orator of Dr. Jan van Dijk, will present a training on the
assessment in a preservice workshop sponsored by the American Printing
House for the Blind and the Division of Visual Impairments and
Deafblindness (DVIDB). The workshop will be held on the morning of
January 29, 2019.