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VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 2
Service Provision
As of December 1, 2017, there were 10,000 children and youth with
combined vision and hearing loss being served in early intervention, early
childhood special education (ECSE), and school age special education
(SE) programs (National Center on Deaf-Blindness, 2018). While almost all
early intervention takes place in the home, the majority (57%) of children
and youth in ECSE and SE programs are served for some portion of the
day in general early childhood settings or general education classrooms,
often by professionals who are untrained or undertrained in deafblindness.
Needs assessments of families and state deaf-blind project (SDBP)
personnel conducted by the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) in
2017, identified the provision of qualified personnel (e.g., interveners, early
interventionists, teachers, related service providers, and paraeducators) for
children and youth who are deaf-blind as a top priority. Fewer than 10% of
children (approximately 700 in 38 of 54 states) on the National Child Count
of Children and Youth Who Are Deaf-Blind are reported to receive
intervener services (NCDB, 2018), suggesting there is a significant lack of
trained interveners as well as limited recognition and acceptance of the
role.
