VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 2
32
Kristi M. Probst, Ed.D.
National Center on Deaf-Blindness
Kristi.probst@hknc.org
Introduction
Communication is the foundation of many aspects of life: relationships,
learning, self-advocacy, and more. Individuals with sensory disabilities, including
congenital deafblindness (a dual sensory loss from birth), often experience
significant delays in communication that result in struggles with social and
nonverbal communication (Damen, Janssen, Ruijssenaars, & Schuengel, 2015).
For educators of children who are congenitally deafblind (CDB; a dual sensory
loss from birth), the issue of communication is often of utmost importance due to
the serious delay in their access to language and communication (Belote and Maier
2014; Dammeyer, 2014 Fellinger, Holzinger, Dirmhirn, van Dijk, & Goldberg,
2009; Hoevenaars-van den Boom, Antonissen, Knoors, & Vervloed, 2009; Prain,
McVilly, Ramcharan, Currie, & Reece, 2010).
The Longitudinal Measurement of Communication Growth in
Learners with Deafblindness
