VIDBE-Q Volume 65 Issue 2
57
assessment tools used with other populations are not often sensitive enough
to provide usable information to those charged with the instruction of this
type of student.
Almost twenty-five years later, Blaha's words are poignant and relevant to
our field. Students with deafblindness represent the lowest incidence in the
population of students with disabilities, yet they are the students with the most
extensive individualized support needs. Teachers and related service providers who
work with these students require unique expertise to provide appropriate
educational interventions, and the use of standardized assessments alone is
insufficient in guiding meaningful instruction (Ferrell, Bruce, & Luckner, 2015).
Why is assessment of availability for learning a critical area of need for our
students?
While the total number of children and youth (hereafter, "children") with
combined vision and hearing loss has remained relatively static over the past two
decades, the population has shifted significantly to reflect an increase in the
presence of additional disabilities. The 2018 National Deaf-Blind Child Count
(NCDB, 2019) indicated that between 2005-2018, the percentage of children with
deafblindness having four or more additional disabilities increased from 13.1% to
almost 42%. The most common additional disabilities for children on the Child
Count from 2013-2018 were: orthopedic/physical disabilities (59-61%),
