VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
profession of interveners throughout the United States, including similarities and
differences in training, certification/credentialing and state-level recognition.
The main priority of the SDBPs is to provide technical assistance to schools
and educational teams that have a student or students with deafblindness. The
school is typically seeking to gain knowledge and skills in the area of
deafblindness, which may include communication techniques, curriculum
modification, evidence-based practices for learners who are deafblind, the role of
intervention, etc. The SDBPs respond to this call within their framework, free of
charge to the requesting party. Depending on the need of the classroom and/or
school, a more intensive, detailed plan may be negotiated and agreed upon
(intensive technical assistance). The SDBPs leverage the expansive needs across
their respective states with the modest federal fiscal awards that they receive, and
take the best course of action to meet the supply and demand of these varied needs
related to interveners.
The OSEP-funded National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB) lists qualified
personnel and interveners as one of their main initiatives, as do many of the
SDBPs. NCDB acts as a peripheral support to the SDBPs supporting their efforts
around this initiative through various means, such as webinars, communities of
practice (CoPs), professional learning communities (PLCs), etc. SDBPs may rely
on these resources as they design their outcomes with respect to their state-specific
