VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
were written. As such, the recommendations should be viewed as "an evolutionary
extension of work begun by others" (NCDB, 2012b).
In addition to the final recommendations, the recommendations website
includes extensive information about what NCDB learned during the information-
gathering phase, rationales for each recommendation, and implementation
strategies. The overall intent was to inform and guide not only NCDB's activities
but also the work of others who are dedicated to improving intervener services
(e.g., families, state deaf-blind projects, university faculty, interveners,
administrators, educators, and researchers).
Data Collection
Because it was important to ensure that the recommendations were informed
by a range of perspectives and the best available knowledge at the time, NCDB
used a variety of methods, including extensive literature searches, surveys,
interviews, and visits to state deaf-blind projects with long histories of active
involvement in intervener services. These efforts enabled NCDB to collect
information from a range of individuals across the U.S., including family members
of children and youth with deaf-blindness, state deaf-blind project personnel,
interveners, and early intervention and educational administrators (NCDB, 2012c).
Information was collected on a variety of topics, including definitions of and
beliefs about interveners, training programs and methods,
