VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
Linda Alsop, Utah State University,
linda.alsop@usu.edu, &
Sally Prouty, Minnesota DeafBlind Project (retired),
sa.prouty@comcast.net
The largest barrier hindering local and state education agency's efforts to
accept the intervener concept for children who are deafblind, is the lack of federal
language describing and supporting the role of interveners. There continues to be a
lack of understanding and responsiveness by districts to provide appropriately
trained interveners who can effectively address the needs of children and youth
who are deafblind to have access to learning and communication in educational
environments. It can't be emphasized enough how critically important it is that
change occur at the national level as part of Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act (IDEA), which can then facilitate the change needed at state and local levels.
In an effort to shift the paradigm, individuals and organizations in
deafblindness have been advocating at the state and national level for inclusion of
the term "intervener" in law for many years. On the national level, advocates have
Advocacy at State and National Levels
