VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
more information, visit the National Center on Deafblindess website, Increasing
Recognition and Use of Interveners: Virginia
Wisconsin
Jen Gettelmanand & Heidi Hollenberger, Wisconsin Deafblind Technical
Assistance Project
In August of 2021, Wisconsin officially declared Deafblindness as its own
disability category area
(https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/pi/11/36/4m). With the new
state statute, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has been
developing guidance around the new category and subsequent eligibility criteria. In
developing new guidance and best practices in deafblindness,the conversation
included a discussion about the need for interveners. The DPI special education
team reviewed multiple resources related to interveners and the compliance team
agreed, based on the letter from McDowell, that interveners are identified as a
related service per IDEA (https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/osep-letter-to-mcdowell-
08-02-2018.pdf).
Prior to Wisconsin including deafblindness as a disability category, a lot of
work was put in by the DPI to recognize the unique challenges presented by this
disability. This work included the development of a dedicated webpage for the
Wisconsin Deafblind Technical Assistance Project (WDBTAP) on the DPI
