VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
with combined vision and hearing losses don't have to fight the same fight we did.
We've made believers out of the IEP team and the district.
Jay & Teri Bidwell, Oklahoma
We were so unaware of what Brooklyn, our deafblind child needed when she
entered the public school system at age 6. We believed in the system, but soon
found out that our child's needs were not being met. We had no idea that this
would be an ongoing struggle or that we would have to constantly advocate for her
needs. We are so grateful for the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, National
Family Association for Deaf-Blind, Helen Keller National Center, Perkins School
for the Blind, our State Deaf-Blind Project in Oklahoma and Linda Alsop,
Director, Deafblind Programs at Utah State University. These resources have
guided us, given us wisdom, and provided much needed support through the years.
Brooklyn was born deaf-blind, is developmentally delayed, nonverbal, has
albinism and has sensory processing disorder. She has a lot going on. From day
one, we realized she would need extra help. The school did provide paras in the
classroom, but they did not want her dependent on one person. They would
constantly move paras in and out of her day. After doing research, we realized she
needed an intervener who would work consistently one-to-one with her. The
school had never heard of an intervener, and they did not think our child needed
one.
