VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
settings. This is making a positive difference for Stevan and all of his relationships
as we move into the new school year.
Taylor Smith, California
As a certified interpreter, I was employed by the Sonja Biggs Educational
Services, Inc. (SBES) to be an intervener, and I was required to complete the
Intervener Training Program at Utah State University. Currently, I am the
Intervener Program Manager for SBES. Our agency provides intervener services
and VI services through contracts with school districts, mainly in California but
expanding to other states as well. Since 2017, our agency has served a total of 14
students who are deafblind. Currently we serve seven students who are deafblind
and employ seven interveners who work with them.
Our Intervener Department mainly consists of professionals who have a
background in Deaf Studies and/or are fluent in American Sign Language. We've
observed that ASL is an important prerequisite skill set for serving students with
deafblindness who have a broad range of language needs. We provide training in
braille and assistive technology to ensure that interveners have the tools needed to
best support their students. Initially, we do our best to collect information about a
student in order to provide an intervener who is a good fit for that student. All of
our interveners are either nationally credentialed or on track to become
