VIDBE-Q Volume 67 Issue 4
• Complete a portfolio based on the National Intervener Competencies,
which provides evidence of knowledge and skill competencies.
Upon the successful completion of the coursework, practicum and portfolio,
the student is eligible to become a Nationally Credentialed Deafblind Intervener
Specialist (DBIS) through the National Intervener and Advocate Association
(NIAA). To learn more about the program, contact Linda Alsop, Director
Deafblind Programs, Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice, via phone
at (435) 797-5598 or via email at linda.alsop@usu.edu.
Beth Kennedy, Central Michigan University
The Central Michigan University (CMU) DeafBlind Intervener (DBI)
Program was developed in 2015, receiving the first cohort of student-interveners in
August 2016. Beth Kennedy, PhD, who trained as a Teacher of the DeafBlind at
Boston College under Dr. Barbara McLetchie, is fluent in American Sign
Language. Dr. Kennedy completed her dissertation, How Interveners Learn the
Knowledge and Skills to Support Students Who Are Deafblind in School Settings
and has incorporated that research into the CMU coursework.
The CMU DBI is a 12-credit, undergraduate certificate program that is
offered online. Prospective interveners from across the county can study under Dr.
Kennedy and receive onsite coaching from their respective state deafblind project
