VIDBE-Q Volume 68 Issue 3
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challenges of service delivery for technical assistance and training for working
with children who are deafblind. As such, a key component of the project's
universal and targeted technical assistance and training activities involve
leveraging Minot State University's Center for Extended Learning and the ND
Department of Public Instruction's Educational Hub, a state-wide online training
portal open to all ND educators. The project offers training and professional
development opportunities to increase the awareness of the role of teachers of the
deafblind (TDBs) and interveners utilizing NCDB's Open Hands, Open Access
(OHOA): Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning Module and Teaching Children Who Are
Deafblind: Professional Development for Educators.
Some of the project's notable activities in the past year include hosting the
ND Deaf-Blind Summer Institute, piloting a professional development series in
collaboration with the state's largest school district utilizing the newly updated
"Sensing and Learning" strategies from the American Printing House for the Blind
(APH), presenting for the National Deaf-Blind Educator Network (NDBEN) and
the Dakotas AER O&M Winter Event, and participating on committees to update
the state's guidance on providing special education services for students with
visual impairments, students who are deaf/hard of hearing, and students with
deafblindness.