training in deaf-blindness and the process of intervention (NCDB, 2013). Working under the
guidance and direction of a student's classroom
teacher or other individual responsible for ensuring the implementation of the student's IEP, an
intervener provides crucial access to information
and communication throughout the instructional
day and facilitates social connections and social
and emotional well-being (Alsop, Blaha, & Kloos,
2000; NCDB, 2013). Intervener services are one
of a range of critical individualized supports that
may be needed for children who are deaf-blind.
Interveners work closely with other educational
team members and require ongoing support from
teachers of children who are deaf-blind and other
experts in deaf-blindness.
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Unlike educational interpreters or mobility services, intervener services are very much an
emerging practice in the United States and the
infrastructure for providing them (e.g., recognition, training, supervision, job placement) is weak
and varies significantly from state to state. It is
estimated that fewer than 5% of children with
deaf-blindness have intervener services (NCDB,
2012d) and no state education departments have
personnel standards for interveners. The need to
address the lack of infrastructure for intervener
services in the U. S. was recognized by U.S. Department of Education Offices of Special Education Programs when, in the fall of 2011, the
agency tasked NCDB with the development of
recommendations for improving national, state,
