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intervener model to other age groups. In 1995, the Utah State Office of Education
convened a task force consisting of parents, representatives from the federal technical
assistance project in deafblindness, USDB, Utah State University, the University of
Utah, school districts, and the Utah State Office of Education. The task force created
a state plan for children and youth who are deafblind, and task force members,
particularly parents, successfully lobbied the state legislature for funding. According
to the state plan, statewide services for children and youth who are deafblind
consisting of interveners and deafblind specialists were to be housed at USDB along
with the federal technical assistance project which became the Utah Deaf-Blind
Project. Out of this statewide systems effort, more coordinated and extensive
services for students with deafblindness were put into place along with the
established technical assistance model for educators and families. The program has
grown to include 12 deaf-blind specialists and approximately 80 interveners within
USDB's Deaf-Blind Services.
Deaf-Blind Services
The structure of the state Deaf-Blind Services continues to collaborate closely
with partners that include USDB, the Utah State Office of Education, the National
Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB), school districts, and the University of Utah,
working together in a variety of ways to enhance educational services and improve
outcomes for children and youth who are deaf-blind from birth through age 22. The
continuum of services includes consultative support and direct services from deaf-
blind specialists, family support, intervener services, and training and technical
support to administrators, teachers, related service providers, and support staff in both
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