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Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
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knowledge base. Faculty worked closely with the director of Deaf-Blind Services at
USDB to ensure that course content would meet identified needs. In addition, the
Utah Deaf-Blind Project collaborated with the University to bring in Dr. Tanni
Anthony from Colorado Services to Children with Deafblindness to teach a class
session in "Transdisciplinary Play-based Assessment for Children who are
Deafblind", and Dr. Jan van Dijk of the Netherlands met with students in the program
to assist with implementation of "The Child-Guided Approach to Assessment of
Children who are Deafblind" (Nelson, van Dijk, McDonnell, & Thompson, 2002;
Nelson, van Dijk, Oster, & McDonnell, & Oster, 2009). Special field-based
assignments in the program included a shared storybook reading assignment that
students implemented in homes with parents of children who are deafblind and an
arts assignment in which students paired a child with deafblindness with an artist in
the community for a special arts experience. Artists included painters, musicians, and
master gardeners. This assignment not only gave the children a special experience,
but also afforded community artists a wonderful opportunity to work with some
pretty special kids. This assignment has now been incorporated into the new federally
funded Utah Deaf-Blind Project.
As of the end of fall semester 2014, eight students will have completed the
endorsement program with more scheduled to complete in the next year. Several of
the students also completed Master of Education (M.Ed.) degrees and their master's
projects included specialized areas within deafblindness such as literacy, technology,
and cortical visual impairments. This specialized knowledge will be utilized in future
university class presentations and will add to the expertise within USDB. The
challenge to the preparation program going forward will be to recruit future students
and planned recruitment
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