Teacher of the Deafblind Pilot Program in Texas: Part I
Chris Montgomery
Deafblind Education Specialist, Teacher of the Visually Impaired
montgomeryc@tsbvi.edu
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
TSBVI Outreach Programs
Background
Unique Needs of the Deafblind Student Population
Students with deafblindness (DB) are considered a low-incidence population
nationally. These students require specialized support to access environmental
information, to develop communication, and to develop concepts about the world
around them due to the significant impact caused by the combined loss of vision and
hearing. Although local districts may provide vision and hearing services, there is
often a gap in specific planning and programming to address their educational service
needs due to the lack of available professionals with training specific to deafblindness
at the local level. Many districts struggle to find the internal resources to
accommodate the educational needs of these students and their families (Blaha,
Cooper, Irby, Montgomery, & Parker, 2009).
During the 1970s we saw the creation of regional centers for children with
deafblindness. They provided a national network for program development, and
sharing of information, and tended to be staffed by people with specialized training.
Most importantly, the regional centers had the responsibility to develop direct service
for children with deafblindness, prior to the enactment of mandatory educational
legislation. While acknowledging the shortcomings of this time period – most
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