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Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
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My most recent pearls have been created by opportunities through my master's
program at the University of Utah, beginning with the opportunity to be a Helen
Keller Fellow. Through this fellowship, I was afforded the opportunity to meet and
interact with individuals from around the nation through enrichment trainings and
internships. My fellowship experiences lead to the opportunity to participate on
writing teams for the "Open Hands, Open Access" Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning
Modules with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness. While participating in my
graduate program, a brand new teaching endorsement for teachers of the deafblind
became available in Utah. By adding some additional course work, I was able to
qualify for the deafblind teaching endorsement, in addition to a master of education
in visual impairments, when I graduated this past spring.
The size and quality of a pearl an oyster produces depends upon factors, such
as water quality and nutrition. The richness of my deafblind experiences are due to
those who have mentored, supervised, and encouraged me from the time I was first
hired as an intervener until this very day. After my initial training as an intervener,
the ongoing training and technical assistance provided by my Deafblind Specialist
was invaluable. Because of my experiences as an intervener, I take very seriously
my role as a Deafblind Specialist and now teacher of the deafblind. Interveners,
teachers, and class teams can benefit if I properly do my job to help them understand
and implement best practice deafblind strategies. My students with deafblindness
may have a different classroom teacher each year or every few years. That can mean
they start over with a teacher who has not been exposed to deafblind strategies. It is
not the role of the intervener, who works one-on-one with them, to provide training
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