;
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
9
(i.e., intervener) or low-vision interpreter. Overall, adding the position of an
itinerant teacher of students with deafblindness impacted several different
areas of the program.
Conclusion
At the end of year one, there were some very significant short-term
wins. The program saw a 40% increase in the number of students with
deafblindness receiving services from the Region 4 RDSPD. It was able to
secure two skilled one-to-one aides for two academic students with
deafblindness. The sensory team was chosen by the Texas Deafblind Project
to pilot the Informal Functional Hearing Evaluation (IFHE), and team
members have been asked to speak at the 2017 Texas Deafblind
Symposium. And while those successes are worthwhile, nothing has been
more fulfilling than listening to encouragement and praise from the students'
parents. On a recent family questionnaire regarding the program's services
for students with deafblindness, one parent wrote the following:
I have been very pleased with the changes implemented this year by
the new Deaf-Blind sensory team approach. I feel that the three
individuals on the team do a very good job collaborating,
communicating, and strategizing with each other about how best to
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