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For approximately 85% of children who have combined hearing and vision loss, deafblindness, they have additional disabilities. The impact of not having limited or no access to incidental learning affects a child's ability to learn spoken or signed languages. In addition, DeafBlind children may also have a very small circle of access around them and be unable to move their bodies readily towards where communication is happening.
The following resources will help educators learn how to support language and communication development for children who are DeafBlind. In addition the Communication Matrix and intervention modules housed on the West Virginia Department of Education website will guide educators in determining a child's level of communication and what strategies can be used to enrich and further a child's communication skills.
njc-communication-bill-rights 3rd edition.pdfAll children communicate.
The Communication Matrix is an online assessment tool created to help professionals and family members support children, including those who are DeafBlind, with complex communication needs.
Learn how to correctly administer and interpret the Communication Matrix in a 1-hour video.
What strategies are needed after the student's communication level is identified?
Learn intervention essential strategies and what to teach at the student's level.
The National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB)created a module for educators to learn more about Communicating with Children Who Are DeafBlind in the Teaching Children Who Are Deafblind professional development series. The link below connects to the NCDB website for self-study. There are no CEUs available when learning on NCDB's website.
The Minnesota DeafBlind Project used the content from the Communicating with Children Who Are DeafBlind NCDB module to create an asynchronous course to offer free CEUs to professionals.
Register below to earn 6 free CEUs.
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