New Intervener Training and Team Support 

After your team has determined that the DeafBlind student needs an intervener to access communication, language, social-emotional information, instruction, and the environment, the MN Low Incidence Projects and MN DeafBlind Project offer several resources to support education team members and the intervener to understand deafblindness and roles.

The MN DeafBlind Project hosts an annual FREE virtual workshop for all education team members and families to better understand deafblindness and the role of the intervener on the team.  We recommend that many or all new education team members attend the workshop, especially if an intervener has not supported the student before. CEUs are offered for teachers, related service providers, paraprofessionals, and interveners.  Specialized CEUs are offered for educational ASL interpreters (RID-approved), school nurses, administrators (BOSA-approved), and certified orientation and mobility specialists (ACREP-approved).

The School District Resources for Employing Interveners site provides detailed information for districts seeking to hire, employ, and retain interveners.  Please share this with your district administrators.

New interveners can participate in the six-weekend Foundational Training Series for 2023-2024.  Special education administrators can request a hold spot for the training by completing the survey.  Ann Mayes, the education specialist, will confirm the hold spot after it is received. 

 Administrators are encouraged to request hold spots even before they hire someone because space is limited.