The fall semester is wrapping up and we are excited to announce our Spring 2021 line up of professional development opportunities for educators, related service providers and paraprofessionals who work with students with deaf-blindness and high intensity support needs! All of the training is available online from home.

Through a collaboration with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, the University of South Dakota, and our very own South Dakota Deaf-Blind Project, we are pleased to announce our second semester of courses in the

Concentration in Deaf-Blindness & High Intensity Support Needs series!

This is an opportunity for our fantastic South Dakota teachers and related service providers to be part of a national cohort of professionals. If you have already completed deaf-blind modules with us, you may be ready to jump into Course 3 which has new content specifically aligned with CEC competencies for educators. Reach out to Rose Moehring or Brandy Sebera to see if you should register for Course 3!

We expect these courses to fill quickly.

Intervener: a person (usually a paraprofessional) who has training and specialized skills in deaf-blindness.

We are now recruiting for our new cohort of interveners in training beginning January 2021! This training will be FREE for qualified paraprofessionals in South Dakota who work directly with a student with deaf-blindness!!

To join our Intervener Cohort, please reach out to brandy.sebera@usd.edu or rose.moehring@usd.edu.

The first day of the conference highlighted several speakers and a range of topics. We heard from Keith Bundy, who shared his personal and professional experience, regarding Print Accessibility. It was very informative to hear how important media accessibility is to individuals with visual impairments.

Next, Dr. Justin Blessinger shared several products they are working on at Dakota State University, to help with accessibility for individuals with disabilities. Most were related to wheelchair use and navigation, which included the Power Block Device and the Proximity-Based Help, intended to provide blue tooth access to elevators and accessible doors, a Magnetic Charging System, and a 3-D Printed- Rowable Handle to assist with manual operation of a wheelchair.

Dr. Terese Pawletko is a licensed phycologist and certified school psychologist. She spent the day sharing specifics about Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, which is the most common congenital optic nerve anomaly.

Grace Ambrose-Zaken is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) who has developed a new product called: Safe Toddles Cane.

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) provides FREE professional development webinars that are relevant for any and all students on the Deaf-Blind Census. Most recently, they covered the hot topics of Academic Standards and Accessing Grade Level Curriculum for students with deaf-blindness and significant cognitive disabilities. These are such important topics for educators to be knowledgeable and up to date on. You can access the recordings and materials of the previous webinars:

Here are a few highlights from Accessing Grade Level Gen. Ed. Curriculum.

Whether you have 5 minutes, 15 minutes or 45 minutes, collaboration between general education and special education is crucial for students with disabilities to have access to general education curriculum. This new 5-15-45 Tool From TIES shows you how to take advantage of the time you have and engage in effective, meaningful conversations.

The TIES Center jumped to action when the global pandemic hit and have written 25+ articles addressing Distance Learning for students. Notably, Liz Hartmann, Ph.D. (from TIES) & Kristi Probst, Ed.D. (from NCDB) collaborated to develop article DL #21: Distance Learning and Deafblindness: Learning From Parents.

DL # 17 has produced the 5C Process which is highlighted below.

Looking for another planning tool to help your team develop curriculum? Check out this Theme Based Curriculum Planner Tool developed by Martha Majors, Education Director of the DeafBlind Program at Perkins School for the Blind.

In addition to the incredible information from these webinars, NCDB has worked hard on their new website to include the most up to date and relevant resources for Educational Program Planning & IEP Development

Check out the flyer below for information on how to participate in the remaining two trainings, addressing Social & Spirituality (November 18^th) and Healthy Living (Janaury 13^th). If you wish to view the other four trainings, you may watch the recordings housed on this website.

The Center for Disabilities at USD is committed to providing timely, credible COVID-19 Resources for individuals and families who experience developmental disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, and related medical and mental health conditions.