Serving Students with Sensory Impairments

1. Serving Students with Sensory Impairments Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Dual Sensory Impaired (Deaf-Blind) Blind/Visually Impaired Shelley Ardis, Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Suzanne Dalton, Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired Dawn Saunders, Florida Department of Education

2. Our Goals Give you direction Give you the terminology Give you the knowledge To navigate the world of sensory loss in order to provide appropriate services for students!

3. Deaf/Hard of Hearing

4. Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing • Hearing Loss -- Severity • Normal range or no impairment = 0 dB to 20 dB • Mild loss = 20 dB to 40 dB • Moderate loss = 40 dB to 60 dB • Severe loss = 60 dB to 80 dB • Profound loss = 80 dB or more American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

5. Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing A ---------- Av---------AV------------Va----------V AuditoryAuditoryAuditoryVisual Visual Onlyw/visual(Simultaneousw/Auditory Only supportCommunication)support 1:1 Communication Cooperative/ Classroom – Lecture Small group Classroom – Discussion Theater Classroom – Learning Groups Home Car Cheryl DeConde Johnson, Ed.D, March 2006

6. DHH – Special Considerations and Related Services • Special Considerations – Communication needs of the child 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2)(iv) • Special Considerations – Assistive Technology 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2)(v) • Related Services – Audiology 34 CFR 300.34(c)(1)

7. Which of the following made you the most uncomfortable? • Difficulty understanding the presenter? • Inability to read the handout • Difficulty following the PowerPoint presentation.

8. Approximately how many students with hearing loss does your district serve? • 0 – 25 • 26 – 50 • 50 – 100 • 100+

9. DHH – Special Considerations and Related Services • Related Services – Interpreting 34 CFR 300.34(c)(4) • Related Services – Speech Pathology 34 CFR 300.34(c)(15) • NOTE: Districts are not responsible for the maintenance, replacement or optimization (mapping) of surgically implanted medical devices (cochlear implants) 34 CFR 300.34(b)(1)

10. Implementing IDEA • Educating IEP teams • Unique needs of students with hearing loss • Deaf versus Hard-of-Hearing • Signing v. total communication v. auditory/oral • Role of the educational interpreter • Types of captioning as an accommodation

11. Implementing IDEA • Procuring Services • District-based employees • Contractual employees • Remote services for interpreting and captioning • Substitutes

12. DHH – Hot Topics • Improving achievement of students who are DHH in Reading. • Communication methods • Service provision – balancing communication needs and highly qualified requirements • Critical Shortage of teachers of the deaf and interpreters • Appropriate accommodations for both access to information and interaction with content

13. Which “hot topic” affects your district the most? • Reading • Communication • Service provision • Teacher critical shortage • Interpreter critical shortage

14. DHH Resources • Educational Interpreter Project www.interpreterproject.org • Provides professional development for in-service educational interpreters • Weekend seminars • Summer Institute • Provides preparation for interpreters-in-training • Provides targeted technical assistance to school districts

15. DHHResources • Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Outreach Services www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/outreach • Technical Assistance – in-service workshops, on-site classroom visits and recommendations • Information and referral services • Assessments – functional vision evaluations, orientation and mobility evaluations • Parental input and involvement activities – surveys, trainings • Small and rural districts

16. DHH Resources • Resource Materials and Technology Center for the Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (RMTC) www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/rmc • Gives teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing students the technology assistance, training and consultation they need to successfully integrate technology into their classroom routine • serves teachers and interpreters with a lending library of over 1,300 captioned and/or signed videotapes

17. Dual Sensory Impaired (Deaf-Blind)

18. Approximately how many students with deaf-blindness does your district serve? • 0 – 10 • 11 – 20 • 20+

19. Dual Sensory Impaired (Deaf-Blind) • Students have hearing and vision loss (not OR) • Student may also be eligible if he/she has a condition that will lead to dual sensory loss (i.e. Usher Syndrome) • Educational needs of these students vary • Educational needs go beyond the scope of VI alone or DHH alone

20. Dual Sensory Impaired (DSI) – Special Considerations and Related Services • Considerations and related services for students who are deaf/hard-of-hearing and students who are visually impaired may apply • Interpreting -- includes special interpreting services for students who are deaf-blind 34 CFR 300.34(c)(4)(ii)

21. Implementing IDEA • Educating IEP Teams • Deaf-blindness ≠ deafness + blindness • Communication needs • Additional disabilities

22. Implementing IDEA • Choosing services for the student • Related services • Interpreter versus intervenor • Orientation and Mobility • Other related services

23. DSI – Hot Topics • Identification of students with DSI • Educational placements and services • Communication access and needs • Transition

24. DSI Resources • Florida Outreach Project for Children and Young Adults who are Deaf-Blind www.deafblind.ufl.edu/ • Provides technical assistance and training to school districts and parents • Has a lending library of materials specific to deaf-blindness • Collects census information for the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

25. What has been your interaction with the state deaf-blind project? • Technical assistance received • Staff has attended seminars • Deaf-blind census completed annually • No interaction

26. Blind/Visually Impaired

27. Approximately how many students with visual impairments does your district serve? • 0 – 25 • 26 – 50 • 51 – 100 • 100 – 200 • 200+

28. Blind/Visually Impaired • Visual Impairment in Education • Blind – the student has little or no functional vision and accesses information primarily through auditory and tactile means

29. Blind/Visually Impaired • Low Vision – the student has residual vision which allows the use of printed materials, but may also use tactile and auditory information

30. Blind/Visually Impaired • Degenerative Eye disorders – student may not meet acuity or field loss requirements, but nature of eye condition results in the need for instruction in unique skills

31. VI – Accessing the Curriculum V ---------- Va---------VA------------Av----------A Visual VisualVisual VisualAlternative Onlyw/alternativeand Alternative Only supportAlternativew/visual support • Visual – Print, either enlarged or using magnification devices • Alternative – braille, audio (i.e. talking books) • Most students use multiple means of accessing text in different situations

32. VI – Special Considerations and Related Services • Special Considerations – Need for braille instruction 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2)(iii) • Special Considerations – Assistive Technology 34 CFR 300.324(a)(2)(v)

33. VI – Special Considerations and Related Services • Related Services – Orientation and Mobility 34 CFR 300.34(c)(7)

34. Implementing IDEA • Educating IEP teams • Unique needs of students with visual impairments • Expanded Core Curriculum • Role of the itinerant teacher of the visually impaired

35. VI – Hot Topics • Nation-wide critical shortage of teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility specialists • Learning media – the appropriateness of braille instruction for certain students

36. VI – Hot Topics • Caseloads • National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)

37. Which of the “Hot Topics” affects your district the most? • Teacher critical shortage • Learning media assessments • Caseloads • Accommodations/ accessible materials

38. VI Resources • Critical Initiatives in Visual Impairments: Low Vision Initiative (Florida State University) www.careersinblindness.com • Provides clinical low vision evaluations and low vision devices to eligible students • Students must be referred to the project by a teacher of the visually impaired • Students, parents, and teachers are provided training on how to use the devices

39. VI Resources • Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind Outreach Services www.fsdb.k12.fl.us/outreach • Technical Assistance – in-service workshops, on-site classroom visits and recommendations • Information and referral services • Assessments – functional vision evaluations, orientation and mobility evaluations • Parental input and involvement activities – surveys, trainings • Small and rural districts

40. VI Resources • Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired www.fimcvi.org • provides books and other materials in accessible formats (braille, large print, digital-audio) for students with visual impairments, including deaf-blindness • Students are registered with FIMC-VI annually • Materials are at no cost to districts • Orders (especially braille orders) must be in by March to ensure delivery by the beginning of the school year

41. Do your teachers attend Weekends with the Experts or other FIMC-VI workshops? • Yes • No

42. Has your district received technical assistance from FIMC-VI? • Yes • No

43. New Online FIMC-VIStudent Registration Module! Even though school districts must still register all students prior to receiving materials and services from FIMC-VI, blind and visually impaired students can now be registered online!!!!

44. New Online FIMC-VIStudent Registration Module! As in the past, only District ESE Administrators have the authority to designate teachers of the visually impaired or other specified personnel as Authorized FIMC –VI Users. Given confidentiality issues related to accessing student information, administrators must maintain close oversight of these appointments.

45. New Online FIMC-VIStudent Registration Module! Authorized FIMC-VI Users are able to: • register new students; • edit existing students registrations; and • order instructional materials.

46. National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)

47. Definitions • NIMAS – National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard • Standardized file format which facilitates the conversion of textbooks to alternative formats • Braille • Large Print • Digital/Audio • Students must meet eligibility requirements of Chafee Amendment to utilize books created from these files

48. Definitions (cont.) • NIMAC – National Instructional Materials Access Center • Housed at the American Printing House for the Blind • Repository for NIMAS files • Authorized Users obtain files to be transcribed/converted

49. NIMAS and IDEA • Section 612(a)(23) of IDEA requires states (SEAs) to adopt the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) for the purpose of providing instructional materials to persons who are blind and other persons with print disabilities, and to ensure that these materials are provided in a timely manner.

50. NIMAS and IDEA • Section 613(a)(6) of IDEA includes similar requirements for local educational agencies (LEAs) • Included in district assurances