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Publication of the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project            http://education.gsu.edu/georgiadeafblindproj
Georgia State University                                                           Overview Issue  ___________________________                               

 

 

WHATS IN THIS ISSUE?

 

    Georgia Sensory Assistance Project Update

    What is Georgia’s Deafblind Census?

    Serving Babies and Toddlers: Georgia PINES - INSITE Program

    Early Transition: Hey Mom and Dad… Am I Ready for School?

    GSAP’s Technical Assistance Practices in the Schools

    Sibshops: For Brothers and Sisters who have a Sibling with Deafblindness

    Georgia Teen and Young Adults with Deafblindness Group

    GSAP Salutes Our High School Graduates

 

 

 

GEORGIA SENSORY ASSISTANCE PROJECT OBJECTIVES

 

The Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (GSAP) is designed to meet the critical needs of the state to improve educational achievement and outcomes for children who are deafblind (birth to 22 years of age). Statewide needs are addressed through the nine objectives of this project:

1) utilize collaborative partnerships to bring about systems change and increase local capacity to improve outcomes of children who are deafblind;

 

2) locate and identify children with deafblindness and maintain a deafblind census;

 

3) provide technical assistance in the area of early intervention and early transition to families and early intervention personnel who work with children who are deafblind;

 

4) provide technical assistance to school personnel and families of school-age and transition age children who are deafblind, addressing educational milestones, IEPs, postsecondary goals, learning characteristics, skills, technology use, and access to the general education curriculum;

 

5) provide technical assistance to families who have children who are deafblind;

 

6) develop and implement a professional development plan with families, SEAs, state lead agencies, LEAs, IHEs, and stakeholders, to meet the  professional development needs of personnel who serve children who are deafblind;

 

7) maintain and expand GSAP website and product dissemination activities;

 

8) collaborate with the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness and Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) projects;

 

9) coordinate with OSEP projected product development, communities of practice, and OSEP’s technical and dissemination matrix. The implementation of these objectives will be carried out through several types of technical assistance activities. Read more about these activities in this issue of our newsletter!

 

 

What is Georgia’s Deafblind Census?

               Since 1986, all of the state deafblind projects have been participating in the annual National Child Count of Children and Youth who are Deafblind (birth through 21 years of age), also known as the “Deafblind Census”.  The Deafblind Census supplements the federal Child Count that is taken on all children with disabilities by their local school district. Since the federal Child Count may only designate children as being deafblind when that is their only disability, a more inclusive child count is needed to represent all students with deafblindness, including those with additional disabilities. The Deafblind Census counts all children with both a vision and hearing loss, including those with additional disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, mental retardation). The Deafblind Census provides helpful information to assist each state in the design of their technical assistance activities for children and youth who are deafblind, their families, and service providers. It has also been helpful in targeting national and state product development as well as the development of personnel preparation programs.
               Each year Georgia collects non-identifying data on students ages birth through 21 who have been identified as deafblind for Georgia’s Deafblind Census. This data is collected annually on December 1 and reported to the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB) where is compiled with data from other state deafblind projects to provide a national snapshot of children and youth who are deafblind.  Census data is confidential. Students registered on the census are assigned codes and personal information is not released.  Parent and teacher names and addresses are requested so information regarding workshops, materials and other resources may be dispersed. 
 

               We are often asked about the definition of “deafblindness.” Deafblindness refers to a combined vision and hearing loss. Functional levels may vary from hard-of-hearing and partially sighted to profoundly deaf and totally blind.  It also includes those individuals who may not be using their vision or hearing due to severe disabilities.  Deafblindness can cause developmental delays in areas such as language, social skills and mobility, but does not necessarily limit the individual’s learning potential.  An individual who meets this definition may also be counted by a school system in another area of exceptionality.

               Georgia’s census data is updated on a daily basis. The information below is a snapshot of some characteristics of Georgia’s population of children and youth with deafblindness. The following data includes infants, toddlers, children and youth ages birth to twenty two. Here is an example of the census taken on December 1, 2007.

Population Location  (303 students, birth- 22 years)                         Age Distribution
Greater Metro Area:                   42%                                                     Birth up to 5 years old:   27%
Midsize Cities:                              7%                                                     5 years of age up to 14:  41%

Towns and Rural Areas:            51%                                                    14 years of age to 22:     32%

 

 

 

Etiologies of Deafblindness in Georgia

Hereditary/Chromosomal Syndromes and Disorders         29%

   CHARGE Association  6%     

   Downs Syndrome        1%

   Usher Type 1               2%

   Other                           15%

 

Combined totals Prenatal and Complications of Maturity 47%

   Cytomegalovirus         6%      

   Hydrocephaly              3%

   Microcephaly              1%

 

Post Natal/Non-Congenital Complications                          13%

   Severe head injury      3%

   Meningitis                    2%

   Asphyxia                      2%

   Tumors                       1%      

   Encephalitis                >1%

 

Undiagnosed                                                                            10%

 

Primary Disability Categories of Students who have Deafblindness (Part B Distribution)

Mental Retardation         30%                

Developmental Delay     17%                

Visually Impaired            10%                

Hearing Impaired              6 %               

Deafblind                        10%   

Other Health Impaired      5%

Autism                              2%

Speech                             2%

Traumatic Brain Injury      2%

Not Reported                    8% (or other settings)

 

Primary Form of Communication   (Ages 3-22)         Vocabulary Size (Ages 3-22)

Nonsymbolic gestures/behaviors          59%                  Less than 10                          56%

Speech                                                   28%                 10 to 40 Words                       11%    

Sign language (visual)                             8%                  41 to 100 Words                      5%    

Sign language (Tactual)                        >1%                 101 to 150 Words                     2%

Electronic picture/symbol system           1%                 151 to 300 Words                  24%

Tactile communication system               1%                 over 300 words                      12%

Picture/Symbol system                           3%

Tactile communication system               1%

Other                                                        0%

 

Mobility Distribution                                                    Behavior Distribution

Ambulates without assistance               41%                 No challenging behaviors        66%

Manual wheelchair is pushed                33%                 Hurtful to self                             7%

Cane (for visual impairment)                   5%                 Hurtful to others                        2%

Walker                                                      3%                 Unusual or repetitive habits      4%

Sighted guide                                           1%                 Social offensive behaviors        2%

manual wheelchair self-propels                  1%                 Destructive to property             1%

Other                                                      11%                 Other                                         7%

Combinations                                           3%                 Combinations                            7%

Serving Babies and Toddlers: Georgia PINES - INSITE Program

 

Georgia Parent Infant Network for Educational Services www.gapines.info

The Georgia Sensory Assistance Project primarily provides services for children birth to three through Georgia PINES. Georgia PINES, which stands for Georgia Parent Infant Network for Educational Services, is a statewide home intervention program available to families of infants and toddlers with sensory impairment, 0-5 years of age. The administrative offices are housed at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf in Clarkston and the Georgia Academy for the Blind in Macon. Georgia PINES is funded through the Georgia Department of Education with partial funding from the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project. All services are free to families. In order for a family to be eligible for services from Georgia PINES, their child must have either a diagnosed visual impairment, hearing impairment, or deafblindness.

HISTORY

Georgia PINES became a replication site for SKI-HI and INSITE validated models developed at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, for identification and intervention for children with sensory loss through a home management program. The SKI-HI Model is used with families of children with hearing loss and the INSITE Model is used with families of children with multiple disabilities including vision and/or hearing loss. Both models are endorsed by the National Diffusion Network. The Georgia PINES-INSITE Program has been serving families of children with visual impairment, deafblindness, and sensory impairment including multiple disabilities in the state of Georgia since 1982. It was the first replication site for the INSITE Model developed by the National SKI-HI Institute at Utah State University. The Vision Impaired Inservice in America (VIISA) Model was added to Georgia PINES in 2001. VIISA is used with families of children with vision loss as their primary disability. Other supplemental curricula and resources may be used depending upon the needs of the child and family. These include the HELP Activity Guide, Reach Out and Teach, the Oregon Project and the Callier Azusa Scale among others. There is also a lending resource library of professional books, videos, and toys, for use with our Georgia PINES families.

PROGRAM

After seven days of intensive training, a parent advisor enters a contractual agreement with the Georgia PINES Program and is eligible to receive a referral for service to a family. Parent advisors have special education certification.  Referrals come into the Georgia PINES office in a variety of ways: Children 1st, doctors, therapists, families, and other agencies.  Families of children with hearing loss receive an Early Hearing Orientation Visit through Georgia’s Universal Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention program.  The referral is then passed on to the parent advisor who makes contact with the family and begins weekly home visits.

The parent advisor's primary focus is the family and their needs. During a home visit, the parent ad­visor provides technical assistance to the family through discussion of topics of need or interest expressed by the family, demonstration of appropriate activities and techniques to enhance the child's development, particularly related to their sensory impairment, and sharing of other information and resources which would be of assistance to the family. Follow-up is left for the family to work on during the week and is discussed during the next home visit. Challenges and lessons are chosen based on the expressed needs of the family.

Georgia PINES works in collaboration with the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project, Babies Can't Wait and other professionals providing services to the family. For more information, please contact Kit Meaders at 478-751-4459  or by email at KMeaders@doe.k12.ga.us

 

                                         EARLY TRANSITION
Hey Mom and Dad,

            ... am I ready for school?

Mom, Dad, do you know that I can go to school when I am three years old? It's called transitioning to school. I know "transition" is a scary word to you. ..with me being so little. Transition means change. ..it is a part of growing up. We will have many transitions together. Don't worry, there are people to help you make the best decision for our family. You can talk about all my school options with my Babies Can't Wait Service Coordinator, Georgia PINES Parent Advisor, and the staff of the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (GSAP).

Now that I am two years old, it is time for you to get busy. I need you to explain my needs to my teachers. The school needs copies of my medical reports (vision, hearing, physical, occupational, and speech therapy) so I can qualify for vision and hearing services, as well as physical, occupational, and speech therapy. That's called being  “eligible for services". However, if you can't get the reports in time, it’s all right. You can sign a "Permission to Release Information" form and the school can get the reports. It may take longer for the school to determine if I am eligible for some services, but I can still go to school. The reports also help my school know all the special things I need to have in place when I come.

To help us get started, the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (GSAP) will provide a notebook shortly after I turn two years old. The notebook has the GSAP Transition Bear on it and it is really neat because there are sections that help organize all my records and reports in one place. There is even a section on "Important Things to Know". You can write all sorts of special things about me in that section. Our parent advisor can help you complete the transition notebook.  We can use my notebook all through my school years. If you don't receive my Early Transition Notebook, you can ask our Georgia PINES Parent Advisor or call Lynn McFarland at 678-691-5387 or e-mail her at dmcfarland1@gsu.edu .   She will make sure we get one.   

Oh by the way, keep an eye out for the GSAP Family Support Coor­dinator. She has some neat ideas for our family, too.

I can hardly wait for school. I'll meet new friends and so will you. All the staff at GSAP are available to help our family, my teachers, and me throughout my school years. So, if my teachers have questions about teaching kids with vision and hearing loss, communication, or anything else, help is just a phone call away. I am so lucky to have parents like you. This is going to be great adventure. With you, the Georgia Sensory As­sistance Project (GSAP), Georgia PINES, and BCW on our side, how could it be anything else?!

Ready, set, let's go to school!

GSAP’s Technical Assistance Practices In the Schools

 

     For almost two decades, the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project (GSAP) has been providing technical assistance throughout the state to teachers, related service staff, administrators, and families who have children who are deafblind. The unique needs of children with deafblindness often create a need for the additional support and resources that the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project can provide.  For example, students who are deafblind often need special accommodations in the classroom. Materials must be modified to improve a students chance of success. Students who are non-verbal require an alternative means of communication. Orientation and mobility issues are paramount in the development of concept development and the ability to access the environment. GSAP helps provide recommendations and resources to meet these needs.

 

     As we move into another year, the Georgia Sensory Assistance Project plans to continue to provide excellence in the area of technical assistance to schools in Georgia. We will strive to assist parents, teachers, and support staff through on-site technical assistance, workshops, collaborative activities, system-change and other activities that aim to improve the outcomes of infants, toddlers, children and youth who are deafblind. Our hope is to expand upon the already existing network of teachers and school personnel who have attended our workshops and gained competence in addressing the needs of their students who are deafblind. Regional strength is the key to long term success and therefore we plan to continue our regional trainings and educate more people about deafblindness. An increasing number of school administrators have asked the project to provide workshops in their systems.  Whether it is addressing a particular type of vision loss or looking at augmentative communication, the project will do its best to meet the needs of the schools. In recent years the project has been involved with transition related trainings using  programs such as MAPS or PATH as well as customized employment options. GSAP will continue to provide assistance to young children entering the school system, students in the school system acquiring skills and teenagers as they prepare to transition from school to adult life.

 

     I thought it might be helpful if I described the process by which someone receives technical assistance in the classroom through GSAP.  When a new student is identified with vision and hearing loss, the parent and/or teacher complete registration and release of information forms. Also, a Request for Technical Assistance Form is completed by the classroom teacher and it includes a section in which the teacher (or person requesting technical assistance) can list the areas that the technical assistance should focus on (e.g., communication, literacy, mobility). When technical assistance is occurring in a school, this form is signed by the school principal or special education director and is sent to GSAP directly. Once the paperwork is complete, the GSAP Coordinator will contact the teacher and arrange a visit in the classroom. A report including  recommendations is then sent to the teacher. Follow-up is provided to determine if further recommendations are needed or if more information or materials are required. In addition, it is possible to request one of the GSAP staff members to be present during IEP meetings or transition meetings. Workshops addressing the specific needs of students are through the project upon request. Please don’t hesitate to contact us (404-413-8312).