Tactile signing among persons with deaf-blindness is not homogenous; rather, like other forms of language, it exhibits variation, especially in turn taking. Early analyses of tactile Swedish Sign Language, tactile Norwegian Sign Language, and tactile French Sign Language focused on tactile communication with four hands, in which partially blind or…

This manual was designed primarily for use by people with disabilities. The hope is that it is also useful for families, as well as service coordinators and providers who directly assist families and individuals with disabilities. The focus of this manual is to provide easy-to-read information about available resources, and to provide immediate…

The effects of deafblindness are much greater than simply combining the effects of the individual's vision loss with the effects of their hearing loss, because these senses strongly support one another (Silberman, Bruce, & Nelson, 2004). Even though most individuals have some residual vision and hearing, deafblindness limits access to the…

This article is written by Heather Murdoch, research consultant for the Seashell Trust, Anne Gough, deputy headteacher at Royal School Manchester/Seashell Trust, Eileen Boothroyd, consultant for the Seashell Trust, and Kate Williams, a creative perfumer for Seven (PZ Cussons). It describes the use of food fragrances with deafblind students who are…

This study examined the effects of a 20-week intervention to foster affective involvement during interaction and communication between an adult with congenital deafblindness (CDB) and his caregivers in a group home and a daytime activities center. Using a single-subject design, we examined whether the intervention increased affective involvement…

There are many reports that identify the communication of persons with deafblindness. These reports are descriptive in nature, highlighting comprehension, gesture development, communication actions (that is, forms) and purposes (that is, functions), and the collection of verbal skills. This report extends the literature with an in-depth…

This article explains how interpreters for deaf-blind people coordinate and express turn-taking signals in an interpreted dialogue. Empirical materials are derived from a video-ethnographic study of an interpreted-mediated board meeting with five deaf-blind participants. The results show that the interpreters provide access to visual and auditory…

This fact sheet reports on inclusive education and students with special needs in British Columbia, including changes to the composition of students with special needs in public schools, cuts to specialist teaching positions, and graduation rates for students with special needs.

This report is the 33rd edition of the annual National Child Count of Children and Youth Who Are Deaf-Blind, the first and longest running registry and knowledge base of children who are deaf-blind in the world. Begun in 1986 on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, it represents a collaborative effort between the National Center on…

Background: Several researchers have reduced engagement in stereotypy in individuals with intellectual disability and deafblindness using interventions containing a punishment component. The purpose of our study was to examine whether we could produce reductions in stereotypy in an individual with Cornelia de Lange syndrome and deafblindness by…

Self regulation has been identified as essential to school success. However, for a variety of reasons, its development may be compromised in children and youth who are deafblind. A single-case multiple baseline study of a child who was deafblind examined the effects of three groups of evidence-based interventions on variables thought to be…

Multimethod study examined the 50 U.S. states' preparation and licensure practices regarding students with low-incidence sensory disabilities (LISD). The researchers used document review and structured interviews with state education agency representatives. It was found that institutions of higher education (IHEs) in 38 states offer at least one…

Introduction: In this study, we applied the Intervention Model for Affective Involvement (IMAI) to four participants who are congenitally deafblind and their 16 communication partners in 3 different settings (school, a daytime activities center, and a group home). We examined whether the intervention increased affective involvement between the…

The article presented here introduces the Intervention Model for Affective Involvement (IMAI), which was designed to train staff members (for example, teachers, caregivers, support workers) to foster affective involvement during interaction and communication with persons who have congenital deaf-blindness. The model is theoretically underpinned,…

Students who are deafblind are a unique population with unique needs for learning, communication, and environmental access. Two roles have been identified as important to their education: teacher of the deafblind and intervener. However, these roles are not officially recognized in most states. Because of this lack of recognition and the low…