BC POPDB

An Interdisciplinary Team

Each student with deafblindness has his or her own unique learning style. How an individual student gathers and processes information will depend greatly on their own specific combination of visual and auditory abilities, as well as a number of other factors such as age of onset, etiology, personality, etc.. In order to design an effective and appropriate program for the student, it is important that all members of an interdisciplinary team be involved in assessing how the student learns and through what channels he or she gathers information. Through direct observation and interactions with the student, informal and formal assessment, and discussions with parents and/or primary care givers, each team member will be able to come up with a set of goals that reflect the individual student’s needs in their area of speciality.

Once each member of the team has assessed their area of speciality, the team must determine how each piece of information fits together to reflect the needs of the whole child. Addressing only one aspect of the child’s world, such as looking at his or her vision in isolation from the auditory ability, will often lead to frustration for both the student and the team.

The Roles of the Team Members

Role of the POPDB Consultants

• The POPDB Consultants are the Deafblind Specialists on the team.

The Outreach consultants bring knowledge of deafblindness, the impact it has on all levels of the learner’s development, and the specific strategies and techniques used in the field of deafblindness. Our consultants have extensive experience with a variety of individuals with deafblindness, and specific training in the field.

The Deafblind Specialist works with the school-based team, and does not replace any member of the team. The ownership of the student’s education belongs to the District. It is important to have a Teacher of the Visually Impaired and a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing from the District on the team. This ensures that there are people in the District who are learning about the student’s needs and can provide support on a regular basis.

• The POPDB Consultants offer support in establishing an effective communication program for the learner with deafblindness.

Developing an effective communication system is often the greatest challenge a child with deafblindness faces, and it is also the most important area for a support team to work on. The Outreach Consultant is skilled in using the various communication techniques commonly used within the field of deafblindness and will work with the team to develop an appropriate system for the student.

Communication is the key to all learning and access for the child. Its importance cannot be understated. There is a process of communication development that most children with deafblindness can be taught. It takes time to teach a child who has limited access to information, but it can be done. A child with deafblindness learns by doing, by being actively involved and “hands on”, not by watching or listening, since these are not reliable modalities for him or her. Once meaning is established with objects through routine and consistency, more abstract symbols and language can be attached to the objects and activities. This process takes time and each step builds on the one before it. The unfolding nature of this communication process requires that there be someone on the support team who is familiar with the ongoing strategies used in the field of deafblindness and who can assess the child’s changing needs over time. The Deafblind Specialist is best equipped to help the team in this process.

• The POPDB Consultants offer a variety of training options.

One of the consultant’s main roles is to provide training to school teams, administration, and community organizations. Ongoing training is also offered, in collaboration with Douglas College, to Intervenors.

• The POPDB Consultants provide an understanding of the issues. Our consultants listen with an educated ear and can fully understand and celebrate the successes as well as offering suggestions to help meet the challenges based on the unique nature of deafblindness.

• The POPDB Consultants provide networking opportunities.

Our consultants help to establish networking opportunities around the province, linking Districts who serve students with similar needs.

• The POPDB Consultants provide support to the District Partners.

The Role of Our District Partners

Our District partners are chosen by the School District and not by the POPDB. In many Districts the person chosen is someone who will have the opportunity to get to know the child and follow them through several years of their educational placements. The person chosen is often the Teacher of the Visually Impaired, the Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a District Inclusion Teacher, or a School-based Resource Teacher. In some Districts, the classroom teacher or the District Special Education Administrator has taken on the role. In Districts where there is more than one student with deafblindness, we have found it very beneficial to everyone involved, if the District Partner is involved with all of the students.

The role of the District Partner includes:

• Acting as the primary contact for the Outreach Consultants

• Helping to arrange Outreach visits

• Committing to learning about deafblindness and intervention, so they may be an advocate for deafblind students within the District

• Distributing infromation to team members from the POPDB staff, ie. Visit Notes, Upcoming courses, Pro-D opportunities

• Sharing information within the District to ensure that any new students with deafblindness are identified and referred

• Acting as School and District liasion and advocate for POPDB within the District

• Checking to ensure students are registered with the Ministry of Education in the Deafblind category

• Attending the annual Conference presented by the POPDB

The Role of the District Itinerant or School-Based Resource Teacher is to:

• Act as Case Manager.

• Develop IEP with collaboration from the team.

• Ensure strategies and techniques agreed upon by the team are being implemented.

• Work with the larger school community to educate and promote acceptance of the student.

• Organize and coordinate team meetings.

• Facilitate team functioning in school and with families.

• Access resources.

The Role of the Classroom Teacher is to:

• Set a welcoming atmosphere of acceptance within the classroom.

• Recognize the unique role of the Intervenor, and how the position differs from that of a classroom assistant.

• Be willing to be flexible to ensure that the Intervenor is able to follow the student’s interests and use the “teachable moment” to the fullest.

• Model communication approaches with the student who is deafblind for the peers to observe and learn from.

• Meet regularly with the Intervenor to share information about upcoming themes, projects, outings, etc. so the Intervenor has time to prepare, make adaptations, and inform the student with deafblindness about what is going to happen.

• When appropriate, arrange for peers to spend time with the student within the classroom and in some situations arrange for one to one peer support.

• Find ways to accommodate the student’s additional communication materials, and equipment within the classroom.

The Role of the Teacher of the Visually Impaired is to:

• Provide the team with information about the student’s vision and how it will affect their ability to function in various settings.

• Provide materials and strategies that will help enhance the student’s use of their functional vision.

• Assist the Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in determining the best conditions, positions, etc. for the use of sign language within the student’s visual field.

• Work with the classroom teacher and the Intervenor to develop appropriate adaptations that will make materials and activities easier for the student to use their functional vision.

The Role of Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is to:

• Provide the team with information about the student’s hearing and how it will affect their ability to function in various settings.

• Provide and maintain auditory equipment. Train the team in its use.

• Offer strategies that will help enhance the student’s use of their functional hearing.

• Encourage the development of sign language with staff and students.

The Role of the Intervenor is complex and centers around the student.

• An Intervenor provides the degree of support necessary to ensure effective communication.

With the team’s support and input, the Intervenor should explore the child’s learning style – whether it is tactual, visual, or auditory. Establishing communication is one of the primary roles of the Intervenor.

• An Intervenor provides the visual and auditory information that an individual is unable to gather on her own as a result of the visual and auditory disability, in a way that is meaningful for the individual.

• The Intervenor provides the motivation necessary for the individual with deafblindness to want to become an active participant in all activities.

• The Intervenor provides accurate feedback about the results of the individual’s efforts.

• The Intervenor provides the support and reassurance to the student with deafblindness that the sighted hearing individual receives from his environment.

• The Intervenor fosters opportunities for socialization with peers and persons in the school community. This may mean taking time to help the child feel secure and develop an awareness of the structure of the world through routine and direct interaction with just a few people, before being able to interact with the whole of the school community.

• The Intervenor ensures that every experience is an opportunity for conceptual growth and skill acquisition.

• The Intervenor utilizes those methods and techniques, which provide the best possible opportunity for an individual who is deafblind to compensate for the loss of both vision and hearing.

• Provides information about their child – likes, dislikes, medical, daily log about sleep, things that happened at home, etc. that may influence the student’s school day.

• Commit to following through with communication and learning strategies used at school to provide consistency across environments for the student.

District Administration

• Ensures all children with deafblindness are identified and receiving appropriate service.

• Knows of and supports referrals to the Provincial Outreach Team for student with Deafblindness.

Other Possible Team Members may include:

- Occupational Therapist

- Speech and Language Pathologist / Communication Specialist

- School Psychologist