About the Deafblind Project

The Texas Deafblind Project is funded by a federal grant to provide information and training about deafblindness to families and the professionals that work with them. Subcontracted through the Texas Education Agency, the Deafblind Outreach team provides technical assistance that is designed to meet the unique needs of children, birth through 21 years of age, who have both a vision and hearing impairment. The Project will continue to compile the state deafblind census data for inclusion in the Federal Deaf-Blind Census and provide training in the completion of the census. Outreach services are available statewide, and provided in coordination with local schools and regional ESCs.

The Texas Deafblind Project was recently funded for five years to implement activities designed to improve transition, family support, and educational outcomes for children in Texas who are deafblind. Activities are listed below:

• Act as a central source for information and referral about deafblindness in Texas.
• Consult with families, educators, related service personnel, community providers and relevant staff of other agencies through onsite visits.
• Provide regional workshops, biennial statewide Deafblind Symposium and topical workshops related to deafblindness for families and service providers.
• Provide training that guides families through a transition planning process and helps them develop preferred adult lifestyles for family members who are deafblind.
• Develop a secondary transition planning process model and disseminate supporting materials for families, schools, and service providers that address the unique challenges related to transition of young adults with deafblindness.
• Provide regular training to the staff of service providers employed by the Deaf-Blind with Multiple Disabilities (DB-MD) Program, and other community service providers.
• Provide a series of training events to educate invited family members in leadership skills.
• Expand the involvement of Texas families participating in distance learning about deafblindness through Project SPARKLE.
• Provide opportunities for families to network and support one another at both regional and statewide events.
• Provide financial assistance and support to enable families and professionals to attend training.
• Support the Deaf-Blind Multihandicapped Association of Texas Regional Coordinators who provide family support to families in their own communities.
• Double the number of interveners supporting students who are deafblind.
• Develop a more structured system of training and support for interveners.
• Link with state higher education programs to offer undergraduate coursework on deafblindness to interveners.
• Provide training and support to 20 Regional Deafblind Specialists located at each of the Education Service Centers.
• Facilitate the development of 20 regional Deafblind Stakeholder Networks and the creations of Deafblind Regional Plans.
• Support regional deafblind training needs.
• Collaborate with national, statewide, and regional entities for strategic planning on trends and issues affecting children and young adults with deafblindness.
• Evaluate services and outcomes for children with deafblindness and their families, the local, regional, and state capacity to provide services, and use this information to increase services to children with deafblindness.
• Develop and disseminate informational products including a quarterly newsletter, SEE/HEAR, and other training materials about deafblindness on trends and issues affecting children and young adults with deafblindness.
• Direct census activities to maintain accurate demographic information on children with deafblindness in Texas for program planning and evaluation purposes.