DbCentral

Our Fall 2009 Newsletter is now available electronically! Visit our Newsletter page to access our current newsletter, as well as archived newsletters.

There is a new addition to our Lending Library! Thicker than Water: Essays by Adult Siblings of People with Disabilities is a thought-provoking essay collection in which thirty-nine adult siblings reflect on how their lives have been indelibly shaped by their relationship with a brother or sister with special needs. If you would like to check out this book, please visit our Lending Library page.

Our census maps have been updated! Please visit our Project Information page to view the 2008 Census Maps.

This document will be a collection of family wisdom and experiences to share with families and professionals.

Deafblindness: Education Service Guidelines Editors: Marianne Riggio and Barbara McLetchie

Developed in corporation with the Hilton/Perkins Program and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, this publication is a best practice guide that educational administrators at the state, local and program Levels can use to understand the implications of combined vision and hearing losses on learning, to recognize the need for specialized assessment, program planning and service delivery.

To purchase this book and/or other Perkins publications go to: http://perkins.org/ then click on “Perkins Products,” then “Perkins Publications.”

Perkins School for the Blind

The latest Perkins web cast is live. Featuring Sue Shannon talking about mealtime skills, this is the first in a series of new productions for our website. Attached is a flyer with information on other upcoming web casts, and here is the link to get to Sue’s presentation: www.perkins.org/webcasts/

Distance Consultation Opportunities

In writing our latest grant proposal we looked at ways to be more efficient and effective in our work with families and professionals. It is sometimes difficult and often costly to provide onsite consultation to individuals and teams across the state in a timely manner. After doing some research and talking with other consultation projects across the country, we decided to invest in some resources to help us provide distance consultation.

We are very excited to now offer, for loan from our library, Flip Video cameras and Logitech webcams. Each of these items are very easy to use and come with directions and software (when necessary). Families and professionals can borrow these items to record footage of activities and/or situations in which you would like feedback for ways to support your child/student, or to do live consultation sessions with Beth and/or Nicole. Webcams can also be used to send live footage of your child/student during a particular activity in which you have questions or concerns.

Logitech Webcam:

While doing distance consultation is a new and unique endeavor for our project, we are very optimistic about the possibilities. Please feel free to call or email our office if you have questions or ideas as to how we can expand the use of these new lending library items. For detailed instructions.

Utah State University - Early Intervention Master's Degree Program in Deafblindness:

Utah State University now offers an Early Intervention Master's Degree Program in Deafblindness. This program can be completed in one year of full-time coursework or on a part-time basis. Student stipends, which cover tuition, books, and other expenses, are available for qualifying students. Anyone who is interested may contact Linda Alsop at linda.alsop@usu.edu or at (435) 797-5598.