Deaf-Blind: Resources

Professional Development

2025-2025 Colorado Deaf-Blind Project Intervener Series

The project is pleased to announce a series of intervener webinars that will be offered once a month throughout the 2025-2026 school year. All events will be held virtually.  

This training is for Colorado Interveners and their teams only!

Time: 6:00 - 7:00 PM

Registration Information

Please be aware that:

• It is a policy in the Exceptional Student Services Unit (ESSU) that all training registrations must be closed two weeks prior to the event to address all the conference/meeting logistics needs.

Register for the Intervener Series

2024-2025 Colorado Deaf-Blind Project Webinar Series

The Colorado Services for Children and Youth with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss Project is pleased to announce two webinars that will be offered this January and February. Nancy Steele will be presenting on the Communication Matrix. These webinars will provide key information for personnel who will be selected to attend our June 9-10 Summer Institute on Deaf-Blindness and Significant Support Needs. Everyone is welcome to attend the webinars even if they do not attend the Summer Institute. Information on the Summer Institute training will be sent out in early February.

Nancy is an Educational Consultant, with expertise in children with significant disabilities. She was a Project Specialist for the National Center on Deaf-Blindness for 14 years. She served as the Lead on the Literacy Initiative, which included the development of the website "All Children Can Read." She also worked on the Open Hands, and Open Access Intervener Modules. Before that, she taught deaf and deaf-blind children in Kentucky for 17 years.

This training is for Colorado personnel only. 

Summer Institute on Deaf-Blindness and Significant Support Needs

On-Demand Professional Learning Specific to Deaf-Blindness

Pediatric deafness/hearing loss is addressed in five training modules on topics that detail (a) the importance and methods to detect and identify early-onset hearing loss; (b) the mechanics of how we hear; (c) the types and incidence of early-onset deafness/hearing loss; (d) the degree of hearing loss; and (e) causes and risk factors for early-onset hearing loss.

• Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
• How We Hear 
• Types of Hearing Loss
• Degree of Hearing Loss 
• Etiologies and Risk Factors of Hearing Loss 

 Colorado Resources for Families of Children who are Deafblind

• Deaf-blindness (CDE) (PDF)
• Deaf-blindness: Educational Service Guidelines (Perkins Scout)
• Family Voices (Colorado)
• Hands and Voices (Colorado Office)
• Helen Keller National Center - Rocky Mountain Office
• Parents of Blind Children (Colorado)
• Parent to Parent of Colorado
• Peak Parent Center
• Special Education - Parent Information and Resources
• Special Education - Parents Encouraging Parents  Conference

National and International Resources Specific to Deaf-Blindness:

• American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB)
• Center for Literacy and Disability Studies
• Communication Matrix
• Deafblind International
• Experience Books (Washington Sensory Disability Services)
• Hands and Voices
• Hands and Voices - Colorado Office
• Helen Keller National Center for Deafblind Youth and Adults (HKNC)
• Interveners and Children Who Are Deaf-blind
• Intervener Resource Page (NCDB)
• Intervener Resources, Videos, and Recommendations (NCDB)
• Literacy for Children with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss (Literacy Website Resources)
• National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB)
• National Family Association for the Deafblind (NFADB)
• National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD)
• Path to Literacy
• Sibling Support Project
• Monarch Reader, formally known as Tarheel Reader - a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics

National Resources Specific to Children with Disabilities

• NORD - National Organization of Rare Disorders

For more information about the Colorado Services for Children and Youth with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss project, please contact: