Statewide DeafBlind Community of Practice Meeting

Minnesota DeafBlind Community of Practice

Date:   Friday, September 29, 2023
Location:  VIrtual - Zoom
Time:  9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m (Note change in start time.)
For:  MN DeafBlind Community of Practice Representatives

Updated Agenda:

9:00-10:00 Welcome and New Resources:

Google Sites:

1. “DeafBlind Resources for Special Educators” to replace the Google Shared Drive “MN DeafBlind Resources for Special Educators” – Ann Mayes

· Combined Hearing and Vision Loss: Resources for Supporting Teams, Including Simulations

2. “School District Resources for Employing Interveners” - Ann Mayes

Document:

“Clarification of Roles of Contracted Nurses, District Health Staff, and Interveners in Educational Settings” – Ann Mayes

Q & A about New Google Sites and Document – How to Share Information as a Representative

10:00-10:10 Break/Switch Presenters

10:10-12:00 Communication and the Learner Who Is DeafBlind: Children and youth who are Deafblind require unique strategies to support their development of concepts and communication. The role of the Intervener includes using these strategies to facilitate a student’s access to their environment- including the people, materials, and information within that environment. This presentation will use videos, discussions, and fact sheets to illustrate techniques for any educational team member to support both communication input and output with an individual who has unique and sometimes complex communication access needs. Video observations will allow participants to practice identifying the learning and communication

styles of individual Deafblind Learners. Discussion will include the consideration of multiple forms of communication to connect, share, and interact as equal partners across motivating topics and experiences. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on potential “next steps” for expanding their own student’s high-quality interactions.

*Note: The presenter will manage breaks during her presentation.

12:00-1:00 Lunch Break

1:00-2:30 Communication and the Learner Who Is DeafBlind Continues

2:30-3:00 Discussion about Presentation

                 Evaluation and Wrap-Up

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This initiative is funded with a grant from MDE using federal funding, CFDA 84.027A, Special Education - Grants to States. This initiative does not necessarily represent the policy of the federal Department of Education or the state Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal or state government.

Cancellation: You can cancel your own registration for an event before the cancellation deadline. (Please check the event information for specific cancellation details.) If the event has a fee, refunds are possible only if cancellation is prior to the deadline. If you do not attend and do not cancel prior to an event, you are still responsible for payment and will be billed.

Special Accommodations: Please alert BrightWorks 2-3 weeks prior to the workshop/event if you need special accommodations, including sign language interpreters. (BrightWorks requires a notice of 2 business days to cancel a sign language interpreter. If you fail to cancel, we reserve the right to bill your school/district for this expense.) Update your profile as needed. Special accommodations are not included with each registration, but are stored in your profile until you make changes.