Kansas Deaf-Blind Project

Mission Statement:

The Kansas Deaf-Blind Project remains firmly committed to providing technical assistance, training, resources, and products for identified children and young adults (birth-21 years old), their parents/families and educators through the collaboration of various and private agencies, universities, national projects, and local education agencies. Project activities are designed to engage students, parents/families, and educators by offering a variety of services, supports, and linkages to systems that provide assistance to children and young adults who are deaf-blind. Through these collaborative partnerships the Kansas Deaf-Blind Project will ultimately lead to improved student, family, and educator outcomes, in the least restrictive environment possible.

Services:

• Free technical assistance for parents, educators, and early intervention personnel by project personnel and other consultants.
• Web-based family and school team support.
• Assistance in locating children and young adults who may have both a vision and a hearing loss.
• In-service training on specific content areas as determined by needs assessment data.
• Ongoing Sparkle training for families of children who are deaf-blind.
• Annual training for parents and service providers.
• Scholarships for intervener training.
• Resources provided through the Kansas Deaf-Blind Loan Library.
• Resource Information Packets distributed to families of children who are newly identified as deaf-blind and to families whose children are re-certified on the Kansas Deaf-Blind Registry.
• Family Scholarships for education and training for parents/family members who have a child with deaf-blindness.

Additional Services:

• Annual and ongoing collection of Kansas deaf-blind census and federal census monitoring.
• Ongoing training and certification for Kansas school nurses, in screening for vision and Ushers syndrome.
• Ongoing collaboration with various agencies to expand services for children who are deaf-blind.

Why get your child/student identified as having vision and hearing losses?

• A child who is certified with deaf-blindness is able to receive free services to the educational team and family provided by the Kansas Deaf-Blind Project.
• Additionally, when a child is certified he/she is eligible to receive funds from the Kansas State Deaf-Blind Fund, administered by the Kansas State Department of Education.
• For additional information go to: www.kansasdeafblind.ku.edu.