The North Dakota Deaf-Blind Services Project
What is the Deaf-Blind Services Project?
The Project is funded by the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education. The purpose of the ND Deaf-Blind Project is to provide technical assistance and support to parents, families, teachers, and service providers of infants, toddlers, students, and youth who are Deaf-Blind or at risk for Deaf-Blindness. The project focuses on building statewide capacity and sustainability for serving the unique needs of individuals, birth through 21 years of age, who are Deaf-Blind. The project maintains a lending library of materials including videos and books. All services are provided at no cost to North Dakota families, teachers, and service providers of children and youth on the project census.
Currently the ND Deaf-Blind Services Project is housed at the ND School for the Deaf in Devils Lake, North Dakota. The Project Director is Carmen Suminski, the Superintendent of ND Vision Services/School for the Blind located in Grand Forks, ND. The Project Coordinator is Sherri Nelson, who began working for the project in September, 2006. The Project Support staff person is Sheri Hettwer, located also at the ND School for the Deaf.
There are approximately 40,000 people in the United States who are Deaf-Blind. Hearing and vision are the primary senses through which we learn and collect data. Hearing is the basis of communication and 80 percent of what we learn is through the visual sense.
For students to be eligible to receive services through the Project, they must meet the federal definition of Deaf-Blindness (also known as Dual Sensory impairment).
This project is supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the U.S. Department of Education.
