The purpose of the South Dakota DeafBlind Project is to promote academic achievement and improve results for children who are deafblind by providing technical assistance, disseminating useful information, and ensuring all children will graduate from high school ready for college and/or a career. While the Center for Disabilities is the lead applicant for the project, key collaborators include the South Dakota School for the Deaf; the South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired; Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired; South Dakota Parent Connection; the South Dakota Department of Education, Office of Special Education; and the South Dakota Department of Education, Birth to Three Program.

“In such a large geological state like South Dakota, with widely scattered populations, it is important to build capacity across the state systems and work with like-minded service providers and institutions,” said Wendy Parent-Johnson, Center for Disabilities executive director. “We thank the U.S. Department of Education for identifying the critical need for the continuation of the deafblind project in South Dakota.”

Some of the main goals of the project are to develop an outreach and referral process to improve identification of all students who are deafblind; develop and implement individualized technical assistance plans for each student and their family; and provide onsite or long distance trainings to personnel in the schools, classrooms, or EIS providers, among others.

For more information about the Center for Disabilities or the DeafBlind Project, go to www.usd.edu/cd.

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