escWorks

NOTICE: TSBVI will be taking photography and/or video recordings at this event. By registering you are giving consent to appear in any media TSBVI captures. If you do not consent to being in media, please contact us and we will work with you to make your media release status known to those capturing media.

You have the option of paying by check, purchase order, or credit card. Cash will not be accepted. Credit card payments will only be accepted online at the time of registration. Payment may be made in advance, paid on location, or received within 30 days of the event date. Instructions regarding where to send payment will be provided in your invoice/confirmation. If you are unable to supply a check or a PO number at the time of your registration, then simply enter "0000" and provide the number to us at a later time.

People attending the Symposium who are new to deafblindness will benefit from preteaching in some areas in order to be able to more fully engaged in the content covered in subsequent days of the conference. This presentation will include an overview of deafblindness and key components of support for children and young adults who are DeafBlind.

Objectives:
• Participants will have an understanding of the range and impact of deafblindness.
• Participants will have an understanding of qualified personnel, such as Teachers of the DeafBlind and Interveners.
• Participants will have the foundational knowledge to help them to better understand content covered in conference sessions.

This presentation considers the profiles of learners with autism or deafblindness and considers why these learners may share similar features. We’ll unpack evidence-based practices for autism and compare those practices to recognized field-based best practices related to deafblind education. We’ll discuss how to match and tailor those ASD practices with deafblind practices when planning instruction for a learner.

Objectives:
• Understand the difference between a sensory processing difference and sensory loss or impairment and explain how certain behaviors demonstrated by an individual may be a response to missing, reduced, or distorted sensory information rather than autism.
• Recognize and explain: 1) the potential benefits and concerns related to dual diagnosis of deafblindness and autism and 2) the limitations and concerns related to exclusive use of evidence-based ASD interventions for a learner.

Come listen to representatives from state, national, and world levels discuss the State of Deafblind Education!

Objectives:
• Learn about Texas deafblind education initiatives, including Teacher of Students who are Deafblind (TDB) certification.
• Learn about national initiatives, including family engagement and deafblind education.
• Gain insight what is happening within the global deafblind community.

Active touch, bodily movements and postures are the primary source of communication and learning for many children with congenital deafblindness. To support language development, one’s own experience and knowledge of the tactile sense is needed. Communication partners must try to move closer to the perceptual world of the child.

Objectives:
• To create interest, curiosity and awareness for the tactile sense.
• To promote understanding of expressions emerging from tactile sensations.

Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and thrive in their school and community. Strong partnerships between families, schools, and communities are essential in fostering student success. This session will explore national family engagement efforts in general education, aligned with the National Deaf-Blind Network, and showcase how families are creating a good life for their children.

Objectives:
• Understand how the four NAFSCE Core Competencies align with the Deafblind Value of Family Engagement report.
• Learn how families, educators, and community partners all play an important role in ensuring the success of students.
• Learn research-based practical strategies families, schools, and communities use to bring about systems change.

When considering a Behavior Intervention Plan for our students who are deafblind, it is crucial to consider their vision and access needs in relation to behaviors. In the Guidance for Planning Behavior Intervention publication, four pillars must be addressed to prevent distressed behavior: Safety, Success, Independence, and Connectedness. In this session, participants will get an overview of this publication.

Objectives:
• Participants will become familiar with the steps of the behavior planning process.
• Participants will learn proactive and responsive strategies for the four pillars to prevent distressed behaviors.
• Participants will be able to apply proactive and responsive strategies in the home, school, and community.

Play is a child’s work, but it is also the work of all the adults in a child’s life to ensure that play remains part of a child’s world. This session will take a playfully serious look at play, what it is, how play is important to learning and thriving, and ways to facilitate play for children who are deafblind.

Objectives:
• List at least five characteristics of play.
• Explain how play is connected to and important for learning.
• Identify at least three strategies to facilitate play for students who are deafblind.

This session will define the roles of the members of the students' sensory teams and discuss strategies for positive collaboration, including how to define roles, how to implement efficient and effective educational programming, and utilizing role-release strategies.

Objectives:
• The participants will understand the roles of the members of the sensory team (TSVI, TDHH, COMS, TDB, intervener, etc.)
• The participants will understand the benefits of role release and gain strategies to utilize with various team members.
• The participants will gain real-life strategies for implementing positive collaboration strategies with team members.

Join us in hearing about Touch Base Center for the Deafblind, an innovative day activity center for deafblind people in the Houston area. Together, we'll explore what makes this model Impactive for the community.

Objectives:
• Share about a successful alternative for after the school years.
• Share tips on how to create a Sustainable Day Activity Center for people who are deafblind.
• Collaborate on what your hopes are for the future!

NOTE: The social event is for family members only. Only participants who are registered as 'Family Member' can select this session. We kindly ask that all other participants respect this space that has been set aside. If you have any questions then please contact Edgenie Bellah at bellahe@tsbvi.edu.

This forum explores specialized O&M strategies for travelers who are deafblind, focusing on touch, trust, communication, and technology integration. Participants will share insights from working with children and adults who are deafblind and discuss recent research shaping the evolving field of Deafblind O&M, highlighting the need to expand qualified personnel to include Deafblind COMS.

Objectives:
• Learn from travelers who are deafblind about the unique elements of Deafblind O&M instruction.
• Introduce participants to deafblind travelers and professionals who can provide guidance and support in learning more about O&M services to travelers who are deafblind.
• Discover different philosophies of developing independence for travelers who are deafblind.

For most individuals, vision and hearing are the most dominant senses. As one works to discover the perspective of the person whose vision and hearing are not fully intact, one must be empathetic to a world view from a tactile experience. Please join us as we learn about the Functional Tactile-Bodily Evaluation tool; its components and its importance when evaluating students who are deafblind.

Objective:
• Participants will learn about the 4 components of the Functional Tactile-Bodily Evaluation.
• Participants will learn how to complete a Functional Tactile-Bodily Evaluation through analyzing video.
• Participants will learn how to incorporate this data into the FIE.

This interactive session will discuss recent brain research and it's impact on learning and behavior outcomes for the Deafblind community.

Objectives:
• Participants will gain new knowledge on brain research and deafblind outcomes.
• Participants will gain information on brain research and learning and behavior outcomes.

This break out session is based on a longitudinal case study involving a boy with congenital deafblindness and his teachers. The case explores how communication partners adapt strategies to a bodily tactile modality to facilitate the development of a conventional tactile sign language. The presenters will add a social and cognitive perspective to the case study and the strategies used.

Objectives:
• To provide insight into different strategies that have been used over time to develop a form and understanding for tactile sign language.
• To demonstrate and emphasize the importance of using strategies that contribute to cognitive development.

Deafblind youth often navigate an array of less than fully accessible environments in their everyday lives. This can result in increased fatigue and distress in home and school settings, and may be misinterpreted by those unfamiliar with listening fatigue and communication stressors. The presentation discusses strategies to identify and address listening fatigue and communication stressors.

Objectives:
• Identify how listening fatigue & communication-related stressors affect cognitive load, emotional regulation, & overall well-being.
• Recognize behavioral, social, & psychological indicators of listening fatigue and will list assessment tools that can help to identify deafblind youth experiencing significant communication-related distress.
• Describe strategies to create supportive environments to reduce fatigue, improve communication at home & school, fostering better academic & social outcomes.

As part of the publication, "Essential Tools of the Trade for Teachers of Students who are Deafblind: A How-To Guide for Completing Evaluation", seven considerations for additional expanded core curriculum areas were developed and proposed. This session will review the seven areas, the considerations connected to them, and will provide the opportunity for discussion around each of the proposed areas

Objectives:
• Participants will be able to identify the seven proposed areas of consideration provided in the Expanded Core Curriculum Considerations for Students who are Deafblind.
• Participants will be able to identify multiple items for considerations within each of the seven proposed areas.
• Participants will actively engage in a discussion around each of the proposed areas.

In recent years there has been a shift in the population of students on the Texas Deafblind Child Count indicating an increasing number of congenital deafblind students who are taking standardized state testing with or without accommodations. In this session, participants will learn how to identify Proficient Communicators and discuss 12 important considerations to be addressed within their IEP.

Objectives
• Participants will be able to identify the six common characteristics shared among Proficient Communicators.
• Participants will be able to identify the 12 Considerations for Specialized Instruction for Proficient Communicators.
• Participants will become familiar with the IEP Checklist for Proficient Communicators.

Through interactive activities, participants will explore how legislation such as the Texas Deaf Children’s Bill of Rights and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) can be used to advocate for accessible language in the education setting.

Objectives:
• Participants will summarize specific laws, like the Texas Deaf Children’s Bill of Rights and IDEA, that ensure deafblind children have access to their preferred commuication mode.
• Participants will compose and practice using advocacy statements that reference the law to support communication access.
• Participants will discuss why advocating for communication access using the law is essential to support the learning and development of deafblind children.

NOTE: TSBVI Outreach gladly provides a vegetarian option. If you have other dietary needs or restricts, then you may wish to consider bringing your own lunch.

The DeafBlind presenter will share their journey experience as DeafBlind individual and they will share on the new identities impact and affect this person and their community. They will explain more on Acceptance, tolerance, and rejection. Those three terms are applying to a person and their community such as family, partner(s), co-workers, friends and people around this person. Being accepting for who they are…soon is the better than never.

Objectives:
• Identities impact and affect this person and their community.
• Learn more on Acceptance, tolerance, and rejection.
• Learn their journey experience as DeafBlind individual.