Using the Deaf-Blind Child Count Maps and Pivot Tables Together

Posted by Mark Schalock  - NCDB

As we post the Deaf-Blind Child Count for 2010, it seems a good time to revisit the tools available through NCDB to delve deeper into the Child Count data.  A year ago, in June 2010, NCDB hosted a webinar on the newly created Child Count Data Maps and the updated Pivot Tables/Charts.[1] This blog entry is intended to provide some ideas and strategies on how to use the tools in concert to maximize each tool’s capabilities.

Each tool has different strengths that can easily be exploited to provide you with very specific information.  The Data Maps are perfect for seeing the big picture and identifying states with similar characteristics. The Pivot Charts/Tables are better suited to delving down in to the data to find specific patterns.

For example, you are in Nebraska and are interested in providing professional development on administering alternative assessments tied to regular grade level standards. You might was to identify other states that have similar patterns of children taking regular grade level alternative state assessments to talk with your colleagues about what they have done in this area. To do this, you can select this option on the data mapping tool and see which other states are similar. The map below shows that there are a number of other states in the region that have a similar pattern: Iowa, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Using the data map provides a quick, visual summary of this query.

[1] An archived version of this webinar can be accessed at: http://www.nationaldb.org/NCDBProducts.php?prodID=121

Switching now to the Pivot Tables/Charts, you can select just these states to conduct additional analyses around state assessments. For example, you are especially interested in the professional development targeting middle school and high school age students. You also want to know whether educational placement is in any way related to type of assessment. In Excel 2007, you can select just those states, age ranges and type of assessment by filtering each of these variables.

To select specific states, click on State in the Pivot Table Field List (see below), un-click “all” and then check those states you want to include. Next, select State Assessment and select the option of alternative assessment regular grade level standards. Finally, select Age Group and select the school age groups of “6-11”, “12-17” and “18-21.” You now can compare yourself to your neighbor states. You will see that like most of the states, the largest group of children/youth taking alterative assessments tied to regular grade level standards is in middle and high school. Arkansas is the exception, where the largest group is at the elementary level. Thus, contacting Colorado, Iowa and Oklahoma would be indicated.

To see whether these is a difference by educational setting, move Age Group and State Assessment back up into the Pivot Table Field List pane and move Educational Setting into the Legend Field pane after selecting just the school age settings (see below). You will notice that the age group and state assessment filters will remain in effect.

As expected, the largest group of children/youth in school age special education taking alternative assessments tied to regular grade level standards, is in regular classrooms less than 40% of the day. This is expected because this is the most common overall education setting. However, Oklahoma and Arkansas are the only other states with children/youth in Homebound/Hospital settings who are taking alternative assessment tied to regular grade level standards. You might want to contact colleagues in these states if a Homebound/Hospital setting is important.

 

This example is simply designed to show how you can use both the Data Mapping tool and the Pivot Table/Charts together to address any number of questions or issues.

You can access the Data Maps at: http://www.nationaldb.org/censusMaps.php

If you have not already downloaded the Pivot Tables/Charts, please contact us and we will provide the information needed to do so.

For more information or help, please contact Mark Schalock at schalom@wou.edu

Or at (503) 838-8777.

In DC for 2011 OSEP/NCDB/State Deaf-Blind Projects Meeting

Posted by John Reiman - NCDB

                 On Sunday, July 17, the annual OSEP/NCDB/State Deaf-Blind Projects Meeting was held in Washington, DC.  Titled ‘Enhancing Deaf-Blind Network Connectivity: Applications of Web Technology’, the day provided an opportunity for NCDB and states to collaboratively brainstorm around the use of web-based technologies to increase connectivity, productivity and network-wide dialogue. Following an overview of the day’s objectives and activities, the Meeting began with presentations on two targeted high-need content areas (Central Auditory Processing Disorder, and Regional State Deaf-Blind Project Consultation/TA Models). Next, focusing on these (and several additional) focal areas, NCDB staff presented/demonstrated a menu of web-based systems and strategies for information sharing, access to materials, and shared dialogue. The final and culminating activity of the day divided participants (n=110) into four facilitated discussion groups that addressed questions related to their: (a) “big picture” thoughts and reactions to the day’s emphasis on networking/technology, (b) perceived benefit in becoming a more interdependent Deaf-Blind Project Network, (c) interests in particular features of presented technologic tools, and (d) needs (e.g., supports, training, etc.) in order to participate fully in the network. Tentative analysis of data recorded from the group sessions indicated that participants: (1) valued the information presented on both targeted topics; (2) saw great potential for heightened collaboration through enhanced use of technology; (3) identified challenges and possible solutions related to technologic tool familiarity, mastery and implementation; (4) valued continuing thoughtfulness about how we proceed with application of technology as a community; (5) welcomed ongoing training, coaching and support  in forward movement. 

NCDB is excited about participants’ recognized value of uses of technologies across the network to continue the dialogue(s), strengthen the network, and ultimately, provide everyone with enhanced opportunities to work together. The uses of technology are clearly a focus area for OSEP’s current and future investments, and the deaf-blind network is well poised to capitalize on the established momentum.

If you are interested in the materials presented at the meeting you can find them posted to either of two Wiggio sites that were featured in the demonstration of tools.  Check out the Wiggio sites for CAPD and AuditoryNeuropathy  or Regional DB Consultant.  Once you set up your account you can find materials and post your comments.

Youth Pathway to Independence:Next Stop AADB!

Blog Posted by Mike Fagbemi    NCDB

The opening ceremony of the American Association for the Deaf-Blind (AADB) symposium held in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky this past June, celebrated the gathering of approximately 150 delegates and 350 support service providers (SSPs). The delegates, representing the national and international deaf-blind community, embraced the themes of the symposium—technology, SSPs, employment, and leadership. In addition, with its commitment to national issues affecting the DB community, and a renewed focus on professional networking, AADB was proud to invite ten young adults ages 16 to 22 years old to participate in the symposium.

The young adults had access to the main symposium, but they and their family members also participated in a family and youth program coordinated by the National Consortium on Deafblindness and the Florida state deaf-blind project, in collaboration with the Georgia and Texas state deaf-blind projects. The youth program included strands focusing on career development, job readiness, and self-advocacy. Families benefited from a separate and complimentary program on self-empowerment, effective communication, and their shared experiences as family members who play active roles in the development and maturity of a young person with deaf-blindness.

The ten young adults, representing eight states, all had an interest in developing skills to become more self-determined which they agreed would improve their academic success and employment opportunities. Some were still in high school and making plans to enroll in community colleges, while others shared a desire to be prepared for the competitive workforce through early exposure to a variety of career possibilities. Austin Nix, a participant from Mississippi stated, “The family and youth program was such a unique experience for me to learn new things about careers, finding work that interests me, and what good work etiquette means. At the same time it was nice to meet new people with similar interests and goals for me to learn from.”

The youth strand had many different layers, but probably the most important aspect of all was the role that three youth mentors played. The mentors were all former participants in annual southeast regional youth workshops. They had benefited from their experiences and demonstrated the skill and knack needed to energize, educate, and inspire other young people transitioning to adult life. The mentors were invited to be part of the core of the planning committee to develop the content and activities of the youth program and to give presentations. The success of this symposium was a direct result of their active involvement and the infusion of their ideas resonated well with the young people who were engaged in every activity.

The young adults who participated in the program had personality, flair, and interesting perspectives that impressed many symposium participants, including AADB board members and national partners representing Bookshare, PEPNet, the Helen Keller National Center, and vocational rehabilitation services. The program exposed the young adults to a myriad of careers currently held by various professionals who are deaf-blind. At one point, during a presentation by Judy Groner a self-employed business owner who customizes bird houses, one of the youth participants blurted out “Wow! I never knew we could even own our own business. I want to do something like that. All I need is a good idea for people in my small town to like!” It became clear to me and to the other people in the room that this was a turning point for many of the participants. They seemed to gain confidence as each presenter shared their experiences as volunteers, professionals, liaisons to federal disability agencies, technology gurus from HKNC, and advocates from Deaf-Blind Youth in Action. The icing on the cake was presentations given by the youth mentors! The young adult participants left the symposium with tools gained through interactive experiences with presenters and each other. Many had never considered a career or interviewed for work. Many had not thought about deaf-blindness as a disability of access and how it could impact their college and work experiences. Lastly, many did not know that their community was rich with leaders and youth mentors who are on their own personal journeys to achieve their dreams. The opportunity to learn together and grow while forging networks seemed to be the glue that bonded these themes of the symposium together. On this journey, the professionals who participated in the youth program learned quite a bit from the young people, and their parents and siblings who accompanied them. There were many “Aha!” moments. I expect that we have not heard the last of the young people who attended this national symposium. It will not be long before each of them are educating, energizing, and inspiring others as well.

Planning for the 2011 DB Project Directors' Meeting

Posted by John Reiman, NCDB

        The 2011 DB Project Directors’ Meeting, collaboratively planned by OSEP, NCDB and state deaf-blind projects, is being held in Washington, D.C. on July 17. Entitled ‘Enhancing Deaf-Blind Network Connectivity: Applications of Web Technology,’ the day will be directed toward three objectives:

• Participants will increase awareness of current information and resources in two targeted content areas identified as high need: 

• Central Auditory Processing Disorder; 
• Regionalized Deaf-Blind Consultation/TA Models, used to build local capacity

• Participants will increase awareness of applications for technology-driven systems and strategies that:

• provide network-wide access to current information, current resources, current training tools and materials relative to these, as well as other, targeted areas; and,

• increase awareness and use of emerging web-based mechanisms for network-wide dialogue in service of increased connectivity and productivity;

• Participants will provide input and feedback to OSEP and NCDB to guide further refinement of emerging web-based technologies. 

For more information, check here.

View the proposed agenda. 

OSEP's meeting for all projects.   

It's a Parent! Leaders are Emerging

Posted by John Reiman, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness

          “PLT” are letters often heard and used among the staff of the NY Deaf-Blind Collaborative (NYDBC). They stand for Parent Leadership Training and represent a very exciting parent training initiative begun two years ago by the Collaborative in partnership with the National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness and the NY Parent Training & Information Centers (PTI) in Rochester, White Plains and Harlem. To date, NYDBC has completed three training series across the state to small groups of parents on a variety of parent advocacy and leadership topics. Parent leadership training takes place over three weekends with distance activities that continue the learning in between.  The training aims to give parents content knowledge, skills in advocacy and leadership, and critical relationship building tools.  The outcome is a leadership project that each family develops and is then supported in pursuing.

The final training of the series is always dedicated to assist emerging leaders in acquiring insight and skill in handling difficult situations. It’s a powerful training with the potential for extraordinary outcomes. This was just the case at NYDBC’s most recent parent training conducted at Sinergia, the Harlem PTI.

Preparation for the weekend began with an invitation: “. . . Please arrive (at the weekend) with a real life conflict situation involving yourself and a medical/service provider or family member. Be ready to describe: (a) who is involved; (b) what the differences in perspectives are between you and the other person; and (c) what emotions experience in the situation. Tools will be provided to help you understand and become more effective in navigating conflict…”

Five families arrived, delighted to see each other on a sunny Saturday Harlem morning. Over the weekend, they would learn: (a) how to more capably handle conflict (and to see conflict as healthy); (b) how to better listen and be understood; (c) how to do ‘interest-based’ problem solving; and (d) how to trade-in negative and unhelpful ways of seeing themselves, for positive and helpful self-messages. All presentations and activities related to participants’ real-life experiences. Follow-up dialogue and coaching will be provided to support application of new learning.

In reflecting on the weekend, a few thoughts: 

• Parents with children who are deaf-blind are like sponges that fill when in the company of same. It’s like an oasis. Their isolation is broken. 
• Parents sharing intensively with one another in a small group setting (with trust established) is essential to integrating and applying newly learned information and skills. 
• Taking participants’ actual conflict experiences and role-playing them with newly learned information, provides a unique coaching opportunity with high ‘take home’ value.  
• Young parents of children not yet in school, carry less baggage (have fewer wounds) than parents who have long struggled with educational service delivery. Starting this type of training early, is proactive and may even preempt problems and future disputes. 
• Everyone (parents, service providers, spouses/partners) wants to feel heard. Not necessarily agreed with – just heard. Knowing how to truly listen and how to speak in a way that will be heard, powerfully ’resets the table’ in professional and personal relationships.  
• Ways we act when we’re in conflict are often learned and ‘automatic.’ It’s possible to turn off the ‘auto-pilot’ and make choices about how to respond that will improve communication and bring creativity to problem-solving. 
• Parents, at times, believe and repeat negative messages to themselves (e.g., “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not doing a good job,” “It’s my fault,” etc.) Replacing these beliefs (that are often just old recordings stuck on ‘play’) with more realistic and positive ones, frees parents to thrive – rather than just survive.  
• Successful advocates and leaders, in addition to being trained in the law and disability-specific information, must acquire key relationship-building and communication tools.  

Participants in this intensive training focused their attention and energy over a two-day period geared toward increasing awareness and developing skills around navigating conflict. Emerging leaders must have a repertoire of problem-solving tools available to deal with challenging personal and professional relationships.

Setting an Equipment Distribution Program in Motion

Posted by Betsy McGinnity, Perkins School for the Blind  

 The Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act is designed ensure that people with disabilities have access to emerging technologies. A very exciting provision of the new law required the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program and allocate $10 million annually for its operation. The FCC envisions that every state will have a Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP).  Money will be allocated to states based on their population. These funds cover assessment, distribution, installation and training on equipment that enables an individual who is deaf-blind to use technology for distance communication.  Distance communication includes telephones, cell phones, internet, etc.

Over the past six months the FCC has asked interested persons to comment on their proposed rules for the NDBEDP.  Many people from all parts of the deaf-blind community responded.  The FCC has been extremely responsive to the comments and has incorporated much of the feedback into the rules for the pilot program.

The goal of the new law is to help as many people as possible access new technologies. The FCC is striving to meet the spirit of the law with regard to eligibility criteria. The FCC is using the definition of deaf-blindness from the Helen Keller Act and is encouraging distribution programs to consider functional criteria, including environmental factors like ambient noise or lighting. There are no age restrictions or work requirements. This is a “low income” program but, due to the extraordinary expenses people who are deaf-blind face and the high cost of specialized equipment, the FCC is using 400% of the federal poverty level as the criteria.

The FCC thought at first that it would use its established network of equipment distribution programs (EDP) as the primary deaf-blind distribution programs in each state. In response to comments from consumers and advocates, they decided to invite non-profits, other agencies and EDP to submit applications.  The FCC is strongly encouraging interested entities in state or across states to find ways to collaborate.  The FCC anticipates that it will ask for applications from states in the summer.

 Because this is a new program and there are many aspects to it, the FCC decided to establish a pilot program for a two or three year period. They will evaluate the effectiveness of the program before establishing permanent rules.

Expanding Opportunities in Texas for Spanish Speaking Families

Posted by Paddi Davies, NCDB

     This story begins over six years ago with five women sitting around a conference room table at Helen Keller National Center. The question we were pondering was how to help state deaf-blind projects address the growing need to provide technical assistance (TA) to families who were underserved or underrepresented on deaf-blind projects.  This was a daunting question given that we were five middle-class Caucasian women. The concerns that brought this conversation to the table were 1) deaf-blind projects seemed to be under identifying children from specific populations, 2) families from certain populations were not participating in project activities, 3) families were reporting that they weren’t aware of services for their children and family, 4) and projects claimed they felt inadequate to serve certain established or growing populations within their states. Our conversations with states helped us identify populations who were potentially underserved – families whose native language was not English, families from remote regions of states, teen parents or grandparents raising grandchildren, families in poverty, undocumented immigrant families – the list went on and on and the underserved populations looked very different from state to state.  That initial conversation has led us down a path of discovery that has been interesting, exciting and enlightening. 

      There are overwhelming amounts of information written about the cultural norms of any particular culture or ethnicity.  We knew immediately that trying to become knowledgeable about any one group was not the most effective or efficient strategy to pursue. One of our early consultants and mentors, Dr. Beth Harry, shared the concept of cultural reciprocity, or how to respect and learn about another culture, while understanding and sharing information about predominate (American) culture. She often used the quote, “Nothing for us, without us.” With this as our underpinning, we worked with two different states (NJ and TX) to develop a focus group process to gather the input of underserved families regarding family strengths, needs, expectations and their suggestions for culturally appropriate TA strategies. In both states we worked with Spanish speaking families of children who are deaf-blind.  The families were very gracious and taught us many lessons!   

      

     These are a few of the lessons we learned about outreach and technical assistance to Spanish speaking families:

·        Partner with local agencies that have credibility with families from the target population. These may be outside any of the agency partners you normally have (i.e., churches, community centers)

·        It’s essential to have a cultural liaison that speaks the native language of the participants and that has already established trust and credibility with the families.

·        The most effective form of outreach was having a Spanish speaking partner call or visit the families to extend a personal invitation to the focus group. Just sending an announcement, even though it was in Spanish, was not very effective.

·        Families felt most comfortable attending an event that was in a location they were familiar with and trusted.  Avoiding school or government offices is advised.

·        Hold the meeting in the native language of the participants. Don’t ask which they would prefer because out of respect for you as the host, they may say that English is fine.

·        Be ready to provide, or help find resources for, a range of supports to facilitate family involvement. Let the families tell you what they need. Be honest about what you can and can’t provide and offer suggestions of other resources.

·        Be flexible and expect the unexpected. In each focus group the event went much longer than we planned for and more extended family members than we anticipated showed up. Order extra food!

·        Allow extra time for storytelling. Families used this time to celebrate, commiserate and share resources.

     The latest chapter in this story is an exciting one. One of our primary goals in Texas was to establish local leadership to continue working with the Spanish speaking families from the focus group. The deaf-blind project can't be the leader for many reasons, including the fact that it is a nine hour drive to where the families live in the El Paso area.  Not only have we built a wonderful partnership with local agencies, but we're on the road to having some great family leaders in the group. One of our partner agencies, Paso del Norte, offers an extensive seven-week family leadership training program to families of children with special needs. I'm happy to report that we have eight Spanish speaking parents signed up to participate in the next cohort of this training.  Our dream is that these parents will become partners with local agencies and the Texas Deaf-Blind project and help support all of the Spanish speaking families in El Paso who have children who are deaf-blind.  

Thoughts on Systemic Needs of a Quality Deaf-Blind TA Project Network

Posted by:  D. Jay Gense, Director, NCDB

     Numerous conversations have surfaced recently on how we construct an “improved” national Deaf-Blind Network. Improving the Deaf-Blind Network’s connectivity and productivity ran as a central theme for the Fall Deaf-Blind Leadership meeting, held in Washington D.C. on November 18-19, 2010. For example, OSEP Project Officer, Dr. Anne Smith, opened the meeting with remarks about the “New Normal … Doing More With Less.”  She emphasized several points about this new normal, identifying the present as a time to “explore alternatives to old ways of doing things … challenging the status quo.”