New England Consortium of Deafblind Projects

There are several organizations available for parents and families of children who are deafblind in Connecticut.

Connecticut Deafblind Project
Regional Office | 175 North Beacon Street | Watertown, MA 02472
Tracy Evans Luiselli, Project Director
617.972.7354 Fax | 617.972.7517 | Tracy.Luiselli@perkins.org

BESB is responsible for the confidential registry of people who are blind in Connecticut and provides, within available resources, comprehensive low vision services, specialized education services, life skills training, case management, and vocational services to individuals of all ages who are legally blind and to children who are visually impaired. The agency assists them in acquiring the skills and support services necessary to be independent.

State Education Resource Center

25 Industrial Park Road | Middletown, CT 06457-1516
860.632.1485
www.ctserc.org
http://www.ct.gov/opapd/lib/opapd/documents/adobe/brochures/summercamps2011.pdf Directory of Summer Camps and Programs

Advocacy NOW
720 East Street | New Britain CT 06051
860.505.8327

Parent-Advocate providing Low-Cost Advocacy Assistance for Special Needs Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, ADD, PDD etc; Intimately Acquainted with IDEA, CT State Law, CT State Bd. of Ed., most area LEA's and ALL IEP & Due Process Procedures.

Child Advocacy, LLC
543 Prospect Avenue | Hartford CT 06105
203.271.3011 | fax 860.236.2234
Jeen Melendez
childadvocate@cox.net

National via Teleconferencing Educational advocacy for families of children with special needs.

Education Advocacy, LLC
846 Farmington Avenue | Suite 10 West Hartford, CT 06119
860.270.0151
Diane Willcutts
diane.willcutts@gmail.com

Connecticut - statewide, Diane Willcutts uses courtesy, clear communication, and strategic thinking to assist Connecticut families of children with disabilities to navigate the special education process. Works with Birth to Three through transition to college.

FacingFutures, LLC
70 Bunker Hill Drive | Trumbull CT 06611
203.261.3211 | fax 203.452.0324
Maggie Coudriet Siegel
Connadvocate@aol.com

Advocacy, transition planning and the "voice of experience" for the special needs community; Specializing in children and young adults on the autism spectrum.

New Beginnings, LLC
Coventry, CT
860.742.9149 | fax 860.742.9149
nb4success@charter.net

serving all of CT. except Fairfield County, Former special Ed. teacher, MA Special Education cumulative file review, attend and represent you at your local school, provide test interpretation, handle all mediation cases. Very well seasoned advocate.

YourSpecialChild.com
293 Main Street | Durham CT 06422
860.349.1806 | fax 860.349.1806
Julie Swanson
julieswan@comcast.net

offers Special Education Advocacy Services, she specializes in children, teens, and young adults with Autism Spectrum disorders

Physically or mentally impaired adults can find help with employment, re-employment, services, and education. The information and the resources are available and waiting for those who know where to seek help. Accessibility to goods and services is a human right, not a privilege.

Find your State's Medical Information here: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and
New Hampshire.

National Family Association for Deafblind (NFADB)
141 Middle Neck Road
Sands Point, NY 11050
800.255.0411 | 516.883.9060 Fax
NFADB@aol.com
http://www.nfadb.org/contacttxt.html

NFADB is a national network of families who focus on issues surrounding deafblindness. NFADB advocates for all persons who are deafblind, supports national policy to benefit people who are deafblind and encourages the founding and strengthening of family organizations in each state.

New England INDEX
Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center
John Rochford, Director of Technology
University of Massachusetts Medical School
200 Trapelo Road | Waltham, MA 02452-6319
781-642-0255 | 781-642-0122 Fax | 800-764-0200 TTY
techinfo@neindex.org
http://www.neindex.org/contactus.html

A project of the University of Massachusetts Medical School at the Shriver Center - UMASS. INDEX is a free information and referral service for people with disabilities. INDEX is a collection of the largest, the most complete and the most up-to-date databases of disability services in Massachusetts. INDEX is the coordinator of the Massachusetts Network of Information Providers (MNIP), a collections of disability agencies that coordinate information and referral efforts. Information available includes a resource database of programs and agencies that provide services to individuals with disabilities and Consultant Registry, Physician Registry and a Dental Registry. Visit the web site for more information. www.disability info.org call 800-642-0249 or 781-642-0248 or email them at: info@disabilityinfo.org

NICHCY
1825 Connecticut Ave NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20009
1.800.695.0285 Toll-free, Voice/TTY | 202.884.8200 Voice/TTY | 202.884.8441 Fax
nichcy@fhi360.org
Website in English: nichcy.org
Website in Spanish: nichcy.org/espanol/

The center provides information to the nation on: disabilities in children and youth; programs and services for infants, children, and youth with disabilities; IDEA, the nation’s special education law; and research-based information on effective practices for children with disabilities. Our special focus is children and youth (birth to age 22). Anyone can use our services—families, educators, administrators, journalists, students.

Special Child: This online publication provides educational resources and support to parents and caregivers of children, adolescents, and young adults with disabilities. You can read and share stories with other parents and providers, as well as locate useful resources and products. Special Child is provided by The Resource Foundation for Children with Challenges (RFCC), a nonprofit charity organization.

ALLIANCE National Parent Technical Assistance Center (NPTAC)
PACER Center
8161 Normandale Blvd | Minneapolis, MN 55437-1044
952.838.9000 | National Toll Free 888.248.0822 | TTY 952.838.0190| Fax 952.838.0199
alliance@taalliance.org
http://www.parentcenternetwork.org/national/resources.html

e-ADVISOR Coordinating Center
Children's Hospital Boston
Department of Ophthalmology | Fegan Building, 4th Floor | 300 Longwood Ave |
Boston MA, 02115

e-ADVISOR website is to Assist the Development of Visually Impaired Students through Online Resources. Parent Link, Teacher Link, Doctor Link Effective communication among parents, teachers and doctors is the major goal of the ADVISOR project.

Provides community-based residential, day and education programs for people with severe multiple disabilities. Maximizes the levels of independence of blind adults through housing, computer training and an arts program.

Affiliated with the Library of Congress National Library network, provides books, magazines, music publications and foreign-language materials to Connecticut residents who are unable to read traditional print materials.

Institute for Patient and Family-Centered Care
6917 Arlington Road | Suite 309 | Bethesda, MD 20814
301.652.0281 | 301.652.0186 Fax |
institute@ipfcc.org
http://www.ipfcc.org/about/pinsponsor.html

The Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, a non-profit organization founded in 1992, takes pride in providing essential leadership to advance the understanding and practice of patient- and family-centered care. By promoting collaborative, empowering relationships among patients, families, and health care professionals, the Institute facilitates patient- and family-centered change in all settings where individuals and families receive care and support.

Provide aids for the deaf covering a range of hearing disabilities. We also offer useful information on the site. Joan the Audiologist a registered (Health professions Council) is actively writing a blog about deafness and hearing loss at www.hearingdirect.com/blog/