Links

Here are some other web sites that you may find useful. These contain information and resources about deafblindness, conditions related to deafblindness, and education. Sites are listed alphabetically by title within the following categories:

National (and International) Resources
Local and Regional Resources
Commercial Sites

National (and International) Resources

A-Z to Deafblindness: Information about Deafblindness and the Deafblind Manual Alphabet

American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB): AADB is a national consumer advocacy organization that promotes better opportunities and services for deaf-blind people. (From DB-LINK)

Council for Exceptional Children: Jack Canfield—Much More than Chicken Soup! While many of you may know Jack Canfield from his Chicken Soup series, his work extends far beyond these popular books. Canfield started his career as a teacher, where he transitioned from teaching social studies to helping students increase their self-esteem. Today, Canfield teaches and coaches success principles and happiness to millions worldwide.

Canfield recently shared some of his principles and strategies for teachers with CEC. This is just a taste of the ideas you’ll get from Canfield’s keynote address at CEC’s 2007 Annual Convention & Expo, April 18, in Louisville, Ky. Enjoy!

Conferences National disability conferences, events and distance education opportunities.  Some are specific to deaf-blindness.

Deafblind International (DbI): DbI is the world association promoting services for people who are deafblind through international collaboration.

Deafblind Info: Deafblind info is an online directory of worldwide resources for and about people with combined vision and hearing loss. The site is sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Human Services, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Division, but is designed to be useful to people around the world.

DB-LINK: The National Information Clearinghouse on Children Who are Deafblind. DB-LINK houses a large quantity of information (both online and off) related to deafblindness, services for children who are deafblind across the country, and education for children who are deafblind. If you are seeking information about resources in a specific state, check DB-LINK's State Resource Fact Sheets.

Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults (HKNC): HKNC is a national program that provides evaluation, short-term, comprehensive vocational rehabilitation training, work experience training and assistance to deaf-blind clients for job and residential placements.

Helen Keller International: Information about Helen Keller and Eye Care

Jobs in Deafblindness Selected employment opportunities.

National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB) The largest national network of families focusing on issues surrounding deaf blindness.

National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities (NICHCY): NICHCY provides free information to assist parents, educators, caregivers, advocates and others in helping children and youth with disabilities participate as fully as possible in school, at home, and in the community. Services include: personal responses to specific questions, referrals to other organizations/sources of help, prepared information packets, publications on current issues, technical assistance to parent and professional groups.

National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD): NORD has been created by a group of voluntary agencies, medical researchers and individuals concerned about Orphan Diseases and Orphan Drugs. Orphan diseases are rare, debilitating illnesses which strike small numbers (fewer than 200,000) of people. Orphan drugs are therapies which alleviate symptoms of some rare diseases, but which have not been developed by the pharmaceutical industry because they are unprofitable. Acts as a clearinghouse for information about rare disorders and to network families with similar disorders together for mutual support.

National Technical Assistance Consortium for Children and Young Adults Who Are Deaf-Blind (NTAC): NTAC is a consortium for the provision of technical assistance to families and agencies serving children and young adults who are deafblind. The primary mission of NTAC is to assist states in improving the quality of services for individuals (birth to age 28) who are deafblind. (From DB-LINK)

State Deaf-Blind Projects Federally funded projects that provide assistance and training to families, service providers, schools and agencies involved with children, birth through 21.
State Resource Fact Sheet

U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs - Division of Research To Practice Projects For Children Who Are Deafblind: The Office of Special Education Programs supports projects to improve and enhance services that are provided by state and local education agencies to children and youth who are deafblind. This is done through a program of grant awards that address technical assistance, research, development, preservice, and inservice training and parental involvement activities.

Washington Learning Systems Has developed new materials that include activities for adults and young children that encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool.  They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically. The development of these materials was supported by Grant H324M020084 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. Free reproducible language and early literacy activities in English and Spanish. Developed by Angela Notari-Syverson, Ph.D. and colleagues To download materials go to www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education Handouts" on the home page. http://www.walearning.com/

Commercial Sites

Freetranslation.com: This site offers instant, free, and easy-to-use web-based translation services that work very well for quick notes from school, progress reports, service requests, or just to keep in touch with people who speak a language different from your own. The site is a service of SDL International, which also offers more advanced translation services for more complex needs.

Guide Dogs for the blind: a world class training program, and support through life's challenges. Read more about our mission and vision.

Healthy Legs: This site provides socks, foot care items, and support products for sensitive feet. Look at their socks that fit under AFOs.

Hot Braille: Hot Braille provides numerous resources related to learning and communicating in Braille. Hot Braille provides a list of Braille and talking book libraries in the United States and offers simple Braille translation on their site. You may contact Hot Braille in order to learn more about more advanced Braille printing services.

GetATStuff: the Assistive Technology Exchange in New England. Here you can look for or list Assistive Technology devices for sale or for free. The goal of getATstuff is to help get Assistive Technology devices that are no longer being used into the hands of people who need and can benefit from them. The participating programs are: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont & Rhode Island. Here is the.PDF Brochure