The Helen Keller National Center affiliate program - services for the deaf-blind - Deaf-Blindness

American Rehabilitation, Summer, 1995 by Rod Ferrel, Dick Carlson, Janis Friend

* Lack of meaningful day programs or employment opportunities for persons who are deaf-blind. There has been some success in obtaining supported employment services for persons who are deaf-blind. Recently, a teleconference on Supported Employment for Persons who are Deaf-Blind was televised in Kentucky through the cooperation of the Deaf Services Branch of the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation (in which the affiliateship position is housed) and the Supported Employment Branch of DVR. This effort brought together 40 people representing supported employment providers and rehabilitation counselors serving individuals who are deaf or blind.

* No system in place to provide funding for services to persons over 21 who are developmentally disabled but not mentally retarded. This is an ongoing struggle in Kentucky, as it will require a change in the service delivery system of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. A need exists to change the state law which requires those resources to be used for persons with mental retardation but does not address the needs of those developmentally disabled individuals who are not mentally retarded but require need the same level of support.

* Community awareness and consumer isolation. This issue is also being addressed by the previously discussed consumer conference and support group efforts.

In October 1992, about 18 months after the beginning of the affiliateship and the first meeting of the new interagency subcommittee, the group had a planning retreat to provide direction. It was important to ensure that the group maintained active involvement and did not simply become a group to which the three programs reported "what was happening." The HKNC Regional Representative was called upon to lead this meeting.

There were two major outcomes of this retreat.

The first was a change in the name of the committee to reflect its expanded role. The name "Transition Sub-Committee" did not indicate its involvement with individuals who are deaf-blind over age 21. As the affiliateship serves primarily that population, it was felt to be important to have a name that shows this involvement. The name Expanding Horizons Committee was chosen, as it also reflected the role of the group in the expansion of services and opportunities for persons who are deaf-blind in all aspects of their lives. Even though the committee retained its identity as a subcommittee of the Deaf-Blind Steering Committee, it felt it had grown beyond the limits of maintaining only that identity.

Second, it was decided to apply for a technical assistance grant from the Helen Keller National Center-Technical Assistance Center (HKNC-TAC) to provide Interagency Collaboration Training for Transition Services for Youths with Deaf-Blindness. This effort was to be connected with the statewide Transition Project, funded through an OSERS grant, and facilitated through a State Interagency Transition Council. This council includes most of the same agencies represented on the Expanding Horizons Committee. The HKNC-TAC grant requires the setting up of state, regional, and local teams to use a case study model to address the needs of transition age students who are deaf-blind. The state team is in place and the targeted regions have been identified. This effort will also involve the Systems Change Project at the University of Kentucky, which works with five school systems serving deaf-blind students.