All requests for child-specific technical assistance begin at the Foundational Technical Assistance level. A CDBS staff member will meet with you on the Zoom meeting platform to learn more about your child or student and determine your specific needs and expected outcomes. Based on this information, we will recommend trusted resources that other family members and/or educators have found to be useful. These resources may include any of the following:

• Open Hands, Open Access deafblind learning modules
• Webcasts
• Archived training videos
• Articles
• Fact sheets
• Other resources as identified.

It is likely that these resources will meet your needs and help you achieve your identified outcomes. If—after making complete use of these recommended resources—you and your assigned CDBS staff member determine that additional support is needed, CDBS will provide Targeted Technical Assistance.

is typically provided to the entire educational team (i.e., educators and family members working together in partnership) to meet outcomes that have been determined to be too complex to be met solely through Foundational Technical Assistance. In some cases this level of technical assistance could be provided solely to an individual, although technical assistance delivered to well-functioning teams is typically more effective in improving student outcomes. Targeted Technical Assistance will include team meetings and training activities using the Zoom meeting platform. Targeted Technical Assistance represents a commitment by team members to improving educational practices (i.e., ongoing continuous improvement). Teams must meet a set of nationally recognized readiness indicators for child-specific technical assistance:

• Recognize a need for improvement in the child’s program.
• Agree about concerns and desired outcomes (e.g., the teacher, TVI, and family all agree about what the child needs).
• Have a positive attitude toward family–school collaboration.
• Are open to trying new ways of doing things.
• Recognize their own need for training related to deaf-blindness.
• See the advantages of the new practices and believe them to be better than other options (including what they are currently doing).
• View the new practices as being easy to understand and use.
• See the practices as having flexibility (i.e., can be adapted for changing situations or circumstances).
• There is a champion on the team—someone with influence who puts energy into supporting new practices.

1. Attitudes and beliefs
2. Knowledge, and
3. School characteristics.

Intensive Technical Assistance represents a minimum commitment of one year (academic or calendar) and will likely include onsite classroom observations, face-to-face training activities, and evaluation processes to assess programmatic change. Because onsite Intensive Technical Assistance activities necessitate the maximum use of CDBS staff time and limited travel funds, it is important that all team members, including administrators, demonstrate a commitment to improving educational results at both the child and system levels.

Designed for educational teams that successfully complete foundational and targeted TA and require this intensive/sustained level of TA in order to design and implement evidence-based strategies to best meet the needs of children and youth who are deafblind. Key features include:

• Agreement of entire team: family, teachers, specialists, and administrators.
• Minimum time commitment of one academic or calendar year.
• Onsite school and home-based TA and training activities as required.
• Commitment to programmatic and systemic change to meet clearly identified TA outcomes.

Requesting Technical Assistance (TA)

To request TA, please use the convenient online form linked below. For Urgent TA requests, please continue to contact us directly via email or phone.

 CDBS Technical Assistance Online Request