Project Coordinator

Phone: 415-405-7558

E-mail: jmaier@sfsu.edu

Julie Maier is the Project Coordinator for CDBS. She joined the team in 2012 as an educational specialist and now coordinates our activities as well as provides technical assistance to the families and educational teams of children and youth who are deafblind across the state. Julie has been involved in the field of special education since 1987 when she first met and taught individuals who are deafblind in a community-based adult program and later in inclusive schools in Berkeley, CA as a paraeducator and special education teacher. From 1999-2021, she also served as a faculty member in the SFSU Department of Special Education in the roles of research assistant, course instructor, fieldwork supervisor, and personnel preparation program coordinator. The opportunity to train and mentor professionals entering the educational field was exciting and inspiring. Julie loves her job at CDBS which offers her opportunities to meet and work with remarkable families and educators and continually marvel at the creativeness, determination and resiliency of the children and youth our project serves.

Family Engagement Specialist

Phone: 323-363-7499
E-mail: myrnam@sfsu.edu

Myrna Medina has served as CDBS Family Engagement Specialist since 2000 supporting families who have a child with deafblindness.  She is the parent of two children, one of whom is deafblind as a result of an unknown etiology. Myrna is a native of Mexico and is fluent in English and Spanish. She has been instrumental in ensuring linguistic and cultural sensitivity of all CDBS Spanish language services and products.  Myrna serves as the coordinator as well as an active regional participant of the CDBS Network of Family Support Providers and is currently serving her second term as Secretary of the Coalition of Parents and Educators Deaf-Blind (COPE-DB), the statewide family organization on behalf of children who are deafblind.  Myrna also plays a leadership role in numerous organizations throughout the state, including Unidad y Fuerza (the FRC based at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach), Centro de Niños y Padres at California State University Los Angeles, Birth-to-Five Vision Network, Junior Blind of America, and Dicapta, an OSEP-funded accessible communication development project.

Project Director

Phone: 415-338-7847
E-mail: kmortier@sfsu.edu

Dr. Kathleen Mortier is an associate professor in the Extensive Support Needs (moderate/severe disabilities) Program at SFSU and also serves as Coordinator of that program. Prior to joining the faculty at SFSU, she was involved in systems change and inclusive education in Central America and in Belgium. Her primary teaching responsibilities at SFSU include courses in instruction of students with extensive support needs, research methods, and inclusive education. Her research interests focus on inclusive education, communities of practice, family-school partnerships for Latinx families with children with disabilities, and literacy instruction for students with extensive support needs. She earned her Master’s degree in special education from SFSU and her Ph.D. in pedagogical science from Ghent University in Belgium.

Administrative Specialist

Phone: 415-405-7561
E-mail: devereux@sfsu.edu

Brian Devereux joined CDBS as an Administrative Specialist in 2015. He coordinates and compiles the annual California Deafblind Child Count / Census, maintains the web sites for CDBS, and serves as intake for Technical Assistance requests. He enjoys working with CDBS to serve the students, educators, and families throughout the state.

 Kayla, our former Southern California Education Specialist, is now working in another state (after December, 2022). She will be continuing to advocate for students, families, and teams there. We wish her the best and miss her already.

California teams and families that had been working directly with Kayla will continue to be served by CDBS staff. Please contact our Project Coordinator Julie Maier at jmaier@sfsu.edu (or leave a voicemail at 415-405-7558) if you have any questions about continuing technical assistance (TA).

Educational Specialist

E-mail:  cbeavis@sfsu.edu

Charles Beavis is an Educational Specialist for CDBS. He joined the team in 2022, and provides technical assistance to students with deafblindness, families, and school teams.  Charles completed the SFSU/CDBS Specialization in Deafblindness Program while completing a master’s degree in special education at San Francisco State University. Charles wrote his master’s thesis on the importance of peer support and its significance to all individuals' growth and development.  For the last five years, Charles has been working in the classroom as a special education teacher in the Bay Area.  His passion and expertise is working with families and teams of individuals with multiple and/or low incidence disabilities. Charles is excited to be a part of such a wonderful team.

Emeritus

Maurice Belote retired from CDBS effective December 30, 2021. Contact anyone at CDBS for assistance.