GADB & GVR EVENT

Georgia Assocaition of the DeafBlind

in partnership with

Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency

presents

ADVOCACY: From Home & School to Work

 October 6 & 7, 2012

 @ the Cave Spring Rehabilitation Center

 

    

 



    

         $40.00 Registration Includes: All Workshop Materials

                                                            Saturday Night Luau

                                                            Sunday Breakfast & Snacks

                                                            One Night Stay in Dorm

          

       $20.00 Working SSPs (Food Only)

 

       

        For More Information Contact:

        Rebecca Cowan-Story, MRC C.R.C

        State Coordinator of Deaf Blind Services

        Rebecca.cowan-story@gvra.ga.gov

        706-777-2342

                                                       

A Call for Nominations !!!!

The National Family Association for Deaf-Blind has open positions on its Board of Directors.  We are looking for a few people to join our Board of Directors to represent families that have children of any age that are deaf-blind.  Nominees must be a Regular member in good standing of NFADB for at least one year.  The positions of President and Treasurer are also up for re-election this year.  Only current board or past board members may run for these Executive Committee positions.  An appointed term lasts for two years and board members may run for up to 3 consecutive 2 year terms or run for an Executive Committee position.  

NFADB is the largest national network of families focusing on issues surrounding deaf-blindness. The mission of NFADB is to empower the voices of families of individuals who are deaf-blind and to advocate for their unique needs.  A board member will stay connected with professional organizations, Congressional Representatives and Senators.  Board members will sit on or chair at least one working committee and will help to expand our State Affiliates Program.  We are looking for serious candidates that believe they can help our organization make a difference in the lives of all families dealing with deaf-blindness.  Candidates may come from any state. 

For more information or to nominate yourself or someone you know for the position of Board Member, President or Treasurer, please contact Blanche Stetler at jtmommy@aol.com or at 732-721-5448.  An application will then be mailed to you and you will need to participate in a phone interview and send in 3 letters of recommendation by May 31, 2012.  The appointments will be made in June 2012.  Thank you for your interest and for your continued support of the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind. 

IPad 3 Contest by WonderBaby & Perkins School for the Blind

WonderBaby.org, a website dedicated to supporting parents and caregivers of children who are blind or visually impaired.

Perkins purchased WonderBaby.org last year, and it is now part of our family of online resources. To celebrate this partnership, WonderBaby and Perkins are giving away a NEW iPad (plus some amazing accessories) to one special winner!

This contest is being sponsored by Perkins, AbleNet, RJ Cooper and Inclusive Technology and they have all donated wonderful items to our giveaway.

Here's what one lucky person will win:

*The NEW iPad (iPad 3) donated by Perkins School for the Blind

*A virtually indestructible GumDrop iPad Case

*The RadSounds switch-ready music app donated by RJ Cooper plus an RJ Cooper switch interface

*A Blue2 Bluetooth Switch for use with switch-activated apps donated by AbleNet

*Two fun switch-ready apps, Smarty Pants & Five Sharks Swimming, donated by Inclusive Technology

This is the perfect package for a child with special needs who wants to get started with the iPad!

This contest is open to anyone, including all Perkins staff and any children or families you may work with. Feel free to enter (by clicking the link below) or tell others about this giveaway.

For more information about the giveaway, please visit:

http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/ipad-giveaway

This giveaway will end on May 11th at midnight.

GSAP AT IDEAS 2012!!

GSAP is sponsoring 2 training opportunities at the IDEAS Conference June 4-7 at Epworth by the Sea on St. Simons Island. 

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Pages/IDEAS-Conference.aspx

Both sessions will be led by Linda Alsop, Director of of Deafblind Programs at Utah State University and Project Sparkle.  

A preconference session titled: “Effective Intervention for Students who are Deafblind” will be offered on Monday, June 4^th from 8:00 am – 11:45 am.  This session will cover the impact a combined vision and hearing loss on development, communication, and socialization and effective strategies for instructing these children, including the use of interveners.   An intervener is a staff person, trained in deafblindness, who provides individual support to a student who has a combination of a vision impairment with a hearing impairment that affects the way he or she is able to access information and function in the educational environment.

GSAP is sponsoring this preconference session at no cost to participants.  To have registration waived, enter the GSAP promotion code on your registration form.  The promotion code is GSAP01.

Our second training opportunity will be an intensive training looking more closely at the unique needs of students who are deafblind and strategies teams can use to build communication, provide information and establish a bond of trust with a student who is deafblind. This training will begin on Monday, June 4^th 3:00-4:30 pm and continue on Tuesday from 8:00-4:30 and Wednesday from 8:00-2:30.  The training is designed for teams focused on a student who is deafblind and will involve team planning for that student around the strategies presented.

Registration for the conference is $75.00. Some school districts have funding available. Some assistance with the registration fee may be available from GSAP on a first come, first served basis.  Please contact Deborah Fields-Harris fields-harrisd@comcast.net to inquire about registration assistance.

 

What is an Intervener?

http://intervener.org/

What is an Intervener?

An Intervener is a person who:

• Works consistently one-to-one with an individual who is deafblind
• Has training and specialized skills in deafblindness

An intervener provides a bridge to the world for the student who is deafblind. The intervener helps the student gather information, learn concepts and skills, develop communication and language, and establish relationships that lead to greater independence. The intervener is a support person who does with, not for the student. Specialized training is needed to become an effective intervener. Training should address a wide range of topics necessary to understanding the nature and impact of deafblindness, the role of the intervener, and appropriate educational strategies to work with students with combined vision and hearing loss (Alsop, Killoran, Robinson, Durkel, & Prouty, 2004; McGinnes, 1986; Robinson et al., 2000).

REMINDER:THIS WEEKEND!!! Georgia PINES/GSAPFAMILY WORKSHOP

26th Annual GaPINES GSAP Family Workshop
Keynote: Donna Patterson - "Sensory Loss & Parent Emotions"

Saturday, March 24 at the Atlanta Area School for the Deaf -- FREE
Sibshop! Childcare! Come out to learn & share!  SPACE STILL AVAILABLE!!

Click below for registration & information:
http://familyworkshop.gapines.info/atlantaagenda.pdf

http://familyworkshop.gapines.info/Add.asp

Usher Syndrome Research Update

From Bill Kimberling:

As you may know, since the mid 1980s, I have been involved in research on Usher syndrome. Many of you have participated in this research by donating blood and giving generously of your time to make our Usher research successful. For that, I thank you.

 I would like to re-establish contact with anyone who has participated in my research for several reasons: 1) We want to bring all the data up to date  - that will be extremely useful.   2) We want to create a list of potential participants for clinical trials coming up in the near future.

I would like to encourage all those who participated in Usher research to contact me at bkimberling@gmail.com or phone at 402-290 4721.