CDB News


Accessing the Dream - Preparing Deaf-Blind Youth for a Self-Determined Life

Posted on June 8, 2016

Blue background with DREAM spelled out in finger spelling, letters, and braille

Young adults who are deaf–blind experience significant challenges when transitioning from school to community living, employment, college, and career. The newest product from the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, Accessing the Dream: Preparing Deaf-Blind Youth for a Self-Determined Life, is a multi-media presentation capturing the purpose and energy of the annual Transition Institute.

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Beta Stage of Electronic Portfolio System for Interveners

Posted on March 14, 2016

NCDB Logo

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness is currently in the beta stage of producing a fully featured electronic portfolio system for interveners. The goal is to establish a strong national foundation for intervener training and workplace support.

The role of the intervener is to connect a child who is deaf-blind to the world around them. In this one-on-one relationship, the intervener gives that child access to information about their surroundings, facilitates communication, and promotes social and emotional development.

Click here to learn more about interveners and the ePortfolio.



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TRI's Amy Parker Helps TASH Celebrate 40 Years of Progressive Leadership

Posted on December 29, 2015

Amy Parker


TRI's Amy Parker participated in two presentation at this year's TASH Conference, "An Online Community to Support Individuals with Complex Communication Needs" and "Open Hands, Open Access: Online Training for Educators of Individuals with Deafblindness."

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NCDB Director Linda McDowell Offers Thoughts Post Summit

Posted on October 19, 2015

The National Deaf-Blind TA Network held their annual Summit in Salt Lake City in July. In this blog post, NCDB Director Linda McDowell offers her reflections on the event and offers ideas for increasing our collaborations as we move forward.   


Read the entire post here.

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Understanding What Shapes Us: Building a National TA Network

Posted on June 23, 2015

Jay Gense

NCDB, the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, has been charged, in collaboration with State Deaf-Blind Projects, to create a national system of technical assistance to support the educational needs of children who are deaf-blind.  In this most recent blog post, former NCDB Project Director, Jay Gense, talks both demographic and educational trends and why a networked approach to services is a must. 

Read the entire post here.

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Meet the New Director of the Center on Deaf-Blindness - Dr. Linda McDowell

Posted on April 14, 2015

Dr. Linda McDowellOn February 16, 2015, just two weeks after her arrival at TRI, I sat down with Dr. Linda McDowell to learn about the woman who now serves as the Director of TRI's Center on Deaf-Blindness (CDB). Housed within the Center on Deaf-Blindness are the Oregon Deaf-Blind Project and the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). Included in her position as Director of TRI's CDB is the responsibility of serving as Executive Director of NCDB - which coordinates and serves deaf-blind projects in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Island nations.

It was fascinating to learn how she found her passion in the field of Deaf-Blindness.Here is the 16-minute video interview with Dr. McDowell. Below the video, you will find a full transcript of the interview, for those who prefer to read the content, and the video is Closed Captioned. Please help us welcome Dr. McDowell. Enjoy!

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