Monthly Archives: January 2024

Join us on Wednesday, Jan. 17th at 12:00pm MST via Zoom for our coffee chat webinar “Diving into State Data: How the Deafblind Child Count Data Can Help You”.

Register here: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3WwtLpqGJ1U4lqS

Webinar Description:

This coffee chat will share information from the National Deafblind Child Count to highlight common etiologies & causes of deafblindness such as CHARGE syndrome, complications due to prematurity, postnatal complications, Usher syndrome, cCMV, and Down Syndrome. We will examine trends nationally over the last three years, discuss differences between birth to three and 6-21 in etiologies and identification, and share resources specific to different etiologies that may help inform your work.

Webinar Presenters:

Emma Nelson, MS Ed is the Initiative Lead for Early Identification and Referral at the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). She is certified as an early childhood special educator and has taught infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with complex needs including deaf-blindness in classrooms, community, and home-based settings. Before coming to NCDB, she served as Project Director for Vermont’s Federal Deaf-Blind Project. Emma is trained in Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and earned her Master’s degree at Hunter College in Early Childhood Special Education with a concentration in severe and multiple disabilities and deaf-blindness.

Carlie Rhoads, PhD, is the Data and Evaluation Manager at the National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB). She is certified as a special educator and TVI, and has taught children, birth to age 21, with complex needs including blindness and deaf-blindness. Before coming to NCDB, she served as Project Director for the Oregon Deaf-Blind Project. Carlie earned her doctorate at Vanderbilt University in Special Education with a concentration in visual disabilities and research methodology.