MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Minot State University’s center that serves the statewide disability community has received a federal grant to provide training and technical assistance for young people experiencing both vision and hearing loss.
The U.S. Department of Education grant will give the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities $78,000 per year over a period of five years, the Minot Daily News reported.
“We are excited about this opportunity to provide these services to children who experience unique and sometimes complicated issues related to their vision and hearing abilities,” said Brent Askvig, the project’s director.
Thirty-three people in the state have been identified as having both disabilities, though that number is likely low, Askvig said.
The center aims to use the funding to identify children who have a degree of both hearing and vision impairment from an early age, according to Askvig. The grant will also go toward math and reading instruction, classroom support and expanding access to community services.
The money can’t be used for direct education in a classroom, but it can go toward training and technical assistance for those who teach children with hearing and vision loss. The grant can also fund early childhood specialists, state agency workers and families.
“We might work directly with professionals who provided screening and diagnostic services to children, so that they might better identify children who might have deaf-blindness,” Askvig said. “Or we might provide parent training so that family members can request high quality programming for their children. Or we might provide in-depth technical assistance so that school districts can deliver quality education for children with deaf-blindness.”
Askvig added that the funding support will be based on local need. The center plans to use its access to national resources and partners to connect educators, families and administrators with the best people and practices to solve complex educational issues for children experiencing vision and hearing loss.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, http://www.minotdailynews.com
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