Eligibility for SESA’s Multiple Disabilities Services:

The Multiple Disabilites Program serves students in the following state disability categories: (For the specific requirements of each, view the Evaluation and Eligibility Section of the State Special Education Handbook.)

• Moderate or Severe Mental Retardation
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Multiple Disabilities
• Other Health Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Preschool Developmental Delay

Services Provided by Multiple Disabilities

Assistance to districts in the rural and remote portions of the state is provided both on and off site. For example:

• Staff training through on-site and regional in-services related to best practices for educating students with moderate and severe disabilities addresses such issues as:
  • Functional Age Appropriate Curriculum
  • Inclusionary Strategies
  • Positive Behavior Supports
  • Community Based Instruction
  • Integrating Related Services
  • Transition Planning
  • Parental Involvement
  • Use of Assistive Technology Tools
• Assistance to districts in development and implementation of instructional
  programs
  • Assistance to districts in the development of appropriate educational programs
  • Conducting Ecological Inventories
  • Identifying Instructional Strategies
  • Selecting Instructional Materials
  • Selecting and Using Appropriate Assistive Technology Tools
• Assistance to district in securing information, equipment and resources
  through the use of the agency lending library, assistive technology lending
  library and other available resources
• Assistance to districts with inter-agency and cross-district networking

Staff Members

Kathy Marie Osinski, Education Specialist

DSI Information

Special Education Service Agency (SESA) is the recipient of federal funds under The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to provide technical assistance for children and youth, ages 0 through 21 years who have both vision and hearing impairments. Dual Sensory Impairment (DSI) provides services at no cost and in addition to those provided by schools and infant learning programs.

The purpose of DSI Services is to assist service providers and families in preparing learners with dual sensory impairments for quality lives in their homes, schools, and communities. Some of the activities provided by DSI Services include: technical assistance to service providers and families through onsite consultation, inservice training, support to attend trainings specially addressing DSI issues, promotion of home-school partnerships and collaborative teaming, access to a parent navigator, an extensive lending library, and to resources and information.

Information regarding dual sensory impairments (aka: deafblindness) is available concerning local, state and national resources. The DSI newsletter, Keeping In Touch, and program mailings provide up-to-date information. The SESA library maintains current literature and videotapes specific to deafblindness.

The following are some questions we are asked about SESA’s DSI Services and the individuals we serve:

Q: My student/child is not totally deaf and blind. Does s/he still qualify for service?

A: The combined effects of both these sensory losses, even if both are mild, may qualify him or her as dual sensory impaired or deafblind. Since vision and hearing are the primary senses for learning, even mild losses can create unique needs in communication, mobility and overall learning which requires specialized supports and interventions. Also, many children with DSI have other disabilities in addition to their sensory losses (e.g., motor involvement, cognitive impairment, medical complexities, etc.)

A: There is not a single cause for deafblindness. In fact, deafblindness has over 70 known causes. Regardless of the cause, the challenges of deafblindness are lifelong. Appropriate education must address both the hearing and vision impairments, as well as any other disabilities that may be present. This condition affects over 9,000 children between birth and 21 years of age in the United States.

A: Referrals may be made by parents as well as educational, medical, or social service agencies.

A: DSI Services provides assistance at no cost to families, school districts, infant learning programs or other agencies requesting service.

A: For any additional information, please contact us.

Staff:

Patrick Pillai, Project Director

Michelle Radin, Education Specialist

Created for the interpreter, speech aid, or parent

By Michelle Radin

With a special thanks to Kim Ward, Krista Galyen, Joyce Dale, and Patricia McDaid

Download curriculum in PDF format

Some of the titles of speech sounds were taken from the speech development program LIPS: The Lindamood® Phoneme Sequencing Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech—Third Edition, available here. Continue Reading

Language Development

Language development is a massive topic to conquer within a few paragraphs; many people make their careers and livelihoods from studying language development. However, here we will try to summarize it shortly in the hopes that this bit of general information can better help you understand the perspective of your student or child with a hearing loss.

Children are excellent mimickers of adults, of their parents, and of older siblings. Their innate drive to be like their mom and dad drives them toward learning, amongst many other things, language. Attempting to copy what they see, what they hear, are some of children’s beginning steps in acquiring language.

When a child with normal hearing is learning a new language or a new word, even as an adult, some of the same things always happen. First, a user of the language says the word and the child listens. The child will then try to copy the word. As the child is saying the word, s/he is listening to himself/herself and monitoring the sound. By listening and comparing it to how the user said the word, the child will know either to attempt the word again (trying to get the sounds correct), or feel satisfied that s/he said the word correctly.

That is merely the word component of language. There is also the grammar and syntax component of language. Many times we know the correct grammar usage by the simple fact “it just feels right.” People with normal hearing have heard the spoken grammar thousands even millions of times; they have acquired the grammar rules by listening and using them.

Now there is a whole lot more to language development than what is presented here. By no means feel that this is all there is to language development. However, this will help give you the basics when presented with some of the concepts below. Continue Reading

There are many sources for obtaining funds for hearing aids, assistive devices, special grants and continuing education. Located here is a small list of funding sources for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. Similar information is available through resources in colleges, universities or major public libraries.

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf

3417 Volta Place, NW
Washington, DC 20007
202/337-5220
http://www.agbell.org/financialaid.cfm Continue Reading

This information is not intended to, nor can it, take the place of your audiologist repairing and maintaining your hearing aid or FM system. This is intended to help you, your student, or your child become more knowledgeable about how to take care of their own hearing aids and troubleshoot minor problems.

As with all mechanical devices, preventative maintenance and proper care of the hearing aid or fm system will help prevent future headaches as well as costly repairs. Being such, below are some care tips for your devices: Continue Reading

There truly is a myriad of technological inventions that can make life much easier for people with a hearing loss. Athough this page will not include everything there is in assistive devices for those with a hearing loss, it will provide some insights as to the available technology. If you are interested in a certain device, just click on the picture and it will take you to a site that offers that product.

A site that offers a variety of assistive devices specifically for those with a hearing loss is Harris Communications. Also our local Alaska dealer for a variety of assistive technology devices is ATLA, phone: 907-563-2599, or 1-800-723-2852. Continue Reading

What is a cochlear implant?
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that bypasses the route of the normal hearing aid in order to provide beneficial hearing to those who have bilateral severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Usually those that receive little to no benefit from cochlear implants are candidates. Continue Reading

Listening Problems In the Classroom

In a typical classroom, there are many distracting background noises such as paper shuffling, whispering, talking, air conditioning/heater systems, overheads, and computers. These sounds may be almost as loud as a teacher’s voice. In addition to these distractions, a teacher’s voice may vary in loudness due to walking around the room, facing away from the class and writing on the board, and even their own personal preference for loud or soft speech. For most students with normal hearing, this is not a problem.

However, for those students with a hearing loss, background noises and distance interferes with hearing and understanding. The hearing aids not only amplify the teacher’s voice, but it also amplifies the sounds around the child as well. The incoming sound can be confusing and unclear. Continue Reading