Sensory Disabilities are a Fact of Life.
Not the End of It.
No one said it was easy to raise a child or be a child with a hearing loss or vision impairment. But with good information, helpful training, and the right technology, what was once an unthinkable difficulty can turn into a quite manageable fact of an otherwise wonderful life.
Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS) is here to assist children who are deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, or deaf-blind, by providing training and other support to families and service providers.
WSDS is funded by our state education agency— the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)—as a state needs special education project. We receive other federal and state grants to support our services as well, so we are able to offer them at little or no cost.
What's New?
New! AA level training on blindness for teachers, paraeducators, and parents.
Baby Jamboree (Vancouver, WA)
August 6 – 8, 2010
A learning weekend for families with infants/toddlers who are blind/visually impaired. Applications are available now and due June 10th!
2010 Combined Summer Institute (CSI) in Special Education (Yakima Convention Center - Yakima, WA)
July 12 – 15, 2010
Training strands in assistive technology, autism spectrum disorders, blindness/visual impairment, deafness/hard of hearing, combined vision and hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, and multiple disabilities.
For more information and session descriptions go to: www.ncesd.org/csi.
Three-part Training on Educating Children with Combined Hearing Loss and Visual Impairment
New! Clock Hours for Recorded Trainings
Starting in June 2010, you can earn up to 4.5 clock hours for the above three-part training on dual sensory disabilities by: (a) viewing the three parts of this recorded training (~90 minutes each), (b) completing questions for each of the three parts and (c) completing the evaluation survey. Download instructions and contact Mikaela O'Brien if you have questions.
Infant & Early Childhood Conference (Tacoma, WA)
April 28 – 30, 2010
Special sessions on blindness/visual impairment and children with multiple disabilities including hearing loss and visual impairment.
Powerpoints and handouts are now available! To download the handouts, click on the link above and follow the instructions.