About the National Center on Deaf-Blindness
What We Do
There are approximately 10,000 children and youth in the United States who have been identified as deaf-blind. Deaf-blindness is a low-incidence disability and within this population there is great variability in terms of age, race/ethnicity, cause of deaf-blindness, and severity and type of hearing and vision loss. Ninety percent have additional physical, medical, or cognitive disabilities.
As a national technical assistance center, NCDB works with state deaf-blind projects and other partners to improve educational results and quality of life for children who are deaf-blind and their families.
Why We Do What We Do
As a result of our work with state deaf-blind projects and other partners we aim to:
- Increase identification of children and youth who are deaf-blind
- Promote the adoption of high-quality deaf-blind education practices
- Increase children's access to communication, education, social relationships, and the environment
- Increase the number of qualified personnel
- Increase the quality of support available to families
- Improve transition outcomes so that students successfully move from high school to post-secondary education or employment and community life
NCDB Annual Impact Reports
Meet the People Behind NCDB
NCDB staff are located in various locations across the country, including New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oregon, Arkansa, Ohio, and Montana. Collectively, we have extensive knowledge and skills in areas needed to operate a national technical assistance and dissemination center for children who are deaf-blind. These include leadership, project management and administration, technical assistance—including systems change and personnel development—deaf-blind practices, information management, product development, dissemination, and program evaluation.
Learn More About Our Partners
The National Center on Deaf-Blindness is comprised of six established agencies with an excellent track record of serving children who are deaf-blind. This multi-agency approach allows us to gather qualified staff from across the U.S., which is essential in the highly specialized field of deaf-blindness where expertise is geographically dispersed. Lead agency: Helen Keller National Center.
