DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 135 200 EC 093 176

AUTBOR Rouin, CaroleTITLE The Deaf-Blind Child and the Vocational

Rehabilitation Counselor.INSTITUTION California State Dept. of Education, Sacramento.;

Southwestern Region Deaf-Blind Center, Sacramento,Calif.

SEONS AGENCY Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (DHEW/OE),Washington, D.C. Centers and Services for Deaf-BlindChildren.

PUB DATE 76NOTE .23p.; Proceedings of a conference (San Diego,

California, October 15-17, 1975)

EDES PRICE MY-!:40.83 HC-$1.67 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Community Agencies (Public) ; *Counselor Role; *Deaf

Taind; Interagency Cooperation; Multiply Handicapped;Post Secondary Education; Prevocational Education;Secondary Education; Severely Handicapped;*Vocational Rehabilitation

ABSTRACTProvided are four papers from a national conference,

titled "The Deaf-Blind Child and the Vocational RehabilitationCounselor", designed to identify and present possible solutions tosone of the problems facing the deaf-blind child as he or she maturesand moves from a basic educational setting into the realm of thevocational counselor. Entries include the following titles:"Vocational Education and the Future of the Deaf-Blind" (R.Smithdas), "Public Agencies Working Cooperatively to Serve theDeaf-Blind" (F. Hughston), "Prevocational Planning for the Deaf-Blindin the Northwest Region" (L. Hagmeier), and "Overview of theDeaf-Blind Vocational Training Program" (J. English). Also providedare tables on barriers to the provision of continuous services in sixstates and results of a deaf-blind service providers inventory.(SBH)

***********************************************************************Documents acguired by ERIC include many iaformal unpublished

* materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort ** to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal ** reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality ** of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available ** via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not* responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions ** supplied by BDRS are the best that can be made from the original. ************************************************************************

U S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,EDUCATION &WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATION

THIS 00CUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO-OUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM

THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN-ATING IT POINTS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE-

SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY

Proceedings

The Deaf-Blind Childand theVocationalRehabilitationCounselor

Prepared by Carole Rouin, under the direction of

William A. Blea, Project Director, Southwestern Region Deaf-BlindCenter, California State Department of Education; and

Robert Dantona, National Coordinator, Centers and Services for Deaf-Blind Children, Bureau of Education for the Handicapped, U.S.Office of Education

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This publication, which was funded under :he provisions of Public Law 91-230,Title VI, Education of the Handicapped Act, Part C, Section 622, was publishedby the California State Department of Education, 721 Capitol Malt, Sacramento,

California 95814. The activity which is the subject of this publication wassupported in whole or in part by the U.S. Office of Education, Department ofHealth, Education, and Welfare. However, the opinions expressed herein do notnecessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Office of Education, and noofficial endorsement by the U.S. Office of Education should be inferred.

Printed by the Office of State Printingand distributed under the provisions of the

Library Distribution Act

1976

PrefaceTeaching techniques and materials for deaf-blind children have been developed over the

past six years by creative, innovative teachers who have developed an educationalmethodology for the deaf-blind as they were teaching. The effect or success of such aprocedure cannot be evaluated with any degree of confidence at this time, but we do knowthat all teachers need a sound basis by which to guide their educational input.

Today we know that thz, deaf-blind children we have served during the past six years maybe in need of vocational education. The National Advisory Committee on the Handicapped(NACH) has determined that "vocational education is important in the development ofindependence for everyone, but is critical and essential for handicapped individuals." Ifvocational education is not provided on a permissive basis, such programs will certainly bemandated by law in the future.

Vocational education programs for the deaf-blind have been in operation for two years.Several of the regional deaf-blind centers have placed a high priority on the establishment ofvocational education programs during the current fiscal year and have appointedprevocational or vocational consultants to their staffs. The Southwestern Region Deaf-BlindCenter has developed a vocational education curriculum for use with deaf-blind minors.With this foresight and planning, vocational education programs for the deaf-blind will bebased on sound educational principles. I believe that these proceedings will contribute to abetter understanding of the importance of an effective vocational education program fordeaf-blind youths.

With the understanding gained from serving the special needs of the handicapped, we mayrealize that our efforts to provide vocational education programs will have a significantimpact on the deaf-blind and will contribute to their independence as responsible citizens inour society.

WILLIAM A. BLEAProject Director,

Southwestern Region Deaf-Blind Center

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ContentsPreface iii

Introduction 1

Vocational Education and the Future of the Deaf-Blind 2

Public Agencies Working Cooperatively to Serve the Deaf-Blind 5

Prevocational Planning for the Deaf-Blind in the Northwest Region 8

Overview of the Deaf-Blind Vocational Training Program 1 3

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2-89449 V

IntroductionBy Paul Small

Vocational Specialist, Southwestern Region Deaf-Blind Center

Today's deaf-blind children will soon be adultsin need of vocational and residential services. Theireducational needs are changing as they mature. Toassist in the planning to meet these changing needs,the Southwestern Region Deaf-Blind Center, underthe direction of William A. Blea, Project Director,sponsored a national conference, "The Deaf-BlindChild and the Vocational Rehabilitation Coun-selor," October 15-17, 1975, in San Diego, Califor-nia.

The initial design for the conference was toidentify and present possible solutions to some ofthe problems facing the deaf-blind child as he or shematures and moves from a basic educational settinginto the realm of the vocational counselor.

Fred Hughston, speakine on "Public AgenciesWorking Cooperatively to Serve the Deaf-Blind,"points out that: -There is no particular virtue inwanting an excellent program. Everybody wantsthat. But it doesn't come first, or directly, or all ofa sudden." He outlines prerequisites for excellenceand describes Some of the many resources availablethrough cooperation and coordination of programsfor the deaf-blind.

Lee Hagmeier desCribes "Prevocational Planningand Programming for the Deaf-Blind in the North-west Region," suggesting that the approach takenby the Northwest Regional Center for Services toDeaf-Blind Children may be helpful to others facedwith a similar challenge of meeting the immediateand future needs of persons who have vision andhearing impairments. "Until recently," he states,"the prevocational-vocational program of theNorthwest Regional Center has focused on vision-hearing impaired persons fifteen years of age andolder whose disability was not the result ot therubella epidemic of 1963-65. . The rationale forworking with the older population is that if theprevocational-vocational needs of the large popula-tion of rubella vision-hearing impaired persons areto be met, the kinds of resources (manpower,facility, and materials) to provide the servicesnecessary to meet these needs must be identifiedand steps taken to develop them prior to the timethey are required."

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In "Overview of the Deaf-Blind VocationalTraining Program," Jack English presents a globaldescription of what has happened nationally in thearea of providing prevocational services and pointsout some of the trends that are becoming evidentfrom the preliminary programming which has beenundertaken across the United States.

Robert Smithdas, in his keynote address, "Voca-tional Education and the Future of the Deaf-Blind" emphasizes " ... we can say this aboutdeaf-blind people: they are human beings whodeserve to exercise their curiosity and who havethe courage to live if they are given the opportu-nity to do so and the assistance to reach theirgoals. They have many frustrations because of theirloss of sight and hearing and their obvious depen-dence on other people, but there is really no reasonwhy they should feel so frustrated that they arehumiliated. We owe them the dignity ... that wewould demand for ourselves."

Early in the workshop, the frustrations of theparticipaats (rehabilitation counselors, teachers,and administrators) became apparent. They askedsimilar questions and expressed 'similar concerns,but few, if any, solutions were proffered.

Examples of these concerns, in no priority orderare: "We must have realistic expectations. Not alldeaf-blind persons are Helen Keller," "Why ismoney the criteria for work?"Vocational rehabili-tation and education must jointly face problems,""What resources are available?" "What determinesadulthood and what happens to deaf-blind personsat age twenty-one?" "Chronological age and func-tional age are not the same,'' "Legal competency isa problem," and "What is the most important skillfor a client to have to get service?"

We hope that the participants left the workshoprealizing that they are not alone iri their dilemmaand that the models presented along with theensuing discussions provided the impetus to sendeach participant back to his or her own state orregion sufficiently stimulated to seek solutionsappropriate not only to the deaf-blind.populationbeing served now, but also to those maturing deaf-blind children who will soon need vocational services.

Vocational Education and the Futureof the Deaf-Blind

Presented by Robert SmithdasDirector of Community Education, National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, New Hyde Park, New York

Five years ago, we didn't think it would bepossible for many of our deaf-blind children, aswell as adults, to have the kind of opportunity thatwas given to me, to Richard Kenny, to JackieCoker, and to other outstanding deaf-blind per-sons. But I'm sure that all of these people wouldjoin me in saying that whenever a deaf-blind personshows any degree of success, he has that basicobligation to try to pass on these opportunities toother deaf-blind people. I am sure that most of yourealize the right of the deaf-blind to participate inprograms such as the children's programs, whichtake care of their educational needs, and theprevocational and vocational programs for teen-agers and adults.

The National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths andAdults, operated by the Industrial Home for theBlind in Brooklyn, has a temporary headquartersand training center for deaf-blind adults who havefinished school, have gone as far as possible withtheir education, and who need to learn what itmeans to live independently. In a very real sense,all of these are related to each other. To beginwith, a deaf-blind child is difficult to teach becauseof the severe handicaps. Probably no handicap is assevere as being both deaf and blind.

I have someMmes tried to analyze my ownfeelings about the loss of sight and hearing; and I

find it difficult to estimate what I feel about beingwithout both sight and hearing. There have beentimes when I thought that the world shrinks whenyou aren't able to hear the voices of ft.-;A .ids or theordinary sounds that make up the world'-, commo-tion and at the same time are not k t.,) see thecolors, light, shapes, and all the eqher vlsi`-le thingsthat are part of the world we Iivc :k deaf-blindchild who is just beginning to fin 1 1`..he

world has to depend primarily upon his sense oftouch, his curiosity, and his ability to reach outand feel what the world is really like. Very often.much of his information has to come to hIrn

through a secondary sourceanother personteacher, a member of his family, or ew-T 3

playmate or schoolmate. One thing is ceitaizi,

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takes a longer time for a deaf-blind person toacquire information and knowledge than it Nvuldtake for a normal child, who can listen, observe,copy, imitate, and take part in the actual activity.

I think that I was very fortunate, because while Iwas growing up I was not inhibited by my familyor teachers in doing the things I wanted to do. If Ifelt like wandering around my home or theneighborhood, my family permitted it. At the firstdeaf school I attended, all of the teachers wereconcerned that I would wander away from thepremises, but that didn't keep me from wanderingabout the grounds as much as I pleased. Later,when I went to the Perkins School for the Blind,where I attended high school, all of the deaf-blindchildren were protected by their teachers andcarefully guarded against anything that might causeinjury. I rebelled against having a constant compan-ion, because I felt that I was capable of taking careof myself and I didn't want a companion when Iwanted to do certain things. I feel that this type ofsupervision has changed to a great degree in manyof the schools that have special departments fordeaf-blind children. Today, teachers are beginningto realize that the way to help a child to grow is toencourage his curiosity and help him experience asmany things as he possibly can by touching them,tasting and smelling them, or by exploring them inany other way that seems feasible.

Years ago, the children in the Perkins deaf-blinddepartment were only taught to read lips byvibrations through their fingertips. I think theTadoma method of teaching speech is an excellentmethod if the child has the ability and the superiorintelligence to understand what is being taught.But some deaf-blind children seem to lack thecapacity for learning speech, perhaps because thesense of touch isn't sensitive enough or becausethey are unable to understand the mechanics of.,peech. I feel that every tool we have should beused in teaching children, not only the Tadomamethod of speech reading but also the manualalphabet and signs. My philosophy is that teachersare really like good craftsmen. A carpenter doesn't

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use just one tool when he is working with wood.He uses different tools for different procedures. Ifeel that the same is true when we are construc-tively building a child's life. If one tool doesn'twork, we have to turn to another.

I've grown up with deaf-blind children and havebeen treated as. a deaf-blind child myself. Later,when I worked in services for deaf-blind childrenand adults, I realized what a tremendous differencethere is in the backgrounds of deaf-blind people.They all have different capacities and differentdegrees of intelligence. They can vary from theones who have received very little education andwho have very little ability to understand intellec-tual concepts to the very bright ones who canlearn speech, go to college, become a computerprogrammer, or establish a small business. Othersdon't have this acute intellectual ability, but theydo have mechanical skills.

I don't think that we have solved all theproblems involved in working with deaf-blindchildren and adults. To begin with, we have toremember that to prepare the child for adult lifemeans that we have to give him every opportunityto exercise his ability and make it grow, so he willhave talents and skills he can use to becomeindependent when he grows up.

Some adults lose their sight or their hearing afterthey have become deaf or blind. A deaf or blindperson is usually depressed by the idea of thedouble handicap. Peihaps this is one reason why itis so difficult for many blind or deaf persons tofeel comfortable in a relationship with a deaf-blindperson. I think that blind people unconsciouslyfear the loss of hearing and deaf persons fear theloss of sight. The reality of the whole problem isthat we have to absorb all of our handicappedpeople, not just the deaf-blind, and make room forthem in society.

When I was a small boy and wandered about thehouse exploring things, I sometimes got intomischief. It's to the credit of my parents that tlicynever inhibited me. In fact, sometimes it led torather humorous incidents. I remember that when Iwas about twelve years of age, the basement of myhome had a large cabinet that was stocked withbottles, containers, and glass jars of all sorts. I wasvery curious about touching and smelling thesecontainers, but I couldn't reach the ones on thetop shelf. One day when my parents were in thekitchen, I went to the basement and startedclimbing on the lower shelves. I had only climbedup 'two of the shelves when I realized that thecabinet was swaying and about to fall. I got down

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on the floor and tried to push it back. Unfor-tunately, bottles and jars began to cascade aboutme, striking my shoulders and smashing onto thefloor.

In a few minutes my parents came runningdown. My father pushed the cabinet back, and mymother began to clear up the debris.

I was convinced that I was going to receive asound punishment, so I ran upstairs and hid undera bed. In about five minutes someone startedcrawling under the bed with me: I reached out andrecognized my father, and I said to him, "Daddy, isMommy after you, too?"

While I was at the Perkins School for the Blind, Isaw some of the children who were just beginningtheir training, a few of whom had been there for afew years. I realized how difficult it was for themto learn things.. They were restless and curious, andthe teachers had difficulty in containing them. Thechildren were disturbed because they were ener-getic children and curious about their surround-ings. It isn't easy to control a child when he wantsto do things.

i would like to point out that one of the veryimportant things we have to learn is that regardlessof the age of a deaf-blind person, we have to treathim as an individual and make him feel that W e areintere'ted in him. Somehow deaf-blind peopleseem .o develop an instinct that tells them when a'pen( isn't interested or doesn't care.

I . ould like to tell you a story about a womanwhc was a mental patient for almost a year. Whenshe came out of'the hospital she told a friend that,although -she wasn't able to communicate directlywith the doctors or the attendants because of hermental difficulty, she was always aware when shewas pushed about, maltreated, or wasn't con-sidered as a human being.

I think that most of us have an inevitable desireto obtain something worthwhile in life. I also thinkwe realize that we have an idea of what is good forus, especially when we begin to reason about ourown predicaments and problems. We know whatcontentment means to us. Because of this, feelthat counselors should try to understand what theclient really wantswhat will give him the mostcontentment and happiness as an individual. Inother words, the deaf-blind client knows that he isa human being. lie wants to be treated as such inaccordance with his own standards rather thanhave the counselors' or teachers' will imposed uponhim. Of course this is only a relative truth when itcomes to children, because children have to bedirected during the first stages of their education.

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But when they begin to realize that they areindividuals with individual talents and capacities,then we have to recognize this and treat themaccordingly; otherwise, they will resent the factthat someone is trying to impress his or her will onthem and probably won't cooperate. In fact, theymay even refuse to respond to the best instructionthat we can give them.

I feel that some of the most important aspectsof the growing process involves learning to reasonand to experience: feel or sense things, comparethem, and form judgments. In the end, one is ledthrough a series of judgments to the point thatconclusions are formed. This teaches us whom wecan trust, whom we can't trust, and whether ourown judgment is correct.

But we also have to allow the deaf-blind childand adult to use his or her imagination. While I wasin high school, I was a member of the wrestling team.I had a coach who always told me, "Bob, if youcan't win a wrestling match by pinning youropponent because he is too strong or knows morethan you do, then use your brains; use yourimagination. Think of a way to get around theproblem." This was good advice. One day it turned

to have rather amusing results. I had a verystrong opponent from one of the academies in NewEngland. He wasn't particularly knowledgeableabout wrestling holds but he was infinitely strongerthan I was and I couldn't pin him. I was trailing byabout two points and realized that in order for meto win for the team, I'd have to make up at leastthree. Finally. I remembered what my coach hadtold me. I had a brilliant idea. I leaned over hisshoulder and whispered in his ear, "I love you." Hewas so surprised that I only had to flip him on hisback.

i think that one of the hardest parts ofeduLational work is teaching deaf-blind children. Iadmire the skill and the patience that teachers ofdeaf-blind children have. I feel that deaf-blindchildren are being given more opportunity and abetter educational background than their counter-parts were ever given in the past. I'm especiallyglad that they are being given prevocational train-ing today which will prepare them for th realvocational training they may eventually need.

Not all of the deaf-blind who graduate fromschool are going to the National Center forDeaf-Blind Youths and Adults. We have beentrying to establish affiliations with various agenciessuch as California Industries for the Blind, theSeattle Lighthouse for the Blind, and other

agencies that are capable of giving able deaf-blindyouths and adults the opportunity for training andperhaps competitive work, even in outside indus-try. We are sure that these agencies are doing amarvelous job, and we hope that their trainingprograms continue. There will always be a need fora few specialized agencies such as the NationalCenter. But we are hoping that organizations forthe deaf and for the blind will also help as much asthey can, because we know they have the ability.

When you ri ally think about it, a deaf-blindperson is an individual who looks normal but whohas lost his or her sight and hearing and has to dependupon his or her secondary senses of touch, taste, andsmell. The secondary senses are no substitute forthe primary senses of sight and hearing that 'mingso much of the world directly to us. In fact, thedeaf-blind person has to depend largely on thegoodwill and understanding of other people. I

don't mean compassion and sympathy, becauseboth of these can be obstructive. I would like tosee all of the agencies regard the deaf-blind personas one who has ability that can be used. I knowthat cooperation among the various agencies isencouraged here on the west coast, and I hope thatthis will spread throughout the country. Within thenext ten years I hope to be able to meet manydeaf-blind persons who take care of their ownhomes or apartments, who work in outside indus-tries or sheltered workshops where they are cap-able of earning their own livelihoods, and who havethe special basic devices such as doorbells, tele-phone devices, and communication aids that makethem independent.

We are beginning to make progress, but it isreally too early to say that we can do all we needto do at once. However, we can say this aboutdeaf-blind people: They are human beings whodeserve to exercise their curiosity and who havethe courage to live if they are given the opportu-nity and the assistance they need to reach theirgoals. They experience many frustrations becauseof their loss of sight and hearing, but they need notfeel so frustrated that they are humiliated.

Many groups of handicapped .persons are far, ,better organized because they are vocal. They havethe ability to say what they want and need.Deaf-blind people form a minority group that isscarcely organized at all. The people who work forthe deaf-blind have to speak for them. This meansthat all of us have to give our very best in thefuture to bring to the deaf-blind people of thiscountry the dignity that they deserve as citizensand as human beings.

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Public Agencies Working Cooperativelyto Serve the Deaf-Blind

Presented by Fred HughstonDirector, Vocational Education, Department of Adult Deaf and Blind, Special Technical Facility, Talledega, Alabama

I want to talk a little about the need forplanningplanning for excellence. Without wiseplanning, our future is hopeless. One New Yorkeditor said, "We should put all of our mindstogether, develop the best possible plans, and thensit back and wait for the opposite to happen." Hewas referring to the fact that when great plans aremade, something entirely different from what wasexpected often occurs.

Christopher Columbus had a plan: He set outacross the Atlantic to find Asia. His plan was aflop. lie didn't make it, but in the pursuit of hisobjective he found something else that made adifference.

We have a term for this sort of occurrence ordiscovery: serendipity, the gift of finding valuableor agreeable thin g:. not sought for; or indirection,the unexpecteci t71:4.t 1.ii"ippens when one pursuessomething.

Thomas Edison was looking for an electric lightwhen he found a phonograph. Pasteur, looking fora way to keep his wine from turning sour, foundthe process of pasteurization. A chemist holding atest tube with a few grains of rice in it over a firehappened to drop it. When he picked it up, thegrains had exploded into puffed rice. Some enter-prising chemist, working on yeast to isolate acertain vitamin, found the stuff curing infection3and called it penicillin. Serendipity is looking forone thing- and finding another. This process ofindirection runs all through life.

Of course, we cf the western world are theproducts of an aggressive culture and were broughtup to believe that the way to get anything is to goafter it. We want results, immediate results. Put themoney down, wrap the package up, push a button,make thing happen now. We turn lights on in thehen yards to fool the hens into laying beforebreakfast, and we have signs on the highwaysreading: "Antiques, manufactured while youwait." We believe the way to get anything is to goafter it now.

Many good things have come from this method,and I believe that we will not achieve excellenceunless we do go after it. But this method of

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expecting everything now has its limitations, forthere are some things you cannot get that way:you can pt houses but not homes; you can make aliving but not a life; you can get a degree but notan education. Most things of consequence come byplanning, altering plans, taking new directions,building on small successes, profiting from mis-takes, and using new knowledge.

Consider, if you will, the goal of peace, world-wide peace. Peace does not come just by peoplesaying they want it; and there is no particularvirtue in wanting peace. Hitler wanted peace andpromised his people a thousand years oi it. Peace isnot a sufficient, domklant objective. It just doesn'tcome first. Other things do: justice, trust, righ-teousness, brotherhood, love. These things mustcome first-

An excellent educational program for the deaf-blind doesn't come first, either. Other things do:improved facilities, instiuctional materials, protec-tion of instructional time, leadeiship, public sup-port, 2hd, most of all, outstanding people.

We have no particular virtue in wanting an .excellent program. Everyoody wants that. But itdoesn't come first, or directly, or all of a sudden.We can seek excellence first, but if we do notchange poor attitudes, poor teaching methods,laziness, selfishness, and rigidity, we will neverachieve excellence. We simply cannot reverse theorder. Trying to do so would be like the alcoholicpraying to God to cure his drunkenness, but not tointerfere with his drinking.

We must plan wisely and constantly be on thelookout for those unexpected dividends. We shouldseek excellence first. Make that our goal, ourdominant objective, and we will find many things,not accidentally, but lying there in the path of oursearch. This incidental fruitage of our seeking willbecome part of the strong foundation, one of themany buikling blocks that will enable us to reachour objective of excellence.

Providing the best opportunities possiblerequires (a) commitment; (b) dedication; (c) cour-age; and (d) guts: commitment to what we believein, dedication to getting the job done, courage to

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carry out the tasks that are necessary in the pursuitof excellence, and the guts required of any leaderor decision maker in accomplishing the goals of anorganization.

The deaf-blind child deserves the same opportu-nities as the normal child. However, without theassistance of cooperating agencies, it is impossibleto implement that type of philosophy. I sincerelybelieve that education for the deal-blind childmquires the cooreration of all available agencies.

A graduate of a school for the deaf-blind todayshould be prepared to take the next highest stepthat his capabilities permit, whether that step is tocontinue his education at the post-secondary levelor to become a part of the labor force. Alleducators for the deaf-blind and all agencies mustbecome partners, for we are really all striving forthe same goals: students developed to theirmaximum-whatever their capabilities, desires, andaspirations. We are all partners in education,whether we provide vocational, career, rehabilita-tion, academic, or self-help training. The importantthing is that we individually and collectively doeverything in our power to provide the very besteducational opportunities for our students.

In Alabama, deaf-blind children are accepted atthe age of five years for evaluation or for enroll-ment in an academic program if an evaluation hasalready been completed by an acceptable agency.Today, 48 Students are enrolled in this program.These students receive their academic and prevoca-tional education at the Helen Keller School for theDeaf-Blind. Upon recommendation of the staff atthe Helen Keller School, the students becomeinvolved in a vocational evaluation, personal man-agement, and technical training program for theadult visually and/or aurally impaired. Out-of-stateadults are also accepted in this program. TheSpecial Technical Facility provides no academicswhile the student is involved in a joint program.The most important part of th4: program at thispoint is coordination.

The staffs of all programs meet as often asnecessary to avoid duplication and to make surethat one program complements the other. When thestaffs of both programs think it is best for thechild, he becomes a fulhtime student at the SpecialTechnical Facility. Supportive services are availableuntil he completes his technical training. When avocational objective is established, placement isinitiated, although it may be 24-36 months beforetraining is completed. A full-time placement coun-selor is on the staff at the Special TechnicalFacility, and he follows the deaf-blind child

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through the training program, tailoring the trainingto the job.

In Alabama, rehabilitation, vocational educa-tion, adult basic education, state library services,health services, and the Department of Pensionsand Security function 3.5 supportive services toeducational programs for the deaf-blind. Stateschools for the deaf-blind are the hub of ther--;services for the deaf-blind, including preschoolprograms. My experience has been that anytime aprogram is initiated for a deaf-blind student,coordination with the school for the deaf-blind willbe helpful, because the school staff already knowsthe student and can assist in providing backgroundinformation.

I think each of us is familiar with all of thesupportive agencies discussed previously, but Iwould like to describe in detail how we in Alabamahave found that the Department of PensionsandSecurity can assist, particularly in communityeducation. One main purpose of the Department ofPensions and Security is to provide social servicesto students enrolled at the Special TechnicalFacility. Transition from residential to communitylife has been one of our concerns for many years,and this is the core of the program. The Alabamainstitute for the Deaf and Blind has contractedwith the Department of Pensions and Security toestablish day care centers in cities in which there isa concentration of deaf or deaf-blind children, andparent training will be provided as outlined in Title20. We have found in Title 20 one service notduplicated by any other agency, and certainly onethat will enhance the educational opportunities forthe deaf-blind.

Title 20 was signed into law by President Fordon January 4, 1975. It grew out of the. cooperativeefforts of the United States Congress, the Depart-rnent of Health, Education, and Welfare, theNational Conference of Governors, and key organi-zations concerned with services for children andfamilies and for the severely disabled. Provisions ofthis act are administered in Mabama by theDepartment of Pensions and Security, but ihis maynot be true in every state.

Until now, every state's social services plan hashad to be approved by the federal government.Under Title 20, the content of a state's servicesplan will bs subject to review by the state's citizensrather than to approval by the federal government.To asss-re that citizens have an opportunity toreview the state's services plan, the law requires anopen planning process. This includes a publicreview-and-comment period of at least 45 days.

Under Title 20, states can me: ece significantchanges in their social services programs in regardto (a) what s'..Irvice: will be available; (b) whichpeople will elEfible to receive services; and(c) where and :iow services will be provided.Any social service provided under Title 20 mustbe directed to at least one of the following fivegoals:

1. To help people become or remain economi-cally self-supporting

2. To help people become or remain self-sufficient (able to take care of themselves)

3. To protect children and adults who cannotprotect themselves from abuse, neglect, andexploitation and to help families staytogether

4. To prevent and reduce inappropriate insti-tutional care as much as possible by makinghome and community services available

5. To arrange for appropriate placement andservices in an institution when such is in anindividual's best interest

The following are some of the kinds of help asocial services program operated under the provi-sions of Title 20 can offer:

1. Homemaker services when a mother has togo to the hospital

2. A foster home for a severely handicappedadult ready to leave an institution but notyet ready to live alone

3. Emergency and follow-up services to pro-tect a child from abuse or neglect

4. After-school care for children sn theirmothers can have job training and a iob

5. Chore services for an elderly couple whowill have to go to an institution unless theyget such help

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6. Refetral of an unemployed teen-ager to acommunity agency that specializes in jobcounseling for older youths

7. Emergency shelter to protect a youngrunaway from exploitation while plans arebeing made for him or her to return homeor to live indeper.dently

8. Information and referral services for peoplewho don't k.ow where to turn for help in acrisis

9. Transportation to a senior center withvaried activities for an older person other-wise confined to a rented room

10. A half-way house for a drug-addicted youthwh3 needs treatment and a supportiveenvironment

11. Competent part-thne care for a handi-capped child or senile older person whosefamily is near exhaustion

12. Guardianship for a confused older personno longer able to manage financial affairs

The purpose of a social services program underTitle 20 is to help people with problems like these.

Certainly we must all be realistic about theneeds of the deaf-blind child. A large percent ofthe deaf-blind will never be able to compete forpositions in the world of business or industry;however, this in no way reduces the obligation ofthose of us who work in service programs designedfor the deaf-blind. These multihandicapped peopleare, like the rest of us, endowed with the rights tothe pursuit of happiness, the joys of living, and adefinite place in our society.

The community needs to develop an awarenessof the totality of the human elementthoughts,dreams, aspirations, and communicative needs, allexisting in a world that is neither hearing nor deaf,sighted nor blind, but in a world of life, love, andever changing conditions.

in relatively close geographic proximity, thus facili-tating case management and progra,.1 coordination.

Seven VHI persons ranging in age from fifteenyears to twenty-nine years and from four statesreceived direct services.- Through case finding pro-cedures, prospective program candidates wereidentified and appropriate state rehabilitation per-sonnel contacted. The initial clients were relocatedto Seattle and appropriate evaluation and trainingresources were mobilized. The Montana Depart-ment of Visual Services, the Washington Office ofServices for the Blind, and the Oregon Commissionfor the Blind cooperated by purchasing the follow-ing services: transportation and room and board;audiological, ophthalmological, total communica-tion, and prevocational evaluations; psychologicaland speech and language assessment; mobility,work adjustment, sign language, and audiologicaltraining. Necessary appliances were also purchased(e.g., hearing aids, braille watches, glasses, and anAM-FM TV radio. As a result of working with therelocated VIII adults, we developed a limited num-ber of housing resources as well as a recreationalprogram offering bowling, swimming, field ttips, anda bimonthly three-hour social get-together. Betweeneight and twelve VHI persons participated in therecreational program.

The work with the nonrubella epidemic VHIpopulation has led to other developments. Fourstates have or will have specific counselors manag-ing case services for the VHI clients of their states.Three states are using local resources to provideevaluation and training services. Rehabilitationcounselors and administrators have visited educa-tional units where VHI children are receivingeducational training. Some communication hastaken place between sheltered workshop personneland the teachers of VHI children.

The evaluators and trainers who worked withthe pilot-experimental VHI group were inter-viewed. The following information was obtainedregarding the attributes of the people with whomthey were working:

1. Vision-hearing impaired clients are eval-uated and trained against criteria of what a"normally functioning adult" must be cap-able of doing if he/she is to live and workindependently. However, the precise behav-iors required for independence were notsystematically cataloged.

2. The evaluation process should serve as asource of motivation and confidence forthe client. Following the evaluation, the

14

9

client should say to himself or herself,"Based on the information generated bythe evaluation, the job or task nowexpected of me is appropriate. Therefore,can succeed." Thus, the process of evalua-tion can serve as an ego support fn°'client.

3. During training, a reinforcento, -augency should be employed tho * *opclient's confidence and enthusiamtprocess of learning and not just to theproduct of learning. Such a contingencyincreases the likelihood that the client'sexpectation of success will generalize to

w learning situations.4. Particular attributes of VIII clients tended

to facilitate the evaluation and trainingprocess.(a) IntelligenceThe more intelligent client

is easier to evaluate and train than theless intelligent client. The former mayappear to be pulled by a compellingcuriosity. He or she is eager to learnabout alternatives and about the envi-ronment. However, personality factors(such as emotional disorders) may con-found the influence of intelligence.

(b) Communication(1) The client withspeech is the easiest to evaluate andtrain. .These individuals tend to haveresidual hearing and/or better - than -average intAigence. All modes of com-munication were described by the inter-viewers and trainers as effective intransmitting a message. However, somemodes are more efficient than others.(2) VHI clients often indicate theyunderstand a message or instructionwhen in actuality they do not. Facialexpression or other nonverbal behaviormay provide a cue regarding under-standing. VHI children, youths, andadults should be taughrto convey 41--don't understand," "I can't hear you,"or "Please repeat." (3) VHI clients mayanswer questions with a simple yes orno, thus providing little information. Acareful phrasing of questions may avoidthis response.

(c) The congenitally deaf or profoundlSrhard of hearing tend to function at amore literal or concrete level of under-standing than those individuals withresidual hearing. The former grasp or

10

understand abstract or relational con-cepts less rapidly or clearly. Therefore,evaluators and trainers must adjusttheir vocabulary to the level of under-standing of the client.

5. VIII clients lack self-advocacy skills. Theytei to be compliant. They tend to dowi ney are told and do not cease the

y until they are told to do somethingL se. They are reluctant or unable toexpress likes and dislikes, wants and needs.They often exhibit difficulty in makingchoices or decisions. Vision-hearingimpaired children should be proii.ded manyopportunities to make a decision or todemonstrate a preference.

6. VI-11 workers often do not undtrstand thatan optimal balance exists between quantityand quality of production. A concern forone is generally at the expense of the other.For example, VIII workers may fixate ondefective assembly items. These behaviorstend to reduce their productivity. As aresult of providing prevocational-vocationalservices to nonrubella epidemic VHI youthsand adults, a wide range of applied servicepractitioners and support personnel arenow more knowledgeable regarding theneeds and problems of VHI persons. In theNorthwest this population of VHI personsis seen as a resource for fulfilling thepurpose of the prevocational-vocationalprogram. The major purpose of this pro-gram is to see that the means for meetingthe prevocational-vocational needs are ex-amined so that those that are most effica-cious will be known and will be availablewhen the first wave of VHI persons createdby the rubella epidemic is ready to usethem.

Prevocational-Vocational Programmingfor Rubella VIII Persons

The majority of the rubella epidemic population'is presently participating in educational programs.They are primarily nine to thirteen years of age.Generally, the training objective for each studentwill be determined by that stUdent's Ability andpresent level of devloprnent rather than his or herage. These youths must, if they are physically andmentally ready, receive training within the educa-tional unit that will prepare them to benefit fromthe prevocational-vocational resources which are

under development through work within the non-rubella epidemic VHI population.

A prevocational program serves the purpose ofproviding learning and exploratory activities thatmay assist a VHI person to discover his or hercapabilities and to strengthen his or her readinessfor more specific training or placement. Theprogram provides a transition between general skillacquisition (feeding, toileting, dressing, gross andfine motor dexterity, and so forth) and speOilkvocational skills. The focus of a prevocawasilllprogram must be on those skills required for entryinto a program leading ultimately to the attain-ment of a vocational objective.

Dennis Mithaug, at the Experimental EducationUnit of the University of Washington in Seattle,has identified a limited number of entry-level skills.He has also identified a large -umber of subtasksfrequently found within a sheltered workshop. Dr.Mithaug and I are in the process of obtainingadditional information through 500 questionnairesdistributed to sheltered workshops, group homes,and activity - center personnel throughout theNorthwest Region. A summary of these researchfindings will be available shortly.

The following is a summary of entry-level skillsand sheltered-workshop subtasks:

1. Skills important for entry into shelteredworkshop programs. Levels of acceptablebehavior are determined by workshopsupervisors.(a) It is important that the client maintainproper personal' hygiene. (b) The clientshould appear at hs or her job station ontime and without prompting. (c) It isimportant that the client be receptive andresponsive to communicated instructions.(d) The client must learn to work at a newjob task when the vocational trainer ex-plains the task by physical prompting,modeling, or verbally describing how thejob is to be performed. je)The clientshould correct work mistakes when theyare pointed out by his or her supervisor. (f)The client should not leave his or hefjobstation inappropriately during the workperiod. (g) The client should work indepen-dently and alone at a table without discon-tinuing his or her work during the workperiod. (h) The client should work continu-ously without distractability. (i) The clientshould not display minor disruptive behav-iors (work interruption) or major disrUptive

1 .5

behaviors (tantrums). (j) The client shouldnot initiate inappropriate contact with thework supervisor or fellow workers. (k) Theclient should work without disruptionswhether he or she is working alone or at atable with a group of other workers andwhether he or she is performing the same,different, or related (assembly line) tasks.

2. Sheltered workshop sub tasks. Tasks per-formed within a sheltered workshop settingfrequently are comprised of one or more ofthe following activities:

BendingErasingBlottingCuttingRubber bandingSortingAssemblingCollatingBoxingBaggingSolderingLabelingSealingStaplingStampingTaggingTyingTapingStringingWeighing

MeasuringFillingCappingStuffingWire harnessingGluingFilingAssembling boxesCountingWire crimpingWire strippingWire wrappingDisassemblingUnpackagingOpeningScrewingUsing pliersPinchingWrapping

General Concepts and IdeasAs a result of prevocational-vocational program-

ming in the Northwest, concepts and ideas haveemerged which have implications for future pro-gramming. They are presented here for the con-sideration of professionals working with the rubellapopulation.

Public reaction to labels. The rubella childrenare generally referred to as deaf-blind C-hildren. Theterm vision-hearing impaired children is moreappropriate for several reasons. If an applied-service practitioner or an employer is asked toaccommodate a deaf-blind person, they oftenrecoil. "Deaf-blind" evokes many stereotypes. Peo-ple respond with anxiety and a sense of helpless-ness. A vision-hearing impaired person sounds lessformidable. Practitioners and employers respondwith requests for additional information, and onethen has an opportunity to represent the capabil-ities of the individual he is advocating.

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11

The majority of the rubella chlldren are notdeaf-blind. They have residual vision and/or hear-ing. The use of the term vision-hearing impairedmay provide them additional evaluation and train-ing employment opportunities.

In some circumstances "deaf-blind" is an appro-priate term. For example, resources for meetingthe needs of a deaf-blind person sounds morepressing than resources for a vision-hearingimpaired person. When requestir ley from thelegislative committee, you m.-term "deaf-blind."

The importance of plact

use the

,ple work-ing with vision-hearing impaireu ns should ad-vocate placement programs. It is particularly impor-tant that these programs be implemented withinthe sheltered workshop where many VHI youthwill receive prevocational and vocational evalua-tions and training, as well as work adjustmenttraining. Sheltered workshops must not become awarehouse for VHI trainees. A formal placementprogram helps to assure that training and work donot become confused, resulting in the VIII traineeworking at the workshop for many years.

Deklopment of placement skills. The univer-sities and community colleges offer an importantplacement resource. State and federal rehabilita-tion orograms are mandated to work with theseverely disabled. Placement is a task for whichvocational rehabilitation counselors may haveinadequate training and insufficient time.

Graduate and undergraduate programs in voca-tional rehabilitation counseling and special educa-tion serve to train students who would benefitfrom a practicum program focusing on the develop-ment of placement skills. While under the supervi-sion of an instructor, and with the cooperation of aclient's vocational rehabilitation counselor, eachstudent might be assigned two or three multihandi-capped individuals who are ready for more specifictraining or placement. The task of the practicumstudent would be to carry out the activitiesrequired to achieve a quality placement.

Vocational application of workshop skills.Some subtasks of a sheltered workshop are iden-tified in this paper. Many, if not all, are alsoperformed Within competitive industry. These sub-tasks represent a resource for providing VHIstudents realistic and meaningful vocational-relatedtraining.

First, the personnel of sheltered workshopswould be asked to describe the subtasks carried outin their shops. A frequency distribution wouldreveal those skills most commonly requi: ed. The

12

components ,;omprising particular subtaslo wouldthen be identified and moved into the educationalunit. VH1 students would receive training, usingthe actual materials of a task for which workers arepaid. Similar subtasks can be identified byindustry.

A practicum student who is responsible forarranging an appropriate placement might identifya particular activity within an industrial setting. Heor she would then establish an agreement with theplacement personnel of the indus,try that when thetrainee attained a competitive level of perfor-pance, the industry would hire the t ,inee. Thepracticum student would then provid . ose super-vision for an appropriate length of time and alsowould follow up on the progress of the trainee.

17

ConclusionThe Northwest Regional Center for Deaf-Blind

Children is faced with the challenge of planning,advocating, and developing prevocational-vocational programs for the region's 1963-65vision-hearing impaired rubella children. Vision-hearing '..npaired adults are themselves a resourcefor' obtaining valid information. By working withthem, applied service personnel have become moreknowledgeable and skilled. In addition previouslyunavailable services have become available.

The rubelln children must receive the trainingand edu, , that wil ?frpAre them for subse-quent vocnal progrs. Prevocational activitiesare planned that will develop the required entry-level skills.

Overview of the Deaf-BlindVocational Training Program

Presented by Jack EnglishCoordinator, South Central Regional Center

I have interpreted my task here to be that ofpresenting a global description of what hashappened nationally in the area- of providingprevocational services and to point out some of thetrends that are becoming evident from the prelimi-nary programming which has been undertakenacross the United States.

We are all aware that of the more than 5,000known deaf-blind children from birth to agetwenty-one the plurality of the population falls inan age range of roughly nine to eleven years. Weare all aware that the majority of this group are theresult of the rubella epidemic. We are all awarethat, at the present time, the cycle of the rubellaepidemic appears to be broken. We are all awarethat many deaf-blind children are a result of childabuse, meningitis, congenital deafness with degen-erative visual problems, various trauma, and insult.We are also very aware of the problems thateducators faced when the rubella population sud-denly appeared on the doorstep and services wereneeded which were not available.

Definition of the ProblemTo avoid some of the frustration and panic that

educators faced, in 1974 the Bureau of Educationfor the Handicapped provided through the SouthCentral Regional Center a supple.ocntal grantwhich was to be used for prevocational studiesacross the United States. The funds were ear-marked for both planning and operational studies.Seven of the ten regional centers for services todeaf-blind children participated in this nationaleffort. We intentionally did not present a func-tional or operational definition of "prevocational."Our thinking at that time was that an operationaldefinition might restrict or limit innovative pro-gramming.

The activities of the regional centers whichparticipated in the initial contracts were of twotypes. Some regional centers expended their timeand effort in planning programs. This involvedidentification of services available, the gathering of

k4,14,-

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18

specific data on the age and needs of the deaf-blindin their regions, identification of services whichwere needed, and identification of potentialresources. The other area of emphasis was inoperational programming. iix.hzting programs weremodified to change their emphasis or new pro-grams were implemented as planning/operationalprograms. After one year, we are finding that threebasic and different types of programs are beingimplemented.

If we are aware of the three separate types ofprograms which might be considered prevocationalprogramming, we can avoid much of the confusionand anxiety we face in our service delivery pro-grams. These three types of programs fit intohierarchical categories. One seems to be morepertinent to an educational definition, one is moreappropriate for a vocational rehabilitation defini-tion, and the third has considerable overlap ofmeaning.

The educational programs generally interpret themeaning of prevocational services as an educationalprogram which emphasizes activities of daily livingskills. These are skills which all handicappedchildren or adults must have even though they maynot be in the competitive job market. The secondprogram, which overlaps service agencies andwhich some educational programs and some reha-bilitation programs have identified, might bedescribed as vocational education and work adjust-ment training. Programs in existing sheltered work-shops and vocational rehabilitation facilities haveattached a functional definition of prevocationalservices to mean vocational training for a specificjob activity.

It is important that we define our own programinto one or more of these categories. We must becautiops to not overlap services unless we are awarethat we are providing three succinct programs, eachhaving a different emphasis. These three types ofprograms have created some confusion and perhapshave presenied a barrier between the educationalprograms and the adult service programs in that we

14

are all using the same words. However, we areinterpreting these words differently, depending onour professional backgrounds and biases.

Activities of the South Central Regional CenterThe South Central Region supported two opera-

tional programs. These were modifications ofexisting educational services. We also undertook aregional planning program.

I would like to report briefly about the planningactiv les which were undertaken in the five-stateregion of Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, andLouisiana. Our regional center subcontracted withOpinion Research from Madison, Wisconsin, forone year of planning services. The objectivesincluded (1) identifying barriers in providing acontinuum of services to deaf-blind individuals; (2)producing an inventory of existing prevocational/vocational programs and their minimal entryrequirements; (3) designing an evaluation modelfor prevocational/vocational training programs; (4)holding state parent conferences; and (5) holding afeedback/training conference. Of the five objec-tives of the subcontract, I feel that the first twowere very significant for our region. Because of thelarge sample involved and the consistency ofresponses among the five states, the identifiedneeds and priorities can be extrapolated to anyregion or to any state.

Five statewide meetings were conducted withinthe region. These meetings were scheduled betweenMarch 8, 1974, and March 21, 1975. The meetingswere open and involved administrators, eduCators,aides, and other professionals and paraprofessionalsin programs and in agencies which serve deaf-blindchildren or adults. These conferences used astructured meeting format called the "NominalGroup Technique," which allows equal participa-tion from group members, produces a writtenrecord of all ideas generated by the group, andprovides a means of prioritizing need statementsaccording to a numerical m11gcin procedure.

More than 190 resource people contributed tothe needs assessment conferences in the five-stateregion. They began their sessions by answering thefollowing question: "What barriers do you cur-rently have, or do you anticipate having, inproviding a continuum of services tO multihandi-capped deaf-blind persons?" This question encour-aged responses which anticipated future program-ming needs as well as current problems.

Participants were given time to work indepen-dently on lists of barriers as they perceived them.

19

This ensured that the special perspectives of peoplesuch as paraprofessionals and top administrators inState Departments of Social Services would all beadequately represented in the data generated.

Groups of approximately seven people werethen assigned a nonparticipant leader who recordedthe ideas of the group members on a large chartvisible to the entire group. Participants offeredtheir ideas one at a time, so that each member wasallowed equal contribution to the group list. Thegroups were essentially brainstorming, since theresponses of the group members frequently trig-gered new ideas which could be added to the list inturn.

The groups discussed the items listed to clarifythe meaning of the items on the chart. This -waspreliminary to the ranking of the five mostimportant barriers to the provision of continuousservices, so that each member's vote would reflectthe same understanding of the meaning of eachbarrier.

Again working independently, each memberselected five barriers judged to be the mostimportant problems faced in continuous program-ming and then ranked those items from most toleast important by assigning points (five pointswere assigned to the top priority, one point to theleast important _one). Participants were aided inthis ranking task by the following instruction:"Keeping in mind that it is important to eliminateall of these barriers to successful continuousprogramming for the deaf-blind, which would beyour top priority if you could work on only one?"Individual scores were then posted by each barrieron the chart. The five items with the highest pointscores thus indicated the grOup's judgment of themost important barriers faced in providingextended services.

The top five priorities from each table were thengrouped into related categories by the staff. Forexample, such barrier statements as "There aremany programs in the community, but there's alack of communication and cooperation," and"lack of coordination among services" weregrouped together under the heading, "Coordina-tion."

Participants in the five needs-assessment confer-ences generated more than 1,000 barrier itemswhich were categorized under 15 heading repre-senting problem areas which must be overcome ifprogrami ire to be designed that will bringdeaf-blind individuals to their full potentials. Thepoint scores for each item within a category were

then totaled, and this produced an overall rankingof the priorities of the conference as a whole. Thetable on page 17 shows the top problem categoriesfrom each state, the percents of participants fromindividual states that included those barriersamong their top five priorities, and the regionalaverage for each problem area. (See Table 1,Barriers to the Provision of Continuous Services,page 17.)

The needs-assessment conferences revealed twosignificant facts. The 15 top priorities confirmedthat the greatest barrier in providing a continuumof services is that of coordination of availableresources. Regionally, this priority rarl-ed morethan twice a high as the second priority. Thesecond significant finding was that, no matter howmuch we hear or how much we assume that theprovision of comprehensive services hinges on theamount of money available, this priority rankedfifth, below coordination, staff and staff training,educational training progams for deaf-blind chil-dren, and parent and family support. As we aredeveloping programs for deaf-blind children, wemust keep in mind that even though funding maybe the most obvious need, it is not generally theprimary barrier in providing that service or estab-lishing that program. Keep in mind that resourcesare often available, but the vehicle to establish andimplemen: a method to coordinate these resourcesis lacking.

The second major project undertaken by Opin-ion Research was the development of an inventoryof existing prevocational and vocational programswithin the region. This study was accomplishedthrough telephone interviews. Within the fivestates, 365 agencies were contacted. Each interviewrequired 45 minutes to complete. Results of theinterviews confirmed the results of the needsassessment workshops in that 43 agencies reportedthat they were presently serving deaf-blind chil-dren, 154 agencies said that they were willing toserve deaf-blind clients or students, and 168reportedthattheirregulationsrestricted themfrom serving this population. Twelve agenciescould not be contacted by telephone. Within theregion are a total of 197 existing or potentialpromms, most of which were unknown at theregional office. I suspect that other regionalcenters would have similar results ii this activitywere duplicated, and I suspect that each of youwould be surprised at the number of availableresources at the local level. (See Table 2, Deaf-Blind Service Providers Inventory.)

2 0

ls

The Role of :11..4e ReOonal Center

All of us know .itat ii. is often easier to startsomething new than it is to modify or change theexisting structure of things. This is true in business,and this is very true in education.

Six years ago the objectives of the regionalcenters were to stazt new types of programs and toidentify new delivery systems. The emphasis wasplaced on home programs, preschool programs, andinitial educational programming. During the pasttwo years, the emphasis of the regional center hasbeen to monitor, evaluate, and upgrade theseprograms. It is apparent from current census datathat the plurality of deaf-blind children nowrequire additional services, other than those whichare generally available. The role of the regionalcenter is now twofold. First, we must continue tomaintain and upgrade existing programs, and, atthe same time, we must redirect programs to meetthe changing needs of the children.

This new era, if you will, is by far the mostdifficult. It is now time to become much moreSensitive to several phenonema about which we (aseducators) have traditionally been very naive. Inmany ways the ballgame is changing; the questionbefore us now is: "Are we going to change with it?"

In his book entitled Bureaucracy and Innova-don, Victor Thompson described the bureaucraticform of organization as being characterized by highproductive efficiency, but low innovative capacity.And at the same time, innovative structure meansthe generation, acceptance, and implementation ofnew ideas, processes, products, or services. Innova-tion implies the capacity iu change or adapt.Bureaucracy does not. Innovative programming isgenerally characterized as a small, elite task forceof people who are not overly funded and who havethe freedom to_ try new ideas. Innovative programsexhibit an extremely rapid gowth and, because ofthis growth, fit into a self-fulfilling prophecy oflosing the capacity to be innovative. As theprogram expands, regulations, rules, and policiesare necessary to monitor and control activitieswithin the organization.

We are reaching a point of regional centerexpansion at which efficiency has become moreimpor1ant; therefore, a more bureaucratic form oforganization is required. At the same time, becauseof the dual function of the regional centers ofmaintaining existing programs efficiently and gen-erating innovative service programs for older deaf-blind children, the regional centers must be aware

16

of the need to make appropriate adjustments and arealistic separation of scope and function betweenthese two types of program organization.

The second area that we need to be aware of isin that very dirty arena of politics. As a group,educators are undoubtedly the most naive andgullible of all the professions. I don't knowwhether this is a cause or an effect, or whether it isbecause of our lack of training or because of thegeneral personality of people known as educators.However, I do know hat politics are re:0 politics

not .'.:cessariiy bad, and politics must never bedenied. Our mental and emotional and, probably,educational attitude is that all politics are bad.Believe me when I tell you that the only timepolitics are bad is when we are not aware of what is

happening.

2 1

We must realize that no decision is all good, allbld, all right, or all wrong. We all make compro-mises. We compromise in program funding and wecompromise in program services. We compromisein whom we serve. We compromise for personalreasons, professional reasons, and political reasons.The issue is not whether or not we make compro-mises, but whether or not we maintain ourindividual and professional integrity.

We have identified the problem, the needs, andthe population I often think of the poster thatsays, "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?" Myquestion today is, "If we're so smart, why can't weeducate?" The United States is a nation of doers,not planners, not thinkers, not talkers. Our challengeindividually is to learn what we can learn fromthcse meetings, go back to our programs, and do.

Table 1

Barriers to the Provision of Continuous ServicesState Priorities

17

Barrier

Percent. 01 participants including this barrier among their top five priorities

Arkansas Iowa Louisiana Missouri Oklahoma Average

Coordination 37.50 21.03 20.64 26.40 23.50 25.81

Staff training 13.54 16.24 12.22 6.13 8.60 11.34

Educational programs 3.47 19.53 6.99 12.53 9.00 10.10

Family support 5.21 6.76 12.22 13.87 11.90 9.99

Funding 13.20 7.04 10.32 2.93 13.90 9.48

Prevocational/vocationaltraining 12.50 3.47 8.57 6.40 5.50 7.29

Identification/diagnosis/evaluation 16.00 5.71 ' 11.47 2.90 7.22

Public awareness 3.47 3.85 8.73 4.27 4.50 4.96

Distribution of programs/transportation 3.12 1.50 4.60 3.20 3.50 3.18

Residential options 4.17 1.97 5.07 3.50 2.94

Legislation 1.13 4.60 2.13 4.10 2.39

Facilities/equipment 0.94 5.40 2.40 3.10 2.37

Medical 3.12 0.94 0.00 2.70 1.35

. Recreation/socialization 0.70 0.00 0.00 0.80 3.30 0.96

2.40_ _0.48_Research/development_

0.00 means that the barrier was identified in the state, but no points were assigned to it by participants.- means that the barrier was not identified in the state.

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Table 2

Telephone InterviewingDeaf-Blind Service Providers Inventory

State

Number and percent of agencies

Called N.-...., ;;:ivmgPotentialservers

Not able toserve

Arkansas 47 8 24 15

(17 percent) (51 percent) (32 percent)

Iowa 87 11 45 31(13 percent) (52 percent) (35 percent)

Louisiana 63 2 14 47(03 percent) (22 percent) (75 percent)

Missouri 91 12 34 45(13 percent) (37 percent) (50 percent)

Oklahoma 77 10 37 30(13 percent) (48 percent) (39 percent)

Totals 365 43 154 168(12 percent) (42 percent) (46 percent)

2375-185 03-0819 300 6-76 1M