Deafblind Resources for Families

If your child has a combined vision and hearing loss, or you suspect that they do, we may be able to give you valuable information to help your child learn, communicate, play, and grow.

You may want to learn how other families with children who experience combined vision and hearing loss have helped their children to grow up to be their best. We can help you make those connections!

You may want to know about your choices when teaching your child to communicate, when selecting a school program, or when planning family activities that include everyone. We can help you discuss the options.

Free family memberships

All families who have a child registered with DB Central are now eligible for a free year of membership to The National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB) and Michigan Hands and Voices.

NFADB continues to carry on working towards supporting national policy to benefit individuals who are deaf-blind, encourage the founding and strengthening of family organizations (state/national), share information related to deaf-blindness, and provide resources and opportunities to all families with individuals who are deaf-blind. 

Read their brochures below and contact DB Central for more information on their organizations.

Anyone can become a member of Michigan Hands & Voices for $25 a year! Membership renews the next November 1; if you start a membership after March, renewal is November 1 of the following year. Benefits of a Michigan Hands & Voices include more than 40 events yearly, members-only events, The Communicator in your mailbox, legislative representation, and access to national parent network! They offer scholarships to aid in purchasing memberships as well.

State of Michigan resources

Many national organizations have Michigan affiliates or liaisons to contact locally. Contact DeafBlind Central's Director Beth Kennedy for questions for more information. Reach out to the national organization to find your Michigan representative, or email DeafBlind Central for assistance!

Bureau of Services for Blind Persons Training Center (BSBPTC) Virtual Tours

Tours are available upon request. Tours are routinely scheduled Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm (ET). The tour usually takes half an hour. The BSBPTC is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is a residential training institute that assists persons who are legally blind increase their marketable skills through onsite technical training programs. Due to current restrictions, tours are limited to virtual hours.

Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind Summer Camp

STAY TUNED FOR SUMMER 2025 CAMP INFO!! OUB serves kids ages 7-17 with day camping and overnight camping opportunities. Send your kids for a fun-filled summer of cooking, crafting, swimming, hiking, field trips, sleeping in tents - and even more! 

Contact Information
MDE-LIO Eventsmde-lio-events@michigan.gov

This online class is for individuals who have little or no experience with braille. In the class, participants will visually learn how to read and write braille. They will also gain knowledge and practice to effectively support students who use braille. Learn about: the alphabet; punctuation and contractions; typeforms; and Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics. This class is for adult family members and school personnel supporting students in Michigan who are Blind/Visually Impaired (BVI), and college students in Michigan who are studying a BVI-related field. A certificate of completion will be issued by the Michigan Department of Education.

Summer Accelerated Unified English Braille Class
Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - Tuesday, August 19, 2025
9:30am - 12:30pm weekly
Cost: $200 for school personnel supporting students in Michigan who are Blind/Visually Impaired (BVI)
$100 for college students in Michigan studying BVI related professions and adult family member of students in Michigan who are BVI
Registration opens April 2025

Contact Information
MDE-LIO Events
mde-lio-events@michigan.gov

This instructor-led class is for school personnel or family members who have little or no experience with braille. In the class, participants will visually learn how to read and write braille. They will also gain knowledge to effectively support students who use braille. This class requires participants to spend time learning in and out of class; they will demonstrate their knowledge by submitting assignments each week.  A certificate of completion will be issued by the Michigan Department of Education.

More resources

National resources

Annual Membership Drive for the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind
The National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB) has been supporting individuals who are deaf-blind and their families for over sixteen years. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in deaf-blindness, including people who are deaf-blind, family members, friends and interested service providers and professionals. We would like to invite you to become a member! We encourage you to visit NFADB’s website for more information about the organization and about how to become a member!

National Center on Deaf-Blindness (NCDB): Assistant in Creating Training Series

The National Center on Deaf-Blindness is currently working on the third module of Teaching Children Who Are DeafBlind: Professional Development for Educators to help enhance competency and skills. These modules are designed for practitioners who want to improve their knowledge of deafblindness and gain practical information they can put to use right away in the home or classroom.

For use in the modules, the NCDB is looking for videos of educators, children, and family members to help illustrate the strategies and skills involved when working with deafblind children. Anyone who contributes photos or videos selected for use will receive an Amazon gift card or mailed check in the following amounts: $50 per video, $15 per photograph.

Protactile Language Interpreting Pilot Cohort

The Protactile Language Interpreting National Education Program is charged with preparing interpreters working with DeafBlind individuals in Protactile language. Training is provided by DeafBlind educators.

For those interpreters who work regularly in communities with greater concentrations of DeafBlind individuals, PLI is launching a Pilot cohort in 2023. This is a small cohort of 12-18 participants to maintain small mentor-to-student ratios and cohort experiences.

Each cohort is a community of practice, sharing their newly-applied learnings, skills, knowledge, and resources with each other and their instructors and mentors.

iCanConnect: The National DeafBlind Equipment Distribution Program

Sending an email or chatting on the phone can be challenging for people with both significant vision and hearing loss. iCanConnect is a national program that provides free equipment and training to help people stay connected with friends, family, and the world.

iCanConnect provides equipment including smartphones, tablets, computers, screen readers, braille equipment, and software to people with significant combined vision and hearing loss who meet federal income and disability guidelines.

Compass

Compass is an innovative college readiness program. It is a nine-month virtual program build to college-aspiring high school students with visual impairment. Compass is designed to help participants proactively explore and develop a plan for building the critical academic and blindness skills they need to reach their post-secondary goals.

  • Weekly meetings with coaches (up to 90 hours per year)
  • Virtual weekend workshops
  • Develop an individualized action plan
  • Apply here for 2024!

Even more resources!

National resources for specific causes of deafblindness

As the parent of a child who is DeafBlind, I feel like this website offers resources to help me prepare for my child's transition from school to adult life.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education H326T230033. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. - Project Officer, Rebecca Sheffield.

Website: U.S. Office of Special Education Programs IDEAs That Work