Register with DeafBlind Central

Benefits to registering

• You will be eligible for free training and consultation from experts in deafblindness.
• The data helps to drive programming specific to deafblindness.

Who belongs on the DeafBlind Registry? 

The registry is for children and young adults ages birth through twenty-six years who have not yet graduated or aged out of the educational system. To qualify, they must fall into one or more of the following groups:

• People who have a documented vision AND hearing loss based on accurate clinical testing.
• People who are observed to not respond to auditory AND visual information in the same way that their peers do, including those who may need additional testing and for whom testing is inconclusive.
• People who demonstrate having a hearing AND a vision loss based on functional assessments conducted by qualified classroom staff or consultants.
• People who might not meet the educational criteria for a Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Blind/Visually Impaired educational label, but have BOTH losses.
• People who have unilateral or bilateral cochlear implant(s) AND a vision loss.
• People who have been diagnosed with progressive losses of vision AND hearing but who do not yet qualify for educational labels such as Deaf/Hard of Hearing or Blind/Visually Impaired.
• People who have an identified loss of vision OR hearing and an identified progressive loss of vision or hearing
• People who have any of the described vision AND hearing issues described above and one or more additional disability.
• People who have any of the described vision AND hearing issues described above regardless of their educational label.

NOTE: The vision loss referred to here cannot be corrected to within normal limits due to acuity or visual field issues. People ages birth to 26 who have any educational label can be registered if they have a vision and a hearing loss. If you are unsure, please contact DB Central for assistance.

Registration (census) form

Fill out and​ print the 2021 Census Form, which will appear in PDF format. Please complete the form and return to our office by mail or email. ​If you have trouble viewing the form, please contact our office at (989) 774-2725 or dbcen@cmich.edu​. In order to view some forms properly, you may need to ​download Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Michigan Department of Education support for the census

• Read the memo from Roxanne Balfour, Michigan Department of Education-Low Incidence Outreach (MDE-LIO) Director, about DB Central's annual census (PDF).

United States Department of Education support for the Census

• Read the memo from Susan Weigert, Project Officer of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, about the importance of completing the census (PDF).

Identification of Children with Deaf-Blindness: Resources for School Administrators

• Identification For Administrators (PDF)

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, #H326T180045. 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, Eric Caruso.

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