Centre for Deaf-Blind/Multichallenged Services

“Try to imagine…the anguish and horror you would experience bowed down by the twofold weight of blindness and deafness, with no hope of emerging from an utter isolation!

 …I doubt if even the most imaginative and tender normal people can realize the peculiar cruelty of such a situation. The blind who are taught can live happily in a world of sounds, and the deaf can use their eyes instead of ears, but the deaf-blind have no substitute for sight or hearing. The keenest touch cannot break their immobility. More than any other physically fettered group, they need right teaching and constructive procedures to reclaim them to normal society.”

 — Helen Keller   

Underwritten by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards through Alabama’s Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS), the pilot program will become permanent, continuing another phase of AIDB’s 40-plus year partnership with ADRS.

Focusing on individuals with challenging employment obstacles, requiring long-term focus and community/employment support, “The Centre premise is to negate the ‘utter isolation’ experienced by individuals with dual sensory loss and/or multiple disabilities,” explained AIDB President Dr. Terry Graham. “The intense community supports translate into jobs, increased independence and enhanced quality of life – individual victories never quantitatively measured.”
   
Along with a dedicated staff, technology is the great equalizer.
    
With ADRS support, AIDB has applied to become Alabama’s site for the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) pilot initiative to make telecommunications service, internet access and advanced communications accessible to low income individuals who are deaf-blind.
 
“Nothing is more gratifying than seeing an individual, provided essential supports and accommodations – transportation assistance, technology training, educational remediation and/or employment instruction – become a productive employee and involved community member,” states ADRS Commissioner Cary Boswell. “The Centre has the potential to overcome the isolation individuals with dual sensory loss face in Alabama and beyond.”

For more information or to refer someone to the Centre, contact E. H. Gentry Facility Executive Director Travis Fields at 256.761.3406 or fields.travis@aidb.state.al.us. 

Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) has been selected by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be the sole authorized entity certified to participate in the National Deaf Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) for Alabama.   Effective July 2, 2012, the Program is slated to end July 2, 2014, with an opportunity to extend certification for an additional one year to July 2015.

Within the NDBEDP, AIDB will administer free, loaned communications devices to qualified persons who are deaf-blind. Devices will be provided statewide to Alabama residents through AIDB’s E.H. Gentry Facility and network of 8 statewide Regional Centers with device recommendations based on individual demand with AIDB/ Gentry Facility’s Deaf-Blind Program and Assistive Technology expertise.  

As one of 53 entities selected in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AIDB will provide individual assessments, individual training, equipment distribution, installation and maintenance as well as local outreach.  

The FCC established the NDBEDP in response to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA).  The CVAA directed the FCC to establish a program using funding of up to $10 million annually from the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Service Fund (TRS Fund) for the nationwide distribution of communications equipment to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind.  

“Thanks to the FCC’s diligence in addressing the availability of broadband support for individuals with disabilities including those who are deaf-blind, the CVAA was made possible,” states AIDB President, Dr. Terry Graham.  “Thanks to this important legislation, people with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes and the United States migrates to the next generation of Internet-based and digital communication technologies.  The CVAA will make it easier for people who are deaf-blind to do what many of us take for granted.  It sets new standards so that Americans with disabilities can take advantage of ever changing technology.  AIDB is excited to take a lead role in these efforts in Alabama.”

For a list of all 53 certified programs or for additional NDBEDP information, contact Travis Fields, Executive Director, E.H. Gentry Facility at (256) 761-3406.