Collaboration Creates Limitless Opportunities
At Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB), “together we are deaf, blind, limitless,” isn’t just a saying; it’s a way of life. Our pursuit of limitless opportunities for our students is the reason we created the Special Projects department to collaborate with federal partners in order to invest additional time and funding to help our students and consumers reach their potential. Special Projects expands our footprint beyond Alabama’s state lines into the Southeast – and even throughout the nation!
NTID Regional STEM Center
Our collaboration with the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) created the NTID Regional STEM Center (NRSC) designed to promote STEM education and career awareness to high school students who are deaf or hard of hearing in a twelve-state southeast region. In addition to the programs offered throughout the Southeast, the NRSC also has four nation- wide programs:Cybersecurity, English and Reading Literacy, Robotics, and Mechatronic Engineering Leadership in Deafness.
In March, Alabama School for the Deaf sent Rafael Gapud, Kallyne Malo, Jessica Mesino, and Levi Smith to Hartford, CT to compete in the NTID Regional STEM Center’s first SeaPerch Remotely Operated Vehicle underwater robotics competition.Competing against schools from all over the country, one of the school’s two- person teams, “Baby Yoda”, won Best Mission score and overall Best Middle School, earning team members Malo and Smith the opportunity to compete against their peers from around the world at the International SeaPerch Challenge in Summer 2022.
Center for Assistive Technology Training
Special Projects also house the Center for Assistive Technology Training (CATT), AIDB’s collaboration with American Printing House for the Blind. Utilizing a “train the trainer” model, CATT provides assistive technology training within a nine-state region for teachers of the visually impaired while also training students and families.
This summer, CATT partnered with The University of Alabama in Huntsville Center for Cybersecurity Research & Education to provide GenCyber, a camp for students who are visually impaired. The Federal Bureau of Investigation provides campers with the opportunity to experience real-world tools as they learn about cybersecurity careers and online safety. Funded by a grant from the National Security Agency, GenCyber is free for students.
REAL Project
Special Projects is also home to the Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) Project. Through AIDB’s collaboration with Gallaudet University’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, the REAL Project ensures that infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing have full access to languages including American Sign Language and English. Serving nine southeastern states, the REAL Project provides training, technical assistance, and resources to first responders, early intervention service providers, early childhood educators, as well as parents and caregivers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Last December, the REAL Project hosted Connecting the Dots: Making REAL Connections. This four day conference was attended by parents and professionals who worked together to understand the importance of language access and integrating it into daily routines. Attendees also had the opportunity to speak with Deaf adults about their experiences. “Some of their reviews about the conference were about how attendees felt empowered and confident once they left the conference,” said Suzanne Mattox, Director of the REAL Project. “They were grateful for the opportunities to be connected instead of feeling isolated, which has been common among families with deaf and hard of hearing children.”
STEM Camp at AIDB North Campus
This summer, the Joe Armbrester Agricultural Center will be running a STEM Camp at AIDB North Campus in Decatur. High school students who are deaf or hard of hearing who are interested in robotics, science, technology and engineering will have the opportunity to pair those interests with modern-day farming! Using FarmBots, campers will explore robotics through fun, hands-on activities about nutrition, soil science, biology, and coding by building a robot that will plant, water, and maintain a good environment for crops.
Gallaudet University Regional Center South
Last year, AIDB expanded our multi-year partnership with Gallaudet University to increase sign language access and support services to deaf children and their families and the professionals who serve them throughout the southeastern United States. This expansion established AIDB as the host institution for Gallaudet University Regional Center (GURC) South.
The expanded partnership between Gallaudet University and AIDB will provide an array of critical services, trainings, and outreach to children who are deaf from birth through high school throughout the Southern region of the U.S., including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Early intervention, early language acquisition, professional development, high school to post-secondary transition and career readiness are among the key services offered.
For the last two years, a partnership between the Clerc Center and AIDB, the Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) Project, has worked to provide support to children who are deaf in nine southeastern states, from birth through the age of three. The addition of GURC will allow the continuation and expansion of services and training to professionals and families in the region for students aged 4 through high school.
“We are beyond proud of our ongoing partnership with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind and the collective impact we have made together the past several years,” said Roberta J. Cordano, president of Gallaudet University. “Gallaudet is very pleased to have this opportunity to strengthen our partnership with AIDB through collaborative work with the Clerc Center. This work helps bring critically important services and resources to more deaf children and their families throughout the region. Ultimately, our collective work can now help provide a more seamless pathway for lifelong success for deaf children from birth to college and beyond.”
“It is an honor for AIDB to serve as a host institution for the Gallaudet University Regional Center South,” said Dr. John Mascia, President of Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. “Through this collaboration with Gallaudet, a premier national liberal arts university serving students who are deaf, AIDB will
be able to develop and provide regional services in Alabama and in the surrounding states. We are excited and grateful to expand the AIDB/ Gallaudet partnership and we know that this opportunity to impact the lives of individuals who are Deaf is limitless.”