TRANSCRIPT - Recapping the 2023 Texas Symposium on Deafblind Education Ð 3/20/23
>>Kaycee: Perfect. So we will be recapping the 2023 Texas Symposium on Deafblind Education, for those of you who weren't able to make it. We did have this in-person conference February 23 through 25 in the Austin area in North Austin, Round Rock area. It was our first in-person conference since 2019, so we were all really excited to be back together. We had just over 250 participants there in person and 68 of those were from out of state, so we had a good amount of people from all over that were there joining us, which was awesome. We had a full day for our pre-symposium, which had two tracks: A kind of beginner 101 track and an advanced practitioner track. We'll look at those in a moment. And then we had two days of general symposium. Our theme for the conference was Inspiration to Implementation. You'll see that woven throughout that we had a lot of really awesome inspiration to pull from and then a lot of real world, what that actually looked like in practice from our presenters who shared. 
So look at this first session. On the pre-symposium day, we started with a general session. So that was for everybody. So, like I said, we had two tracks. We had the 101 and then the advanced practitioner. But before we split off into those two things, we had a general session all together. That was a session titled How Children Grow Language: Lessons from Global and Domestic communities. It started with Deanna Gagne presenting and she shared research from Nicaragua on the development of their own sign language a long time ago. Gathered the Deaf individuals from Nicaragua together in one place and a language emerged. And they studied how that language developed over time. And so she presented the first portion over that research, which was really, really interesting. And then the second part, Hayley Broadway presented and she brought her friend with her, Rhonda, who went by Roe. They talked about kind of the correlation between that natural language that developed in Nicaragua and the natural language of protactile that it is developing here in the United States belong the Deafblind community. So that was really interesting, and they shared a little bit about how it's already emerged and the general structure of protactile and what it looks like. Hayley and Roe are both protactile language users and so it was really cool for the audience to get to see it in action. They were presenting using protactile and were able to remain in contact, both Hayley and Roe, but also Deanna, who was on stage at the same time. So that was really, really neat to see. At the end, they opened it up for questions and that was just a really cool structure to observe. So they had the participants who had questions come up, line up and when it was their turn, they went up and had that direct connection with all of them who were on stage. And so it was really different than how you normally see just people raise their hand, pull up the microphone and ask the question. This was a much more tactile version of that and it was really neat to observe our audience, including our audience who doesn't know any sign, go up and ask questions, including individuals who were blind and visually impaired themselves and don't know sign. So it was a really neat thing for people to observe. And then a quick takeaway. I have, you know, met Hayley many times and seen her present many times but she said something while she was up there that I jotted down that I just absolutely loved that I had never heard her talk about before. She said -- and this is a rough quote. My parents used SEE, signing exact English with me, and even though it was word for word, it didn't matter. It was language and communication with my parents and that was the most amazing gift they could have given me. I loved that. I thought that was so great and awesome message for her to share with the audience. 

>>Adam: Hello, everyone. This is Adam Graves speaking and I am here to share some of the information that was provided in one of the breakout sessions for the pre-symposium and this was the session on exploring interaction in instruction that I presented along with Edgenie and Rachel. And in this session we discussed the importance of serve and return interactions in the development of different systems within the brain and the body. We shared resources from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child as part of that presentation. And we also discussed the components that make up an interaction episode. Components like the serve, the affirmation, the confirmation, and return. Those are all elements of interaction that have been shared with us from Bernadette, who has spoken at our symposium in the past and with whom we've worked quite a bit over the years learning more about interaction and the interaction episode and what that looks like for students and children who are congenitally Deafblind. And then we shared some examples via video of how the serves of children who are Deafblind may look different from the serves of children who are sighted and hearing and how to look for those and be responsive to them when working with children who are Deafblind and may have additional disabilities. And one of the key takeaways that we hope that people came away with was just how important quality interactions are in the development of resilience in young children and also in the development of a lot of those social interaction skills that are so important to learning in any kind of environment. And also just how to develop those quality interactions when you're working with students and young adults who are Deafblind and who have multiple disabilities. 

>>Kaycee: And then happening at the same time the other was the advanced practitioner strand, and that was on the tactile working memory scale. And that was presented by myself and my colleague, Robbie Blaha. Robbie and I have been studying the tactile memory scale for about a year. And if you are unfamiliar with that tool, it is a publication out of the Nordic Welfare Center. Dr. Jude Nicholas is the lead author on that publication and it's looking at working memory but specific to the tactile sense. And specifically for congenitally Deafblind individuals. So Robbie and I did some -- just kind of overview of the tool and then Robbie spent a bunch of time just really trying to delve into the working memory and tactile working memory and what that really means, especially for these individuals who are Deafblind. We also had Robbie's case study participants from TSBVI share a little bit about their case study students and what that looked like throughout, and later we'll talk a little bit about my case study. That was a different presentation that we also had. But if you're unfamiliar with that tool as a whole, it is offered for free through the Nordic Welfare Center and it's called the tactile working memory scale. 

>>Kate: Hi, everyone. Kate here. So I got the privilege to do the presentation called State of the State and State of the Nation. We also had Patti McGowan, who is the president of the National Family Association for the Deafblind. So NFADB. It was really great to hear from Patti and get updated on the activities that they are doing. One of the things that I focused on in my time was really how we, as educators, are also advocates for our students. That we spend time advocating for student rights. We know that access is so important, especially for our students. And sometimes we've got to work a little harder and make sure that that happens. We work really hard to promote student success. Early identification is key when we talk about eligibility. Got to share that our Deafblind census numbers are in and we are back up, in the State of Texas, above even where we were before COVID. So 846 students who are Deafblind have been identified in Texas. But we know that there are more, that there are students that we have not found yet. And then the third thing that I focused on are our partnerships, like I said. So I made a map that I've got here on the slide, that because of technical issues, I didn't get to share, so I wanted to put it up because I thought it was so fun. So the map or the image is the State of Texas, the outline of the State of Texas, and I filled it with names of our different partners, agencies, organizations, family groups, et cetera that we at the Texas Deafblind Project work with and through to provide services and support to students and to families. And so for the takeaway what I would like to do is share a quote. Actually, it comes from the father of a student who is Deafblind, who is also an advocate. He says: Together we can collaborate, share experiences, successes, and failures and make great strides forward for future generations. We all need each other to be able to provide support for these students and for their families. And so those partnerships are key and we appreciate everything that you do to help us ensure that our students are learning. 

>>Edgenie: Hi, everyone. I'm Edgenie Bellah and I'm excited to talk with you about our next general session, which was our individual and family perspectives. We kicked off this time listening to and learning from Patsy Izaguirre and Amanda Houston, two young ladies who are Deafblind. Their conversation with us was about their friendship and how that has grown through the years from attending the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired together and being part of the Deafblind camp of Texas. We enjoyed their stories, including all of the fun that they've had together, especially learning how Amanda this summer was able to go horseback riding with everybody. But, because of her needs, she needed -- it was an extraordinary opportunity to where the community was able to surround her and together using Deafblind strategies Amanda rode the horse. If you would like to learn more about this, I'm excited to share that we are going to be publishing their presentation in Texas sensibilities in the near future. The other presentation was a video about the Reyes family. The Reyes family joined us from their living room with all of their children present in sharing from their hearts what it is like to be a family. I want to take a break real quick and just share with you that as the Reyes family shared with us and our next presentation, including the Avila family shared with us, both of these presentations were done exclusively in Spanish, which gave all the participants who speak English the opportunity to wear translation severs. This was an exciting opportunity to not only gain perspectives from families' lived experiences, but for many of us put ourselves in a position where we were accessing information through interpreters. As we consider what Kate just shared with us about our Deafblind child count and our VI student registration, what we know is that for several years now the majority of families are identifying as Hispanic. I'm going to let that sink in a minute. In Texas, the majority of our families who are completing the Deafblind child count and the VI registration are Hispanic. We hope this was an opportunity for us to think about and to reflect on how events such as the symposium may be experienced for families who are not English speaking. So that's a huge takeaway. And another takeaway is as Patsy, Amanda, and the Reyes family shared with us, at the heart of it all we know what is most important are our families and our friendships. It's all about community. 

>>Rachel: Hi, everybody. This is Rachel and I had the pleasure of facilitating at this family panel of the Avila family and some teachers that came from Mexico to present. So this session was about how Natalie, a young adult who is Deafblind, how she had this idea and this desire to learn Spanish, first of all. The majority of her family still live in Mexico and so there was a huge barrier between being able to communicate with them. Not only because she's Deafblind but also because she doesn't know Spanish. So it started off with her learning Spanish and then it, like, transformed into a desire to want to meet Deaf people in Mexico. And then learning Spanish sign language and then it turned into the whole family joining in and taking sign language classes, Mexican sign language classes, and then it has now even expanded even further to include family that's in Mexico, different parts of Mexico, their family here in Austin, where she lives with her family. People in El Paso and there were a lot of different areas, and so they are all learning together and learning how to communicate with Natalie without the need for her parents or her brothers to intervene. I think that the biggest takeaway that -- I feel safe in seeing that everybody agrees is that just the sheer dedication and the interest of her entire family to learn sign language. And not just, you know, like just for themselves or whatever, they are now all learning all together. It has transformed their relationship with Natalie and I think that the entire community, the teachers, their family have all been transformed by this entire experience. So it was pretty incredible and, just like Edgenie said before, the fact that it was reverse interpreting made it very interesting to facilitate. Because I had to be listening in English to be able to respond properly to the comments that the panelists had made. We practiced this but it wasn't -- there were some things that I wasn't privy to, so it was pretty incredible. It was a very incredible experience. 

>>Kaycee: This is Kaycee. Yes, it was. It was absolutely incredible. On the screen you'll see a picture of Rachel and the panel on stage and then the other picture that's there is a picture of myself holding up the transmitter and Edgenie pointing to her ear as we were in the audience listening in English through the transmitters. It was the most moving, I think, presentation that I have witnessed. And for so many reasons. I mean, it was such a beautiful demonstration of inclusion and family support. And it just stretched so far. One of the panelists had traveled from Mexico to be at our symposium and share. And when it got to her to share who she was in relation to Natalie, she shared that she was Natalie's cousin's girlfriend. To me that was like craziest things, mind blown. What commitment that she had to Natalie and Natalie's desire to communicate and to travel all that way because she knew it was important for the family. It was really amazing. It was very cool. 

>>Edgenie: All right. Well, this is Edgenie again. Next we had the opportunity to spend time with Rebecca Alexander. If you have not had the opportunity to meet Rebecca before our symposium or have learned about her, Rebecca is a professional in the mental health field. She provides counseling to people across the country and specializes in serving individuals who are Deafblind. Rebecca also has Usher Syndrome herself and is into extreme sports. She's a very active person and she has been on national TV, shows, et cetera. Rumor has it that there may be some new shows coming out soon. If you have not learned about her book, she has written a beautiful autobiography -- I don't think I can get it to show there. It's called not fade away. A memoir of senses lost and found. An absolutely incredible book. I highly recommend it. Rebecca took a different approach in spending her time with us in that the first thing she did was come down from the platform and walk amongst us, asking questions and taking questions from the audience. It was a tremendous opportunity to talk about a very important topic, which is addressing mental health among Deafblind children, adolescents, and teens. She made it clear from the very beginning that the needs are not necessarily different but they absolutely need to be addressed. That mental health is for everyone. And as she shared, there were so many takeaways. One I want to share with you is the tremendous impact of engaging with people who are Deafblind. And the reason I'm sharing this now -- and we've already talked about the tremendous learning opportunities that we had and the impact for all of the participants to be able to engage with Hayley Broadway and Rhonda and Patsy and Amanda and the Reyes family and Natalie. But Rebecca, being no different, did something that appeared to be fairly simple, and that is she took her shoes off as she came down from the platform and explained to us that that was something she preferred to do because it gave her sensory input and helped her with her balance. And the reason this was so extraordinary is unbeknownst to us we had a family who, at that time, has a little one, a 3-year-old. The family is at a point where they're trying to decide what they need to do about their daughter not wanting to wear shoes. Being able to learn from an adult who is Deafblind herself, that she finds not having her shoes on to be an important way to access her environment provided a different perspective and in many ways a new direction for the family. So it was pretty incredible. Other takeaways are, again, mental health is for all of us. And as Rebecca challenged us to do is be committed to learning from each other. At this point we went into breakout sessions. So let's go ahead and -- there we go. 

>>Hillary: This is Hillary and I attended Dr. Tanni Anthony's session on identification and support: Strategies for young children with DeafBlindness. And Dr. Anthony, if you don't know, is a vision professional, has been in the field a long time and is in Colorado. She's created several things, written a lot, but inventory of purposeful movement is one of the things I know I've used a lot in my practice as a teacher and to help guide me on what kiddos are doing, what little ones are doing when you go out and evaluate. So her session focused on the importance of identifying the little ones who are Deafblind as early as possible, and she shared practical types of information like hearing and vision loss, types of hearing and vision loss. Broad categories of DeafBlindness and she explained that -- and this is a theme in several breakout sessions, but the senses inform what's happening in the brain. And the experience, those experiences that make sense map the brain. They stay in the brain. And the goal is for us as teachers and professionals to create organization and help those experiences make sense, create a sense of security through bonding and trust. And maybe one of the most important things is carefully communicating with family members. And as we develop our relationship with those little ones, to help the family build their relationship with their little one as well. The biggest takeaway on this was that when evaluating little ones, when in doubt, err on the side of the child every time. Better qualify a kiddo and give them a little bit of help and be able to say, oh, they don't need me anymore than not getting intervention when they need it. 

>>Edgenie: All right. Edgenie again. Another breakout session we had was from our friends at the Deafblind camp of Texas. If you're not aware of Deafblind camp of Texas, let me tell you, this is a tremendous national treasure that started off with people who are Deafblind -- adults who are Deafblind -- coming to have a camp experience and now has grown into a national camp and social community for people of all ages who are Deafblind. So their vision is to create a world where Deafblind individuals explore their environment, make empowered autonomous decisions, and have access to the world around them. As I mentioned earlier, it started off with them having a camp once a year for adults who are Deafblind. Soon they realized the importance of having a camp for teenagers where they could come and learn pre-employment skills as well as be a part of a community where they could decide for themselves their identity as individuals who are Deafblind. And since then they have started having social gatherings from, you know, all over Texas. They actually took advantage of having many people here in Austin for the symposium to have what they called a protactile rocks gathering on Friday night. What I understand is it was a big success with people who are Deafblind, their families and friends all coming together and just having a great time together. If you -- I want to go ahead and drop in the chat several of their upcoming events, because I think this is the best way to get to know all about the Deafblind Camp of Texas and to spread the word about these incredible opportunities that maybe perhaps it's loved ones that you're working with. Maybe this could be something for yourself or your students that you are working with. Letting them know about the social events and the camps that are coming up. Very soon, in a couple of weeks, will be a social event at the Sherwood Forest there and this will involve camping. And one of the things they shared during the breakout session is all of the ways they make the camping experience completely accessible for people who are Deafblind. Camp Junior Spring weekend is coming up April 14 through 16 in Killeen. And the link for registration is in the chat. We would also encourage you to go to the Deafblind Camp of Texas website where you can find all of this information. And then there are also some trainings coming up for co-navigators. CN stands for co-navigators. We have one going on in the Rio Grande Valley April 29, and one in the Houston area at the Lone Star College Cy-Fair May 20. As part of the summer camp for Camp Junior, there will be a day prior to the camp where there will be additional co-navigator training. So, again, I invite you to come explore this wonderful community that we have the privilege of calling one of our own here in Texas. Please get involved in any way that you can. 

>>Kaycee: Next session was the real-world application of the tactile working memory scale. This is the one that I referenced earlier. This is a photo of myself and Sarah Mossberger. We presented this together. If you don't know Sarah Mossberger, she is a phenomenal TDB. She is in the San Antonio area and whenever I started studying the tactile working memory scale, I needed to do a case study on a student who is Deafblind, and I don't work direct service any longer with students who are Deafblind and so I decided to pick one of Sarah's students. We live pretty far apart. I'm in the Dallas area and she's in the San Antonio area. But I wanted to see if the tactile working memory scale could be used in a coaching model through virtual video analysis. And so I chose a student of Sarah's who is congenitally Deafblind, has no hearing and no vision. Middle school-aged student who has had limited interventions in his life. And one of the reasons I chose this student is, one, I knew Sarah would do a great job implementing, but also I felt like this was a student who really needed the tactile working memory scale's results to show how much cognitive ability that he really does have and the potentials that he has. The tactile working memory scale's fantastic for that. It's a very complex tool but it can be really awesome to show all those little things that are easily missed by our sighted and hearing. Sarah was able to share how the student has changed since the tactile working memory scale and how the team has changed and improved and become stronger. So that was really great. I do want to give a quick plug, if anybody is attending TAER this week in Denton, Sarah will be presenting about her transition from a TSBI into a TDB. She has a fully Deafblind case load and she'll be sharing some about that student in the case study and just kind of her journey overall in that role. So if you're coming to TAER, go see Sarah. She has great stuff to share. 

>>Rachel: Hello. This is Rachel again. This was a breakout session that was a continuation of the family panel of the Avila family panel. And I wanted to kind of go back and just talk about who all was on the panel. So it was her dad, it was Natalie, obviously. It was her dad and her mom. And then from Mexico it was her mom's twin sister, her aunt, her cousin, and like Kaycee mentioned, her other cousin's girlfriend, and then the two teachers from Mexico. One was a Mexican sign language interpreter and the other was was an orientation and mobility specialist. This second session included her brother into this. They really just went in depth on how they've expanded their program. They first started with just doing Google Zooms -- not Google but just Zooms with the family. And then they found somebody here in the Austin area to start creating these huge Google files. And inside those files this teacher would take all the signs that they were learning and make GIFs out of them. And so that way they could go back and they could look at each sign individually. They could go and look at the unit they were studying, and then they also had access to Google Forms. They took this whole class and digitized it and made it so that you could practice your signs, you could use it as a dictionary. You could quiz yourself and each other. They just went really in depth on all of that process. Then also the teachers, the interpreter and also the orientation and mobility specialist, went into more explanation of their approach in teaching Natalie and how they had to shift their general approach. And so that was really interesting. One of the biggest takeaways that I got from this was just the amount of interest that -- we had some teachers, some TSVIs and some agency providers who work primarily with families who are Spanish-speaking only. This session, these two sessions really touched them so deeply that they both began to cry. And thinking about these families who are not getting access, not even being able to communicate with them because , you know, there's reality where, you know, yes, we should all learn sign language to communicate with our kids. But when you are working so many hours during the day and you come home and you are so tired, learning a new language is not something that is -- that's going to come easily. And so to be able to hear about a family that was able to take their own language, their own primary language, and then, you know, put it into tactile sign language and be able to communicate directly with their child or with their family member, it just meant so much to them. And they wanted to know more and they wanted to get more information of how they could spread this type of information or how they could spread this enthusiasm and resources for these families. I lost my train of thought but, yes, that was one of the biggest things. The next session that -- another breakout session that happened was with Marguerite Tibobaudo. She's from Perkins. She was looking at how CVI can impact learning or accessing manual sign language. She talked about like all the different CVI considerations that we need to look at for the dorsal stream and how CVI affects like the ventral stream and all the different nuances in between both of those. And what I found -- and then she was talking about how those two different streams and how each of those are affected by CVI, how that's going to affect an individual's perception of sign language, manual sign language. It's a visual language. And when you are having difficulties processing, accessing that manual sign language on the hand is going to be very difficult. There are different areas of sign language to consider and she just went through each one of those. My biggest takeaway from this session was that in all the years that I have been doing this, which is many, I have never even heard of these two being correlated together. Apparently this is new research and she was going through some case studies that she was doing and all she said was these are all questions that need to be asked. You know, when you are considering sign language and your students with CVI. 

>>Edgenie: Edgenie again. Another breakout session that we had is from the touch base center for the Deafblind. And our presenters were Vivecca Hartman and Rubina Khan. They also had Miileah Morrison. So what is touch base center for the Deafblind? This is an innovative day program for people who are Deafblind. Very much like I shared with Deafblind Camp of Texas, this was started when two families wanted to create meaningful and enjoyable activities for their young adults who had recently -- actually the story is one of them had graduated from high school, the young adult had already graduated from high school, and the other family's child was close to graduating from high school. So considering adult life was very real to them and they wanted to have opportunities for their young adults to be engaged in activities throughout their days that again were meaningful and accessible that were also out in the community. After exploring various programs in their local areas, they decided to create their own. So these two families came together and formed Touch Base. They also, as part of their board of directors, invited two of our former project team members to join them. Our friend, David Riley, and Robbie Blaha, who continues to work for our project on a part-time basis. So the way Touch Base Center works is that the individual who comes to this day program also brings with them an intervener. And together with the intervener, they interact with everyone who is at the day program, engaging in activities that include activities of daily living, as well as hobbies that they might have. They have done everything from pottery to jewelry making to a lot of woodworking. They have made beds. Right now I am showing you a handmade yard sign that they made together. It is a wooden "I love you" hand. I'm not sure if it's going to show up on the screen but it has the Braille cells that spell out "love." It's a beautiful work of art that the individuals who attend Touch Base and their interveners made together. Touch Base initially started off with the intent of this being an adult program, but they soon learned that there were young -- there were school-age children who also would benefit from the program. So they, during the summer, will open it up to individuals of all ages to come and participate. Again, with the understanding that they do have an intervener that comes with them. So after being wowed with all, you know, a description of all the activities that they're doing, the presenters shared with us the process that they went through for setting up Touch Base and to maintain this organization. Then they shared with everyone tips for creating something similar in their own areas. There were a lot of conversations about what this might look like and the big takeaways with this is, first of all, Touch Base is a marvelous example of living out moments of joy, which is one of their mottos that they adopted from Dr. Van Dijk. The other takeaway is that this innovative model needs to be in other areas of the state and nation. That was made clear by the families who were there, you know, asking questions and quickly trying to figure out how to work together to make sure that this is spread across the country. 

>>Kaycee: This is Kaycee. The next session was talking about our new publication. Essential tools of the trade for teachers of students who are Deafblind. And it is a how-to guide for completing evaluations. Those evaluations include the functional tactile bodily evaluation, Functional Vision Evaluation, Learning Media Assessment, communication evaluation, and Expanded Core Curriculum. The paper version is out now and the digital version will be out soon. If you are looking for that publication, you can find it at tsbvi.edu/store. 

>>Adam: Hello, everybody. Adam again. This is a slide on the presentation on how does touch make you feel, that I presented with my colleague, Sara Kitchen. There's a picture of her standing in front of a slide called learning v. survival. In this session we talked about some of the research we have done looking at literature, scientific literature and research studies that examine how touch, different types of touch are processed in the brain and the implications of that processing for learning. We also looked at research on how different forms of touch send different types of social messages about the people who are being touched and how that informs the way that individuals who are blind and visually impaired and Deafblind are viewed within their social groups. And one of the takeaways from this session was that there isn't a lot of literature written on either one of these topics but there is some literature that looks at the ways that manipulative touch, or what we often refer to as hand over hand, actually inhibits learning for individuals who are blind and visually impaired and Deafblind and also inhibits their desire to explore on their own through touch. And one of the things that we also took away from this session was that there needs to be a lot more research done in looking at the social messages that we send through touch when we are working with our students who are blind and visually impaired and Deafblind. 

>>Edgenie: Edgenie again. I know we're getting close to our time so I will make this quick. Our next presentation was from our friends at the National Family Association for Deafblind. Jacqueline Izaguirre and Melanie Knapp. They shared about an incredible program that is right now in its second year. It is the family advocacy training in education initiative. What this is they train family members who already possess leadership skills to advocate on issues that are important to families in the Deafblind community. This includes advocacy skills for family members and organization, the development of a national agenda for individuals who are Deafblind, increased advocacy at the state level and national level, and increased funding for Deafblind programs, as well as better services for all individuals who are Deafblind. During their time at the breakout session, they shared the national advocacy agenda, which I will put in the chat in just a moment, as well as some of the position papers that the National Family Association for Deafblind have been developing through the years. Coming up very soon will be a Deafblind day on the hill. This will be a federal legislative advocacy effort where all Deafblind family organizations and family leaders from across the country will participate either in person or in Zoom to meet legislators and tell their stories in order to help people understand about the important issues included in the national agenda. This will be April 20, 2023, next month. Please visit the NFDB website to learn more. 

>>Rachel: Hi, everybody. This is Rachel. This was a breakout session that reviewed the guidance for behavior, planning behavior intervention for children and young adults who are Deafblind or have visual and multiple impairments. It was presented by Deanna Peterson and our colleague in outreach, Lynne McAlister. Basically they just went through this document, how it was organized, and just talked about how there are four different functions of behavior: Attention, escape, access, and sensory needs. And what I found very interesting was that all of these functions of behavior is inherent in all individuals. Not just children, but all individuals. Us included. And so it really looked at looking at behavior as not something to view as trying to get at or being kind of manipulative but just as a form of distress. Changing, switching that narrative to a child is in distress if they are acting out, because it is a natural reaction to distress. 

>>Kaycee: And then we had a breakout session called maximizing orientation and mobility for students who are Deafblind. And it was a panel. It was facilitated by Chris Tabb and Edgenie Bellah. And the panelists you see in the picture are Heather, Carolina Gonzales, and Melvin Marx. It was really interested because it opened with just turning to the floor, asking if there were any questions that they wanted to ensure happened prior to moving into the prepared questions, and it never stopped. The entire session was questions from the audience. And, to me, the biggest takeaway from that was it showed that there's a really strong need for our community to have a space to brainstorm and get together and talk as Deafblind O&Ms, O&Ms specializing in serving individuals who are Deafblind. People were so enthusiastic about it and had so much to say. So I hope that we will find more space for that as we move forward in planning, regional planning, state planning, national planning. 

>>Hillary: And this is Hillary again. Dr. Beth Foster talked about improving balance through movement and she had us up on our feet moving. And extremely, extremely energetic presentation. If you have never had a chance to see her present, please try to do that. It was great. Basically she talked about how movement is so important because it helps our students break down barriers and experience the world. And to shorten it up, the takeaway here was if our students are not in a stable position -- and sitting may not be stable, think about CHARGE students, then they are not learning and they are thinking about not falling. So ensure your students are allowed to be in a stable position to benefit from an instruction. And our last session was Dr. Maurice Belote, who was the California DeafBlind Services director and is now looking good and relaxed because he's retired and still busy teaching. He talked about -- this is a human thing, not just a Deafblind thing. Humans crave predictability and closure. Closure is having that sense that something is accomplished and finished. Examples might be finishing a book or jigsaw puzzle. An ending that resolves all the loose ends, or music that resolves. Ambiguity is another thing. That's what we don't like. It's uncertainty. It creates stress in almost everyone. Knowing what's going to happen is comforting and humans are constantly trying to predict what's going to happen. He had a quote: Stress peaks when certainty peaks. And uncertainty is more stressful than the predictable outcome -- more predictable than negative consequences. It's more stressful than predictable negative consequences. Our kids might have something negative happen and not know. Bottom line is we need to provide structure that reduces ambiguity, slow it down, allow students to finish their tasks. Do not remove them. Just slow your roll, and provide moments of closure whenever you can throughout the day and the years.