CHAT - Cognitive Evaluation for Students who are Deafblind: A Panel Discussion Regarding Best Practices � 3/18/24 From Veronica Flores to Everyone: Mission, TX From Laurie Cottrell to Everyone: Anaheim, CA From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: Hi from Arlington, TX! From Tiffany Paschal to Host and Panelists: Ellijay, GA From Karen Carl to Everyone: St. Peters, MO From Lindsay Hillier to Everyone: Toronto, Canada From Laurie Cottrell to Everyone: So am I!! From Rob Harris to Everyone: Grand Junction, CO From Tiffany Paschal to Host and Panelists: Yes! From Julie Maier to Host and Panelists: SF Bay Area! From Rita Phillips Dunn to Everyone: Northeast Georgia From linda brown to Everyone: New Caney, Tx From Laura Hilliard to Host and Panelists: Mullin, TX From Krystal Southard to Everyone: Holliday, TX From Lynn Little to Everyone: Lynn, Mescalero NM From Katie Ericson to Host and Panelists: Lincoln, NE From Quilley Chiqueval to Host and Panelists: WA State From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: FIE = Full Individual and Initial Evaluation From Elliana Jones to Everyone: is there federal guidance on this that we can refer to? From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: Today’s handout can be found here: https://tsbvi.live/coffeehour From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @EJ - https://www.nationaldb.org/info-center/educational-practices/approach-to-assessment/ AND https://nationaldeafcenter.org/resources/access-accommodations/laws-compliance/ AND https://fw.escapps.net/node/3842 From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: Elliana, the link at the top of the handout goes to a site that shows all of the legal framework. Anything cited with “300.___ (various numbers)” is federal law. From Elliana Jones to Everyone: thanks💕 From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: And for those kids that we know have or suspect have sensory impact, get those evaluations done early! The rest of the team NEEDS that information for their evals. From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: For folks outside of Texas…do your state’s transition programs (voc-rehab, medicaid, etc) take educational information into account? From Rob Harris to Everyone: Parent and advocate here. Same here, 17 now, slight panic mode. Makes sense, thought it was just me. From Rob Harris to Everyone: Yes, VERY difficult From kayla williams to Host and Panelists: My daughter received a diagnosis of “severe intellectual disability” from a psychologist at the same time as her autism diagnosis, but there wasn’t any actual cognitive testing done. Should I be worried that diagnosis may not be recognized as valid if no testing was done? From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @KBorg - Yes. Educational info is taken into account, thank goodness. From Edgenie Bellah to Host and Panelists: https://www.navigatelifetexas.org/en/insurance-financial-help/texas-medicaid-waiver-programs-for-children-with-disabilities From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: https://www.navigatelifetexas.org/en/insurance-financial-help/texas-medicaid-waiver-programs-for-children-with-disabilities From Julie Maier to Everyone: It’s so important that members of the educational team are sharing this information with families and supporting them as they navigate these systems so that services and resources are provided equitably and not only to the individuals with families who had the information, skills., and time to navigate these service systems. From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @JM - Very true. I walk my family through the basics, and have virtual team mtgs with local resource teams - Washington Sensory Disabilities Services (WSDS) supports the developmental and learning needs of children from birth to age 21 who are hard of hearing, Deaf, blind or low vision, or DeafBlind. Through its Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth, WSDS offers statewide services to deaf and hard of hearing students, teachers and educators serving the deaf, educational interpreters, and families of deaf infants, toddlers and students. From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: *My students' Families From Edgenie Bellah to Host and Panelists: It is also important to connect families to family organizations. Some of the best ways for families to learn about navigating the different systems (including evaluations) is to learn from other families! From Edgenie Bellah to Everyone: It is also important to connect families to family organizations. Some of the best ways for families to learn about navigating the different systems (including evaluations) is to learn from other families! From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: I got stuck with "Informed consent". I could not really consent because we are at the edge of science. Parents could use support in that area. I am asked often, what do we default to when we are on the edge of science. Asking anonymous because it is our case too. From Michelle Mosier to Everyone: Very interesting! FL is exactly the opposite- IQ has to be reported, and below 67, or they can't be on alternate assessment. They also have to have adaptive scores within that same range. If an IQ cannot be obtained, developmental checklists (like the DP-4) can be used showing significant deficits. From Kate Borg (she/her) to Host and Panelists: I can take that question if you’d like From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: Sorry. When there are not normed test for rare diagnosis. We have to give informed consent when evaluation process. But if the evaluator cannot explain the evaluation for our rare kids what can a parent do to be informed on that evaluation process. From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Informed Consent - this may aide your mindset toward the eval/ass'mt: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34179751/ From Laura Elmer to Everyone: There seems to be a trend to assign intellectual disability to adaptive scores. How do we accurately assess students who are deafblind with additional physical disabilities? From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @Brenna, please share that link you just mentioned. :-) From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: For example we have legal blindness, intractable epilepsy, other brain related malformation. I also fought evals because they did not have a test for my daughter. Inappropriate evals led to low expectations. We homeschool but have proven the ed teams incorrect evals and thus IEP created from inappropriate evaluations. I fought and lost via due process because they could not tell us what tests and how they would be used. Wow, I guess if this is unclear we can cancel, no problem From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children | Fifth Edition, Integrated WISC®-V Integrated From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Share w/other moms - my go-to: https://www.testingmom.com/tests/wisc-test/ From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: Last context, we are helping a deaf blind family that is struggling and that is why I am here. Not just my case but it is part of my perspective as an outsider to formal education. From Kate Borg (she/her) to Rob Harris, Host and Panelists: Rob, I really like this article. It’s hefty, but really explains about “assessment concession” and the role it plays in evaluating our rare kiddos. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7544930/ From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: Thank you I will read, its what I do now! :) From Kate Borg (she/her) to Rob Harris, Host and Panelists: Awesome! This sentence hits it right on the head “The use of a multi-method, multi-informant assessments are necessary given the limitations of available standardized normative measures.” From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @Kaycee - This is always on the shelf to offer new Sch Psy's evals. Great guide - https://nordicwelfare.org/en/publikationer/tactile-working-memory-scale-a-professional-manual/ From Brenna Brillhart to Host and Panelists: https://www.pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global/clinical/us/assets/wisc-v/wisc-v-technical-report-2.pdf From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Tactile Working Memory Scale - PDF: https://nordicwelfare.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NWC-TWMS-Handbok-webb.pdf From May Nguyen to Host and Panelists: Hello all, so glad that this topic is being covered. I joined in late. Is there a handout for this session, or will the recording be available later? Thank you! From Rob Harris to Host and Panelists: Excellent, we have a big meet with a local psychologist to help feed this info to. THANK YOU From Michelle Mosier to Everyone: That proposal to evaluate paperwork actually IS the informed consent in FL. A parent has to be notified WHAT area will be evaluated, what the info will be used for, and what the possible outcomes could be. From May Nguyen to Host and Panelists: What would you say to criticism of using DB specific tools that have been created in other countries? From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: And not just a trend…it’s in IDEA From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Great source I read years ago during TSVI and TDB courses - https://idahotc.com/Portals/0/Resources/390/DeafBlind%20Assessment%20Guide.pdf From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Great source I read years ago during TSVI and TDB courses - https://idahotc.com/Portals/0/Resources/390/DeafBlind%20Assessment%20Guide.pdf From May Nguyen to Host and Panelists: Do you have a list of recommended tools? From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: For the group: I really like this article. It’s hefty, but really explains about “assessment concession” and the role it plays in evaluating our rare kiddos, and highlights the necessity for multiple evaluation pathways. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7544930/ From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @KB - Definitely - Yes From Rob Harris to Everyone: Good question From Laura Elmer to Everyone: Is it possible to save the chat links and send as an email? I can’t save them from my phone. From Kate Borg (she/her) to Everyone: The chat is saved and uploaded with the recording. 🙂 From May Nguyen to Everyone: Great, thank you! From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Deafblind and ASD very similar traits -https://www.pattan.net/assets/PaTTAN/b8/b8ab64e0-5c98-4488-bf7a-06d52e7406b4.pdf From May Nguyen to Everyone: Love all the resources being shared! Thank you! From Julie Maier to Everyone: @ Quilley thanks for sharing that article that Kaycee mentioned. From Edgenie Bellah to Everyone: Supporting Communication for Children who are Deafblind by Marina McCormick: https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/supporting-communication-for-children-who-are-deafblind/ From Rachel Collins to Everyone: Hmmm, it looks like autism to me – Understanding the Similarities Between the Profiles of Learners with Autism and Learners with Sensory Losses From Rachel Collins to Everyone: https://www.tsbvi.edu/statewide-resources/professional-development/library/coffee-hour From Julie Maier to Everyone: I’m excited to read this article for Marina! And yes, least dangerous assumption mindset all day, every day!! From Kate Borg (she/her) to Host and Panelists: Actually...about 3 minutes left lol From Laura Elmer to Everyone: What do we do for older DB students when they have not had access to instruction? How do you mitigate ‘opportunities missed’? From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @KBorg - Fully agree, that why we need to encourage PTASL in our arsenal as educators. PTASL should become part of the Deafblind teams (collaborating with SLP) https://www.pbs.org/video/protactile-a-language-of-touch-1u5hgv/ From Brenda Glover to Everyone: My student is DB, age 9, never in school. How can I encourage parent who feels guilty for not sending her to school. From Rita Phillips Dunn to Everyone: How can that be predicted? This is great information. Thank you From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @LE - according to IntDis/ID levels, for example with a severe ID, I used Deafblind Manual Alphabet, and Social Haptics (Haptics is a system, PTASL is a language) before moving toward PTASL. Another reason cognitive evals are crucial to decide planning. :-) From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: @BG - work w/the parent/guardian and use OHOA modules, my families love this - user/parent/team friendly - https://www.nationaldb.org/products/modules/ohoa/touch-connection-communication/ From Theresa Baldry to Everyone: Thank you all to the balance within this presentation! From Rob Harris to Everyone: Yes, empower the parent! Fantastic webinar, thank you all! From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: bennettk@tsbvi.edu, collinsr@tsbvi.edu, bellahe@tsbvi.edu From Quilley Chiqueval to Everyone: Great panel - thank you so much! From Brenna Brillhart to Host and Panelists: bbrillhart@mesquiteisd.org From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: bbrillhart@mesquiteisd.org From Julie Maier to Everyone: Thanks for this great discussion and all the s resources! Well done, Texas Team! From Kaycee Bennett to Everyone: Feel free to email us if we didn't get to your question! :)