Story boxes are a great way to bring a story to life while reading with your child. The Family Resource Center at VSDB has a long list of story boxes for you to borrow and use in your home. We will mail the box to you free of charge, give you ample time to enjoy the story and components with your child, and will provide instructions to mail it back to us when you're done. Please contact Julie Saum at julie.saum@vsdb.k12.va.us for a current list of story boxes available to borrow.
Connect is a virtual roundtable discussion for families and professionals of children in Virginia with sensory impairments including all degrees of hearing loss, vision loss, or both. Connect gatherings have subject matter experts to lead discussions, offer support, answer your questions, and help you connect!
Join us monthly to participate in these conversations. Register at bit.ly/vsdbconnect
Join VSDB Outreach and Family Engagement every Wednesday for virtual storytimes at bit.ly/vsdbstory
4:00-4:30 ASL and Spoken English
4:30-5:00 Read aloud with picture descriptions
The VDOE Virginia Family's Guide to Special Education was updated May 2023. Save this valuable resource to review often!
Additional resources for children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing:
Virginia Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI)
Virginia Hearing Aid Loan Bank: This program provides temporary hearing devices for children under 21 years old who have been diagnosed with hearing loss within the Commonwealth of Virginia. These devices are temporary and may be used while parents/guardians work to obtain funding to purchase aids for their child. An Audiologist needs to submit the application by fax at 434-924-0390.
If you have questions, contact the Virginia Hearing Aid Loan Bank at 434- 924-0222 or 1-866-596-9367.
The Virginia Deaf Blind Project (VDBP) is committed to supporting families, teachers, and service providers in their endeavors to improve outcomes for children and youth who experience both vision and hearing loss.
Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH) promotes accessible communication so that persons who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing may fully participate in programs, services and opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center: A federally funded institution offering academic programs to the diverse population of deaf and hard of hearing students across the nation by providing early intervention services, sign language classes, and uniquely designed resources for deaf and hard of hearing communities. The Laurent Clerc Center is located on the campus of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.
Parents’ Guide Shared Plan of Care
Virginia Resource Guide for Families of Children who are Deaf/ Hard of Hearing
Virginia Resource Guide for Families of School- Aged Children who are Deaf/ Hard of Hearing
American Academy of Pediatrics/ EHDI Vocabulary Outcomes
Boys Town National Resource Hospital’s Resource for Families of DHH Children
A Family’s Guide to Audiology Services, Hands and Voices
What is an Audiogram: understanding your child’s hearing assessment results
Congenital CMV Resources:
Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Resources
Assessment and Management of congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV)
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Additional resources for children who are blind or visually impaired:
The Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) is an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia that is dedicated to its mission of providing quality services to assist Virginia's citizens who are blind, vision impaired or deafblind in achieving their desired level of employment, education, and personal independence. The Department provides a wide array of specialized services and programs for Virginia residents of all ages who are experiencing significant vision impairments attain the skills, confidence and positive outlook that are critical to independence.
The Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired (VRCBVI) was established to provide comprehensive adjustment services to severely visually impaired Virginians. For a blind person, using senses other than sight to ’see’ may be difficult at first, but with the proper training, it can be much easier. That is our goal at VRCBVI. The center teaches blind persons strategies and skills to adapt to living without sight, and we teach people with partial vision ways to use their remaining sight more effectively.
Virginia Industries for the Blind (VIB) started as a private organization in Charlottesville, VA through the efforts of the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind. Now as part of the Enterprise Division of the DBVI, VIB works in coordination with the DBVI Services Division and the Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired (VRCBVI) to provide a full range of employment, training, and other vocational services to blind individuals across the Commonwealth.
The National Eye Institute (NEI) was established by Congress in 1968 to protect and prolong the vision of the American people. NEI research leads to sight-saving treatments, reduces visual impairment and blindness, and improves the quality of life for people of all ages. NEI-supported research has advanced our knowledge of how the visual system functions in health and disease.
The American Council of the Blind strives to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity, and quality of life, for all blind and visually-impaired people.
National Federation of the Blind (NFB) With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) created the Braille Bug® website to teach sighted children about braille, and to encourage literacy among all children. AFB—a national nonprofit founded in 1921 and the organization to which Helen Keller devoted more than 40 years of her life—expands possibilities for children and adults with vision loss.
Hadley offers practical help, connection and support free of charge to anyone with a visual impairment, their families and professionals supporting them. With Hadley, you can discover new ways to do things that have become more difficult due to vision loss and connect with a network of peers who "get it." And you don't need to come to Hadley. Hadley's help comes to you; online, on the phone or through the mail.
The goal of EMPOWER is to equip transition-aged students with visual impairment living in rural communities, their families, and the transition professionals who serve them with the virtual supports to improve postsecondary education and employment outcomes.
CVI Scotland is devoted to helping people understand cerebral visual impairments, and together to work toward starting to master this complicated spectrum of conditions.
