Perkins International Co-Sponsors First Israeli National Deafblind Conference

Photo courtesy of Keren Or.

In May of 2010, Perkins International co-sponsored the Israeli National Conference for Educators and Allied Health Professionals, targeting a broad multi-disciplinary professional audience and focusing on the special challenges of visual impairment and multiple disabilities. Perkins co-organized the conference with Keren Or,  a Jerusalem-based Perkins International partner devoted exclusively to the education and rehabilitation of children and young adults who are blind and or visually impaired with additional disabilities.

At the conference,  over 300 people from government ministries, nonprofit organizations, schools and families came together to learn about the best teaching methods for children and young adults who are deafblind and/or visually impaired with other disabilities. The event coincided with Perkins Internationals' ongoing support to work together with  partners in Israel to improve the quality of education for this population.

In her opening remarks Tamara Silberberg, Executive Director of Keren Or and Chair of the Conference Steering Committee, observed that this inaugural conference was the fruition of the shared efforts of many organizations in Israel together with Perkins and was a milestone in the sharing of knowledge and professional networking in this field.

Meeting the Growing Need for Blind and Deafblind Education in Israel

Photo courtesy of Keren Or.

There are nearly 20,000 people in Israel who are blind, including more than 1,000 children and youth. It is estimated that there are an additional 1,000 individuals, who are deafblind or blind with additional disabilities. An additional 800 children and adults suffer from Usher Syndrome, which is the leading cause of deafblindness in the country. Scientists recently identified a clear pattern of the inheritance of Usher Syndrome Type 1 in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. The progressive nature of the incurable disease makes early intervention critical to the educational development of affected children.

In Israel, there is an organized system of special education with schools dispersed around the country serving students with multiple disabilities. There is one program serving young adults who are deafblind. Schools for the blind and schools for the deaf, while they have some students with moderate level additional disabilities, focus  on academic instruction. Keren Or is the only school in the country that is dedicated specifically to students who are blind and visually impaired with additional disabilities. In addition, Eliya serves a range on infants and preschoolers who are blind and visually impaired. Beth David Center for Deafblind serves young adults with acquired deafblindness.

In 2007 Michael Collins, then Director of Perkins International met with lead service providers and jointly concluded that a conference specifically about children and young adults with visual impairment and additional disabilities or deafblindness would be a valuable first step in our efforts to work jointly with organizations in Israel in improving and expanding services to these two populations.

Conference Outcomes and Accomplishments

During the conference, Perkins International staff, Perkins consultants, professionals from Israel and Europe accomplished the following goals:

• Shared knowledge about the education of children with visual and other disabilities
• Identified the need for in-service training on specific topics
• Created a dialogue and professional networking opportunities among educators committed to the education of children with multiple disabilities
• Raised awareness of the importance of incorporating the specialized needs of children who are blind and visually impaired with additional disabilities or deafblindness in national policies and programs

Barbara Miles, a well known author and lecturer, led a workshop on the beginning stages of communication and language. Miles is the presenter of the Perkins Conversations Webcast on engaging in conversations with individuals who are deafblind. Marianne Riggio, Perkins International Training Coordinator, gave the closing presentation that encouraged participants to build services that are without boundaries on what children will be able to achieve.

In speaking about the impact of the national conference, Chaim Fuchs Executive Director of the Beth David Institute in Tel Aviv said: “It is not an overstatement to say that the long-term effects of this conference will continue to benefit the Israeli deafblind community for years to come. The credit for this goes to Perkins, as without your vital initiative and assistance, this conference would never have come into being.”