(a) DeafBlind Standards. The standards identified in this section are targeted for teachers of students who are DeafBlind. The standards address the discipline associated with the theory and practice of teaching students who are DeafBlind. The standards inform appropriate teaching techniques, methods, and teacher actions, judgments, and decisions by taking into consideration philosophical, historical, and legal foundations of DeafBlind education, characteristics of students who are DeafBlind, understandings of the needs and strengths of students who are DeafBlind, and the backgrounds and interests of individual students.     
      (b) Foundations. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind understands the philosophical, historical, and legal foundations of DeafBlind education. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:      
        (1) understands interaction, communication, and language theories, approaches, and research that are applicable to teaching learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (2) understands the history of the practices, people, and events that have impacted people who are DeafBlind (congenital and acquired) and the relevance of those histories to educational practices;       
        (3) understands access and inclusion from the visual, auditory, and tactile perspective of a person who is DeafBlind;       
        (4) understands specialized roles and responsibilities of the educational team members, including learners who are DeafBlind, teachers of students who are DeafBlind, other educators, related service personnel, and family members;       
        (5) understands the rights of learners who are DeafBlind and their family members;       
        (6) understands clinical, functional, and legal definitions for eligibility of services as students who are DeafBlind/Blind/Visually Impaired/Deaf/Hard of Hearing;       
        (7) accesses and evaluates current related research and practices in the field of DeafBlindness for their relevance in educational practices;       
        (8) educates, facilitates, and collaborates with all educational team members, including family members, to ensure that the student's unique needs are being supported by all necessary team members during evaluation and instruction in home, school, and/or community settings;       
        (9) ensures that the educational team considers proper eligibility criteria for the student who is DeafBlind;       
        (10) establishes reciprocal interactions with learners who are DeafBlind; and       
        (11) advocates for effective individualized interaction, communication, and language development.       
      (c) Learner Characteristics. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind demonstrates understanding of the complex and unique effects of the combined vision and hearing loss as well as the strengths of the tactile sense of learners who are DeafBlind. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:      
        (1) understands the positive perspective of the learner who is DeafBlind, including functional hearing and vision as well as the experience of touch;       
        (2) understands typical child development and methods for supporting a child who is DeafBlind throughout the various stages of development;       
        (3) understands the critical roles of vision, hearing, and touch in learning;       
        (4) understands the range of vision and hearing loss of learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (5) understands the diversity within the culture of learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (6) understands the implications of combined sensory loss and the importance of the tactile sense on access to information and the environment;       
        (7) understands the potential isolating effects of combined hearing and vision loss upon the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (8) understands the potential impact of the combined effects of hearing and vision loss upon the learner's opportunities for incidental learning;       
        (9) understands the potential emotional implications of combined hearing and vision loss upon the learner who is DeafBlind, including the biological impact of stress;       
        (10) understands the potential impact of the combined effects of hearing and vision loss and the tactile experience upon the learner's personal relationships with others, including the importance of sensory-attuned reciprocal interactions, on bonding, attachment, inclusion, and friendships;       
        (11) understands the potential and complex effects of additional disabilities upon learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (12) understands the potential and complex effects of additional sensory disabilities (e.g., touch, vestibular, proprioception, taste, smell) upon learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (13) understands the potential effects of the age of onset (congenital vs. acquired), degrees, and/or progression of hearing and vision loss upon learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (14) understands the major etiologies of DeafBlindness and the possible implications on the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (15) understands the potential impact of the combined effects of vision and hearing loss and tactile accessibility upon the development of concrete and abstract concepts;       
        (16) understands dynamic forms/modes of communication used by learners who are DeafBlind (i.e., body movements, gestures, bodily emotional traces (BETS), Visual American Sign Language (VASL), VASL adaptations, Signing Exact English (SEE), Tactile American Sign Language (TASL), speech, other manual modes);       
        (17) understands static forms/modes of literacy, including real objects, tactile symbols, pictures, print, braille, and digital technology;       
        (18) understands the structure and function of the auditory, visual, and tactile systems;       
        (19) understands impairments in the structure and functions of the auditory and visual systems;       
        (20) understands the influence of vision and hearing loss on tactile and sensorimotor development;       
        (21) understands the learner's social history and its impact on the learner's current biology and physiology;       
        (22) effectively explains the impact of the combined effects of hearing and vision loss and tactile accessibility to the educational team in relation to typical development; and       
        (23) guides the educational team to ensure the development of communication-rich environments that support sensory-appropriate modes of social engagement within the context of developmentally-, age-, and grade-appropriate functional and meaningful activities.       
      (d) Evaluation and Assessment. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind understands the educational evaluation and assessment processes to identify learner strengths and needs and applies appropriate formal and informal evaluation strategies to support the continuous development of all students, from birth through age 22. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:      
        (1) understands the legal protocol for administering evaluations relative to his or her certification as a teacher of students with visual impairments and/or teacher of students who are Deaf/hard of hearing;       
        (2) understands evaluation of communication modes/forms along a continuum from pre-intentional and pre-symbolic to formal communication and language used by learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (3) understands the importance of a functional sensory evaluation as a foundation for accommodations, adaptations, and strategies;       
        (4) understands how to interpret functional evaluations and clinical assessments of vision, hearing, and medical/neurological information with reference to etiology;       
        (5) understands the specialized tools needed to perform evaluations of hearing and vision;       
        (6) understands the child-guided approach for evaluation of learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (7) understands the evaluation of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) for learners who have visual impairment, including those learners who are DeafBlind and with additional disabilities;       
        (8) understands how to identify a learner's preferred mode of communication;       
        (9) understands strategies for supporting the learner's educational team in determining appropriate modifications and accommodations of evaluations and state-mandated assessments and interpreting the assessment results based on individual learning characteristics;       
        (10) collaborates with the educational team using learner-centered evaluations and planning processes to determine appropriate program planning, instruction, and setting;       
        (11) conducts evaluations and ensures evaluations/assessments conducted by others are in the preferred mode(s) of communication for the individual learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (12) evaluates in co-active, child-guided, functional routines and motor sequences, as appropriate for the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (13) evaluates or actively participates in conducting the functional vision evaluation, learning media assessment, communication evaluation, functional hearing evaluation, and ECC evaluation of the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (14) evaluates or actively participates in evaluating the communicative intent related to observable behavior of the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (15) assesses and adapts to learners' pace/timing of communication;       
        (16) evaluates or actively participates in evaluating communication along a continuum from pre-intentional and pre-symbolic to formal communication and language used by learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (17) evaluates and interprets or actively participates in determining the meaning and function of the learner's formal and informal literacy medium/media;       
        (18) evaluates, interprets, and affirms the meaning of the learner's communicative initiatives (e.g., natural gestures, affect, bodily movements, vocalizations);       
        (19) evaluates with consideration of physical environments, bio-behavioral states, and preferred/non-preferred sensory channels of the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (20) actively participates in the evaluation of tactile, proprioceptive, vestibular, and kinesthetic systems of the learner who is DeafBlind;       
        (21) interprets evaluation results and explains current and future implications of combined vision and hearing loss of the learner to the educational team, including family members;       
        (22) determines appropriate modifications and accommodations of evaluations and state-mandated assessments and supports the interpretation of the results based on individual learning characteristics;       
        (23) recommends the learner for additional visual and auditory evaluations/assessments when necessary; and       
        (24) explains the effects of specific etiologies on all sensory systems.       
      (e) Planning for Instruction. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind plans for instructional opportunities in home, school, and community environments that are adapted to the diverse needs of learners who are DeafBlind. The teacher of students who are DeafBlind:      
        (1) understands the pacing and structure of programming for short- and long-term objectives within the context of functional routines for learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (2) understands how to include or introduce novelty into familiar routines based on the individual needs of learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (3) understands the elements of planning for life-long learning in current and future environments for students who are DeafBlind;       
        (4) understands the importance of creating lesson plans that provide direct sensory experiences for learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (5) understands appropriate instructional accommodations and modifications for learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (6) understands the process for the development of a shared formal language with learners who are DeafBlind, based upon the learners' unique needs when planning instruction;       
        (7) understands the need for learners who are DeafBlind to have competent communication partners who are present and actively engaged in all activities and settings;       
        (8) understands how to incorporate appropriate assistive technology that enhances auditory, visual, and/or tactile functioning;       
        (9) understands how to select the visual, auditory, and tactile characteristics of materials needed by learners who are DeafBlind;       
        (10) understands how to incorporate student preferences to design motivating instructional activities;       
        (11) gathers, maintains, and shares descriptive records/portfolios of the learner's communication repertoire across all settings to assess strengths, challenges, and progress;       
        (12) plans additional time for tactual modeling and exploration;       
        (13) plans additional time for individual learner processing and response;       
        (14) based on learner needs, plans instruction that includes the appropriate literacy system(s);       
        (15) plans extra time for conversations that facilitate the learner's anticipation of a change in routine or schedule;       
        (16) creates opportunities for turn-taking and serve-and-return conversational exchanges in all interactions and instructional settings;       
        (17) plans time for choice-making opportunities in multiple instructional settings;       
       Cont'd...