Blind Services
Early Intervention
The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind Outreach Department offers vision services to young children who are blind or visually impaired. These services are provided through collaboration with the Community Centered Boards (CCBs) in the Pikes Peak, south and southeast areas of Colorado.
Who can make a referral?
- Family member
- Medical provider, such as
- ophthalmologist
- optometrist
- primary care physician
Where to make a referral?
- Local Community Centered Board (CCB)(opens in new window)
- Local school district Child Find services(opens in new window)
What to expect after the referral?
The next step would be an assessment of the child’s needs facilitated by school district Child Find personnel in collaboration with staff from the local CCB. The Early Intervention Colorado(opens in new window) guidelines in the area of vision determine if the child qualifies for vision services. A medical diagnosis of a vision condition as determined by an ophthalmologist is required for a child to receive vision services.
We qualify, what are the next steps?
- CCB or the local school district Child Find team will facilitate a service plan meeting
- services may continue in a home-based environment until the goals established for the child are met or the child reaches three years of age
- transition plan for the child to enter preschool services would be developed with the family, CCB providers, staff from the local district and the teacher of the blind/visually impaired
The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind may assign a teacher of the blind/visually impaired to provide the home intervention services for the following CCBs (counties in parenthesis):
- Colorado Bluesky Enterprises (Pueblo)
- Inspiration Field (Crowley / Otero / Bent)
- Southeastern Developmental Services (Baca / Bent / Kiowa / Prowers)
- Southern Colorado Developmental Services (Huerfano / Las Animas)
- Starpoint (Chaffee / Custer / Fremont)
- The Resource Exchange (El Paso / Park / Teller)
School Services
Specialized Assessments and Consultation
The Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) offers consultation, training and services for students who attend public, charter, private or online schools. Specialized assessments (Independent Educational Evaluations) and direct service are provided on a fee-for-service basis. Fees are determined based on the frequency and duration of the service. CSDB’s staff are appropriately licensed in their area of expertise through the Colorado Department of Education.
Adult Role Models
Adults who have a variety of vision impairments discuss topics related to their experiences of living with a vision loss through videos on the CSDB YouTube channel. Connect to the playlist: Role Models – Blind/Low Vision(opens in new window)
Direct Service
Contracts for direct services can be developed with charter schools, school districts or Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) upon request. Services provided may include:
- Specialized instruction provided by a Teacher of the Visually Impaired
- Orientation and Mobility services