Q: What does an intervener do?
A: The intervener plays a vital role in the education of a student who is deafblind.  The relationship between the student and the intervener is based on a level of trust that provides the foundation for interaction and learning.  The intervener facilitates access to the environmental information that the student cannot access because of the combined hearing and vision loss.  The intervener learns the highly individualized communication system of the student and works to facilitate both receptive and expressive communication development.  It is critical that the intervener understands the student’s vision, hearing, functioning levels, educational curriculum, goals and objectives, likes and dislikes, and additional disabilities if present.  The intervener must use judgement, creativity, and persistence in effectively meeting the complex needs of the student who is deafblind, while at the same time encouraging independence and self-determination.

Q: Is the intervener a classroom teacher?
A: While functioning under the daily direction of a teacher, the intervener will work more closely with the student than any other service provider.  Consequently, the intervener will get to know the student extremely well, and will have knowledge that can add to the team’s understanding of the student.  The intervener must integrate the methods and strategies of other service providers and share this information with team members so that everyone, including educators and family members, can work in an effective, collaborative way.  Thus, the intervener must participate in training on deafblindness, in order to be skilled in deafblind specific intervention and educational strategies. 

Q: How many classes do you need to become a credentialed intervener? 
A:  Please refer to the Intervener Training Program page.

Q: What do I have to do to become an intervener?
A: Coursework is available online from Utah State University.

Q: Do intervener’s get paid more?
A: Generally, the more training an educator has, the higher their pay. You will have to check with your education agency/school principal. 

Q: How do I find out if my school/community has any interveners?
A: Contact the school principal or Special Education Director in your local school district. 

Q: Can I advocate for an intervener even after my child graduates from high school, if they’re planning to go to a work site or a day program?
A: Yes, you can.  Your child still needs access to information, people and the environment when his/her educational journey is complete. During the transition phase (14 yrs – to graduation) describe your child’s access needs to the agency/organization providing adult services. The IEP team should be helpful in this transition. 

Q: Are interveners only for school? Can they help with my child on the weekends, at doctor appointments, etc.?
A: Parents across the country have successfully advocated for home and community interveners.  This takes educating people within government systems beyond education.  Some parents have raised money on their own to pay for interveners to work in their homes and other parents use their waivered services dollars to hire individuals who have training in deafblindness or will access training.  

Q: What do I do if the school/district doesn’t know what an intervener is or recognize them as a related service or part of the IEP?
A:  Deafblindness is the lowest of low incidence disabilities in the United States with fewer than 10,000 children in school.  Therefore, most educators have no experience with Deafblindness and the unique learning needs of children who have a combined vision and hearing loss.  The first step is to learn as much as you can about Interveners from this website. Contact your states’ federally funded DeafBlind Project and ask them to provide technical assistance, training, information, and resources to the family and educational team members.

Until interveners are listed as a related service, parents can still advocate for intervener services in their child’s IEP by sharing the following letter with their IEP team. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) supports this in an informal guidance letter written August 2, 2018. Ruth E. Ryder, then the Acting Director of the Office of Special Education Programs, addressed the question of whether intervener services could be considered related services even though interveners are not specifically identified in the list of examples of related services in IDEA.

Q: I often hear that interveners and 1:1’s create dependence, how can I share that if used the right way, they don’t?
A: Interveners are trained to promote independence rather than dependence.  Interveners are taught to “do with, not for” a child who is Deafblind.  In the process, the student may initially become dependent on the intervener as part of the process of developing trust and building a positive relationship, so that together they will then be in a position to work on whatever is necessary.  Once a trusting relationship is established, a communication system developed, and the intervener can provide access to information, the student will learn his requests will be honored, develop confidence and eventually become more independent. 

Q: Which is the correct spelling of intervener? Is it spelled intervener or intervenor?
A: The concept of intervention for individuals who are deafblind arose in Canada in the 1970’s. Intervenors in Canada are provided to people of all ages. The practice was introduced to the United States in the 1980’s for children only. To distinguish the difference between the two practices, the spelling in the United States was changed using “er”: Intervener. The Canadian Intervenor serves individuals of all ages, while an intervener in the U.S. generally serves children birth to 21 years only. 

Q: Where can I find more information?
A: Please see the resources tab where you will find information on professional development, supporting materials, research, organizational links and a glossary of terms.