Effective Intervention through Collaboration: The Key to Success

Abstract

In my many years (more than 44 now!) in the field of visual impairment as a teacher of students of visual impairments, an orientation and mobility specialist, an administrator, and a professor in personnel preparation, the one significant thing I have learned in each of these roles is the importance of collaboration with coworkers, team members, and families. No one individual can meet all the needs of any student with a visual impairment alone. Without collaboration, the effect of what we all do in the field of visual impairment, when working with either children or adults, is greatly reduced, and student outcomes are typically not met to the same degree as when everyone is engaged and working together. The goal of our work is ultimately to foster positive outcomes and successes in our students or clients, so why not collaborate as a team if that is what we all truly care about? We may be experts in our unique professional roles and skill sets, but there is little chance of generalization of what we teach if all members of the student's team are not on the same page and supporting the student and one another. The three practice contributions in this issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) address this collaboration in unique ways while also providing innovative ideas about how to work with diverse populations of students. Effective Collaboration Between Physical Therapists and Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments Who Are Working with Students Who Have Multiple Disabilities and Visual Impairments, by Erica Stearns, describes the importance of teachers of students with visual impairments and physical therapists working together to share expertise in both positioning and visual functioning. Examples are provided that show how each specialist benefits from the other's knowledge and skills. Stearns has the unique advantage of having worked in both the physical therapy and education arenas, so she is able to share her perspective on the importance of teachers of students with visual impairments collaborating with physical therapists from both vantage points, particularly when working with students with multiple impairments. The Practice Report by Allison Nannemann, Susan Bruce, and Andrea Covelli, Positive Behavior Supports for a Young Adult with CHARGE Syndrome, takes another approach to collaboration through describing how to use positive behavior supports for preventing or stopping challenging behaviors in students who are deafblind. The strategies used with a young adult with CHARGE syndrome included adult use of language, environmental engineering, and sensory-motor strategies. …