Helen Keller Education Act

Key Points

• This bill updates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to ensure students who are both deaf and blind receive specialized education services, even if their state classifies them under a different disability category. States must identify, locate, and evaluate these children regardless of how they are categorized.
• The bill formally adds 'intervener services' as a related service under IDEA. Interveners are trained professionals who work directly with deafblind students to help them communicate and access information, including through tactile sign language and other specialized methods.
• States must file a written plan within two years showing how they ensure deafblind children are properly evaluated by qualified professionals and that enough trained teachers and interveners are available statewide to serve all children who need them.
• For infants and toddlers who are deafblind, their early intervention plans must include language and communication assessments, development goals matched to the child's abilities, and support for families to learn the child's preferred communication mode.
• The bill creates new federal personnel development priorities to train more teachers of deafblind children, interveners, and early intervention specialists so there are enough qualified professionals to serve this population nationwide.