Resources
Many students we help are not completely deaf or blind. Many students have some hearing or sight. Our resources and support improve the education and lives of students who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind.
Do you have, or know of a child who may benefit from USDB services?
Contact our administration: (801) 629-4700
Programs & Services
Welcome to USDB Programs & Services! USDB provides a variety of educational services and options to meet the needs of our students statewide. In addition to the Deaf, Blind, and Deaf-blind Programs, we also provide services through the Parent Infant Program, Related Services, Ogden Residential Program, Educational Resource Center, Utah State Instructional Materials Center, Assistive Technology Services, and the USDB Athletics Program. Have questions? We’d love to hear from you.
Assistive Technology for Low Vision and Blindness
Schools for the Blind
The goal of the Utah Schools for the Blind (USB) is to provide high-quality educational programs to students with vision impairments throughout Utah. We believe in laying a strong foundation for lifelong learning. USB values differences and encourages students to interact and participate in their educational community.
Schools for the Deaf
The Utah Schools for the Deaf (USD) provides educational services to students in an environment that encourages development and challenges all students to achieve their potential. We focus on language development by creating a rich learning environment with many opportunities for open-ended discussion and communication.
USD students and families have the opportunity to choose from a range of Deaf educational programs in order to ensure a comfortable fit with their child’s learning style. We offer programs in Early Intervention, American Sign Language/English Bilingual education, Auditory/Oral education, also called Listening and Spoken Language, as well as Total Communication. We collaborate with Utah school districts and charter schools to provide supports to students across the entire State of Utah. The long-term goal of all USD programs is for students to have a quality educational experience that will prepare them for a rich and fulfilling adult life.
Deaf-blind Services
The USDB Deaf-blind Services Department offers outstanding nationally recognized services designed to assist parents and service providers who work with young children and students who have both a vision and hearing loss. Our compassionate, dedicated, and highly trained staff work with you hand-in-hand to help your child, or the child you serve, reach his or her potential.
Because children with deaf-blindness often have other complex physical and cognitive disabilities which do not always allow for easy solutions or educational strategies, USDB’s knowledgeable and caring consultants work in partnership with families and IEP/IFSP teams across the state to offer a wide variety of service options.
Parent Infant Program
We recognize that early identification and services for children with sensory loss can significantly optimize developmental potential. The mission of the Parent Infant Program (PIP) is to provide high quality hearing and vision services to children under the age of three who have vision or hearing impairments, and their families. PIP services are offered throughout Utah and works in collaboration with Utah’s Baby Watch Early Intervention system. Vision and hearing services provided through USDB are funded through public education and free to families. Eligibility to participate in the program is determined through vision or hearing diagnosis and assessment of development.
Related Services
The mission of the Related Services division of USDB is to facilitate each student’s ability to access the general curriculum and experience educational success.
Related Services Division (RS) is comprised of nine departments: Audiology, Low Vision, Occupational Therapy, Orientation and Mobility, Physical Therapy, Psychology and Social Work, School Nursing, Speech and Language Therapy, Education & Assistive Technology, and Transportation/Registry.
Residential Transition Program S.T.E.P.s
We provide services to assist our students in achieving their educational goals as determined by the IEP team. Each housing unit has supervisory staff to ensure the care and safety of residential students. Students learn Daily Living Skills (DLS) during non-schools hours and are free to participate in a variety of after school programs and activities throughout the year. In addition to recreation activities, students participate in normal “family life” activities including:
- Planning & Scheduling of Activities
- Daily Homework
- Daily Chores
- Student Paid Jobs
The mission of the Resident Services Department is to provide a structured, nurturing environment that encourages individuality and responsibility in order to promote success for life.
Educational Resource Center
The Educational Resource Center (ERC) provides a variety of media to meet the specialized needs of sensory impaired students throughout the state. Services include: captioned films for the hearing impaired, Braille, large print, recorded materials for the visually impaired, a parent resource library, textbook depository, visual and teaching aids that support Utah’s academic curriculum, books for recreational reading, and adaptive materials which have been designed specifically for use by the hearing impaired and visually impaired.
USIMAC
The Utah State Instructional Materials Access Center (USIMAC) opened its’ doors on January 9, 2009 to provide assistance to local education agencies in meeting the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) for the provision of accessible instructional materials.
The USIMAC offers the opportunity for students with print disabilities to gain increased access to the general curriculum by making core instructional material accessible in alternate formats.
The USIMAC will acquire and/or produce instructional materials for qualifying students in the accessible format (s) requested by the student’s IEP team. In accordance with the Chafee amendment, the USIMAC produces accessible core materials in Braille, Large Print, Audio (MP3 format), Digital (e-texts such as PDF, HTML, Word, text), or Daisy (which can be a combination of audio and digital) formats.
Athletics
The philosophy of the USDB Athletic Department is to provide equal opportunity to student-athletes in a quality high school sports program. Education is the top priority and athletics is considered an earned “privilege.” Student-athletes will learn and develop mental, physical, emotional, and social skills in the USDB athletic program that will carry over to their daily lives
The USDB Athletic Department provides programs to serve high school athletes after school hours and is an affiliated member of the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA).
Hundreds of discounts for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind.
Grants
The Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind periodically applies for grants that will benefit students who are deaf and blind. The following is a list of the grants that USDB has been awarded:
