Resource Center

• label General
  • Board of Public Education – Exercises general supervision over the elementary and secondary schools of the state. Serves as the School Board for MSDB
  • Children’s Special Health Services Medical Home Portal – A unique source of reliable information for children and youth with special health care needs offering a “one-stop shop” for families, medical providers, and other professionals and caregivers.
  • Described and Captioned Media Program – Free-loan library of accessible materials including captioned and described media.
  • Montana Telecommunications Access Program – Improving the quality of life for all Montanans through education, innovation, and technology by enhancing communications options.
  • Office of Public Instruction – Montana’s state education agency. Serves students, parents, and local schools.
  • Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services – Serves Montanans with disabilities in seeking training and employment.
  • MonTECH – MonTECH provides technology, support, and services that improve the quality of life for Montanans with disabilities.
• label Blind and Visually Impaired Resources
  • American Federation for the Blind – Advocates for better policies that promote accessibility, equality, and opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired.
  • American Printing House – The World’s largest nonprofit organization creating educational, workplace, and independent living products and services for people who are visually impaired.
  • American Printing House for the Blind (YouTube page)
  • Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired – Serves and empowers professionals to deliver standards-based practices that lead to improved educational and rehabilitative outcomes for individuals with visual impairment and blindness.
  • Bookshare – The most extensive collection of accessible ebooks in the world.
  • Guidance for persons providing instruction in braille: Braille Administrative Rule 10.55.717
  • Federal Guidance for Educating Students with Visual impairment and Blindness 
  • Hadley – Creates personalized learning opportunities free of charge to anyone with a visual impairment as well as families and professionals serving them.
  • Humanware – Global leader in assistive technology for people who are blind or have low vision.
  • Montana Association for the Blind – Nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people with vision problems live happier and more independent lives.
  • Montana Talking Book Library – A free-loan mail program and digital download of braille and audio books for Montana residents who are unable to use standard print materials due to visual, physical, and/or reading disabilities.
  • Montana Health Gives – Little Peeps. – Little Peeps is here to help cover the cost of eye exams and glasses for children age 3 to 18 in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming – helping them perform better academically and be better prepared for life.
  • National Federation of the Blind – Coordinates programs, services, and resources to defend the rights of blind Americans, provides information and supports to blind children and adults, and builds a community that creates a future full of opportunities.
  • National Instructional Materials Access Center – A federally-funded, searchable online file repository of K-12 print textbook content.

    • NIMAS in Purchase Orders & Contracts

  • National Library of Virtual Manipulatives – A National Science Foundation project from which teachers may use to enrich their mathematics instruction.
  • National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped – A free braille and talking book library service for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or physical disability that prevents them from reading or holding the printed page.
  • Northwest Association of Blind Athletes – Provides life-changing opportunities through sports and physical activity to individuals who are blind and visually impaired in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana
  • Paths to Literacy – A joint project of Perkins and Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired to provide assistance to families and educators in learning about and developing literacy experiences for children who are blind or visually impaired.
  • Perkins School for the Blind – A progressive, multi-faceted organization committed to improving the lives of people with blindness and deafblindness all around the world.
  • Seedlings Braille Books for Children – A nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the opportunity for literacy by providing high quality, free and low cost braille books for children.
  • Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired – A special public school and a statewide resource in Texas. TSBVI provides online learning opportunities as well as an extensive list of publications and resources both free and for purchase.
  • United States Association of Blind Athletes – Empowers Americans who are blind and visually impaired to experience life-changing opportunities in sports, and recreation and physical abilities, thereby educating and inspiring the nation.
  • Washington State School for the Blind – Video Clips on Blindness Tips for teaching students who are blind or visually impaired how to complete a variety of tasks.
  • Orientation and Mobility Specialists in Montana – PDF document containing contact information for Direct Orientation and Mobility Providers in the State of Montana.
• label Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • AG Bell – Supports families and professionals in ensuring people who are deaf and hard of hearing can hear and speak.
  • ASL Deafined – A subscription website ($108 / year) with over 300 themed lessons to learn ASL.
  • ASL Pro – A site featuring American Sign Language video dictionaries and quizzes. Features main dictionary, religious dictionary, phrases dictionary, and ASL for babies.
  • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association – A national professional organization for audiologists, speech language pathologists, and speech-language-hearing scientists.
  • Audiology Online – An online learning experience that is affordable ($99/year), convenient, and accessible related to all things audiology.
  • Clerc Center – Also known as the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, the Center provides information, training, and technical assistance for parents and professionals to meet the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children.
  • Conservatory ASL Northwest – A nonprofit created to connect, cultivate, and empower deaf and hearing signers of all ages by facilitating both knowledge sharing and social interactions in American Sign Language.
  • Dawn Signs Press – Creates, develops, and publishes quality American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf culture-related videos and books.
  • Deaf Teen Leadership Camp – A week-long camp in Randle, WA focusing on empowering deaf and hard of hearing youth, fostering personal growth, encouraging confidence, and creating personal and community change.
  • Gallaudet University – The world’s only university designed to be barrier-free for deaf and hard of hearing students located in Washington DC.
  • Hamilton Relay – Provides free 24-hour equal communication access via the phone to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind, or have difficulty speaking.
  • Hands and Voices – A nonprofit, parent-driven organization dedicated to supporting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
  • Harris Communications – Offers thousands of products such as clocks and watches, personal amplification devices, and telephones for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
  • Hearing Loss Association of America – Opens the world of communication to people with hearing loss by providing information, education, support, and advocacy.
  • Language First Lab – The mission of Language First Lab is that language must be the first intervention, over speech perception and listening skills for proper brain development.
  • LifePrint – American Sign Language University is a resource site for ASL students and teachers with information and resources to help learn ASL and improve signing.
  • Montana Speech-Language-Hearing Association – An organization which promotes professional excellence in speech-language pathology and audiology which fosters excellence for individuals with communication and related disorders.
  • National Association of the Deaf – The nation’s premier civil rights organization of, by, and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America.
  • National Cued Speech Association – Cued Speech is a visual mode of communication in which mouth movements of speech combine with “cues” to make the sounds (phonemes) of traditional spoken languages look different.
  • National Deaf Center – Provides evidence-based strategies to deaf and hard of hearing individuals, family members, and professionals at the local, state, and national levels with the goal of closing the education and employment gaps for deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
  • National Technical Institute for the Deaf – Provides degree programs designed specifically for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to enter technical and professional fields, and to propel them to success in their careers and in life.
  • Signing Savvy – A sign language dictionary. View large sign videos, build your own word lists, create virtual flash cards and quizzes and much more.
  • Visual Language and Visual Learning (VL2) – An NSF Science of Learning Center studying monolinguals and bilinguals to determine the effects of visual processes, visual language, reading and literacy for the benefit of all humans.
• label DeafBlind
  • American Association of the DeafBlind – A national consumer organization of, by, and for deaf-blind Americans and their supporters. AADB ensures that all deaf-blind persons achieve their maximum potential through increased independence, productivity, and integration into the community.
  • DeafBlind Interpreting National Training and Resource Center – Federally-funded Regional Resource Center on Deafness at Western Oregon University.  The organization provides online and onsite protactile interpreting training and resources on current standards and practices for communication in the deafblind community.
  • iCanConnect – An FCC program to connect deafblind individuals with assistive technology (AT) devices and equipment.  They provide a range of AT options including braille devices, computers, mobile devices and signalers.
  • Helen Keller National Center – Provides training and resources exclusively to people age 16 and over who have combined vision and hearing loss. HKNC is also a leader in professional learning, “training the trainers” to work with the deaf-blind community.
  • Montana DeafBlind Project – A source of specialized information, technical assistance, and resources focused on improving education, inclusion, and college and career readiness for individuals with combined hearing and vision loss between the ages of birth through 21.
  • National Center for Deaf-Blindness – A national technical assistance center working to improve the quality of life for children who are deaf-blind.
  • Open Hands, Open Access (OHOA): Deaf-Blind Intervener Learning Modules – A national resource designed to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills related to intervention for students ages 3-21 who are deaf-blind and being served in educational settings.
  • Perkins School for the Blind – A progressive, multi-faceted organization committed to improving the lives of people with blindness and deafblindness all around the world.
  • Washington Sensory Disabilities Services – Partners with families and service providers to support children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired, or deaf-blind. Check out their videos and resources.
• label Videophone and Video Relay Service Companies
  • Convo
  • Purple Communications
  • Sorenson Communications
  • ZVRS
• label Lending Library - Low Vision Reading Project
  • Prodigi Connect 12 Getting Started Guide
  • Prodigi Connect 12 Users Manual
  • Prodigi Connect 12 Inventory Form
  • Prodigi Connect 12 Training Videos