Intervener Services and Interveners in Educational Settings: DEFINITION
Interveners, through the provision of intervener services, provide access to information and communication and facilitate the development of social and emotional well-being for children who are deaf-blind. In educational environments, intervener services are provided by an individual, typically a paraeducator, who has received specialized training in deaf-blindness and the process of intervention. An intervener provides consistent one-to-one support to a student who is deaf-blind (ages 3 through 22 or as mandated by state regulations) throughout the instructional day.
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Primary Roles
Working under the direction of a student’s classroom teacher or other individual responsible for ensuring implementation of a student’s IEP, an intervener’s primary roles are to:
Although some educators worry that interveners may create dependency, the exact opposite is true. Interveners are trained to “do with, not for” their students and support them to function as independently as possible.
