DeafBlind Services Minnesota
DeafBlind Services Minnesota advances the independence of children and adults with combined hearing and vision loss.
DeafBlind Services Minnesota (DBSM) brings one-to-one support to deafblind individuals of all ages, throughout Minnesota. Our trained support service providers (SSPs) work with adults, while our interveners teach communication skills to infants, children, youth and adults. Want to work for DBSM? Click here for open positions!
Did you know that you might be eligible for equipment and training through iCanConnect? Click here to learn more.
DeafBlind Services Minnesota is a limited liability corporation (LLC) of Vision Loss Resources.
Adult Community Services
This program provides community support to self-determined deafblind adults age 22 and up (or age 18 and up if not on a school IEP), living throughout Minnesota. Support Services Providers (SSPs) assist deafblind adults with activities of daily living such as grocery shopping, banking, running errands, reading mail and filling out forms. SSPs also help with participating in community life and accessing information.
For more information about or to make a referral to Adult Community Services, please contact Matthew Priebe at (612) 843-3426 (voice), (612) 430-6008 (video phone), or priebem@dbsm.org. TTY users, please dial 711.
Children, Youth and Family Services
We provide support, information, referral, training and advocacy to deafblind children (ages 0-21 while in school on an IFSP/IEP) and their parents, family, educators and other service providers. Our interveners are trained staff who work with deafblind children so that they may learn about their environment and community, meet childhood developmental goals, and develop communication strategies. Interveners assist families with techniques for communicating with their child, developing appropriate expectations of and for their child, and collaborating with educators, schools, and service providers.
For more information or to make a referral, please contact Kim Johnson, Children, Youth and Family Services Manager, at (612) 843-3401 (voice) or kjohnson@dbsm.org.
Deafblind Club – JANUARY CLUB CANCELLED DUE TO EXTREME COLD
Deafblind Club is a community event open to anyone experiencing combined vision loss and hearing loss. Interpreting students, volunteers and anyone interested in learning more about the Deafblind community are also welcome! Multiple languages are represented including American Sign Language, Protactile and spoken English.
Join us for community updates, socializing, lunch, and games! Lunch is at noon and we usually order pizza, please bring $5.00 if you want to eat pizza. For potluck months, please bring a food item to share or $5.00. You may also bring your own lunch. Cans of soda pop and bottled water are available for $1 each.
Deafblind Club meets at on the third Saturday of each month from 11:00am to 1:30pm at St. Peder’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, located at 4600 E 42nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55406. The event ends promptly at 1:30pm and all rides, including Metro Mobility, should be scheduled for no later than a 1:30pm pick-up time. Deafblind Club will not meet if there are forecast to be severe weather conditions that day.
A limited number of Support Service Providers (SSP) and/or ASL Interpreters are on hand to assist with human guiding and communication as needed.
For more information, please contact Sammie Porter, Deafblind Community Specialist, at porters@dbsm.org.
Adjustment to Blindness/Deafblindness Training
We offer a variety of training activities and classes focused on the unique needs of deafblind people. This training is offered through the rehabilitation training center at Vision Loss Resources. For more information, visit our Adjustment to Blindness Training. Referrals are typically made by a consumer’s State Services for the Blind counselor.