What is an intervener? Tell me more.

Interveners are paraeducators with specialized knowledge and skills in deafblindness. Trained interveners allow school districts and agencies to effectively meet the unique individualized support needs of students who benefit from intervention services. An intervener provides consistent one-to-one support to a student who is deafblind throughout the instructional day and demonstrates fluency and skill in the communication mode(s) used by the student. There are various training pathways an intervener might follow. An intervener works under the guidance and supervision of credentialed teachers and other specialists with expertise in deafblindness.

A smiling woman is kneeling close to a smiling boy who is wearing glasses. Her arms gently embrace the boy as they pose for a photo.

Why is this important? An intervener provides access for a learner who is deafblind.

A trained 1:1 intervener is an essential piece of an effective program for many students with deafblindness. Students who are deafblind miss an enormous portion of the information and interaction that are occurring around them. A trusted relationship with 1:1 paraeducator who has specialized training and experience working with children and youth who are deafblind can provide an important bridge that provides access to the curriculum across multiple school environments and promotes language development and relationships with peers and other adults. This person develops a close relationship with the student and can effectively “read” and respond to all their communicative attempts, reliably provide additional information, and offer instructional support at a pace that the student can process, and facilitates their active participation in academic lessons and class activities and routines.

A woman wearing a dark sweatshirt is pointing to the handle of a closed door while a young girl stands next to her holding her white hand in one hand and touching a tactile symbol on a wall next to the door with her other hand.

Intervener Resources

Learn more about the role of the intervener and determining the need for intervener services and supports for developing this role interveners below:

  • Fact Sheet from the National Center on Deaf-Blindness: Intervener Definition from the National Center on Deaf Blindness. (2021)

  • National Center on Deafblindness: Tools to Employ and Support Interveners (2023).This webpage includes numerous resources to support school districts, local education agencies and educational teams in developing and supporting the role of an intervener. 

  • National Center on Deafblindness Intervener Resources for Families: What is an Intervener? (2020).
    This webpage provides numerous resources for families to use to understand the role of an intervener, outcomes of intervention, determining the need for an intervener, and perspectives from other families about intervener services.

  • Fact Sheet: Comparison of possible supports for a student who is deafblind (Kennedy, B. 2016). Provides a descriptive comparison of the roles of a paraeducator, intervener, and educational interpreter by identifying the educational supports needs of a student.

Tool for Determining the Need for Intervener Services:

IEP Team Discussion Guide (National Center on Deaf Blindness, 2023): Are Intervener Services Appropriate for Your Student with Deafblindness? Excellent resource to guide discussion of IEP team members to assess whether the current supports and accommodations offered to a student provide access and appropriate educational support and identifies particular areas that intervention services are appropriate and needed.

A woman wearing glasses and dark shirt and jacket provides hand under hand support to a young girl as she holds a blue plastic spoon. The girl is seated in a wheelchair. The woman is looking directly at the child and is holding a red bin with a picture icon for "finished" in her free hand.

Recorded Webinar: 

Intervener Services: The Role, the Outcomes, and Training Opportunities (California Deafblind Services, August 2024).

Training Resources

Professional Development: San Francisco State University and California Deafblind Services: Intervener Training: Deafblind Education 

California Deafblind Services in collaboration with the College of Professional and Global Education (CPaGE) at San Francisco State university offers two-semester online university-based program to prepare paraeducators to effectively serve learners who are deafblind. These courses are taught by California Deafblind Services staff and open to paraeducators currently serving students who are deafblind or those interested in this professional pathway. Completion of this formal training leads to a certificate of completion of Intervener Training: Deafblind Education from San Francisco State University. 
More information can be found on the SFSU CPaGE website: Intervener Training: Deafblind Education

Video: California Deafblind Services (2023). SFSU-CDBS Intervener Training Program Information (4 Minutes)

National Center on Deafblindness Online Learning Modules: Open Hands, Open Access (OHOA): Free, online, asynchronous training modules on deafblindness designed for use in preparing interveners. The content in these modules can support self-study and provide professional development in many topical areas and can supplement, but not replace, other formal intervener training.

National Certification Option: The National Intervener Certification E-Portfolio. (PARAprofessional Resource & Research Center). 
The National Intervener Certification E-Portfolio (NICE). The Intervener Microcredentials and National Intervener Certification E-portfolio (NICE), offered through the Paraprofessional Research and Resource (PARᒾA) Center at the University of Colorado Denver, provide a pathway for interveners working with students who are deafblind to gain recognition for their expertise. Through a series of microcredentials aligned with the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Intervener Standards, an individual who has engaged in prior deafblind intervention training can demonstrate their skills, knowledge, and experience as an intervener. A candidate has the option of completing one microcredential at a time. Successful completion of all seven microcredentials leads to National Intervener Certification E-portfolio (NICE).