This course is part of an online training program in deafblindness that is designed for paraprofessionals who work with children and youth who are deafblind in educational settings. It is the first in a series of three courses, developed under a grant ("Consortium for National Paraprofessional Training in Deafblindness: A Model for Distance Education in Community Colleges") funded by the U. S. Department of Education: Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE). This course is designed to be highly interactive with maximum opportunities to interact with the instructor and other students from around the country. A course DVD accompanies the curriculum, which introduces students to the wide diversity of children who are deafblind, provides video examples of intervention practices, and reinforces content and assignments. A virtual online library, provided by the National Clearinghouse on Deafblindness, also supports the coursework and provides additional resources to students. This course is unique in that it is part of the first online pre-service training program in the United States that prepares paraprofessionals to work effectively with students who are deafblind.

"The ECP process is beneficial because it provides recognition from our peers, validates our teaching design strategies, and supports our research on effective online coursework."