Welcome to the Arkansas CAYSI Project
What We Do
CAYSI serves Arkansas children with dual sensory impairments and additional disabilities, otherwise known as deafblindness. We strive to identify the children in the state, promote academic achievement, and improve lives for children with dual sensory impairments through the education and collaboration of special and regular educators, families, early intervention providers, specialists, paraprofessionals, as well as OT’s, PT’s, SLP’s.
Who We Are
CAYSI is a federally funded program serving individuals from birth thru age 21 who are deaf/blind or who are at risk for deaf/blindness . CAYSI consultants provide training, technical assistance and information to families, educators and others who work with these individuals. CAYSI supports the philosophy of inclusion of the individual with deaf/blindness in educational, vocational, recreational and community environments.
Services We Provide
The Arkansas CAYSI Project identifies children who have a combined vision and hearing impairment and seeks to support the children, their families, and the professionals who work with them. The CAYSI Project is a technical assistance project serving individuals birth through 21 years of age across the state who have difficulty using BOTH their vision and hearing. Many of the children/students that CAYSI follows may not have an actual loss of vision and hearing but difficulty using these senses because of other factors such as additional delays, disabilities and/or complex medical problems. CAYSI has an educational consultant as well as a family consultant.
CAYSI is not a direct service project. Instead, their objective is to support families and existing direct services through activities such as training, on-site technical assistance, instructional strategies, and transition services. CAYSI also helps families and service providers to identify and access resources. Many resources are available to families and service providers through the CAYSI loan library.
Please contact us and/or refer your student.
Child Count for the Deaf-Blind Census Documents:
1. 2022 AR Deaf-Blind Child Count Instructions
2. Census Electronic Instructions
3. NCDB Intervener Services DefinitionsInformational Handouts
CAYSI Project Brochure
Dual Sensory Impairment Brochure
CAYSI Stay Connected
Video Introduction to CAYSI
Disclaimer: The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education #H326T180009. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Teaching Research Institute, nor the US Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Eric Caruso.
For more information, please contact:
Jennifer Bishop, MSE
Education Consultant
Arkansas Department of Education
Division of Elementary and Secondary Education
1401 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 450
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-682-4222
Fax: 501-682-4313
Email: jennifer.bishop@ade.arkansas.gov
Michelle Alvarez, BS
Family Consultant for CAYSI
Arkansas Department of Education
Division of Elementary and Secondary Education
1401 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 450
Little Rock, AR 72201
Phone: 501-682-4222
Fax: 501-682-4313
Email: michelle.alvarez@ade.arkansas.gov
