CAYSI Services

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.

We are not a direct service project. Instead, our 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.

Eligibility Criteria for CAYSI Services

•  Age range of birth to 22 years old; and
•  Have BOTH hearing and vision impairments; or
•  Has multiple disabilities with suspected sensory losses; or
•  Has been diagnosed as having a regenerative disease that may affect sensory loss; or
•  Has an identified high risk condition; or
•  Have multiple disabilities due to a generalized central nervous system dysfunction and exhibit inconsistent responses to visual and auditory stimuli.

Make a Referral to CAYSI

Anyone may refer a child to our project for services. When CAYSI staff receives a referral from a parent or professional they will set up a time to meet with the family to explain the services and determine how they might help support their child. Once appropriate records are obtained and reviewed and, eligibility is determined, a home visit and school visit are scheduled. CAYSI then continues to build relationships and provide educational support for the child, family, and professional(s).

You may refer a child directly to the project by using this link: CAYSI Referral

Census Information

CAYSI maintains the federally required Census for the National Deaf-blind registry. The National Deaf-blind registry assists the US Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in supporting individuals with dual sensory impairment and other disabilities. The CAYSI Census form for the December 1 Child Count is to be completed annually by the Special Education Supervisor or appropriate professional.

Disclaimer: The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education #H326T230038. 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, Louise J Tripoli.