The Trump administration plans to strip about $200,000 in federal funding from a Washington program supporting deafblind children and young adults.
Deafblindness, which means a person experiences a combination of hearing impairment and vision impairment, is rare. About 300 children and youth were served through Washington deafblind services in 2023, according to the most recent national count.
The cut represents nearly 40% of the program’s annual funding, which totals $573,000.
The cut is spurred by the administration’s ongoing push to remove diversity, equity and inclusion from federal programs, according to a spreadsheet of federal grant discontinuations and justifications for them. The data was shared by Lanya Elsa, a Sammamish special education researcher and family support professional, who received the spreadsheet in an email distributed by the National Family Association for Deafblind.
The cuts to deafblind programs are part of a broader sweep of cuts to 34 grants under the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services within the U.S. Department of Education, the association said. The spreadsheet said funds “will be provided as a supplement to nearby states to meet the needs of” Washington, but did not detail how or which nearby states would support those needs.
Washington’s program was notified Sept. 5 and was given a Friday deadline to appeal the decision, said Pam Parker, the interim superintendent of the Washington State School for the Blind, on Thursday.
The program is filing an appeal but it’s not clear when the U.S. Department of Education will make a decision. Three other deafblind programs — in Oregon, New England and Wisconsin — are also facing funding cuts.
Katie Kauffman’s 6-year-old daughter, Linnea, has a genetic disorder that makes it challenging for her brain to process visual information and sound. Her vision is highly impaired; her hearing loss is more moderate, but Kauffman says sounds likely get sent to Linnea’s brain incompletely or are garbled, or her brain doesn’t process them well.
The deafblind program worked with the family to suggest and acquire equipment to support Linnea’s development. That’s included sensory toys — like a stuffed sea horse that plays music and glows, which soothed Linnea when little else did.
“I still never go anywhere without it,” Kauffman said.
The program has also helped other members of Linnea’s support team, including teachers and people providing early intervention services, understand deafblindness and her daughter.
The specialist also helped Kauffman read Linnea’s behaviors and cues, which can be very subtle, and taught her to communicate with her daughter through touch.
“The deafblind project is central to my ability to lead and coordinate and advocate for her, in all of her places that she goes, around that,” Kauffman said.
Lianne DeVerter, of Edmonds, whose 13-year-old son, Colton, is hard of hearing and has low vision in one of his eyes, says the deafblind program has experts that know how to support kids with deafblindness, providing assessments and help with getting Colton what he needs in the classroom.
Colton is an eighth grader at Madrona K-8 in the Edmonds school district, who is “obsessed” with video games and is collaborating with a friend on a comic book where a group of heroes stop villains who are trying to take over the world, his mother says.
“He's thriving because there's been a village around him to support him,” DeVerter said. “And I mean, it really does just break my heart for that mom that won't have a village because a grant says ‘inclusion.’ That's crazy. We don't want our kids to be included anymore? I don't understand this.”
Colton is in a transition period, since he’ll enter high school next year, DeVerter said. Many of his friends are talking about going to a STEM program, but with everything happening in the federal government, she doesn’t know if she’ll keep him in public school.
For Kauffman, having a child with deafblindness felt shocking and isolating at first, but the deafblind program — which sent specialists to her home, worked with her and appreciated her daughter — has helped her feel less alone.
“There's hope for her to have a good life,” Kauffman said. “There's hope for me to be able to connect with her, and for her to know she's loved, and for her to have the best life that she can, because here's somebody who can help me know and understand what it is possible to know and understand about her.”
DeVerter said that children with deafblindness are prone to falling through the cracks in the educational system because they have unique needs.
“My idea of equity is not giving my kid more,” she said. “It's just making sure that he has access. Because once he has access, he reads, he writes, he talks, all the things.”
The National Family Association for Deafblind said in a statement on its website the grant cuts would affect interpretation services for children, access to education for students, and vocational training for adults.
“Cutting these programs is nothing short of abhorrent, and the ripple effects will be felt across our nation,” the association wrote. “Specialized federal programs make daily living, functioning, and employment possible for people born with dual sensory loss, complete DeafBlindness, or anyone who is impacted by hearing and vision loss.”
The federal Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services determined the state’s application for funding indicated that Washington proposed “project activities that conflict with the Department’s policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education,” according to the spreadsheet of cuts.
The administration pointed to a part of the application for funding saying the Washington State School for the Blind recognized it had to embed diversity, equity and inclusion in its work to achieve its mission in service of Washingtonians, and that the school directs all supervisors and leaders to promote diversity in hiring activities, “recruit and appoint culturally, racially and ethnically diverse managers and leaders,” and to promote “inclusive strategies” to retain a diverse workforce.
“As a result of the information identified above, the program office has determined that continuation of the project would be in conflict with agency policy and priorities, and so is not in the best interest of the Federal Government,” the spreadsheet read.
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