Cancelled program cuts services for deafblind child and family
How many readers of SET saw the consequences of US policy changes coming?
In the New York Times for 15 December 2025, Sonia A. Rao published an article describing the consequences for individuals with disabilities of changes in US policy under the current US presidential administration. Ms. Rao’s story, which includes excellent visual features by Jamie Kelter Davis, explained how cancellation of federally supported programs—cuts predicated on concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion—caused individuals with disabilities and their families to lose services.
Ms. Rao began her story by describing the case of a preschool child, Annie, whose parents found help from the Wisconsin Deafblind Project, the kind of program many readers of Special Education Today will recognize. The project helped Annie’s parents not only with developmental support in areas such as language but also connections with other families that promoted Annie’s social development.
[Mr. Garner[ discovered the Wisconsin Deafblind Project, a state program for the families of children with combined vision and hearing loss. It made a tremendous difference as they learned to parent Annie, the Garners said.
They met other families experiencing the same thing. A mentor taught them sign language. Annie got sensory toys and Braille books. And she even made a best friend with a similar condition.
Then in September, the Trump administration canceled the five-year, $918,000 grant for the program, which supports about 170 children in Wisconsin like Annie.
Ms. Rao did not stop with the case report, however. She delved deeper into the story and reported about effects of the cuts on teacher preparation, young adults who are deafblind, responses by the government, connections to the shuttering of the US Department of Education, and efforts to mitigate the problems by organizations (e.g., the National Center on Deafblindness) concerned about children with disabilities.
I encourage readers of SET to take the time to review this article. It may be about a population or children who are not high on some readers radar, but it provides a powerful illustration of what can—and is—happening to some of our kids. We are in this together, so if it happens to some of our kids, it could just as well be some other of our kids…or any of our kids.