Five-Star Disability

So, to continue the debate of with and without intervenors.

I do need intervenors, most Deaf-Blind people do need intervenors.

Yet, the role of an intervenor is to facilitate communication, they “work with” Deaf-Blind to support Deaf-Blind in reaching his or her goals.  The intervenor “works for” an agency that hires them.  They do not “work for” one specific Deaf-Blind person, but many.

With other professionals; interpreters, educational assistants, personal support workers, nurses, plumbers, etc, an intervenor supports a Deaf-Blind person, working with him or her, by providing important services that facilitate independence.  An intervenor does not “do with, not for” a Deaf-Blind person.  This quote is from Canadian DeafBlind Association and it refers to a very simple goal for intervenors; do an activity with a Deaf-Blind person, not for.

Example: intervenor Leo would provide communication and visual information so that I can be involved with a family gathering, he would not speak for himself, adding own comments while providing short summarizations to me.  Leo is not there for his own enjoyment!

All this being said, I strongly belief that an Intervenor is an essential service that should be on equal level to that of all other professional personal workers.