Introducing NEXUS: National Expansion of Expertise for Understanding and Supporting Complex Needs
NEXUS is an exciting new national initiative designed to bring people, expertise, and resources together to improve outcomes for DeafBlind youth with complex support needs.
Helen Keller National Center launched NEXUS this summer.
NEXUS is an exciting new national initiative designed to bring people, expertise, and resources together to improve outcomes for DeafBlind youth with complex support needs. The program creates a coordinated connection point for state agencies, educational teams, adult service providers, professionals, families, and DeafBlind individuals working toward successful transitions from school to adult life.
At its core, NEXUS is about connection: linking training, technical assistance, family support, and professional collaboration across states. By building a national network of qualified personnel and informed families, NEXUS will help communities provide more effective communication supports, learning opportunities, employment preparation, independent living resources, and adult service connections for DeafBlind youth.
This initiative responds to a critical need: across vocational rehabilitation systems, schools, community programs, and adult service networks, the demand for specialized DeafBlind expertise continues to outpace the number of trained professionals available. Families also need clear guidance, practical resources, and trusted support as their children move from the education system into the adult service world. NEXUS is designed to close those gaps by expanding and strengthening collaboration, expanding capacity among support services and creating pathways to better long-term outcomes.
Every state has people who care deeply about these young people. What is often missing is the connection between them. A teacher who spent years learning how a student communicates, an adult services provider meeting that student for the first time, and a parent trying to hold it all together are too often working without a shared plan. NEXUS puts those people in the same conversation and makes sure what one team has learned is not lost when the next team takes over.
Deborah Harlin, NEXUS Program Director, Helen Keller National Center
Why NEXUS Matters
For many DeafBlind youth, the transition from school to adult life requires a carefully coordinated team, specialized communication strategies, informed service providers, and family-centered planning. NEXUS will help states and communities strengthen that coordination so youth and families can move forward with greater confidence, clearer expectations, and stronger supports.
What NEXUS Will Provide
- Training and curriculum resources that help professionals understand and respond to the unique communication, learning, and support needs of DeafBlind youth.
- Technical assistance for state and local agencies seeking to strengthen transition planning, service coordination, and family engagement.
- In-person and virtual learning opportunities that support practical skill development and statewide capacity building.
- Train-the-trainer opportunities that allow knowledge to grow locally and continue beyond the first point of training.
- Tools and resources to help agencies evaluate programs, document outcomes, and identify effective practices.
- Family-focused resources that offer guidance, connection, and support during the transition from education to adult services.
- Communities of Practice where professionals and families can exchange ideas, ask questions, share successes, and learn from one another across states.
Building on What Works
NEXUS builds on lessons learned through HKNC’s DeafBlind Immersion Experience, which provides consultative training to one DeafBlind individual with complex support needs and their support team at a time. While that model offers powerful individualized learning, NEXUS expands the impact by helping agencies build their own capacity to collaborate, train staff, support families, and sustain high-quality services within their communities.
For nearly six decades, Helen Keller National Center has been where families and professionals turn when a DeafBlind person’s needs are complex. NEXUS is how we extend that expertise beyond any single campus or caseload. Our regional representatives already work alongside the agencies that serve DeafBlind youth across the country, and NEXUS puts that work to use so that a young person’s future does not depend on where they happen to live.
John Filek, Executive Director, Helen Keller National Center
What Success Can Look Like
Through NEXUS, communities can expect stronger partnerships, better-prepared professionals, more informed families, and improved transition experiences for DeafBlind youth. The program is designed to raise expectations, document successful outcomes, and create a national learning network that helps every participating state move from isolated efforts toward coordinated, sustainable support.
A National Foundation for NEXUS
Helen Keller National Center is the only organization in the United States providing comprehensive services to DeafBlind youth and adults nationwide. Through a network of regional representatives serving all 50 states and U.S. territories, HKNC brings established infrastructure, deep expertise, and trusted relationships to every NEXUS partnership.
Contact Us
Helen Keller National Center
Deborah Harlin, NEXUS Program Director
516-760-0158
dharlin@helenkeller.org
141 Middle Neck Road
Sands Point, NY 11050
