Thomas R. Miller

Educational Partnerships

Education Director

Tom Miller has worked in the field of education of children who are blind, deafblind or with multiple disabilities since 1974. Tom is currently the Education Director of the Educational Partnerships Program: Early Intervention and School Age Services (Birth-22). The Educational Partnerships Program is comprised of two program areas:

• Infant and Toddler Services (Birth-3)
• School Age Community Based Services Program: Itinerant Services for Students in Public Schools (ages 3-22)

In this capacity he is responsible for the overall program management, supervision, case coordination, training and evaluation of a program staff comprised of teachers of students with visual impairments, teachers of the deafblind, orientation and mobility specialists, clinical specialists, social workers and paraprofessionals.

He is a national trainer for the NASDSE (National Association of State Directors of Special Education) blind and visually impaired educational service guidelines. In addition, Tom trains parents and professionals nationally and internationally in program development, early intervention issues, the expanded core curriculum, social skills development and sex education.

Tom is the former chairperson of the Massachusetts Inter-Agency Coordinating Council (ICC) for Part C of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). The council is responsible for working with the Department of Public Health and parent, provider and agency council representatives to monitor, develop and implement the state's program for children ages birth to two years. He is now chairperson of the Specialty Services Subcommittee of the ICC which advocates and advises the Department of Public Health on issues related to infants and toddlers with visual impairments, deafblindness, deafness and autism. Tom is also actively involved on committees within the MA Department of Education's (DOE). He is currently the President of the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium and the Chair of the Infant and Early Childhood Division of the Association of Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Prior to working at Perkins, Tom was the educational supervisor of programs for children with deafblindness and multiple disabilities at the New York Institute for the Blind. He began his career in special education at the Institute in 1974 as a teacher of students with visual impairments and deafblindness.

Tom holds a master's degree in Special Education from Manhattan College and a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Cathedral College.