Kansas University researchers announced Monday they have received a $1.25 million grant to help deaf-blind children who have cognitive disabilities to communicate.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Education, will go to researchers at KU’s Life Span Institute.

The five-year study will be directed by Susan Bashinski, research assistant professor, and Nancy Brady, associate research professor. Joan Houghton is project coordinator.

The researchers plan to adapt a communication strategy called “Prelinguistic Milieu Training.” PMT was developed to improve the communication of children with cognitive disabilities by Steven Warren, director of the Life Span Institute and Paul Yoder, a professor at Vanderbilt University.

There are an estimated 12,000 deaf-blind children in the U.S., including about 134 in Kansas.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Tuesday’s Journal-World.