Sec. 101. Findings

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The Congress finds the following: The history of the education of deaf and hard of hearing students in the United States began with the education of Alice Cogswell in Connecticut in the early 1800s. Born in 1805, Alice became deaf at a young age. By the time she was nine, she was befriended by a neighbor, Thomas Gallaudet, who demonstrated that she could make the association between objects and the written words for them. Soon she became the focus of an initiative to found a school for deaf individuals in America.

In April of 1817, Gallaudet and a deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, opened the first successful American school for deaf persons—the American School for the Deaf—with Alice as its first pupil. From an initial class of seven students, the school grew into a national institution, the mother school of many subsequent schools for the deaf and the training ground for their principals and teachers. Alice Cogswell’s story reminds us that deaf and hard of hearing children are capable of learning and achieving to high levels when they have access to full language and communication, are taught by professionals with specialized training in the unique needs of deaf and hard of hearing students, and have access to educational placements that recognize and provide for their language, communication, and academic needs.

Deaf and hard of hearing children need early and ongoing access to language. Research demonstrates that deaf and hard of hearing children who are identified early and receive appropriate early intervention from specialized, qualified providers achieve higher language and communication outcomes than those who are identified late and do not receive such services. However, currently, early intervention services typically are not provided in a timely manner, severe shortages of specialized early intervention professionals exist, and many deaf and hard of hearing children are not reaching their developmental potential.

Deaf and hard of hearing children are born with the same capacity to learn and achieve as any other child. However, historically as a group, their literacy and academic outcomes have not been commensurate with their abilities. The education system in the United States must better meet the academic and related learning needs of these students, who can succeed when those needs are addressed. A principal way that hearing students acquire knowledge and skills is through incidental learning, the process of observing others and the environment that occurs naturally at home, at school and in the community.

Deficits in incidental learning leave deaf and hard of hearing students behind in the acquisition of an array of academic and social-emotional skill areas. In addition to core academics such as reading, mathematics and science, deaf and hard of hearing students must also receive specialized instruction and services designed to maximize their capacity to learn effectively and live productively and independently. These include instruction in audiology, age appropriate career education, communication and language, including American Sign Language and spoken language with or without visual supports, functional skills for academic success, self-determination and advocacy (including preparation for transition to work or higher education), social emotional skills, technology, and support for the student through family education.

It is imperative that deaf and hard of hearing students have communication and language access and development. The development of age appropriate communication and language skills is essential to any cognitive, psychological and educational growth. Without communication and language a student cannot become literate or educated. Without communication and language a student will not develop reading, computation, writing, analytical, and other necessary skills. The importance of an education in which communication and language access and development are provided is not merely a matter of educational methodology or classroom strategy but a right equal to the right of any student to access classroom information, communicate with peers and staff, and develop literacies required for educational success.

When students are deprived of communication and language access and development they cannot meaningfully engage in the rich and varied experience that is American education and become active members in our American democracy. Communication and language are the first building blocks in any education and are required for human development. Since the 1997 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), IEP Teams have been required to consider the language and communication needs of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, including opportunities for direct communications with peers and professional personnel in the child’s language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the child’s language and communication mode.

Further, it is been the U.S. Department of Education’s position since 1992 that “[a]ny educational setting that does not meet the communication and related needs of a child who is deaf does not allow for the provision of [a Free Appropriate Public Education] and cannot be considered the [Least Restrictive Environment] for that child. Just as the [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] requires placement in the regular educational setting when it is appropriate for the unique needs of a child who is deaf, it also requires placement outside of the regular educational setting when the child’s needs cannot be met in that setting” (Deaf Students Education Services:

Policy Guidance,” 57 Fed. Reg. 49274 (1992)). And it is well argued that deaf and hard of hearing students benefit from a setting in which a critical mass of deaf and hard of hearing peers is found. Nevertheless, it has been contended that few deaf and hard of hearing students are receiving full access to language and communication in the regular education setting, and few have access to a critical mass of peers. This lack of language and communication access contributes to students’ social isolation and to the inability of graduates to achieve academic outcomes on par with those of their hearing peers.

Since the U.S. Department of Education does not require sufficient monitoring of State and local educational agencies to fully and accurately account for their legal obligations to address the language and communication needs of deaf and hard of hearing students, it is not possible to confirm systemically whether such agencies are in compliance with current law. Given that nationally students who are deaf or hard of hearing require more language and communication access and more support to acquire services and skills than they are currently receiving, and given that provision of currently required instruction and placement for such students cannot be adequately assured, IDEA must be strengthened and supplemented to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing students truly receive a free and appropriate public education.

A prerequisite to better meeting these needs is every State and local educational agency's identification and proper evaluation of each student who is deaf or hard of hearing, regardless of whether such student may have other, even potentially more significant, disabilities. While IDEA does not mandate that State and local educational agencies classify students into specific disability categories, the widespread use of IDEA's disability categories has led to a sizable undercount of deaf and hard of hearing students and, consequently, a lack of recognition of the extent of the systemic need for the delivery of appropriate instructional services provided by personnel initially trained and continually supported to meet such students’ unique educational needs.

Indeed, while the U.S. Census Bureau supports the contention that more than 350,000 students nationally have “hearing difficulties,” the Department of Education routinely reports serving under IDEA a population of approximately 73,000. This occurs in large measure because students who are deaf or hard of hearing who also have additional disabilities are frequently formally classified by State and local educational agencies as having multiple disabilities. Consequently, such students' hearing disabilities are not fully acknowledged either in terms of educational agency recognized need for personnel trained to serve such students, or in terms of an individual student's need for the services of such personnel.

It is critical that State and local educational agencies be better prepared to meet these largely unmet needs. To reach this goal, teachers of the deaf and their colleagues in related services must be better supported to provide the full array of specialized instruction and services required by deaf and hard of hearing students. Proper assessment of the unique needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing, along with proper deployment of specialized instruction and interventions, must keep pace with the most current educational theories and practices and be based on the best available evidence.

Significantly greater accountability for results for students who are deaf or hard of hearing, including those with additional disabilities, must be built into America's special education system if deaf and hard of hearing students are to succeed. And it is imperative that all deaf and hard of hearing students, regardless of disability category, are identified and their learning needs fully accounted for. Deaf and hard of hearing children across the United States should experience the same kind of access to language development, social interaction, and academic opportunities experienced by their peers.

Deaf and hard of hearing children are as diverse as any other group of children, and the choices in communication, educational placement options, and other decisions are complex and need to be individualized. Existing high quality resources must be preserved and leveraged so that students who are deaf or hard of hearing do not fall farther behind. Specialized schools for children who are deaf and hard of hearing perform a unique service and must be valued and maintained as part of the continuum of alternative placements.

Both special schools and center-based programs serving children who are deaf or hard of hearing should be tapped for the expert personnel and services such resources can offer, and IDEA's worthy policy objective to ensure the full integration of children with disabilities ought not be allowed to frustrate the delivery of all appropriate services to children with unique needs, whether those services be provided at a specialized school, a local school, or some combination of the two.

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57 FR 49274

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Sec. 101

Findings

Fed. Reg.57 FR 49274

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