Sec. 4. Definitions
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In this Act: The term advisory council means an 11-person advisory council that— provides guidance, recommendations, and oversight to an eligible entity; is comprised exclusively of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities who collectively have diverse— educational and professional backgrounds; racial, ethnic, gender, and linguistic identities; disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, ages, and geographic locations; levels of income; and forms of augmentative and alternative communication relied upon; and is subject to each of the following conditions:
The initial council members shall be identified in the grant application by the partners of the eligible entity. Each member of the advisory council shall be appointed for a period of 5 years. The Chair and Vice Chair of the council shall be selected by the council members at the first meeting and thereafter as the council determines to be appropriate. The council shall fill any vacancy in accordance with section 7(b)(8)(C). The term augmentative and alternative communication means any tool, method, technology, strategy, service, training, coaching, and other support used to supplement or replace speech.
The term competitive integrated employment has the meaning given the term in section 7 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ( 29 U.S.C. 705 ). The term disability has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ( 42 U.S.C. 12102 ). The term eligible entity means a partnership of at least 2 organizations— for which the controlling partner of the partnership is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States that vests power and authority in individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in terms of management, staffing, decisionmaking, operation, and provision of services; that includes at least one other organization headquartered in the United States that is either an institution of higher education or an association of professional service providers or educators in the field of significant expressive communication disabilities; that has a cross-disability and cross-generational focus; that is advised by an advisory council; that has adopted a mission that values equal opportunity and the fundamental right of communication access, and operating principles that respect the rights of individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities to express themselves in the manner of their choosing; and of which the organizational members, collectively— have knowledge, experience, and capacity in conducting training, technical assistance, or knowledge dissemination related to the priority activities described in section 6; have experience working directly with individuals with significant expressive communication disabilities in association with— early intervention programs, early childhood programs, elementary or secondary schools, or postsecondary education programs; or 2 or more types of entities from among— centers for independent living authorized under part C of title VII of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 ( 29 U.S.C. 796f et seq. ); home and community-based service providers; employers; health care providers; protection and advocacy organizations; aging networks; caregiver organizations; or State, Tribal, or local government agencies; and have experience developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships among disability-led advocacy organizations, institutions of higher education, professional associations, or caregiver organizations.
The term evidence-based , used with respect to assistance that is knowledge, a resource, training, or technical assistance, means assistance— that demonstrates a rationale based on a high-quality research finding or positive evaluation that such assistance is likely to improve a communication outcome or other relevant outcome; and for which ongoing efforts are made to examine the effects of the assistance. The term individual with significant expressive communication disabilities means an individual of any age— who has 1 or more real or perceived significant expressive communication disabilities and may have other disabilities; and whose disabilities result in the need for, or benefit from, augmentative and alternative communication and other supports to enable the individual to communicate and to aid the individual in participating in 1 or more aspects of life.
The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001(a) ). The term national resource center means a National Resource Center on Augmentative and Alternative Communication referred to in section 5(a). The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The term significant expressive communication disability means any disability, whether congenital, developmental, or acquired at any point in life, that prevents or significantly limits an individual from understanding or being understood using spoken words, resulting in the individual’s need for or benefit from augmentative and alternative communication.
The term does not apply to an individual whose primary communication disability is visual or auditory in nature, but does apply to an individual with a disability described in subparagraph
(A)who also has a visual or auditory communication disability and who may communicate using sign language. The term State means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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