This is to follow up the National LEAD-K response to ROAR. Before I start, I want to thank both ROAR, community members and advocates for their passion for what’s for the best for our Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) children and their families. I would like also to share additional information that focuses on Massachusetts only. I will share what the issues MA is facing and how the bill will address/resolve these issues. I hope this information will help you understand the purpose of our bill and attract your involvement.
—————
Issues that the bill will address:
There is a huge gap between Department of Public Health (DPH) & Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
Solve how? DPH and DESE will work together. DPH will focus on DHH children age 0-3 and DESE will focus on DHH children age 3-5. No DHH child will fall in crack.
DPH: Early Intervention (EI) provides an eligibility evaluation (communication is one of the domains) for enrollment, not to track and monitor for language acquisition
Solve how? The bill will ensure language assessments for the purpose of tracking and monitoring each child’s language development.
We have no data because no one is held accountable in language acquisition monitoring, tracking or data collection for age 0-5.
Solve how? The state will be held accountable ensuring all DHH children are developing their language and meeting language milestones in order to arrive Kindergarten with full, intact language.
DESE: DHH students are not disaggregated in the system.
Solve how? The bill will enforce to design a category for DHH students only.
ASL resources/information is not made available to every family. Usually it is presented later in a child’s life.
Solve how? All families will receive comprehensive, balanced and unbiased information and resources including language milestones about ASL and English (as language) as well as communication modes to support language acquisition. Currently, ASL is not always presented at the table.
There is no language benchmarks for anybody or parents to use. Families do not know if their toddler is progressing and if s/he is falling behind.
Solve how? All families will receive comprehensive, balanced and unbiased information and resources including language milestones about ASL and English (as language). With these tools, families are able to keep an eye on their toddler’s progress and bring their notes to the meetings such as EI, IFSP or IEP.
—————
It’s our goal to improve the system and witness every DHH child’s beautiful and effortless language growth.
No more children will be language deprived — we can help and we will!