The Congress finds the following:
(1)
When American author, Mark Twain, immortalized Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy, with the moniker “the miracle worker”, his words, though meant as praise, reflect the misconception that educating individuals with disabilities is a nearly insurmountable task requiring extraordinary feats performed by gifted and saintly persons. Rather, the work of teaching children with disabilities can and does occur when committed and qualified but everyday special educators are properly prepared and supported to practice their professions. Yet, the educational systems within which they act must also be held accountable for results.
(2)
In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and a deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, opened the first American school for deaf students—the American School for the Deaf—with young Alice Cogswell as its first pupil. Ultimately the school grew into a national institution and the mother of many other schools. As Alice demonstrated, deaf and hard of hearing children can learn and achieve to high levels when they have full access to language and communication; are taught by professionals with specialized training; and have access to educational placements that recognize and provide for their language, communication, social-emotional, and academic needs.
(3)
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. However, currently, early intervention services typically are not provided in a timely manner and severe shortages of specialized early intervention professionals result in many deaf and hard of hearing children not reaching their developmental potential. Similarly, research demonstrates that students with visual disabilities are among the highest performing students with disabilities in terms of academic achievement, and yet they are among the least employed, even after successful accomplishment of postsecondary academic objectives.
(4)
Likewise, children who are deaf-blind have the same capacity to learn and achieve as any other children. However, they must have ongoing access to the same environmental and educational information that their sighted and hearing peers can access automatically. These children require direct learning experiences, including hands-on experiences and intense involvement in educational routines and activities. They must receive specialized direct instruction in their preferred mode of communication in a range of academic and functional areas.
(5)
Students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind require more language and communication access and support to acquire skills than they are currently receiving. It has been the 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”.
(6)
Moreover, a principal way that sighted, hearing students acquire knowledge and skills is through incidental learning, naturally observing others and the environment. Deficits in incidental learning leave students with sensory disabilities behind in an array of skill areas. In addition to core academics, deaf and hard of hearing students, for example, must also receive specialized instruction and services designed to maximize their capacity to learn effectively and live productively and independently. Similarly, students who are blind or visually impaired must also receive instruction in the expanded core curriculum, a comprehensive array of specialized instruction and services maximizing the capacity of students with visual disabilities to learn effectively and live productively and independently.
(7)
The widespread use by States of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s disability categories has led to a sizable undercount of students with sensory disabilities and, consequently, a lack of recognition of the extent of the systemic need for the delivery of appropriate instructional services meeting their unique needs. This occurs in large measure because students with sensory disabilities who also have additional disabilities are frequently formally classified as having multiple disabilities. Consequently, their vision, hearing, or concomitant vision and hearing disabilities and related support needs are not fully acknowledged.
(8)
Children who are deaf-blind should receive one-to-one services from interveners, who have training and specialized skills in deaf-blindness. Interveners play a critical role in the provision of a Free and Appropriate Public Education, because they provide access to the information these children need in order to learn and develop concepts, to facilitate their communication development and interactions in their preferred mode of communication, and to promote their social and emotional well-being.
(9)
A national resource in visual disabilities is needed to supplement the work of State and local educational agencies through student enrichment activities; to support teachers of students with visual impairments and related services personnel through state-of-the-art continuing education opportunities; and to spur the further advancement of instructional services for students with visual disabilities through scientific research and evidence-based best practices.