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 school in the United States 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, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled children can learn and achieve to high levels when they have full access to language, are taught by professionals with specialized training, and have access to educational placements that recognize and provide for their language, social-emotional, and academic needs.
(3)
Deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children who are identified early and receive appropriate early intervention from specialized, qualified providers achieve higher academic and language outcomes. However, as of the date of enactment of this Act, early intervention services often are limited to one language, many children are lost to follow-up, and there are severe shortages of specialized early intervention professionals, resulting in many deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children not reaching their appropriate milestones and experiencing language deprivation, impacting their full lives.
(4)
Research demonstrates that children and youth who are blind or visually impaired 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.
(5)
Likewise, children and youth who are deafblind 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 accessible language in a range of academic and functional areas.
(6)
Children and youth who are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind require more language access and support to acquire skills than they are, as of the date of enactment of this Act, predominantly receiving in local school districts struggling to find qualified personnel, so that such individuals risk experiencing language deprivation. 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”.
(7)
Moreover, a principal way that sighted and hearing children and youth acquire knowledge and skills is through incidental learning, naturally observing others and the environment. Deficits in incidental learning leave children and youth with sensory disabilities behind in an array of skill areas. In addition to core academics, deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children and youth, for example, must also receive specialized instruction and services designed to maximize their capacity to learn effectively and live productively and independently. Similarly, children and youth 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 children and youth who are blind or visually impaired to learn effectively and live productively and independently.
(8)
The widespread use by States of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s disability categories has led to a sizable undercount of children and youth 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 children and youth 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.
(9)
It also must be acknowledged and recognized that the population of deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled children and youth is inherently diverse, with 55 percent or more being children of color. In contrast, less than 10 percent of personnel, including teachers of deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled children and youth, and interpreters, are people of color.
(10)
Qualified teachers of the deafblind are needed to assist children and youth who are deafblind in schools and school-related activities. Also needed are qualified interveners, who work one-to-one with children and youth who are deafblind and who have training and specialized skills in deafblindness. Interveners play a critical role in the provision of a Free and Appropriate Public Education for children and youth who are deafblind, because they provide access to the information needed for learning and conceptual understanding, facilitate communication development, and promote social and emotional well-being.
(11)
A national resource in blindness and visual impairment is needed—
(A)
to supplement the work of State and local educational agencies through student enrichment activities;
(B)
to support teachers of children and youth who are blind or visually impaired and related services personnel through state-of-the-art continuing education opportunities; and
(C)
to spur the further advancement of instructional services for children and youth who are blind or visually impaired through scientific research and evidence-based best practices.