One of the things I love about chairing Senate Government Operations is that the subject matter is very diverse – municipal issues, elections, the structure of government, regulation of the professions, and just about anything else. This last week the Senate voted on a bill, S.66, that addresses the needs of the deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing. It was one of the many diverse issues before our committee.
While many realize that is has been an issue in Vermont for a long time, the closure of Austine School and the Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing brought it to the forefront. Over the past few weeks, our committee took testimony from state agencies, educators, spokespeople for the Deaf community, parents of deaf children and members of the Deaf community.
In the 13 years that I have been in the Senate I have seen advocates for almost every interest group, business, and constituent community. However, the one group that has not been well represented is the Deaf community. Deaf community is purposefully capitalized here because as I have learned, this is more than just a group of people related because of their deafness, it is a culture. They have a language, traditions, ways of communicating – all the attributes that make a culture rather than simply a group of people related by one thing in common.
In Brattleboro it is not unusual to see people signing. This is not as true in many other communities, nor in the statehouse. Over the past weeks we began to see a change. On the days we took testimony there were anywhere from 5-15 people sitting in the cafeteria signing. It was great to see them there, to stop by and say hello, and for all the legislators to begin to think of it as normal. For too many years it was seen as something unusual to see people signing. Hopefully it will no longer be seen as unusual.
The committee meetings were lively with lots of ideas put forth. We used all methods of communicating – live interpreters, interpreters via Skype, video taping, etc. Using these methods we were able to have meaningful, thoughtful conversations that involved serious issues and a lot of humor.
The testimony was often personal with folks telling their own stories of isolation in their schools, communities and even families. As the only deaf students they were often unable to participate in sports, other activities at school, community functions and many even felt somewhat isolated in their families. We also heard success stories from those who had received the appropriate services at a young age.
We heard from young parents who are business owners in Montpelier who feel they have to move to Maryland so their young son can attend a school for the deaf where he is not isolated. They spoke of programs offered by the school that would help them and his younger brother communicate better.
We heard from a young family – both deaf parents – with both hearing and nonhearing children, one child is tri-lingual speaking English, ASL and French.
So the bill itself sets up a task force to do a couple things. Its first task is to make sure that we are providing at least the same level of services that the CDHH was providing so none of our students or families will suffer. The more long range task is to look at a variety of topics including, all of our services and determine if they are adequate, to determine whether we should have some sort of deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing division at the state level, how best to make sure that students are not isolated, reviewing whether or not mainstreaming is indeed the least restrictive environment for deaf students. The task force includes nine members of the Deaf community or parents plus those state agencies that will are in decision making positions.
The presentation of the bill on the floor of the Senate was the first time anyone could remember that there were interpreters in attendance. It was an exciting moment for those who had made the trip to Montpelier many times and worked so hard on this bill.
The vote in the Senate was unanimous on a roll call. Let’s hope that this task force will receive the same kind of support as it starts the really hard work of determining what Vermont must do to meet the needs of the deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing.
What Vermont must do for the deaf, deafblind, hearing impaired?
I was in my late forties when I noticed two things. I had to frequently ask what,and, at bedtime I kept wondering why in the quiet of night I heard all manner of seemingly jungle noises. Upon examination from my first audiologist I learned I had lost 25% of my hearing with complications of tinnitus. As I write this in my quiet and solitude I can hear a sea of noises of ringing, buzzing and roaring that only I can hear. Tinnitus is from the Latin tinnire that means to ring.
You do not need to be so afflicted or the need of interpreters to understand the inherent difficulties of the hearing impaired and the deaf.
When the Vermont Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Board of Directions voted to close the Austine School for the Deaf it did so with regret that pained the school, its students, its patients and the community and families who care about all people with compromised auditory challenges.
Won’t you join Senator Jeanette White in support of the senate task force “as it starts the really hard work of determining what Vermont must do to meet the needs of the deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing.”