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Legislation
While there are not any specific cases involving students who are deaf-blind this is what IDEA 2004 states in the law:
- Sec. 682(d)(1)(A) $12,832,000 to address the educational, related services, transitional, and early intervention needs of children with deaf-blindness.
- Sec. 300.641(d)(1) If a child has only two disabilities and those disabilities are deafness and blindness, and the child is not reported as having a developmental delay, that child must be reported under the category "deaf-blindness."
- Sec. 300.8(c)(2) Deaf-blindness means concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
- Sec. 300.8(c)(7) Multiple disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness or mental retardation-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. Multiple disabilities does not include deaf-blindness.
- Sec. 300.641(d)(2) A child who has more than one disability and is not reported as having deaf-blindness or as having a developmental delay must be reported under the category "multiple disabilities."
- Sec. 300.8(a)(1) Child with a disability means a child evaluated in accordance with Sec. Sec. 300.304 through 300.311 as having mental retardation, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment (including blindness), a serious emotional disturbance (referred to in this part as "emotional disturbance"), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities, and who, by reason thereof, needs special education and related services.
- Discussion: The reporting requirements in Sec. 300.641(c) are not new. Section 300.641(c) is the same as current Sec. 300.751(e); State reporting policies therefore should already be consistent with these regulations. Section 300.641(d) addresses how States must report a child with a disability who has more than one disability for purposes of the annual report of children served under the Act. Paragraph (d)(1) states that if a child has only two disabilities and those disabilities are deafness and blindness, and the child is not reported as having a developmental delay, that child must be reported under the category of deaf-blindness. Paragraph (d)(2) states that if a child has more than one disability and is not reported as having deaf-blindness or as having a developmental delay, the child must be reported under the category of multiple disabilities. We believe that Sec. 300.641(d) is clear that children with deaf-blindness who have an additional disability must be included in the category of multiple disabilities. To designate deaf-blindness as the primary disability and include children with deaf-blindness who have an additional disability in the category of deaf-blindness would be inconsistent with the requirements in Sec. 300.641(d).
- Comment: A few commenters recommended removing Sec. 300.641(c) because States have reporting policies in place that might not be consistent with these new requirements. Numerous commenters stated that LEAs often report children with vision and hearing loss who have an additional disability in the category of multiple disabilities, which has resulted in under-reporting of children who are deaf-blind. The commenters stated that an accurate count of children with deaf-blindness is necessary to ensure that these children receive the specialized communication services they need, and to ensure that a sufficient number of specialists are trained to meet the specialized needs of these children. One commenter stated that a child's secondary disability should not affect the reporting of the child's primary disability. Another commenter suggested referring to deaf-blindness as the primary disability, if a child has multiple disabilities.
- Comment: A few commenters expressed support for retaining the definition of native language, stating that it is important to clarify that sign language is the native language of many children who are deaf. One commenter stated it is important to clarify that the language normally used by the child may be different than the language normally used by the parents. Another commenter stated that the definition of native language does not adequately cover individuals with unique language and communication techniques such as deafness or blindness or children with no written language.