AL HB253

State Department of Education and Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services, in consultation with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, shall jointly select language developmental milestones from existing standardized norms to develop a parent resource for monitoring deaf and hard-of-hearing children's expressive and receptive language acquisition from birth to age five.

Departments shall select existing tools or assessments for educators to use in assessing language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, appropriate for children using both American Sign Language (ASL) and English or spoken English with or without visual supplements.

State Superintendent of Education shall establish an ad hoc advisory committee of 13 volunteers (majority deaf or hard of hearing) from the field of education for the deaf and hard of hearing to recommend language developmental milestones and advise on assessment tools.

If a deaf or hard-of-hearing child does not demonstrate progress in language skills, the child's IFSP or IEP team shall explain in detail the reasons and recommend specific strategies, services, and programs to assist the child's progress toward English literacy.

Departments shall annually jointly produce a report by July 31 beginning in 2018 on language and literacy development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth to age five, including those with other disabilities, and make the report available on their websites.