Senate Bill 1092 Summary

• Amends Arizona Revised Statutes sections 36-1941 and 36-1944 to add "deafblind" as a defined category alongside deaf and hard of hearing populations.

• Defines "deafblind" as a person who is deaf or hard of hearing with central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with corrective lenses, or a field defect of no greater than twenty degrees peripheral diameter, or progressive visual loss leading to these conditions, where the combination affects communication and environmental awareness.

• Updates the Commission for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing's duties to explicitly include services and advocacy for deafblind individuals across all listed responsibilities.

• Adds new commission duty to make recommendations to the legislature regarding statutory changes needed to develop and support statewide newborn hearing loss screening programs and develop assessment standards for optimizing language acquisition and literacy development of deaf and hard of hearing newborns, infants and children.

• Became effective upon the Governor's approval on April 23, 2021.