The Human Right to Language: Communication Access for Deaf Children

11: A Proposal

11 ! A PROPOSAL Suit the action to the word, the word to the action. —William Shakespeare, Hamlet S O W H A T I S to be done here? If in fact our school systems or Congress will not address these matters, then deaf and hard of hearing children, like others before them, should seek remedies in our court system. It is my contention that the time has come to litigate cases for deaf and hard of hearing children based on their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Ironically enough, the IDEA in 1975 was the direct result of class-action litigation— Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children v. Commonwealth and Mills v. Board of Education.1 Some may argue that we should be careful in relying on the First and Fourteenth Amendments. But, as Abraham Lincoln said, “As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew.”2 And so let the argument for a constitutional right to communication and language stand on its own merits. Some may ask, and many eventually will, what of the cost, of the institutional impact, should a deaf or hard of hearing child or even an adult assert a constitutional right to communication and language? Will such a child have an absolute right to a qualified interpreter? An absolute right to attend a distant state or center school? An absolute right to require a school to make classrooms acoustically appropriate? Will such a child have the absolute right, based on the Constitution, to be provided communication instruction to ensure the development of age-appropriate language skills? The answer to all these questions is yes, because the denial of the right is greater than the cost of serving it. I raise here a consti147 148 / Conclusions and Recommendations tutional, not a fiscal or political, question. We have always found ways to serve those needs that are both costly and important. Our values have, at least most of the time, driven our use of resources, and that is as it should be. Consider that the federal government distributes over $1 billion annually for bilingual education.3 Consider , by way of comparison, the significant cost of making all buildings and public transportation accessible to people in wheelchairs . Prior to the litigation and legislation that led to the requirement of this kind of access, many asked if the cost was really worth the benefit. How do we as a society evaluate these kinds of costbenefit matters? Ask the individual who can live a more complete life because of those ramps or mechanisms. By focusing primarily on cost, we stop the analysis before it begins. A LEGISLATIVE PROPOSAL Congress can and should (and as a result of litigation may be required to) consider federal legislation to address the fundamental questions posed here, in order to ensure that all educational programs serving deaf and hard of hearing children include 1. clear rules, procedures, and programs to provide deaf and hard of hearing children with full and appropriate communication and language access, development, and assessment ; 2. teachers and staff who have the skills and training necessary to effectively teach these children and who are proficient in the children’s communication mode and language, or certified and proficient interpreters; and 3. a seamless system that brings together the educational, medical, and other related fields so that families with deaf and hard of hearing children have information and services to ensure that children develop communication and language skills at the earliest possible time. A Proposal / 149 The following proposed legislation represents the thinking of educators, community leaders, parents, and deaf and hard of hearing individuals throughout the nation. It is an amalgam of recommendations made by the U.S. Commission on Education of the Deaf, the National Deaf Education Project, and the National Agenda, a partnership of national family, advocacy, and educational organizations.4 The Right to Language and Education Act The Right to Language and Education Act A. recognizes that the “starting point” for any educational system for deaf and hard of hearing students (indeed all students) must be that language and communication access and development drive the system ; and B. creates a clear and forceful right of deaf and hard of hearing children to 1. have unfettered access to rich and varied language environments, 2. have unfettered access to programs in which there is a critical mass of age, cognitive, and language peers (whether that means peers...