H.R. 9195 — Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act

This section requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled, including those classified under other disability categories, and to provide them the same special education and related services, including American Sign Language access, as children classified as deaf or hard of hearing. It exempts these students from certain placement data reporting requirements due to their low-incidence status and directs states and the Secretary of the Interior to report the number and percentage of such children in other categories along with their avenue of access to American Sign Language. It also revises the definition of child with a disability to include those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled.

This section requires each state, within 2 years after enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, to submit an addendum to its IDEA state plan describing how it ensures that deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children receive evaluations by qualified professionals using valid assessments for their unique language and learning needs, that sufficient qualified personnel are available statewide, and that such children receive instruction in American Sign Language unless expressly waived by parents. The addendum must also address measurable progress in language development and related skills and be prepared after consultation with parents, schools for the deaf, and other experts.

This section requires evaluations of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled to assess language proficiency levels in expressive, receptive, and pragmatic skills, access to grade-level content in the child’s primary language including American Sign Language, and unique learning needs such as direct language access without interpreters. It mandates that individualized education programs specify the projected start date, frequency, location, and duration of services and modifications. It permits schools for the deaf to document specialized teacher training and exempts them from providing individualized education plans unless the student is deafdisabled.

This section adds a representative of a state-operated, state-supported, or state-aided school for the deaf to the individualized education program team, at the discretion of the parent or the agency.

This section expands requirements for individualized education program teams by directing them to consider the linguistic needs of children with disabilities. For children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled, it requires opportunities for direct communication without an interpreter in the child’s primary language, including American Sign Language; direct instruction to meet unique learning needs and maintain age-appropriate language milestones; and services addressing assistive technology proficiency, self-sufficiency, socialization, recreation, independent living skills, and career education.

This section requires the Secretary of Education to specifically monitor state and local compliance with child find, least restrictive environment, evaluation, and individualized education program requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as amended by the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, and to regularly report findings to Congress.

This section requires states to maintain a full continuum of alternative placements for children with disabilities receiving special education and related services, including instruction in regular classes, specialized classes, specialized schools, home instruction, and hospitals and institutions, plus supplementary services such as resource rooms with regular class placement. It also treats closure or merger of a specialized school for blind or deaf children as a reduction in state financial support for special education, violating a condition for receiving federal assistance under part B.

This section requires the Secretary to review and update the 1992 policy guidance on special education and related services for deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children (57 Fed. Reg. 49274), with particular attention to amendments to the Act or its regulations. The first update must occur within one year after enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, with subsequent updates at least every five years, and all versions must be published in the Federal Register.

This section expands the definition of early intervention services under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to include services provided by teachers of infants and toddlers with sensory disabilities.

This section revises the definition of early intervention services to expand natural environments for infants and toddlers with sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness, or deafblindness. Natural environments must include specialized schools, centers, and programs where the child’s primary language (such as American Sign Language) is used, or other settings meeting the child’s unique needs, in addition to the home and community settings where children without disabilities participate.

This section expands the required content of the individualized family service plan under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to include, for an infant or toddler who is deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled, a statement of ongoing language assessment, language development goals commensurate with the child’s cognitive abilities, documentation of language access including direct learning opportunities with peers and providers in American Sign Language and, if appropriate, spoken language, and family support and instruction for the child’s language acquisition.

This section revises the personnel preparation activities supported by grants under 20 U.S.C. 1462 to require training for licensed educational interpreters who assist (but do not teach language to) deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children in school, school-related, and early intervention settings. It also adds training for qualified teachers of the deaf and early intervention specialists to develop age-appropriate language (including American Sign Language) and literacy skills for the same population of infants, toddlers, and preschool children.

This section expands child find requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to require states that classify children by disability to identify, locate, evaluate, and provide appropriate special education and related services to children who are blind or visually impaired, including those classified under another disability category. It also requires states and the Secretary of the Interior to report the number and percentage of children in each non-blindness disability category who are also blind or visually impaired. It further updates the definition of child with a disability to include low vision.

This section requires each state, within 2 years after enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, to submit an addendum to its IDEA state plan describing how it evaluates and serves children who are blind or visually impaired. The addendum must address instruction in Braille, assistive technology, orientation and mobility, self-determination, and related skills; ensure sufficient qualified personnel; require research-based evaluations by specialists; and confirm that such children receive special education services rather than solely Section 504 accommodations.

This section requires evaluations determining eligibility for special education and related services for children who are blind or visually impaired (including those with additional disabilities) to assess their unique learning needs. Such evaluations must include widely recognized, research-based tools such as Learning Media Assessments and Functional Vision Evaluations administered by the highest qualified state specialists in blindness or visual impairment, and must address needs for Braille instruction, assistive technology use (including low vision devices), orientation and mobility across environments, self-determination, sensory efficiency, socialization, recreation and fitness, independent living skills, and age-appropriate career education.

This section expands individualized education program requirements for children who are blind or visually impaired. It mandates instruction in Braille and Braille use unless the IEP team determines, after a Learning Media Assessment, Functional Vision Evaluation, and any additional assessments by a teacher of students with visual impairments, that such instruction is inappropriate and the parent provides specific written informed consent. It also requires instruction tailored to the child’s unique needs in assistive technologies, orientation and mobility across environments, self-determination, sensory efficiency, socialization, recreation and fitness, independent living skills, and age-appropriate career education.

This section directs the Secretary of Education to review and update the 2000 policy guidance on special education and related services for children who are blind or visually impaired (65 Fed. Reg. 36586 (June 8, 2000)) within 1 year of enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, with particular attention to amendments made by that Act, and to publish the updated guidance in the Federal Register at least once every 5 years thereafter.

This section expands required personnel preparation for children who are blind or visually impaired to include instruction in Braille, proficient use of assistive technologies at home and school, orientation and mobility across home, school, and community settings, self-determination, sensory efficiency, socialization, recreation and fitness, independent living skills, and age-appropriate career education.

This section revises the definition of “blind or other persons with print disabilities” eligible for free accessible instructional materials under the educational media services program. The term now covers children served under this Act or by elementary or secondary schools under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 who qualify under the 1931 Act to receive books and publications in specialized formats.

This section expands the required content of individualized family service plans under part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for infants and toddlers who are blind or visually impaired. It mandates inclusion of statements addressing ongoing developmental and educational assessments; services from providers specializing in blindness or visual impairment (including ocular or brain-based); Braille instruction with pre-literacy tactual strategies; orientation and mobility training across varied environments; socialization, sensory efficiency, assistive technologies including low-vision devices, self-determination, recreation and fitness; age-appropriate transitional services; and family support and instruction to promote the child’s acquisition and mastery of these skills.

This section establishes the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence within the Department of Education. The center's mission is to support students with visual disabilities in special education by developing curricula and materials for teachers and related services personnel, supporting higher education programs to prepare teachers of blind or visually impaired children with additional disabilities, funding model enrichment projects, and conducting research on assessments and interventions including Braille, assistive technologies, orientation and mobility, and independent living skills.

This section directs the Secretary of Education to enter into a contract or cooperative agreement of at least 5 years with a consortium of specified entities to administer the program under section 211. It requires the Secretary to appoint an independent advisory board of no more than 12 members—with representation from parents, administrators, and organizations serving blind or visually impaired children—to advise on strategic planning and performance, limits compensation to travel for no more than 3 in-person meetings per year, and exempts the board from the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

This section requires the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence to conduct or fund original research on visual disabilities, continuing education and materials for teachers and related services personnel, enrichment projects for children who are blind or visually impaired (including those with additional disabilities), and programs at institutions of higher education to prepare personnel for infants, toddlers, and children with multiple disabilities. It also authorizes the center to enter cooperative agreements, contracts, and grants with nonprofit organizations, higher education institutions, state and local educational agencies, and specialized schools to carry out these activities.

This section authorizes such sums as may be necessary to carry out the subtitle. It requires that annual appropriations be maintained at the prior fiscal year’s level or increased for at least four subsequent fiscal years. It permits no more than 15 percent of a fiscal year’s appropriation to be carried over and spent in the following fiscal year.

This section requires the Secretary to coordinate research activities under this subtitle with the National Center for Special Education Research and other Department of Education research divisions. It prohibits use of funds under this subtitle to supplant appropriations under the Act to Promote the Education of the Blind. It further requires coordination of deafblind activities with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness, State deafblind projects, and the Helen Keller National Center, and bars use of these funds to support or supplant the sole responsibilities of those entities. It establishes that all work product of the Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational Excellence is U.S. Government property, while allowing consortium members to reproduce or create copyrighted derivative works under the governing contract or agreement.

This section requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate children with concomitant vision and hearing losses regardless of their disability classification under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and to provide them with appropriate special education and related services. It directs states and the Secretary of the Interior to report the number and percentage of children in other disability categories who are also deafblind. It adds deafblindness to the definition of child with a disability.

This section expands the definition of related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to include intervener services provided to children who are deafblind by a qualified intervener.

This section requires states to submit an addendum to their IDEA state plans within 2 years after enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act. The addendum must describe how states ensure evaluation of deafblind children by qualified professionals using valid assessments for their unique language, communication, academic, and related needs; sufficient availability of teachers of the deafblind and interveners; and delivery of special education and related services to all such children regardless of other disabilities. It must also address instruction in language development, concept development, orientation and mobility, assistive technology, and other skills, and require consultation with parents, consumers, and deafblindness organizations.

This section requires evaluations of children who are deafblind, including those with additional disabilities, to assess language and communication proficiency levels in expressive, receptive, and pragmatic skills, as well as the ability to access grade-level content in the child’s preferred mode of communication, including non-symbolic, symbolic, and tactile sign language. It mandates that qualified personnel trained in deafblindness and fluent in the child’s preferred mode participate in the evaluations and that the evaluations determine needed services and supports for developing and maintaining those skills.

This section requires individualized education program teams to address the language and communication needs of children who are deafblind, including through tactile sign language, tactile and visual adaptations to sign and fingerspelling, and object and tangible symbol systems. It also applies the existing requirements for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and children with limited English proficiency to children who are deafblind.

This section directs the Secretary of Education to develop and publish in the Federal Register policy guidance on the provision of special education and related services to children who are deafblind, with particular attention to relevant amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and its regulations, no later than one year after enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act, and to update the guidance at least once every five years thereafter.

This section directs the Secretary to publish regulations, after notice and comment, that define “deafblindness” and “intervener services” not later than one year after the date of enactment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act.

This section requires that the individualized family service plan for each deafblind infant or toddler include a statement of ongoing language and communication assessments, language and communication development goals commensurate with the child’s cognitive abilities, language and communication access including ongoing opportunities for direct language learning with peers and with early intervention providers and other personnel trained in the child’s preferred mode, and the support and instruction provided to families to learn and support that mode and the child’s full range of needs.

This section expands the personnel development grants program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to support preparation of qualified teachers of children who are deafblind and early intervention specialists, as well as preparation of interveners to assist infants, toddlers, and children who are deafblind in schools, early intervention programs, and preschool settings.