Deaf News Briefs: Montana passes law modeled after LEAD-K; Deaf Austin Theatre to premiere “The Laramie Project”
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
Montana passes law modeled after LEAD-K
The first: KTVH News in Montana reported that on July 13, Montana Gov. Gianforte (R) signed a law that is modeled after national LEAD-K legislation that ensures deaf and hard-of-hearing kids have a strong language foundation for success in school.
The bill is House Bill 619. It calls on the Montana’s department of public health and human services and the office of public instruction to collaborate to select language developmental milestones to develop a resource for parents to use in monitoring the expressive and receptive language acquisition of deaf and hard-of-hearing children from birth through 9 years of age who use ASL, English, or both. An advisory committee will be set up to establish milestones to measure children’s progress.
The Montana Free Press got a comment from Shawn Tulloch, a member of the Montana Association of the Deaf, who said she hopes the law will help with increasing awareness among families of deaf children’s needs and how to meet them. Tulloch said statistics show that 90% of deaf children come from hearing families with no knowledge of sign language or awareness of deaf culture.
KTVH said Montana now joins 20 other states in passing LEAD-K legislation. Michigan lawmakers recently passed a bill that was signed by Gov. Whitmer (D).
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Deaf Austin Theatre to premiere “The Laramie Project”
The second Deaf News brief is an announcement from the Deaf Austin Theatre (DAT) that it will premiere the first ASL and spoken English production of “The Laramie Project” with a deaf and hearing cast on September 7th to 16th.
DAT said “The Laramie Project” explores the aftermath of the tragic 1998 murder of Matthew Shephard, a young gay college student in Laramie, Wyoming. The play “delves into the impact of the incident on the local community man raises important questions about prejudice, hate crimes and tolerance.”
The director is Jules Dameron and there is a large cast consisting of multiple deaf actors. The performances will take place at the Ground Floor Theatre in Austin and tickets cost $25 to $35. For those outside of Austin, there will be a virtual show on October 12th. Links for more information are at the bottom of the transcript.
That’s the two Deaf News briefs for today.
MONTANA LEAD-K LAW:
https://www.ktvh.com/news/montanans-celebrate-legislation-for-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-kids
https://montanafreepress.org/2023/07/13/montana-legislature-deaf-hard-of-hearing-assessments/
https://leg.mt.gov/bills/2023/HB0699/HB0619_1.pdf
LARAMIE PROJECT: