Iowa governor signs LEAD-K bill into law

During the last week of May, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a LEAD-K bill into law. The bill’s official name is “House File 604, an Act relating to language and literacy development for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.”

Iowa is now the 20th state in the U.S. to pass and sign a LEAD-K bill.

The text of the Iowa bill directs the “department of education to work with the Iowa School for the Deaf, area education agencies, school districts, and the early hearing detection and intervention program to coordinate, develop, and disseminate resources… to inform deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s expressive and receptive language acquisition or development.”

The bill also directs a “coordination of the development and collection of language milestones for each age, from birth through age eight, in American Sign Language, English, and other languages as needed…”

I did an interview with two of the key people in Iowa who pushed for the bill to pass: Shirley Hampton, the Iowa Association of the Deaf President, and Vania Kassouf, who is on the LEAD-K committee. Here are some of their remarks.

(Begin interview)

Alex: Can you provide a summary of Iowa’s LEAD-K bill and its goals and desired changes?

Shirley Hampton, IAD President:

What is in the bill? If you remember I said Iowa has a unique situation. There are two entities. ISD operates under the Board of Regents who also manages the state university and manages the schools for the deaf and the blind. Now with mainstream schools, the area education agencies work with deaf and other handicapped children by providing resources or interpreters and other things. It is operated under the department of education. So there are two different entities. We have to find a way for both to work together. There were a lot of discussions and strong concerns raised by audiologists from the University of Iowa, who has a prominent cochlear implant program. So some of the struggle felt like a war. We finally came to a compromise and reached a breakthrough.

As for the LEAD-K bill, it covers ages 0 to 8. Some states only cover 0 to 5. But we cover 0 to 8. Some are hoping the ages will be extended even more. So, the department of education is responsible for developing tools, assessments, and hiring personnel. They will work with the ISD through the Board of Regents. They agreed to work together. There will be a group of stakeholders, a smaller group, that will be set up and have meetings later. We’ll hire a coordinator who will set up a parent mentoring program, in which a deaf person will mentor parents. In a bill from two years ago, there were funds appropriated in it, but this bill has no funds in it. But we’ve applied for a federal grant to cover more things, not just LEAD-K, but also cover mental health as well. We’ve had issues with the coronavirus pandemic and frustrated deaf kids. So that’s pretty much it.

Alex: How did you build relationships with lawmakers and what kind of opposition did you face?

Vania Kassouf, Iowa LEAD-K Committee:

Okay. Here are three things. Firstly, we started with our local legislators. We set up meetings between legislators and deaf people who resided in their districts. Some of us on the LEAD-K committee took road trips to meet with legislators all over Iowa. Secondly, we met with a House committee and their legislators several times. Thirdly, we had a diverse group of stakeholders that came from the ISD, the IAD, area education agencies (AEAs) which are mainstream schools that operate under the department of education. We also had people from EHDI and different groups. We came together to hold meetings multiple times over the past several years. It takes time and patience to work with those groups and be on the same page. Most of them are ignorant of the struggles of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Alex: So you feel that you’re getting strong opposition from the University of Iowa? Why the University of Iowa?

Kassouf: Yeah. I’m one of the clients under the University of Iowa because I have a cochlear implant. The University of Iowa has a top-tier program for cochlear implants and provides implants for a lot of children all over. They believe that ASL would have a negative effect on their speech and hearing skills, but this is untrue.

Hampton: I’m glad to see that ISD has significant involvement in the process by making certain demands. ISD had a huge influence this year compared with the last three or four years ago. ISD is able to make their points because they’ve brought in several experts.

Kassouf: I give kudos to them because they’ve fought with a speech and hearing organization in a ugly war. I’m grateful to the school for helping.

(End interview)

Alex:

Thank you Hampton and Kassouf for your time. They explained that the effort took about six years and that they had to overcome multiple obstacles.

Another key person behind this effort is Robert Vizzini, the LEAD-K Committee chairperson. He posted a video sharing his reflections on the process of pushing the bill. The link to his video is in the transcript.

——

[Sponsored video from Convo: www.convorelay.com]

—---------------

[Sponsored Video from Disaster Distress Helpline] After a disaster, you may be at risk for emotional distress. Warning signs can include feeling isolated, anxious, having trouble sleeping and more. If you or someone you know is Deaf or hard of hearing, the Disaster Distress Helpline offers a direct videophone option. This free service for ASL users is answered 24/7 by trained crisis workers fluent in ASL and can be accessed using any videophone-enabled device and dialing 1-800-985-5990 or at disasterdistress.samhsa.gov.

—--------

The Iowa School for the Deaf Superintendent Steve Gettel was supportive of the bill, saying in a statement posted on ISD’s website that “We all want deaf and hard-of-hearing students to have access to language and communication at the earliest possible age. We want families to have information and support from mentors. And we want children to have support for the development of both ASL and English, whichever language works best for each child.”

Prior to Iowa, the 19th state to pass and sign a LEAD-K bill is Virginia. Their governor Glenn Youngkin signed a LEAD-K bill in April.

So there are now 20 states with LEAD-K legislation in place. In Michigan, a LEAD-K bill has passed out of the House 92-10 and is currently pending in the Senate.


Photos from IAD: https://www.facebook.com/iowaofdeaf/posts/pfbid0P5tkXcYjAjiWL3agEVGniwREu6ryXhzKaL8w88SqwNkBRhFesP2rWdUJrRPYfw8xl

ISD Statement: https://www.iowaschoolforthedeaf.org/bobcat-prowler/iowa-lead-k-close-to-signing/

Vizzini: https://vimeo.com/713547384

Iowa bill text: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=hf604

Virginia LEAD-K: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=524251625955250

Michigan LEAD-K: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1408348745895987