Michigan deaf community testifies in support of LEAD-K bill
On Tuesday and last Tuesday, multiple members of the Michigan Deaf community testified before a Michigan House committee to speak out in support of a LEAD-K bill, HB 5777. The bill aims to set up a system in which deaf children will be tested on how well they know ASL, English, or both from ages 0 to 5.
[Testimony Clips]
Video Description: Many different short clips of those who testified in support and opposition of HB 5777 before the Michigan House Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.
The deaf and hard of hearing community has been controlled. It has to stop.
I got a huge batch of documents that was just full of speech therapy information. At the end there was very little information on ASL.
Direct instruction in ASL. That is equal access.
Doctors, various medical professionals don’t receive enough training.
Deaf babies should be taught naturally with ASL instead of being forced to speak.
I oppose HB 5777.
Research has proven that every second counts.
This bill has no benefits.
My suggestion is to vote no to HB 5777.
To make sure that they are provided with both English and ASL.
It’s all thanks to my strong language foundation.
Why are we still fighting for accessibility to two languages?
My success is not because I can speak. It is because of sign language.
It shouldn’t divert resources from other more impactful programs.
Alex: This is the fourth attempt by the Michigan LEAD-K group to get this bill passed.
I was able to interview the Michigan LEAD-K spokesperson, Freida Morrison, and a deaf parent of a deaf child, Rosemary Langevin. I asked them to recap what the bill aims to do.
Freida Morrison: It’s really simple. It has three goals. The first is to give parents resources. For a long time, that resource in Michigan has been based on the auditory. ASL has a very small presence, and it really should be equal. The second is assessments for ASL and English. There are many for English, but very little for ASL. That needs to change. The third is to have children be academically ready to enter kindergarten. These are the three main goals.
Alex: Freida explained that if the bill passes with the governor’s signature, there would be an advisory committee set up to collect testing materials, train teachers and staff, and conduct language tests on deaf children every six months from the age of 0 to 5 to ensure that their parents are aware if they are picking up language at normal levels or falling behind.
Rosemary said she knows firsthand the education system in Michigan and that her experience was not good.
Rosemary Langevin: I grew up in Macomb county. I went to a mainstream school and unfortunately I have tasted the medicine of the public school system. I know about it and I don’t want my kids to go through it.
Alex: Freida said several years ago she developed a working relationship with a Michigan state Senator, Dave Robertson, to introduce the LEAD-K bill. He has since retired but Frieda was able to work with him to connect with the current sponsor, Michigan State Representative Ben Frederick, who is a Republican and the Majority Leader of the Michigan House of Representatives, a powerful position. The representative was very receptive to LEAD-K because her daughter has autism and benefited from ASL. He testified about this last week.
Rep. Ben Frederick: She couldn’t express herself in English. My daughter is hearing, but is nonverbal. When I taught her sign language, she was able to pick it up and communicate. Even though she had all the technology available for her special needs, it was failing her. When I taught her ASL, she thrived.
To be honest, I should have done this a longer time ago.
Alex: I asked Rosemary to share what she thought of the testimony from those who were supportive and those who were opposed.
Rosemary: To be honest, I think most of the people who supported the bill gave beautiful testimonies. Their stories are incredibly important. I want to express my gratitude to those who testified. And unfortunately, those who opposed the bill, some of the information they shared were not even true! I was astonished. It was not only untrue, but they were not educated enough about deaf people.
Alex: Here is a clip of an audiologist from the University of Michigan who is opposed to HB 5777. She is one of the leaders of the Michigan Audiology Coalition and her name is Casey Stach.
Casey Stach: I have 31 audiologists who are members of our coalition. We support parents’ choices for their deaf and hard of hearing children. We oppose HB 5777.
Suppose I learned ASL, I would then have to teach it to friends, family, and many others ASL. That’s a lot of teaching. It would take five to seven years to become fluent in ASL.
ASL grammar is not like English. It is beautiful, though. It is beautiful.
Alex: A letter she wrote to the committee showed her bias towards ASL. She said in the letter that “Most of the children I work with… have normal speech and language skills, do not use sign language, and have been mainstreamed in their general education classes…”
[Full-Screen Image of Letter]
[Full-Screen Image of Letter with Pull Quote]
Alex: Stach’s remarks were criticized by another audiologist, Mallorie Evans, who spoke during the testimony on Tuesday that audiologists shouldn’t have a say into children’s languages. Look at this clip.
Mallorie Evans: It really is not our place to speak out against any language, and I feel that the letter that was presented by the Michigan Coalition of Audiologists was speaking out against ASL, which I do not think is appropriate.
Alex: Freida said Evans’ testimony and criticism was very impactful.
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Alex: During the testimony, I saw that there was division between ASL users and the A.G. Bell organization. I was under the impression that the A.G. Bell organization and LEAD-K had solved some of their disagreements in recent years, but Frieda said that’s not the case in Michigan.
Freida: The Michigan A.G. Bell chapter is very strongly opposed to it. They detest any mention of American Sign Language. They want to push it down, and have been doing this for many years. We at LEAD-K have held meetings with A.G. Bell. We’ve sat down for about eight times. We’ve tried to reason with them, but they are stubborn in demanding “LSL,” Listening and Spoken Language, to be on the bill. They want to remove “English.” We do not accept this as LSL should be considered a communication tool. It should be placed within the English language. That’s what they use when they speak. So we go back and forth on this.
Alex: Freida and Rosemary said what comes next for HB 5777 is the vote in the House Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors. If it passes, then it will be brought up before the Michigan House for a vote. If it passes, it will go into the Michigan Senate and go through another process of testimony before a committee and votes before it can go to the Senate floor for a vote. If both chambers agree, then it will go to the governor’s desk. The Michigan LEAD-K team said they are hopeful that the bill will pass on this fourth try.
Freida: My goal is to see this bill to finally allow parents to know that ASL is a part of the resources out there and for it to have an equal amount of information. The parents will see the true proof rather than hear lectures from audiologists, doctors, and others. The parents should look at the test results and make their choices for the language needs of their children.
Alex: So, that’s the recap of the effort so far in Michigan to pass LEAD-K legislation.