6.16 3. Federal Policy on Deaf Education (1992)

• Library: Disability Law and Practice, Vol. 3 (NY) 2017

3.. Federal Policy on Deaf Education (1992)

In response to the COED Report and other criticisms, United States Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander issued “Deaf Students Education Services: Policy Guidance” in 1992.¹²⁶ Although the Supreme Court had assumed in Rowley that educators are able to choose the teaching method suited to a child’s needs, the Secretary of Education noted that “there is not widespread understanding of [the] educational implications [of deafness], even among special educators. This lack of knowledge and skills in our education system contributes to the already substantial barriers to deaf students in receiving appropriate educational services.”¹²⁷

The Secretary of Education’s policy directly confronted the issue of inappropriate mainstreaming of deaf children:

The Secretary is concerned that the least restrictive environment provisions of the IDEA and Section 504 are being interpreted incorrectly . . . . Any setting which does not meet the communication and related needs of a child who is deaf, and therefore does not allow for the provision of [a free, appropriate public education], cannot be considered the [least restrictive environment] for that child. . . . [A] center or special school may be the least restrictive environment in which the child’s unique needs can be met.¹²⁸

The policy specified the factors which must be assessed and addressed in a deaf student’s individualized education program (IEP):

1.. Communication needs and the child’s and family’s preferred mode of communication

2.. Severity of hearing loss and potential...