Laws for Minnesota’s Children who are Deaf, DeafBlind & Hard of Hearing
8/17/2018 8:33:33 AM
If you are DeafBlind or prefer to watch the video in a slow-paced, high contrast format, watch the DeafBlind friendlier ASL version instead.
A four-part series about language acquisition, data collection, and kindergarten readiness: Part 1
Sometimes a community member asks MNCDHH if we can advocate for LEAD-K in Minnesota. We tell them that MNCDHH, parents, and advocates got LEAD-K laws passed back in 2007. It doesn’t have the name, LEAD-K.
Maybe not everyone knows what LEAD-K is so let’s explain a little. LEAD-K is short for Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids. It is a national coalition that advocates for states to pass laws to make sure that deaf, deafblind & hard of hearing kids from ages 0-5 have a good start to life. A good start to life includes language acquisition and kindergarten readiness.
LEAD-K is about making sure that children are meeting milestones for one or both languages – ASL and English. It also requires that assessments and data reporting include language to make sure that children from ages 0-5 are meeting their language milestones.
There are 6 parts of LEAD-K, which was described in a brilliant article in Gallaudet Odyssey (Spring 2016), “The Power and Promise of a Handshake: Milestones in Collaboration (PDF)”, written by Dr. Roz Rosen. Minnesota already has these 6 parts in our state laws. The parts are:
In Minnesota, our laws are the building blocks to ensuring that children who are deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing are successful. It is not perfect but we have a strong foundation to build upon. We are a great model for other states to follow.
So, we have covered the national LEAD-K campaign and a little about the importance of working together. In the next video, we will focus on the language acquisition and tracking laws here in Minnesota.
legislation
education
language acquisition