Bill seeks additional support for hearing-impaired children

It’s a sobering thought: children who don’t even know they have a name.

Still, it’s something that can happen if a child has little to no access to language growing up. A far-fetched scenario for many, but one all too possible for deaf children born to hearing parents.

“Most parents don’t know sign language,” said Angela Nagata, who teaches deaf students at Waimea Elementary School. “Ninety-five percent of the students are born to parents who have never met a deaf person until their student is born. The deaf community here is so small.”

Nagata has had students who enter her classroom as kindergartners lacking the linguistic foundation to begin learning their ABCs and 123s.

“They had zero language, just gestures, pointing, facial expressions or crying — when they’re 5 or 6,” she said. “Their cognitive abilities were definitely beyond that, but they were in a world that was devoid of language because they couldn’t hear.”

A piece of legislation moving through the statehouse seeks to change that.

Senate Bill 2476, introduced by Oahu Sens. Suzanne Chun Oakland, Breene Harimoto and Maile Shimabukuro, would create an early language acquisition program for children younger than 3 who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind. It also forms a working group of parents, teachers and state officials to tackle bringing more language-learning resources to the children so their development can stay on pace with that of hearing children.

Chun Oakland said this is the first time the bill has been introduced.

“Basically, we want to make sure that from a young age, there were supports available for these children so that as they grow older they … definitely are in a better position to take advantage of their public education,” she said. “We just want to strengthen resources for early childhood education.”

The bill is part of this year’s Keiki Caucus package. It’s also part of a broader national campaign to bring more language resources to deaf children, said Colin Whited of the Pacific Disabilities Center in Honolulu. Whited was part of the task force that initiated the bill.

“For deaf children — or really any children — to have language by the time they are kindergarten age increases their chances for success in life,” he said through an American Sign Language interpreter. Whited, who was born deaf to deaf parents, added that the ultimate goal was making children more independent.

“They come in (to kindergarten) and they have language, and they’re ready to learn and make a huge impact,” Nagata said.

Access to learning resources for children who are not yet in kindergarten is complicated by the fact this age group falls under the jurisdiction of two different state agencies. The Department of Education is responsible for children ages 3 and older, while the Department of Health is responsible for those younger than 3.

The bill covers keiki from birth to age 5 “so that means both agencies need to be involved, so that is a bit of a challenge for us,” Whited said.

Possible services could include connecting families and students with deaf mentors who use ASL and spoken language, training early intervention providers and helping families connect with ASL teachers. The bill also would create three full-time positions for establishing the early language program, although an appropriation amount has not been determined.

Another goal is keeping people informed about the resources that already exist.

“Those services are exhausting — there’s tons of them, and parents don’t know what’s available to them,” Whited said.

On the Big Island, there are programs for deaf students at Kealakehe Elementary and Keaau Elementary in addition to Waimea. A DOH specialist from Oahu flies over once a month.

“It is very difficult to be able to track children who are in rural areas with very limited resources here (in Hawaii),” Whited said.

Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.