Great news. AB 2072 bill passed by the Health Senate Committee with a 5 to 1 vote, along with 2 abstaining. It now goes to the Senate which I'm sure they'll recognize this bill as a bill that empowers parents to make an informed decision.
This is about letting parents make the decision and not the government. No government or any other entity or agency will be doing the decision for parents. This is about empowering parents in making their own decision where an agency or government says, "Here you go, you decide." This exactly how it should be done rather than a government making the decision for parents of newborns diagnosed with hearing loss. The best way to lose your independence is when a government ends up making decisions for you. This would be an example of interfering into people lives rather than helping them make their own decisions for a change provided that they are given adequate and proper information so they can make an informed decision. Once a government starts to make decisions for parents of newborns diagnosed with hearing loss would be the day when the government practices communism.
However, this bill would force audiologists to provide information given to them on ALL communication options, including ASL. If there are biased audiologists out there who do not favor ASL they would soon be forced to provide parents the various communication methods and shall include ASL. The audiologists do not decide for the parents. The government does not decide for the parents. State, regional or local agencies do not decide for the parents. Advocacy groups do not get to decide for the parents of newborns diagnosed with hearing loss such as CAD, CENIAS, NAD, DBC, NORCAL, DCARA, Deafhood Yoga, and any other organizations. The sole decision makers are the parents. This is what the Senate will recognize and understand.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
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10 comments:
I didn't realize that you are that naive.
That's right. The opposition are now trying to say they won the battle. It's amazing to watch how desperate they are trying to save their faces. They claim to have squeezed in their own amendment and that it was accepted and passed.
According to them, their hired lobbyst told them that they basically hijacked the bill and took over.
My question is, if that were true then why did Senator Romero who strongly spoke against the bill still voted to oppose the bill at the end?
If the turn of event favored the people that opposed the bill Senator Romero would have voted for the bill but she didn't. She didn't. She didn't.
Talk about saving faces on behalf of these people who desperately lost yesterday.
I'm glad that they passed AB 2972. As long as there are all communication options in which will never be eliminated from the AB 2072. That's the most important bill.
All Senators, Legislators, Lawmakers, and many more already are aware of the ALL communication options that must be recognized.
I don't understand why the opponents are very tactic for over the "visual language" issue that must eliminate and put an ASL as the primary language over the TC and Cued Speech. I consider ASL, TC and Cued Speech are part of the language acquisition that apply to the visual language. It's part of the "literacy" program.
White Ghost
Anonymous #1, you need to explain what you meant and why. And please note the rules while commenting. If you cannot do that then don't put your comments in here.
Mike, it appears that some concessions/modifications of the bill were inserted while the main thrust that all communication options stayed intact. And there's still time, I think, for further dialogue to clear some other points before turning it over to the full Senate for their vote.
So, it appears that this will settle down to the satisfaction of both sides.
Tousi
One thing that the opposition and I have in common is that ASL is consider a true visual language, while TC, Cued Speech isn't. Anyway, everyone seems to be happy with how the bill has been amended, and so am I. I just didn't think this day would come, but I'm glad to see we're getting there.
We're not here about who lost or won. We're here to make sure that parents have the access to resources as possible at the earliest convenience.
It's a simple bill and what can it go wrong with it? All Communication Options is a powerful line which gives a full access of information to the parents. So, they can decide whats the best for their child.
Russell
I'm still confused about what exactly was passed. the opponents of AB2072 said the bill was amended at the last minute, to include their "demands." Is that even allowed? I watched a majority of the hearing and did not see any formal acceptance of the opposition's demands. Doesn't the Senate Health Committee have to follow the original bill as written that was approved by the Assembly? If the agreement to accede to the demands was primarily verbal, does it have the same force as a written bill?
Another question: the opponents of AB2072 changed "visual language" to ASL. Did that, in fact, delete the options TC, AVT, and Cued Speech? I'm clear that the latter are not languages per se, but visual representations of English.
I thought it was weird how Gloria Romero parrotted the opposition's objections to AB2072 so perfectly. Just like a paid mouthpiece. Never mind parents' wishes if they would like to "fix" their deaf child by giving them hearing and speech. What on earth is wrong with this picture???
When I became deaf at 13 months old the doctor told mom to take me to Louisiana School for the Deaf because there was "no hope" of me living in the hearing world.
I was mom's child and she wasn't giving me up for other people to raise she said. And in her mind, there was no reason I couldn't live in the hearing world.
I didn't learn to sign until I was 13 years old. I have a 107 dB loss in both ears. I am not saying what my mom did would work for everyone but I do remember what she did, was "fun". In retrospect a lot of that time was spent in auditory/speech training but I didn't even know that was what we were doing.
Kids are capable of great things left in the hands of parents. But by the government? LOL.
Most audiologists are wonderful, dedicated people, but not all. I have met people struggling with profound hearing loss, who had no clue there was such a thing as a cochlear implant until they joined HLAA or ALDA. Clearly there's a little bit of a conflict of interest, since most audiologists must refer their patients to a CI clinic for evaluation-- and that means losing a valuable patient who might otherwise buy hearing aids.
It shouldn't be like that and it's a shame we need a law **requiring** doctors and specialists to inform their patients off **all** options. This bill is long overdue and I'm so happy it passed!
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