Saturday, April 1, 2017

A "deaf culture war" in Alabama

Rep. Margie Wilcox  
A bill in the Alabama legislature had pitted "the deaf culture and the 'hearing deaf' culture," against one another, advocate Leigh Leak says.  According to AL.com, HB 253, proposed by Rep. Margie Wilcox, aims "to help deaf kids who are falling through the cracks" but "advocates in the 'hearing deaf' culture are afraid the bill will force children who use spoken language to learn American Sign Language." They complain the opt out option for children with cochlear implants is too weak. Read the full story from AL.com here or look at the bill itself here.