                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAMS; CHILDREN IDENTIFIED AS DEAF OR
HARD-OF-HEARING (§ 22.1-217.02)

A. In developing an individualized education program (IEP) for a child
identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing, in addition to any other requirements
established by the Board of Education, each local school division may ensure
that IEP teams consider the child&#8217;s specific communication needs and
address those needs as appropriate in the child&#8217;s IEP. In considering the
child&#8217;s needs, the IEP team may expressly consider the following:

   1. The child&#8217;s individual communication mode or language;

   2. The availability to the child of a sufficient number of age, cognitive,
   academic, and language peers of similar abilities if the parents so desire;

   3. The availability to the child of deaf or hard-of-hearing adult models of
   the child&#8217;s communication mode or language;

   4. The provision of direct and ongoing language access to teachers of the deaf
   and hard-of-hearing, interpreters, psychologists, educational audiologists,
   speech-language pathologists, administrators, and other special education
   personnel who are knowledgeable due to specific training and who are
   proficient in the child&#8217;s primary communication mode or language;

   5. The provision of communication-accessible academic instruction, school
   services, and direct access to all components of the educational process,
   including recess, lunch, extracurricular social and athletic activities, and
   the equal opportunity to participate in advanced coursework, technical
   vocational coursework, and academic classes as identified by the IEP team;

   6. Equipping children identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing with appropriate
   assistive technology across a full spectrum; and

   7. That the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind may be the least
   restrictive environment for the child.

B. No child identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing may be denied the opportunity
for instruction in a particular communication mode or language solely because
another communication mode or language was originally chosen for the child.

C. A child may receive instruction in more than one communication mode or
language.

D. For the purposes of this section, &#8220;communication mode or language
mode&#8221; means one or more of the following systems or methods of
communication applicable to children identified as deaf or hard-of-hearing: (i)
American Sign Language; (ii) English-based manual or sign systems; (iii) oral,
aural, speech-based training; (iv) spoken and written English, including speech
reading, lip reading, or cued speech; and (v) communication with assistive
technology devices to facilitate language and learning.

HISTORY: 2013, cc. 704, 786.