I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5748 
To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special education and related 
services to children and youth who are blind or visually impaired, deaf, 
hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind through instructional meth-
odologies meeting their unique language and learning needs, to enhance 
accountability for the provision of such services, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. RASKIN, 
Mr. CARBAJAL, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. WILD, Ms. 
BUSH, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
MOULTON, Ms. ROSS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. TRONE, Mr. TONKO, Mr. DAVIS of North 
Carolina, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. EVANS, Mr. GRI-
JALVA, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. HARDER of California, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 
SALINAS, Mr. MOLINARO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. 
MCGARVEY, Mr. LIEU, Ms. MENG, and Mr. CARSON) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce 
A BILL 
To promote and ensure delivery of high-quality special edu-
cation and related services to children and youth who 
are blind or visually impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, 
deafdisabled, or deafblind through instructional meth-
odologies meeting their unique language and learning 
needs, to enhance accountability for the provision of such 
services, and for other purposes. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES; TABLE OF CON-
TENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy Act’’. 
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 
a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid-
ered to be made to a section or other provision of the Indi-
viduals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1400 
et seq.). 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; references; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Purposes. 
Sec. 3. Findings. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 
WHO ARE DEAF, HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 101. Identifying children and youth who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deafdisabled. 
Sec. 102. State plans. 
Sec. 103. Evaluations. 
Sec. 104. Individualized education program team. 
Sec. 105. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 106. Monitoring. 
Sec. 107. Continuum of service delivery options. 
Sec. 108. Technical assistance for parents and educators of children and youth 
who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Deaf, Hard 
of Hearing, or Deafdisabled Infants and Toddlers and Their Families 
Sec. 111. Qualified personnel. 
Sec. 112. Natural environment. 
Sec. 113. Content of plan. 
Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve Education of Children With 
Disabilities 
Sec. 121. Personnel development to improve services and results for children 
with disabilities. 
TITLE II—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 
WHO ARE BLIND OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 201. Identifying children and youth who are blind or visually impaired. 
Sec. 202. State plans. 
Sec. 203. Evaluations. 
Sec. 204. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 205. Technical assistance for parents and educators of children and youth 
who are blind or visually impaired. 
Sec. 206. Related services. 
Sec. 207. Personnel development to improve services and results for children 
with blindness or visual impairment. 
Sec. 208. Clarifying eligible users of accessible instructional materials. 
Subtitle B—Specialized Early Childhood Intervention Services to Infants and 
Toddlers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired 
Sec. 209. Content of plan. 
Subtitle C—Anne Sullivan Macy Center on Visual Disability and Educational 
Excellence 
Sec. 211. Center establishment and mission. 
Sec. 212. Administration; eligibility; governance; structure. 
Sec. 213. Activities. 
Sec. 214. Authorization of appropriations and carryover. 
Sec. 215. Relationship to other programs and activities. 
TITLE III—IMPROVING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SPECIAL EDU-
CATION AND RELATED SERVICES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH 
WHO ARE DEAFBLIND 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
Sec. 301. Identifying children and youth who are deafblind. 
Sec. 302. Related services. 
Sec. 303. State plans. 
Sec. 304. Evaluations. 
Sec. 305. Consideration of special factors. 
Sec. 306. Technical assistance for parents and educators of children and youth 
who are deafblind. 
Sec. 307. Conforming regulations. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6211
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Subtitle B—Improving the Effectiveness of Early Intervention for Infants and 
Toddlers Who Are Deafblind and Their Families 
Sec. 311. Content of plan. 
Subtitle C—National Activities To Improve the Education of Children With 
Disabilities 
Sec. 321. Personnel development to improve services and results for children 
with disabilities; ensuring sufficient teachers of children who 
are deafblind, interveners, and early intervention specialists. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are as follows: 
(1) To better ensure delivery of high-quality 
special education and related services to children 
and youth who are blind or visually impaired, deaf, 
hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind through 
specialized instructional services and methodologies 
designed to meet their unique language and learning 
needs. 
(2) To better ensure delivery of high-quality 
early intervention services to children and youth who 
are deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind, 
and their families, through specialized services and 
methodologies designed to meet their unique lan-
guage and other developmental needs. 
(3) To foster the proliferation of research sup-
porting the development and evaluation of effective 
and innovative assessments and instructional meth-
odologies consonant with the unique learning needs 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
of children and youth who are blind or visually im-
paired. 
(4) To enhance accountability for the provision 
of such services. 
(5) To support the development of personnel 
serving children and youth who are blind or visually 
impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, deafdisabled, or 
deafblind. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) When American author, Mark Twain, im-
mortalized Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan 
Macy, with the moniker ‘‘the miracle worker’’, his 
words, though meant as praise, reflect the mis-
conception that educating individuals with disabil-
ities is a nearly insurmountable task requiring ex-
traordinary feats performed by gifted and saintly 
persons. Rather, the work of teaching children with 
disabilities can and does occur when committed and 
qualified but everyday special educators are properly 
prepared and supported to practice their professions. 
Yet, the educational systems within which they act 
must also be held accountable for results. 
(2) In 1817, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and a 
deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc, opened the first school 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
in the United States for deaf students—the Amer-
ican School for the Deaf—with young Alice Cogswell 
as its first pupil. Ultimately the school grew into a 
national institution and the mother of many other 
schools. As Alice demonstrated, deaf, hard of hear-
ing, or deafdisabled children can learn and achieve 
to high levels when they have full access to language, 
are taught by professionals with specialized training, 
and have access to educational placements that rec-
ognize and provide for their language, social-emo-
tional, and academic needs. 
(3) Deaf, hard of hearing, and deafdisabled 
children who are identified early and receive appro-
priate early intervention from specialized, qualified 
providers achieve higher academic and language out-
comes. However, as of the date of enactment of this 
Act, early intervention services often are limited to 
one language, many children are lost to follow up, 
and there are severe shortages of specialized early 
intervention professionals, resulting in many deaf, 
hard of hearing, and deafdisabled children not 
reaching their appropriate milestones and experi-
encing language deprivation, impacting their full 
lives. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
(4) Research demonstrates that children and 
youth who are blind or visually impaired are among 
the highest performing students with disabilities in 
terms of academic achievement, and yet they are 
among the least employed, even after successful ac-
complishment of postsecondary academic objectives. 
(5) Likewise, children and youth who are 
deafblind have the same capacity to learn and 
achieve as any other children. However, they must 
have ongoing access to the same environmental and 
educational information that their sighted and hear-
ing peers can access automatically. These children 
require direct learning experiences, including hands- 
on experiences and intense involvement in edu-
cational routines and activities. They must receive 
specialized direct instruction in their accessible lan-
guage in a range of academic and functional areas. 
(6) Children and youth who are deaf, hard of 
hearing, deafdisabled, or deafblind require more lan-
guage access and support to acquire skills than they 
are, as of the date of enactment of this Act, pre-
dominantly receiving in local school districts strug-
gling to find qualified personnel, so that such indi-
viduals risk experiencing language deprivation. It 
has been the Department of Education’s position 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
since 1992 that ‘‘[a]ny educational setting that does 
not meet the communication and related needs of a 
child who is deaf does not allow for the provision of 
[a Free Appropriate Public Education] and cannot 
be considered the [Least Restrictive Environment] 
for that child’’. 
(7) Moreover, a principal way that sighted and 
hearing children and youth acquire knowledge and 
skills is through incidental learning, naturally ob-
serving others and the environment. Deficits in inci-
dental learning leave children and youth with sen-
sory disabilities behind in an array of skill areas. In 
addition to core academics, deaf, hard of hearing, 
and deafdisabled children and youth, for example, 
must also receive specialized instruction and services 
designed to maximize their capacity to learn effec-
tively and live productively and independently. Simi-
larly, children and youth who are blind or visually 
impaired must also receive instruction in the ex-
panded core curriculum, a comprehensive array of 
specialized instruction and services maximizing the 
capacity of children and youth who are blind or vis-
ually impaired to learn effectively and live produc-
tively and independently. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
(8) The widespread use by States of the Indi-
viduals with Disabilities Education Act’s disability 
categories has led to a sizable undercount of children 
and youth with sensory disabilities and, con-
sequently, a lack of recognition of the extent of the 
systemic need for the delivery of appropriate instruc-
tional services meeting their unique needs. This oc-
curs in large measure because children and youth 
with sensory disabilities who also have additional 
disabilities are frequently formally classified as hav-
ing multiple disabilities. Consequently, their vision, 
hearing, or concomitant vision and hearing disabil-
ities and related support needs are not fully ac-
knowledged. 
(9) It also must be acknowledged and recog-
nized that the population of deaf, hard of hearing, 
or deafdisabled children and youth is inherently di-
verse, with 55 percent or more being children of 
color. In contrast, less than 10 percent of personnel, 
including teachers of deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deafdisabled children and youth, and interpreters, 
are people of color. 
(10) Qualified teachers of the deafblind are 
needed to assist children and youth who are 
deafblind in schools and school-related activities. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
Also needed are qualified interveners, who work one- 
to-one with children and youth who are deafblind 
and who have training and specialized skills in 
deafblindness. Interveners play a critical role in the 
provision of a Free and Appropriate Public Edu-
cation for children and youth who are deafblind, be-
cause they provide access to the information needed 
for learning and conceptual understanding, facilitate 
communication development, and promote social and 
emotional well-being. 
(11) A national resource in blindness and visual 
impairment is needed— 
(A) to supplement the work of State and 
local educational agencies through student en-
richment activities; 
(B) to support teachers of children and 
youth who are blind or visually impaired and 
related services personnel through state-of-the- 
art continuing education opportunities; and 
(C) to spur the further advancement of in-
structional services for children and youth who 
are blind or visually impaired through scientific 
research and evidence-based best practices. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
TITLE I—IMPROVING THE EF-
FECTIVENESS 
OF 
SPECIAL 
EDUCATION 
AND 
RELATED 
SERVICES 
FOR 
CHILDREN 
AND YOUTH WHO ARE DEAF, 
HARD 
OF 
HEARING, 
OR 
DEAFDISABLED 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
SEC. 101. IDENTIFYING CHILDREN AND YOUTH WHO ARE 
DEAF, 
HARD 
OF 
HEARING, 
OR 
DEAFDISABLED. 
(a) SERVING ALL CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF, HARD 
OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED REGARDLESS OF CLAS-
SIFICATION.—Section 612(a)(3) (20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(3)) is 
amended at the end by adding the following: 
‘‘(C) SERVING CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF, 
HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED.—When 
a State classifies children by disability, the 
State, in complying with subsection (a)— 
‘‘(i) identifies, locates and evaluates 
children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deafdisabled who are, or may be, classified 
in a disability category other than deaf, 
hard of hearing, or deafdisabled; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(ii) provides (without prejudice to 
such classification) special education and 
related services to such children, including 
the specific services determined appro-
priate based on proper evaluation as would 
be provided to children classified in the 
State as deaf or hard of hearing; and 
‘‘(iii) ceases to use vague other termi-
nology, such as ‘hearing impaired’, ‘section 
504 student’, or ‘having a communication 
disorder’.’’. 
(b) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.—Section 
618 (20 U.S.C. 1418) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(A)(iii) and in-
serting the following: 
‘‘(iii) In separate classes, separate schools 
or facilities, or public or private residential fa-
cilities, with the exception of deaf, hard of hear-
ing, deafdisabled, and deafblind students due to 
their being low-incidence and benefiting from 
specialized language instruction and access.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘and funding 
to appropriate entities’’ after ‘‘States’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00013
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(e) ACCOUNTING FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF, 
HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED.—In addition to 
the other data collection and reporting requirements of 
this section and subject to such provisions, the State and 
the Secretary of the Interior shall, with respect to children 
classified in a disability category other than hearing im-
pairment or deafness, include the number and percentage 
of such children in each disability category who are also 
deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled and their avenue 
of access to American Sign Language, whether it be via 
an interpreter, a teacher of the deaf, or expressly waived 
by the parents.’’. 
(c) 
CHILD
WITH
A
DISABILITY.—Section 
602(3)(A)(i) (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)(A)(i)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘who is deaf, hard of hearing, 
or deafdisabled or’’ before ‘‘with intellectual disabil-
ities,’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘hearing impairments (including 
deafness),’’. 
SEC. 102. STATE PLANS. 
Section 612 (20 U.S.C. 1412) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘(g) ADDENDUM CONCERNING CHILDREN WHO ARE 
DEAF, HARD OF HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED.— 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00014
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the provi-
sions of subsection (c), a State shall not be deter-
mined to be in compliance with this section unless, 
not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of the Alice Cogswell and Anne Sullivan Macy 
Act, the State files with the Secretary a written ad-
dendum to the plan required by this section describ-
ing how the State ensures that— 
‘‘(A) children who are deaf, hard of hear-
ing, or deafdisabled (regardless of the State’s 
use of disability categories or the extent to 
which deaf or hard of hearing children may be 
classified in disability categories other than 
hearing impairment or deafness) are evaluated 
by qualified professionals, using valid and reli-
able assessments, for such children’s need for 
instruction and services meeting their unique 
language, literacy, academic, social and related 
learning needs, including instruction which may 
be needed by children without disabilities or 
with other disabilities but which must be spe-
cifically designed, modified, or delivered to meet 
the unique language and academic and related 
learning needs of children who are deaf, hard of 
hearing, or deafdisabled; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00015
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
‘‘(B) there is sufficient availability of per-
sonnel within the State qualified to provide the 
evaluation and instruction described in subpara-
graph (A) to all children within the State re-
quiring such instruction; and 
‘‘(C) all children who are deaf, hard of 
hearing, or deafdisabled within the State who 
need special education and related services re-
ceive instruction in American Sign Language 
unless expressly waived by the child’s parents 
and are not being served solely in accordance 
with section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 
1973 (29 U.S.C. 794). 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—In preparing the addendum 
described in paragraph (1), the State shall— 
‘‘(A) specifically address how the State 
meets the needs of deaf, hard of hearing, and 
deafdisabled students to support appropriate, 
measurable progress in language development, 
including American Sign Language and written 
language with or without speech therapy, and 
including the provision of school-related oppor-
tunities for direct interactions with peers and 
professional personnel in the child’s language 
and opportunities for direct instruction in the 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00016
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
child’s language, as well as instruction in audi-
ology, age-appropriate career education, lan-
guage, social skills, functional skills for aca-
demic success, self-determination and advocacy 
(including preparation for transition to work or 
higher education), social emotional skills, tech-
nology, and support for the student through 
family education; and 
‘‘(B) consult with individuals and organiza-
tions with expertise in the education of children 
who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deafdisabled, 
including parents, schools for the deaf, con-
sumer and advocacy organizations, State com-
missions of the deaf, researchers, teachers of 
students who are deaf, hard of hearing, or 
deafdisabled and others the State may iden-
tify.’’. 
SEC. 103. EVALUATIONS. 
(a) EVALUATION PROCEDURES.—Section 614(b) (20 
U.S.C. 1414(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(7) CHILDREN
WHO
ARE
DEAF, HARD
OF 
HEARING, OR DEAFDISABLED.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the as-
sessments prescribed in paragraph (3)(B), chil-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
18:33 Oct 01, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00017
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5748.IH
H5748
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB