Re: Schools paying for hearing aids

[Guest guest]

Hi - I should have said - duh! - this is federal stuff, not

state of NH....

ph Enriquez wrote:

>That is really interesting, even for those of us who aren't in NH and in my

case who are going for an FM system rather than a hearing aid. In the end it

gives good points and shows a great way to word things legally in order to get

what we need. I appreciate your sharing this with us.

>

> Schools paying for hearing aids

>

>

> Hi - I spoke with who is an attorney here in NH who

> specializes in helping parents with kids with special needs. He's a

> great guy - he spoke with our DEAF support group and didn't charge us a

> cent. He's of note in being the attorney who successfully argued that

> the school district should pay for expenses related to mapping of

> cochlear implants.

>

> I asked him if there's anything in statutes or regs re: schools paying

> for hearing aids. This is his response:

>

> You won't find anything in statutes or regs that directly addresses this

> issue. It was addressed around 1988 or 90 by an letter to an inquiry

> that was presented to the US Department of Education (OSEP office). Tom

> Heier - was the head of that office and the author of the letter (now on

> faculty at Harvard School of Education). The letter says essentially

>

> * This is a personal service device because the child uses it in all

> sorts of environments, not just in education. There could be

> environments where this has nothing to do with school district

> responsbiility. However, education has been defined broadly to include

> things not just at school so it could be argued either.

>

> However, if under the terms of the child's IEP, for the child to be able

> to profit from the goals and objectives of his IEP, he would require a

> hearing aid, then at that point, it is appropriate for the school

> district to pay for the cost of the hearing aid if otherwise he could

> not receive the benefits of his IEP. So if a child's IEP is designed

> for someone who uses ASL, then the hearing aid remains a personal

> service device and wouldn't be covered by the school district.

> Evidently the language in Heier's letter is very specific pointing to

> the IEP as guiding the need for hearing aids or not.

>

> Related to this - there was a provision that was put in (and predates

> Heier's letter) in the regulation that deals specifically with hearing

> aids and it was designed to get at the problems revealed by

> congressional investigation that an enormously high percentage of kids

> had hearing aids that didn't work correctly. That flows into school

> district support for an audiologist; batteries, etc. but doesn't address

> who is responsible for buying hearing aids.

>

> There's a provision re: assistive technology devices that's more

> widespread. These devices belong to the school district. Mr.

> mused about what happens when the child graduates from HS? Hopefully

> practicalities would take over and they wouldn't be waiting on the

> podium to take the hearing aid away!

>

> This question is made more complicated by types of hearing aids - at the

> time there weren't the variety of hearing aids there are now. It's

> really up to the school district as to the type of hearing aids that

> would be provided once they agree to pay for them. He doesn't believe

> there's any case law that talks about different types of hearing aids

>

> He also said there is pending legislation at the federal level re: IDEA,

> etc. Our senator from NH, Judd Gregg, inserted into the senate version

> first week of May a provision that would explicitedly overturn the

> rulings of the federal judge in the cochlear implant case and bars as a

> related service of mapping. There's also changes in the assistive

> technology services and what they are seeking to do - they are trying to

> prevent any school district obligation for any medical devices inserted

> in the body (which would include implants) in case this is of interest.

>

> I hope this helps - he's such an interesting guy and so great to offer

> this information to us. I can't answer questions but am glad to pass

> this along.

>

> Barbara

>

> --

> ****************

>

> Barbara Mellert

> Manager, Social Science Computing

> Kiewit Computing Services

> Dartmouth College

> 13A Silsby Hall, HB 6121

> Hanover NH 03755

> Telephone: 603/646-2877

> URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ssc

>

>

>

> All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post is

the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to copyright

restrictions.

>

>

>

>

>

--

****************

Barbara Mellert

Manager, Social Science Computing

Kiewit Computing Services

Dartmouth College

13A Silsby Hall, HB 6121

Hanover NH 03755

Telephone: 603/646-2877

URL: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ssc