AB2072 bill - less power to audiologists

Let me turn the table and say that the greatest irony are those who are against the AB2072 bill (as of August 17, 2010). Today, at the Capital in Sacramento, California there will be a protest mostly by Deaf people who are against this bill believing this bill will give more power to audiologists.

That's not true.

There are certain languages in the bill that restrict what audiologists can or cannot do. From the latest bill modification as of August 17, 2010 on page 3 (note the bold black word):

The pamphlet shall be provided:

21 By an audiologist immediately upon identification of a
22 newborn or infant as deaf or hard of hearing. The audiologist shall
23 not inform or counsel a parent toward a particular option beyond
24 the scope of his or her practice.

The key legal word in this bill is "shall" which is a directive and not a word that provides an option. It is a command. An order. A non-directive word would be "should," "may," "might," or any other similar words. I do a lot of environmental writings on environmental recommendations and I am carefull to be mindful of certain "legally bound" words and the biggie one is the word "shall" which is a directive that cannot be bargained with. It is simply a legal command.

In this case, in the bill the state issues a legal command to audiologists that they "SHALL NOT inform or counsel a parent toward a particular option." This legal requirement does not give the audiologist the option on whether to communicate or not toward a particular communication and/or language option. They simply do not have this option, period. It is a legal requirement given by the state of California to the audiologists that their role is not to communicate or counsel parents of deaf children about a particular communication option. That is not their role now. The bill actually reduces the audiologists' role and power on how to deliver those communication options to parents of deaf/hh babies.

Right now we are seeing that some Deaf people want to protest against this bill believing it gives more power to audiologists on informing parents of deaf/hh babies on which communication options are better. Heck, they should be rejoicing that audiologists' role and power will be reduced in this bill.

Now, that's the greatest irony of all.

Audiologists will soon be powerless to do what they want to do on informing parents about communication and lanbguage options. Instead, they will soon be legally required to give parents of newborn babies identified with a hearing loss an approved informational pamphlet that discusses communication and language options, and more with thanks to the AB2072 bill. Parents will no longer be in the dark on this issue. They will have a chance to be fully informed in their decision process.