Assembly Member Tony Mendoza: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing!

On August 12, 2010, the Senate Appropriations Committee, in Sacramento, voted 10 to 1 in favor of the AB 2072 legislation being pushed by Assembly Member Tony Mendoza despite: 1) intense lobbying by the California Deaf Newborn Identification & Advocacy Stakeholder Coalition and countless individuals within the Deaf Community who have spoken out in heavy opposition to the bill and 2) evidence that shows that this legislation is being deeply influenced by special interests.

AB 2072 was introduced by Assembly Member Mendoza to effect changes in current law regarding how to provide information to parents of babies that have been identified as Deaf. Mendoza, without the input nor the involvement of the Deaf community, including Deaf individuals who have lived the experience of being Deaf all their lives, parents, educators, language development professionals, and bilingual specialists (ASL/ English), proposed that when parents find out that their baby is Deaf, they get information about language and communication options directly from an audiologist without any oversight or accountability on how to enforce quality assurance. This is a proposal that the Deaf Community strongly opposes because we believe, based on our years of personal and professional experiences, that audiologists are not the appropriate professionals to provide this information for several significant reasons including grave concerns that they will be heavily influenced by an industry that stands to gain financially by this bill. Despite strong opposition to this bill, our California Assembly Members and Senators are not heeding our call, even though we have provided them with a wealth of research-based information and testimonials. It is clear that audism, the negative or oppressive attitude towards Deaf people by those who can hear, is pervasive in the California Legislature.