Committee OKs technical bill clarifying terms for Deaf and hard‑of‑hearing communities

An unidentified presenter described a multi‑page cleanup bill intended to clarify language in statute relating to deaf and hard‑of‑hearing communities. The presenter said the bill was brought by the Arkansas Association of the Deaf and explained distinctions the measure would reflect: capital‑D "Deaf" for people who identify culturally and often use American Sign Language, lowercase "deaf" for those who lost hearing later in life and may not use ASL as a primary language, and "hard of hearing" for people who rely primarily on spoken communication.