[atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to an elementary school disabilities awareness program; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Thirty-four percent of children with disabilities may be perceived as less valuable than other children;

(b) Children with disabilities are maltreated 1.7 times the rate of other children;

(d) Nine million people of all ages have disabilities so severe that they require personal assistance to carry out day-to-day activities; and

(e) In the general population, child victims of abuse are at high risk for multiple problems, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Consequences of abuse may be more pronounced in children with disabilities because of their already vulnerable physical and psychological state. Research has shown that the longer abuse has gone on the more damage may result. Since the child with disabilities who is abused is less likely to be identified, he or she is likely to suffer more damage because of long-term abuse. Abuse may exacerbate existing disabilities and cause additional permanent disabilities.

(2) The purposes of this act are to:

(a) Inform and educate elementary students about disabilities and diseases that cause deformities; and

(b) Provide students with the proper etiquette and skills to interact with those who are disabled.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

(1) "Albinism" means the absence of normal pigmentation in a person wherein, no melanin is produced resulting in milk-white and pink skin, white hair, and weak eyes.

(2) "Amputations" means the removal of parts of the body, usually limbs.

(3) "Autism" means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction which adversely affect performance. Characteristics associated with autism involve engagement in repetitive activities, resistance to environmental change or change in routine, and unusual responses to sensory experience.

(4) "Blindness" means an impairment in vision that does not allow for sight.

(5) "Burns" means damage to the body due to heat, resulting in deformation of the areas affected.

(6) "Cerebral palsy" means impaired muscular power and coordination from brain damage usually occurring at or before birth.

(7) "Common courtesies" means often used polite behavior.

(8) "Conversational skills" means abilities used when speaking.

(9) "Deafness" means partially or completely incapable of hearing.

(10) "Disabilities" means physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities.

(11) "Etiquette" means a governing code of behavior or courtesy.

(12) "Hearing impairments" means an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects performance.

(13) "Mental retardation" means significantly under average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period that adversely affects performance.

(14) "Multiple sclerosis" means a degenerative disease of the central nervous system, in which hardening of the tissues occurs throughout the brain or spinal cord, or both and that results in a lack of muscular control.

(15) "Orthopedic impairment" means an impairment that affects skeletal system and/or associated motor organs and includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly such as clubfoot, lobster claw syndrome, and absence of some extremity, impairments caused by disease such as bone tuberculosis, and impairments from other causes such as fractures or burns that cause contractures.

(16) "Skin conditions" means impairments that effect the skin in a way that affects performance.

(17) "Speech or language impairment" means a communication disorder, such as stuttering, impaired articulation, a language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects performance.

(18) "Visual impairments" means an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects performance and includes both partial sight and blindness.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, all elementary schools shall adopt a disabilities awareness program.

(a) The program must include information covering mental retardation, hearing impairments including deafness, speech or language impairment, visual impairments including blindness, autism, and orthopedic impairments including cerebral palsy, amputations, and multiple sclerosis, skin conditions including albinism, and burns.

(b) The program must include an etiquette section that includes information about how to address those who are disabled, common courtesies, and conversational skills.

(2) Students who have a disability are not required to take the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. This chapter may be known and cited as the disabilities awareness act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 4 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act takes effect August 1, 2003.