1. The State Board shall evaluate the criteria recommended by the Advisory Committee on Language Development for Children Who Are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind or Visually Impaired pursuant to NRS 388.518 for use by parents or guardians to evaluate the development of language and literacy skills by children who are less than 6 years of age and are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including, without limitation, children who are both deaf and blind. If the State Board determines that the criteria recommended by the Committee pursuant to NRS 388.518:

(a) Meet the requirements of that section, the State Board must adopt the criteria for the purposes described in subsection 2.

(b) Do not meet the requirements of that section, the State Board must revise the criteria in a manner that meets the requirements of that section and adopt the revised criteria for the purposes described in subsection 2.

2. The Department shall develop a written resource for use by parents or guardians to evaluate the development of language and literacy skills by children who are less than 6 years of age and are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including, without limitation, children who are both deaf and blind. The written resource must:

(a) Describe how to use the criteria adopted pursuant to subsection 1 to evaluate the development of language and literacy skills by children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including, without limitation, children who are both deaf and blind;

(b) Be written clearly and present the criteria in a manner that is easy for parents to use;

(c) State that parents have the right to select whether to evaluate the development of language and literacy skills by their child using American Sign Language, spoken or written English, with or without the use of visual supplements or braille, as applicable;

(d) State that the resource is not a formal assessment of the development of language and literacy skills and that the observations by a parent may differ from data presented at a meeting concerning an individualized education program or individualized family service plan;

(e) State that a parent may bring the resource to a meeting concerning an individualized education program or individualized family service plan for purposes of sharing observations concerning the development of language and literacy skills by his or her child; and

(f) Include balanced and comprehensive information about languages, modes of communication and available services and programs for children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, including, without limitation, children who are both deaf and blind.

3. The Department shall disseminate the resource to parents or guardians described in subsection 2, including, without limitation, by:

(a) Making written copies of the resource available at locations and events where such parents or guardians are likely to be present;

(b) Posting the resource on an Internet website maintained by the Department; and

(c) Providing written copies of the resource to the Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health and Human Services for distribution to such parents or guardians who receive services from the Division.

(Added to NRS by 2019, 3937)