HEALTH & SAFETY CODE
CHAPTER 36. SPECIAL SENSES AND COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
§ 36.001. SHORT TITLE. This chapter may be cited as the
Special Senses and Communication Disorders Act.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.002. PURPOSE. (a) The purpose of this chapter is
to establish a program to identify, at as early an age as possible,
those individuals from birth through 20 years of age who have
special senses and communication disorders and who need remedial
vision, hearing, speech, and language services. Early detection
and remediation of those disorders provide the individuals with the
opportunity to reach academic and social status through adequate
educational planning and training.
(b) This chapter shall be implemented in accordance with the
provisions of professional license laws that pertain to
professional examinations and remedial services for individuals
with special senses and communication disorders.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.003. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Communication disorder" means an abnormality of
functioning related to the ability to express and receive ideas.
(2) "Other benefit" means a benefit, other than a
benefit under this chapter, to which an individual is entitled for
payment of the costs of remedial services, and includes:
(A) benefits received under a personal insurance
contract;
(B) payments received from another person for
personal injury caused by the other person's negligence or
wrongdoing; and
(C) payments received from any other source.
(3) "Preschool" means an educational or child-care
institution that admits children who are three years of age or older
but younger than five years of age.
(4) "Professional examination" means a diagnostic
evaluation performed by an appropriately licensed professional or,
if the professional is not required to be licensed under the laws of
this state, by a certified or sanctioned individual whose area of
expertise addresses the diagnostic needs of an individual
identified as having a possible special senses or communication
disorder.
(5) "Provider" means a person who provides remedial
services to individuals who have special senses and communication
disorders, and includes a physician, audiologist, speech
pathologist, optometrist, psychologist, hospital, clinic,
rehabilitation center, university, or medical school.
(6) "Remedial services" means professional
examinations and prescribed remediation, including prosthetic
devices, for individuals with special senses or communication
disorders.
(7) "School" means an educational institution that
admits children who are five years of age or older but younger than
21 years of age.
(8) "Screening" means a test or battery of tests
administered to rapidly determine the need for a professional
examination.
(9) "Special senses" means the faculties by which the
conditions or properties of things are perceived, and includes
vision and hearing.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.004. SCREENING PROGRAM FOR SPECIAL SENSES AND
COMMUNICATION DISORDERS. (a) The board by rule shall require
screening of individuals who attend public or private preschools or
schools to detect vision and hearing disorders and any other
special senses or communication disorders specified by the board.
In developing the rules, the board may consider the number of
individuals to be screened and the availability of:
(1) personnel qualified to administer the required
screening;
(2) appropriate screening equipment; and
(3) state and local funds for screening activities.
(b) The rules must include procedures necessary to
administer screening activities.
(c) The board shall adopt a schedule for implementing the
screening requirements and shall give priority to the age groups
that may derive the greatest educational and social benefits from
early identification of special senses and communication
disorders.
(d) The rules must provide for acceptance of results of
screening conducted by a licensed professional, regardless of
whether that professional is under contract with the department,
if:
(1) the professional's legally defined scope of
practice includes the area for which the screening is conducted;
and
(2) the professional uses acceptable procedures for
the screening.
(e) The department may coordinate the special senses and
communication disorders screening activities of school districts,
private schools, state agencies, volunteer organizations, and
other entities so that the efforts of each entity are complementary
and not fragmented and duplicative. The department may provide
technical assistance to those entities in developing screening
programs and may provide educational and other material to assist
local screening activities.
(f) The department may provide screening personnel,
equipment, and services only if the screening requirements cannot
otherwise be met.
(g) The department shall monitor the quality of screening
activities provided under this chapter.
(h) This section does not prohibit a volunteer from
participating in the department's screening programs.
(i) A hearing screening performed under this section is in
addition to any hearing screening test performed under Chapter 47.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1347, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
§ 36.005. COMPLIANCE WITH SCREENING
REQUIREMENTS. (a) An individual required to be screened shall
undergo approved screening for vision and hearing disorders and any
other special senses and communication disorders specified by the
board. The individual shall comply with the requirements as soon as
possible after the individual's admission to a preschool or school
and within the period set by the board. The individual or, if the
individual is a minor, the minor's parent, managing conservator, or
guardian, may substitute professional examinations for the
screening.
(b) An individual is exempt from screening if screening
conflicts with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or
religious denomination of which the individual is an adherent or a
member. To qualify for the exemption, the individual or, if the
individual is a minor, the minor's parent, managing conservator, or
guardian, must submit to the admitting officer of the preschool or
school on or before the day of admission an affidavit stating the
objections to screening.
(c) The chief administrator of each preschool or school
shall ensure that each individual admitted to the preschool or
school complies with the screening requirements set by the board or
submits an affidavit of exemption.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.006. RECORDS; REPORTS. (a) The chief
administrator of each preschool or school shall maintain, on a form
prescribed by the department, screening records for each individual
in attendance, and the records are open for inspection by the
department or the local health department.
(b) The department may, directly or through local health
departments, enter a preschool or school and inspect records
maintained by the preschool or school relating to screening for
special senses and communication disorders.
(c) An individual's screening records may be transferred
among preschools and schools without the consent of the individual
or, if the individual is a minor, the minor's parent, managing
conservator, or guardian.
(d) Each preschool or school shall submit to the department
an annual report on the screening status of the individuals in
attendance during the reporting year and shall include in the
report any other information required by the board. The report must
be on a form prescribed by the department and must be submitted
according to the board's rules.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.007. PROVISION OF REMEDIAL SERVICES. (a) The
department may provide remedial services directly or through
approved providers to eligible individuals who have certain special
senses and communication disorders and who are not eligible for
special education services that remediate those disorders and that
are administered by the Texas Education Agency through the public
schools.
(b) The board by rule shall:
(1) describe the type, amount, and duration of
remedial services that the department provides;
(2) establish medical, financial, and other criteria
to be applied by the department in determining an individual's
eligibility for the services;
(3) establish criteria for the selection by the
department of providers of remedial services; and
(4) establish procedures necessary to provide
remedial services.
(c) The board may establish a schedule to determine
financial eligibility.
(d) The department may not require remedial services
without the consent of the individual or, if the individual is a
minor, the minor's parent, managing conservator, or guardian.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended
by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, § 6.34, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.
§ 36.008. INDIVIDUALS ELIGIBLE FOR REMEDIAL
SERVICES. (a) An individual is not eligible to receive the
remedial services authorized by this chapter to the extent that the
individual or the parent, managing conservator, or other person
with a legal obligation to support the individual is eligible for
some other benefit that would pay for all or part of the services.
(b) The department may waive ineligibility under Subsection
(a) if the department finds that:
(1) good cause for the waiver is shown; and
(2) enforcement of the requirement would tend to
defeat the purpose of this chapter or disrupt the administration or
prevent the provision of remedial services to an otherwise eligible
recipient.
(c) When an application for remedial services is filed or at
any time that an individual is eligible for and receiving remedial
services, the applicant or recipient shall inform the department of
any other benefit to which the applicant, recipient, or person with
a legal obligation to support the applicant or recipient may be
entitled.
(d) The department may modify, suspend, or terminate the
eligibility of an applicant for or recipient of remedial services
after notice to the affected individual and an opportunity for a
fair hearing that is conducted in accordance with the informal
hearing rules adopted by the board.
(e) The board by rule shall provide criteria for actions
taken under this section.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.009. REIMBURSEMENT. (a) The board may require an
individual or, if the individual is a minor, the minor's parent,
managing conservator, or guardian, to pay or reimburse the
department for a part of the cost of the remedial services provided.
(b) The recipient or the parent, managing conservator, or
other person with a legal obligation to support an individual who
has received remedial services from the department that are covered
by some other benefit shall, when the other benefit is received,
reimburse the department for the cost of services provided.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.010. RECOVERY OF COSTS. (a) The department is
entitled to recover an expenditure for services provided under this
chapter from:
(1) a person who does not reimburse the department as
required by this chapter; or
(2) a third party with a legal obligation to pay other
benefits and who has notice of the department's interests in the
other benefits.
(b) The commissioner may request the attorney general to
bring suit in the appropriate court of Travis County on behalf of
the department. A suit brought under this section need not be
ancillary or dependent on any other action.
(c) In a judgment in favor of the department, the court may
award attorney's fees, court costs, and interest accruing from the
date on which the department provides the service to the date on
which the department is reimbursed.
(d) The board by rule shall provide criteria for actions
taken under this section.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.011. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONS PROVIDING SCREENING
AND REMEDIAL SERVICES. (a) The department may require that
persons who administer special senses and communication disorders
screening complete an approved training program, and the department
may train those persons and approve training programs.
(b) A person who provides speech and language screening
services authorized by this chapter must be:
(1) appropriately licensed; or
(2) trained and monitored by a person who is
appropriately licensed.
(c) A person who is not an appropriately licensed
professional may not conduct hearing screening authorized by this
chapter other than screening of hearing sensitivity. The person
shall refer an individual who is unable to respond reliably to that
screening to an appropriately licensed professional.
(d) A person who provides a professional examination or
remedial services authorized by this chapter for speech, language,
or hearing disorders must be appropriately licensed.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.012. RESEARCH; REPORT TO LEGISLATURE. (a) The
department may conduct research and compile statistics on the
provision of remedial services to individuals with special senses
and communication disorders and on the availability of those
services in the state.
(b) The department shall compile and publish a report for
the legislature on or before February 1 of each year describing the
conduct of the screening and remedial services programs and their
impact on public health.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.013. FUNDING. The department may accept
appropriations, donations, and reimbursements, including donations
of prosthetic devices, and may apply those items to the purposes of
this chapter.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
§ 36.014. CONTRACTS. The department may enter into
contracts and agreements necessary to administer this chapter,
including contracts for the purchase of remedial services.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
