By Bob Katzen

The Senate approved and sent to the House a bill that would strike outdated language from state laws that refer to people who are deaf or hard of hearing as being “hearing impaired.” The legislation replaces the term “hearing impaired” with the phrase “deaf or hard of hearing.”

“Words shape how we see one another, and our laws are no exception,” said Senate Majority Leader Sen. Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “This bill takes a simple but important step toward ensuring that the words we use reflect respect, accuracy and the preferences of the communities they describe. I’m proud the Senate is taking decisive action to help modernize our statutes and affirm the dignity of deaf and hard of hearing individuals across Massachusetts, and I’m grateful to the students of Newton’s CAPS Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program for bringing this issue to my attention.”

“Members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community have been advocating for this change for years, and they made a compelling case that the language currently found in our laws no longer reflects the people it is meant to describe,” said Sen. Nick Collins (D-South Boston), Senate chair of the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight. “This legislation makes a commonsense update to our statutes and reflects the respect that community deserves. Our laws should evolve alongside the people they serve, and it is important that the language we use reflects both the dignity of all residents and the commonwealth’s commitment to treating every person with respect. It is a small change on paper, but an important step in ensuring our laws continue to reflect the values of Massachusetts.”