Sec. 1. 32 MRSA c. 22-A is enacted to read:

CHAPTER 22-A

CUED SPEECH TRANSLITERATORS

§1535.__Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

1.__Commissioner.__"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation.

2.__Cued speech.__"Cued speech" is a visual communication system that, in English, uses 8 handshapes in 4 locations, known as cues, in combination with the natural mouth movements of speech to represent all the sounds of a spoken language.

3.__Cued speech transliterator.__"Cued speech transliterator" means a person who acts as an intermediary between a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing and another person and who represents any auditory communication as a visual form using cued speech.

4.__Department.__"Department" means the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.

5.__National Cued Speech Association.__"National Cued Speech Association" means the recognized national association that establishes standards for cued speech transliterators or its successor organization with the same mission and goals.

6.__Person who is deaf.__"Person who is deaf" means a person whose sense of hearing is nonfunctional for the purposes of expressive and receptive communication and whose primary means of communication is speech, speechreading, vibrotactile or sign language.

7.__Person who is hard-of-hearing.__"Person who is hard-of- hearing" means a person who has a mild to severe hearing loss, who may or may not primarily use visual communication and who may or may not use assistive listening devices.

8.__Transliterating.__"Transliterating" means the process that includes using cued speech to facilitate expressive and receptive communication between a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing and a hearing person who is using spoken English