Senate Bill 454 would allow students to receive foreign language academic credit for sign language courses at Missouri public schools, colleges and universities.

House Bill 530, another version of the bill, passed the House on Monday and was referred to the Senate Education Committee.

The Senate bill’s sponsor, Sen. John Loudon, R-St. Louis, said the House bill could pass the Senate if it’s attached to another Senate bill that has already been approved and sent to the House.

Loudon said he became interested in the issue when he worked at a school for the deaf.

He said the bill’s provisions help address the deaf community’s frequent isolation from the rest of society. Loudon cited stories he has heard about Laurent, a proposed community in South Dakota that would better accommodate the deaf.

"There is definitely a disconnection between big segments of the deaf community and the general population," he said. "The argument that this would help more people study sign language is compelling."

Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, a longtime advocate of disability rights, said he supports the bill in part because of the shortage of sign language interpreters.

"I think it would open up a lot of opportunities for people who are deaf if there were more people who know sign language, and it would open up career opportunities for people to become interpreters," he said.

By Darla Cameron, The Maneater