Tennessee Code Title 49. Education § 49-50-1008

(a)(1) The Tennessee School for the Deaf, together with the West Tennessee School for the Deaf, shall maintain a deaf mentor and parent advisor program to assist families in implementing bilingual and bicultural home-based programming for young children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind.

(2) The program must be available at:

(3) The program must focus on:

(4) The program must use a deaf mentor curriculum.

(5) The program must provide hearing parents of children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind with the option of using a deaf mentor to expose the parents' children to American Sign Language and deaf culture and the option of using a parent advisor to expose the parents' children to listening and spoken English strategies and accessibility, allowing the children to grow and learn in a bilingual and bicultural milieu of hearing and deaf cultures instead of limiting the children's exposure to a signed or spoken English-only environment and the hearing culture of the children's families.

(1) Make regular visits to the homes of young children who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind;

(2) Interact with the children and their families using American Sign Language and spoken English;

(3) Demonstrate American Sign Language and listening and spoken English techniques to family members; and

(4) Help families understand and appreciate deafness and deaf culture, as well as support them in understanding how to provide accommodations and access to communication.