Mother fighting IHSAA over deaf daughter’s right to play softball

Lisa Combs-Creech reached out to the U.S. Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Education about her daughter’s right to play for her local public school’s softball team, even though she cannot attend the schools due to her hearing loss. Alexandra “Ally” Creech, 16, developed hearing loss at a young age due to a negative reaction she had to medicine for appendicitis. She is home-schooled because most of her local public high schools cannot provide a full-time interpreter for her. The two schools near Creech only allow students who attend their schools for at least half days to play for their sports teams. The Indiana High School Athletic Association said they would allow Creech to play for the Indiana School for the Deaf, but Combs-Creech said she wishes her daughter had the opportunity to play for one of the teams closer to home. Combs-Creech contacted the U.S. Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Education about the situation and the organization agreed to pick up the case. “Most parents give up and they’re like, ‘Okay she’s old. She’s not going to play. Why do this fight?'” Combs-Creech said. “But I told her I’m not giving up this fight.”

Read the full story here.