The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : `Timing crucial in improving residual hearing'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 12, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

`Timing crucial in improving residual hearing'

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, FEB. 11. Karun Peter and Keshika Krishnagopal are speaking after years of silence. So much that Karun, born with hearing impediment, is joining the mainstream school from the next academic year.

Karun's mother, Manju, and Keshika's mother, Devasana, are thankful to the "early intervention" by Bala Vidyalaya — The School for Young Deaf Children at Shastri Nagar here.

Back in Kerala, Manju's doctor said it was she who needed a hearing aid and not her son when she raised doubts. At Bala Vidyalaya's 35th annual day held here today, Manju proudly said her child now speaks "fluently" due to the hard work by teachers and staff.

Devasena also saw her daughter speaking coherently after she moved to Chennai from Veeranam near Pondicherry to put her child in Bala Vidyalalaya.

"We reached the right place at the right time," she recalls.

According to the member-secretary, Rehabilitation Council of India, J.P. Singh, timing was crucial in improving the residual hearing of children with hearing impediments, so that their verbal language skills could be developed to help them get into the mainstream.

"We are working on a plan to intervene at the earliest. The Council will also have a training programme for teachers."

Mr. Singh said one way out to spread awareness of early intervention was to set up "small centres" all over the State and sensitise doctors and teachers in the regular stream.

"We have already sensitised 6,500 teachers," said Mr. Singh.

He stressed the need for more government participation and reminded teachers, who passed out of the Bala Vidyalaya Teacher Training Programme, of the need for sustained work.

"We now need parents to act as a pressure lobby so they can come together to make a change," said Mr. Singh, referring to the effort taken by the school's parent -teacher association in helping students get admitted to engineering courses.

The Principal, Saraswathi Narayanaswamy, said the PTA took up the case of three alumni with the Special Commissioner for the Disabled and the Secretary of Higher Education. The Government later issued an order as per the Persons With Disabilities Act norms to make candidates, who suffered from hearing impairment, eligible.

Earlier, 27 children who got into mainstream schools were honoured.

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