Karnataka - Mysore   

Self-learning material for AIISH course launched

Special Correspondent

The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing will start a diploma course

MYSORE: The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) on Friday took a major step in addressing the paucity of audiologists and speech therapists that is plaguing the country and launched a set of self-learning materials to train the required manpower.

Reckoned to be a significant endeavour, its importance stems from an acute shortage that has hit the national programme in prevention of deafness launched in 25 districts as a pilot project by the Union Government.

The pilot project has not been effective as the authorities had difficulty roping in the services of 25 audiologists — one for each district — to implement the programme.

Governor T.N. Chautrvedi released the set of self-learning materials and appreciated the efforts of the AIISH in its attempts to address the scarcity of trained manpower in treating speech and hearing impairment. The AIISH is launching a diploma course in hearing language and speech (DHLS) through distance mode which has been recognised by the Rehabilitation Council of India. The programme is expected to help train the manpower at various levels at a faster rate to meet the demands in the field of speech and hearing with respect to the rehabilitation of people with communication disorders.

Vijayalakshmi Basavaraj, Director of AIISH, pointed out that though the requirement for trained personnel to rehabilitate people with communication disorder was huge, the available manpower was meagre and the distance education course was an attempt to bridge the gap.

The AIISH will tap the expertise of the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) in reaching out to a larger number of people. The university’s Vice-Chancellor Viveka Rai suggested greater collaboration between the two institutes but mooted the idea of developing the learning materials in Kannada so that the course could reach a large number of people in rural areas, especially in northern parts of the State where incidents of speech and hearing disorders are reckoned to be high.

The AIISH has signed an MoU with four major medical centres — Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi; JIPMER, Pondicherry; Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal; and All India Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mumbai — as study centres for this programme which is being launched simultaneously at the above centres.

A unique feature of this course will be video conferencing from AIISH, Mysore, while clinical training will be provided at the respective study centres. The AIISH plans to extend this programme to 20 other study centres within two years.

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