Early action can help deaf child to speak

Chennai: There is no need for a deaf child to become deaf mute and they can be trained to talk as early as four to five years of age, according to Saraswathi Naarayanaswami, director, Balavidyalaya, the school for young deaf children in Adyar, Chennai.

To mark the occasion of World Deaf Day on September 25 the school is planning to hold an exhibition on school premises on Sunday. “In India, one in every 1,000 children suffers severe to profound hearing loss that prevents the child from acquiring speech as the mode of communication. Fortunately, this hearing loss can be rectified if noticed when the child is still an infant,” she told reporters here on Wednesday.

“Intervening before the child reaches the age of three years helps the child to acquire early verbal language skills and become part of mainstream society,” she said. She also said an observant mother can suspect a hearing loss in her child when the baby is around 3 to 4 months old. “When the baby’s name is called out or when there is a noise, if the child does not turn and start looking for the source of the sound, the mother needs to seek the help of an ENT and an audiologist.”
“All children are bestowed with some ‘residual hearing’, which can be tapped and made use of,” she said.

Explaining the language scheme in her school she said, “The early childhood special educators in the school are using “DHVANI Methodology” to train the children to listen and understand what is spoken by the adults and communicate using verbal language. The entire training here is being conducted at the free of cost.”

“Balavidyalaya school is admitting children from birth to three years. There is no lower age limit and even infants, who are just a few days old are admitted. But we can’t admit children, who are beyond three years of age,” said Meera Suresh, vice-principal, Balavidyalaya

The children are diagnosed by trained audiologists and hearing aids are prescribed. In 3 to 4 years, the children acquire age appropriate skills in language, speech and readiness skills in reading, writing on par with others.

“They leave the shelter of the special school at the age of 5 or 6 years and join in a mainstream school,” she said. So far 1,200 children were trained and integrated into the mainstream by the school. Currently, 94 children are studying in the school.