Along with his team members, Jha has developed a special software and language laboratory for Umang, an education and research centre for hearing impaired run by the Shrimad Rajchandra Trust Kendra in the premises provided by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation at Ellisbridge Municipal School.

‘‘For these special people, sign language is the only medium to communicate. This software will now help them first learn a language and then speak,’’ says Jha.

‘‘An indivisual is able to deliver speech only if he knows a language, which is acquired primarily through listening in the first five years of life. If a child is diagnosed as hearing impaired during these years, there are chances of him/her overcoming his/her disability. For this, we give speech therapy classes here at Umang,’’ says Brinda Nanavati, Director Education, Umang.

At the laboratary, speech therapy classes focus on voice control, correct pronunciation and articulation of words.

Equipped with eight computers (for students) and a master computer (for teacher), laboratory is the hub of learning. And, the software is designed in a manner to enable easy interaction between students and teachers.

Once inside the lab, students are provided with headphones, which they are required to put on instead of their hearing machines, designed to match the frequency of each student.

Divided into two parts, the computer screen’s upper half has a chart showing teacher’s sound wave frequency which has to be matched with that of the students’ reflecting on the lower half. They do this by making sound in the mike. This enables them to set their vocal chords accordingly after which they come to know about their voice pitch.

The training begins with the process of adapting a language for which there is a group of trained teachers. ‘‘A normal child adapts his mother tongue by listening to his surroundings but a person who cannot hear cannot speak unless he knows a language. So, we begin the class by introducing a language to them for which the medium of instruction is Gujarati,’’ says Nandini Trivedi, a speech therapist and audiologist at Umang.

Children are taught to pronounce letters, form words and then sentences. Parents of such children are also given training on ways to deal with them. Proper classroom sessions are conducted by teachers and after school hours, they are given training in the lab.

‘‘It is dificult to make out a person with a hearing disability. It’s only when you interact with them that you come to know of it. For me, it is a new experience everyday when I interact with these students, as it is a mutual learning process,’’ says Balbhadra Chawda, a teacher.

‘‘The establishment of the lab is not an anwser to the hearing impaired but is an aid to educate them and make them good individuals. It’s an intiative that will promote networking of deaf individuals, parents and professionals,’’ says Brinda.

Ruchi Phadke
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=173650