Vaani Deaf Children's Foundation

The Foundation conducts special training for Anganwadi and Asha workers on how to handle hearing-impaired children. They are also equipped with the knowledge and techniques to counsel parents of such children and guide them towards relevant services and treatments.

Vaani has developed a six-set training module focusing on the problems of deafness and techniques for teaching them. The modules are useful for parents, teachers of regular schools, special educators and community workers who deal with the identification and education of hearing-impaired children.

It encourages the identification and training of hearing-impaired children to be started at an early age, otherwise leading to issues of understanding, making training a difficult task later on.

This programme seeks to engage with IT companies, CSR arms of various organisations and the general public to teach them sign language. It attempts to create a more inclusive society where the hearing-impaired person can be understood and be communicated to, using sign language.

Upon detection of hearing impairment in a child, it becomes the parent's responsibility to understand the child’s special needs and provide an enabling environment. To this end, Vaani initiated the Parent Infant Programme which is a home-based, family-centred, parent-guided, child-specific and natural approach to learning.

Professionals work with the families as a team assisting them through the child’s growing up process. The programme enables parents to connect to other parents resulting in support and interaction, which in turn leads to the child’s development of language, literacy skills and growth in world awareness, positive self-esteem and personal responsibility.

The program aims at exploring the interests and potentials of Children with Hearing Impairment in the age group of 8 to 18 years and providing the opportunities and equipping them with the skills that would pave a way for pursuing further education and acquiring advance skills for employment, thus making them contribute in the economic activities of the mainstream society.

The Programme focuses on a Centre based approach with educational intervention services, reaching out directly to 200 Children With Hearing Impairment ( CWHI) and their families. Every child registered in the Sadhan Centre is assessed on various parameters like Communication Skills, Pre reading , reading , pre maths ,maths ,writing and social behaviour; based on which Annual Individualised Educational Plans(IEPS) are made and the sessions are taken forward on an individual basis by interventionists (Teachers of the Deaf). The Sessions are in order to develop a positive attitude towards the child’s disability and to learn the communication skills for a better bonding between the child and the parent. Through these sessions parents are also provided inputs on how they can support their children for developing communication and language in a home environment. The Team (interventionists) at the Centre will continue to be capacitated to upgrade their skills and keep their motivation alive to focus in enhancing the skills of the Children With Hearing Impairment . Community mobilisers will ensure the attendance of the children in Sadhan Centres. They will also visit schools to track the improvement of the child in his/her school. This will all be captured and recorded in a robust Management Information System which will track the development of the child.

The Program focuses on the Early identification & screening of hearing loss in newborns - a very important area which is missing in the Indian scenario. Delay in identification increases the difficulty of language development and comprehension, as the critical early three years are lost where the brain is most flexible of grasping anything and everything around it. Moreover due to lack of stimulus during these three crucial years, it leads to delayed reflexes from the child and has negative impact also on other developments. As an immediate need to focus on this issue , VAANI has set up Early identification screening centres in hospitals, equipped with Sohum , which is a low cost non-invasive hearing screening device for newborns ( Department of Biotechnology_Sohum Device ) and further linking the identified babies to Early Intervention Programmes existing in the respective locations.

The Programme focuses on a Centre based approach with educational intervention services, reaching out directly to 200 Children With Hearing Impairment ( CWHI) and their families. Every child registered in the Sadhan Centre is assessed on various parameters like Communication Skills, Pre reading , reading , pre maths ,maths ,writing and social behaviour; based on which Annual Individualised Educational Plans(IEPS) are made and the sessions are taken forward on an individual basis by interventionists (Teachers of the Deaf). The Sessions are in order to develop a positive attitude towards the child’s disability and to learn the communication skills for a better bonding between the child and the parent. Through these sessions parents are also provided inputs on how they can support their children for developing communication and language in a home environment. The Team (interventionists) at the Centre will continue to be capacitated to upgrade their skills and keep their motivation alive to focus in enhancing the skills of the Children With Hearing Impairment . Community mobilisers will ensure the attendance of the children in Sadhan Centres. They will also visit schools to track the improvement of the child in his/her school. This will all be captured and recorded in a robust Management Information System which will track the development of the child.

The program aims at exploring the interests and potentials of Children with Hearing Impairment in the age group of 8 to 18 years and providing the opportunities and equipping them with the skills that would pave a way for pursuing further education and acquiring advance skills for employment, thus making them contribute in the economic activities of the mainstream society.