Department of Hearing Impairment, Faculty of Disability Management and Special Education (FDMSE), Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), Coimbatore Campus, celebrated ‘World Hearing Day – 2023’ on 3rd March, 2023. On this occasion the department organized a one-day Training Programme for the parents on ‘Care and Usage of Amplification Devices in Developing Communication skills for Children with Hearing Impairment’.
The inauguration started by invoking the blessings of Gurumaharaj with a prayer song. Mrs. Hamsapriya, Asst. Professor in Special Education, welcomed the gathering. Dr. K. Narendiran, Director, School of Allied and Healthcare Science, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women- Coimbatore was the Chief Guest of the inaugural function. In his chief guest address, he quoted his experiences of importance of sense organs and listening. Swami Nirmaleshananda Maharaj, Assistant Administrative Head, FDMSE, RKMVERI delivered the presidential address and Dr. N. Muthaiah, Dean, School of Rehabilitation and Sports Science, RKMVERI presented the special address. Dr. Jignya Shah, Asst. Professor in Special Education, oriented the participants about the objectives and schedule of the training programme. Dr. M. Sumathi, Asst. Professor in Special Education, proposed the vote of thanks.
The participants were parents of children with Hearing Impairment, the primary stakeholders. In total 35 parents of children with hearing impairment participated (33 female and 2 male parents of hearing impaired children) in the training programme.
The first session of the day was dealt by the chief guest Dr. K. Narendiran, Director, School of Allied and Health Care Science. Avinashilingam Institute – Coimbatore. He shared his expertise and gave valuable inputs on “Strategies to develop language and communication skills among the children with Hearing Impairment”.
The second session was followed by Mrs. Seshashri, Speech and Language pathologist and Audiologist, FDMSE on “Care and Maintenance of Amplification devices”. She discussed the need and importance of care and maintenance of amplification devices and also to handle programmable hearing aids and cochlear implants.
Afternoon first session on “Recent trends and use of ICT in developing communication skills among the CwHI” was handled by Mr. Shankar Subbiah, Director, Agate Info Tech, Chennai and Accessibility and Assistive Technology Consultant of FDMSE. He discussed the need & importance of various Mobile Apps and its utilization in day today life in developing listening and communication skills.
Last session of the one day training programme ended with the discussions and sharing the feedback by the participants. The parents suggested conducting more training programs focusing on awareness and strategies to develop listening skills, language and communication skills among the children with hearing impairment and associated problems and suggested to include some programs on hands on training on free apps and its usages. On the whole, the training programme was useful for all the participants.
Below are some of the photos