மார்த்தாண்டம் அருகே அதிர்ச்சி; காணாமல் போன காது கேளாத 10 வயது மாணவன் பிணமாக மீட்பு!

03.01.2019
மார்த்தாண்டம் அருகே கொடுங்குளம் பகுதியை சேர்ந்தவர் சுபாஷ். இவரது மகன் ஹரி பிரசாத்(10). இவன் நாகர்கோவிலில் உள்ள காது கேளாதோர் பள்ளியில் படித்து வந்தார்.

நேற்று வீட்டின் அருகே விளையாடி கொண்டிருந்த நிலையில் திடீரென மாயமானார். அப்பகுதியில் ஐஸ் விற்க வந்தவர்கள் குழந்தையை கடத்தி சென்று இருக்கலாம் என்ற சந்தேகம் எழுந்தது. இதையடுத்து பல இடங்களில் உறவினர்கள் மற்றும் பொதுமக்கள் தேடினர்.

இதுகுறித்து மார்த்தாண்டம் போலீசார் விசாரணை நடத்தி வந்தனர். இந்நிலையில் இன்று காலை சுபாஷ் வீட்டிற்கு அருகிலுள்ள குட்டையில் ஹரி பிரசாத் பிணமாக கிடந்தார். அவரது உடலை உடற்கூறு ஆய்வுக்காக குழித்துறை அரசு மருத்துவமனைக்கு அனுப்பி வைத்தனர்.

இதனிடையே உயிரிழந்த சிறுவனின் பெற்றோருக்கு திடீரென உடல்நலக் குறைவு ஏற்பட்டு தனியார் மருத்துவமனையில் சிகிச்சை பெற்று வருகின்றனர். சிறுவனின் மரணத்தில் சந்தேகம் இருப்பதாக உறவினர்கள் குற்றச்சாட்டு எழுப்பி உள்ளனர்.

வாய்பேச முடியாத சிறுவனின் உயிரிழப்பால் உறவினர்கள் மற்றும் அப்பகுதியியை சேர்ந்தவர்கள் சோகத்தில் ஆழ்ந்துள்ளனர்.

Delhi: Admission relief for hearing impaired child is short-lived

07.01.2019
A spokesperson of Shri Hazari Lal Public School told The Indian Express that while they do have a special educator, they are not equipped to cater to the needs of a 100% hearing impaired child.

A six-year-old boy was among the few applicants to the recently concluded draw of lots for seats reserved for differently abled children in the city’s private schools. However, the family of the child, who is 100% hearing impaired, has discovered that the school allotted to him was not equipped to cater to his needs, leaving the boy with no choice but to forfeit the admission.
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The boy’s father, who works as a domestic help in Pitampura, found out about the draw of lots on December 26, 2018, from an advocate, who had earlier filed a petition in the High Court about the boy’s inability to get admission in any school.

According to a fresh petition, no schools were available in the 0-1 km and 1-3 km radius of their home in Badli, so the family applied to three schools in the 3-6 km radius. After a draw of lots, the family was informed the child had been allotted the school of their second preference, located in Khera Khurd.

“My wife visited the school and found it wasn’t suitable at all. It was far from our home, and he wouldn’t have been able to learn anything there. There was nothing to help a child like him learn. We didn’t know what to do, so we did not go ahead with taking the seat,” said the boy’s father.

A spokesperson of Shri Hazari Lal Public School told The Indian Express that while they do have a special educator, they are not equipped to cater to the needs of a 100% hearing impaired child.

When contacted, Director of Education Sanjay Goel said: “One of the conditions for recognition of schools is that they have a special educator. As for other facilities, they can only happen slowly. This is a starting point, where special educators can teach children slowly, and with more such children coming in over time, they will build facilities. Enforcement has been weak in the past and schools have constraints. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

As earlier reported by The Indian Express, one of the reasons for enough applications not being received under the quota for children with special needs is that schools in the city lack infrastructure and learning equipment for differently abled children.

DCPCR to collate data on kids with disabilities

07.01.2019
NEW DELHI: With an urgent need to improve the lives of children suffering from all forms of disability, the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has started a mapping exercise in the city’s anganwadi centres to collate data on how many differently abled kids are enrolled there.

The aim is to help these kids with early intervention before they start formal schooling. Currently, there is no such data, said the DCPCR. Mapping has already started in the south district with the help of Child Development Project Officers. Later, a need analysis will be done on the basis of the data.

“Currently, there is no special system in place. They are studying with other children and are given the same kind of assistance, but their needs are different. If we can recognise this, it will help us to assess what actually needs to be done to help them in their development and chalk out a plan,” said Samrah, DCPCR member.

Anganwadis, under the Integrated Child Development Scheme, provide supplementary nutrition to beneficiaries, pre-school non-formal education, immunisation, health check-up and referral services.“For example, if there is hearing impaired kid, he will be provided with hearing aids in the anganwadis at an early age and the development will start before they go to school. Similarly, emphasis will be given to improving the motor skills of those having difficulty in it, or for those who need speech therapy. Teaching aids will be separate,” she said.

The Child Development Project officers, who are block-level monitoring officers under the anganwadi system, have been asked by the commission to help with the exercise.The DCPCR then plans to engage an NGO working in the field to do a “need analysis” once the data is recorded.

The Delhi government notified amendments to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, under which the definition of disability has been widened to include even learning problems. From seven, the number of disabilities that would be accepted has been increased to 21. These include muscular dystrophy, thalassaemia, haemophilia, and sickle cell disease.

3 years after Geeta returns to India, Darbhanga couple claims her as their lost Guddi

06.01.2019
Three years after India brought the speech-and-hearing impaired woman back from Pakistan, a couple from a Hawasa village in north Bihar’s Darbhanga district, has claimed that she is their daughter.

After Geeta was brought back to India in October 2015, several attempts were made to reunite her with her family. However, the efforts proved futile as none of the families that had come to claim Geeta as their flesh and blood could establish their claim.

Early this week, the Darbhanga based family’s claim reached the local district administration office. The family from Hawasa village under Hayaghat block submitted evidence to substantiate their claim that Geeta is their lost Guddi.

Authorities have forwarded details of their claim to the home department. Geeta currently stays at Indore’s ‘Mook Badhir Sangathan’, an NGO.

The Indore NGO recently made Geeta talk to Hayaghat block development officer (BDO) Rakesh Kumar via a video call. The BDO with the help of an interpreter showed Geeta several places of the village to help her recall her memories if she hailed from Hawasa.

“Geeta seemed to have recognised several places in the village, which, she felt, were similar to her native village. She now desperately wants to travel to the village during weekends because of her studies. I am hopeful that whenever she visits the village, she would be able to relate herself more to the place, and may be, she would also recognise her parents and unite with them too,” the BDO said.

The couple was also present during the BDO’s video call with Geeta, but the latter did not recognise Shobha Devi as her mother. The BDO said she identified the spots like pond, local hospital, a mill and brick kiln situated in vicinity as very much identical to her native place. She said railway tracks passed close by her village home and there was a temple situated on a cliff. The temple and railway tracks are located a little faraway from Hawasa village.

The BDO said the Darbhanga district magistrate (DM) also spoke to his Indore counterpart and briefed him about the claim of the Hawasa family, whose differently-abled daughter had got lost in Haryana where they had gone to work as migrant labourers a decade ago.

Assuming that the woman might have a faded memory of her childhood, the BDO showed her various spots in the village through video calling. “She talked about mutter and machchli (peas and fish) which are found abundantly in this part of the state. I went to Chandanpatti village, situated at a distance and showed her a temple of lord Hanuman. She, however, appeared confused,” the BDO said.

A DNA test is the only hope to establish the authenticity of the claim, he added. On whether Geeta could be brought to Hawasa village, the BDO pointed out that these measures could be initiated only after approval from the ministry concerned.

In a petition submitted to the DM office, Shobha Devi, wife of Sheet Manjhi, contended that their six-year-old speech-impaired daughter had gone missing from Bhora Kalan in Gurugram 12 years ago. “When I had gone to serve meal to my husband in the farm, my Geeta was playing with 8-10 girls. However, when I returned I did not find here there. All efforts to trace her turned futile. We returned home and now my husband works in a factory in Haryana,” Devi said.

The family claimed that Geeta has striking resemblance to their lost daughter. Her appearance resembles Devi’s father and maternal grandfather, a native of Manoratha village in the same block. Devi has two sons, one of them born after her daughter went missing. In the village Anganwadi centre, the age of Devi’s daughter was mentioned as 5-year-old in 2006.

Neighbours of Sheet Manjhi and his elder brother Kamlu Manjhi said Geeta’s video clip and available photo of their lost daughter Guddi bears striking resemblance.

Earlier, the Hayaghat MLA, Amaranth Gami, who met the couple recently, assured to provide the family all help. He said Geeta could be the daughter of Devi. “I will arrange their travel and write a letter to the Indore based NGO, where Geeta is staying. A meeting between them will clear all confusion. If necessitated, DNA sampling will be done to verify the claim,” Gami said.

Deaf and dumb raise ‘voice’ for environment in Vijayawada

05.01.2019
Vijayawada: In an attempt to spread the message of safeguarding environment in an innovative manner, deaf and dumb students from Bhimavaram visited Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam atop Indrakiladri hill on Thursday.

As many as 65 deaf and dumb students from Bhimavaram schools, Sri Venkateswara Badironnata Patasala and Sri Vignana Vedika, visited the Durga temple.

All these students displayed placards with the slogan ‘Protecting Environment is Everyone's Responsibility’. They displayed the placards to the devotees who had visited the temple.

The temple Executive Officer, V Koteswaramma extended her support to the students who had come all the way to spread the message of protecting the environment.

Impressed with the students, the temple executive officer asked the concerned staff to arrange special ‘darshan’ to the students. Later, Anna Prasadam was provided to all.

Temple Trust Board members B Dharma Rao, Ch Prasad, P Vijayashekar and others were present.

Murad decides to issue driving licenses to deaf people

08.01.2019
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has questioned the non-issuance of driving licenses to deaf people and asked that various countries are issuing licenses to persons with hearing-impairment then why we are not issuing them?

He had directed Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shaikh to seek the opinion from driving license branch and traffic police and make necessary amendments in the law so that the persons with hearing-impairment can be issued driving licenses.

The chief minister, in a letter to the chief secretary, has said that the persons with hearing-impairment form a sizeable number of Pakistani disabled population who are living an active life play an important role in national progress.

Shah said that Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees ‘Equality of Citizens before the law and are entitled of people to equal protection of law with no discrimination on any basis’ while Article 18 guarantees the ‘Freedom of Trade, Business or Profession’.

He added that following the spirit of the Supreme Law of Land, the newly promulgated ‘Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2018’ also calls for ‘Equality and non-discrimination of ‘Persons with Disabilities’ (Section 3), ‘Ease of access and mobility’ (Section 6) and ‘Public facilities and services’ (Section 2 (v)).

Furthermore, the chief minister added that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) provides for the right to ‘Equality and non-discrimination for all people with disabilities – including deaf people and requires they have equal protection and benefit under the law.

The letter says that at present, the persons with hearing-impairment are disqualified for the issuance of driving license by the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965 (amended from time to time) as reproduced below:

“See section 7(5): Disease and disabilities absolutely disqualifying a person for obtaining a license to drive a motor vehicle. They are Epilepsy, Lunacy, heart disease likely to produce sudden attack of giddiness or fainting; Inability to distinguish with each eye at a distance of twenty five yards in good daylight (with the aid of glasses, if worn) a series of seven letters and figures in white on a black ground of the same size and arrangement as those of the registration mark of a motor car.”

The chief minister said that throughout the world, countries in all major Continents issue driving license to the hearing-impaired persons. They include North America (United States of America, Canada, Mexico), South America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina etc.), European Union (all countries), Australia, Asia & Middle East (India, Japan, New Zealand, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Russia, Uzbekistan etc.), Africa (Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria etc).

Shah said that that the issuance of driving license to hearing-impaired persons would lead to a myriad of socio-economic benefits. He added, first, it would be an implementation of guarantees provided in the of the constitution, ordains of the relevant statute and the declaration in the UNCRPD regarding the equality of the hearing-impaired persons, which would, in turn, make them feel empowered and motivated. Second, the hearing-impaired persons would get the ease of access and mobility, as they would be able to move freely in their own vehicles without being a burden on anyone. Third, the hearing-impaired persons would be able to make a livelihood by getting employed in jobs, which require driving skills such as drivers, transportation of goods, delivery persons, courier services etc.

In view of the above facts, the chief minister has directed the chief secretary that necessary amendment in the Second Schedule of the Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965 may be made for issuance of a commercial/private driving license to hearing-impaired persons.

Hearing aid gives new life

02.01.2019
An eight-month-old boy has become the youngest patient in the country to get a bilateral simultaneous cochlear implant using the Nucleus 7 (N7) device

Hearing loss impacts one throughout life. While people with mild to moderate amount of hearing loss can cope with this disability with the help of hearing aids, the ones who suffer from severe to profound hearing loss, require cochlear implants to deal with the deafness. If the hearing loss is not treated early enough, the children born with this problem are highly likely to not develop normal speech and language. On the same lines, a case was recently reported at the Indraprastha Hospitals in New Delhi, where an eight months-old baby boy was diagnosed at birth with severe hearing loss in both his ears.

Treated by a senior consultant, ENT and Cochlear Implant Surgeon at the hospital, Dr Ameet Kishore, and assessed by the audiologists at SpHear Speech and Hearing clinic (which supports the Apollo Cochlear Implant programme), the baby boy was initially fitted with hearing aids to ascertain the level of benefit, as per international protocol. The team eventually confirmed that the child would not get normal hearing with hearing aids and thus with the consent of parents, a cochlear surgery was successfully performed.

Dr Kishore said, “When dealing with hearing loss in children of such a young age, the most important part is to restore the hearing of the child as early as possible. In this child’s case, the treatment of choice for good hearing restoration was cochlear implant, and on top of that, it was important to restore hearing in both his ears (bilateral simultaneous cochlear implant), which means that implantation was done in both ears at the same time. It requires extensive surgical expertise and efficiency to safely handle a small eight months-old baby, weighing just 10kg, which is why many people would hesitate to do this surgery. With our experience of close to 1,000 cochlear implants, this was not a concern as we have operated on many small babies safely and efficiently.”

The baby boy has become the youngest patient in the country to get a bilateral simultaneous cochlear implant using the Nucleus 7 (N7) device. “This has also been verified by the Cochlear Corporation Company. He is probably one of the youngest children to have bilateral simultaneous cochlear implant in India, and certainly one of the youngest in Apollo’s bilateral cochlear implant programme,” added Dr Kishore.

He further elaborated that the Nucleus 7 (N7) devices are the most recent cochlear implant devices in the world right now. Dr Kishore said, “The N7 implants have a better chip and connectivity with digital devices. Such improvement in the quality of hardware and software, further enhances the quality in sound that the patient gets, making it extremely good and clear. Getting the latest and most sophisticated cochlear implant will help the baby to do very well in the future.”

VNRVJIET holds 4th national cultural festival for deaf women

02.01.2019
Hyderabad: The All India Foundation of Deaf Women in association with Hyderabad Foundation of Deaf Women has organised the 4th National Cultural Festival for Deaf Women at VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology (VNRVJIET). More than 260 participants across 15 States have participated in different events and competitions. The participants showcased their talent in dance, drama, rangoli, best out of waste, hair styling, paper craft making, mehandi and drawing.

The Central Vigilance Commissioner of India, K V Chowdary attended the programme as chief guest and said that this kind of cultural fests give scope for the participants to show their strengths. He also said that a lot has to be done to uplift the hearing impaired people as a whole. The governments should also think about providing reservations in the job sector for hearing impaired community. They are second to none, he said to the roar of the gathering.

The President of Vignana Jyothi, D N Rao and the General Secretary of Vignana Jyothi, congratulated the spirit of the deaf women. He said the society should encourage and show empathy and compassion towards the people who are physically impaired. He also said that the performance by these people is excellent. It is our privilege to have this programme being conducted at our campus, he said.

Foundation of Deaf Women and Hyderabad Foundation of Deaf Women. Noted Telugu Film Actor, Nandamuri Kalyanram was the special guest for the occasion and lauded the approach of the Deaf Women towards achieving great levels. Their performance is breath taking. If given proper platform these people will achieve higher levels. The winners in the competition were given prizes by Kalyanram.

The programme was attended by Rajyalakshmi Rao, Chairperson, AIFDW, Shanti Jetty, Chairperson, HFDW, Shamima Patel, Chairperson (Speaking) HFDW and Uma Kapoor, Secretary-General, AIFDW, Principal,VNR JIET, C D Naidu.

Cops arrest deaf man on his birthday for saying he is deaf. Then realise their goof-up

02.01.2019
In what came by as a rude shock to a specially abled man, he was arrested by two police constables on his birthday for signing because they mistook sign language as rude gestures in the United States.

Shaun Phuprate, 22, a man with a hearing impairment was wrongfully arrested when he was making the V-sign with his two fingers next to his ear which in the internationally recognised sign means for 'I am deaf'.

The policemen, who did not understand Phuprate's frantic signing, perceived it as rude gestures and bundled him into a patrol car along with his brother who tried to intervene.

Phuprate was eventually locked in a cell.

They had attempted to speak to Phuprate, who is deaf, after he forced a car to stop as he crossed a road in his home town of Sunderland while eating pizza.

However, the constables were heavily reprimanded for their absent mindedness by the magistrate and were ordered to release Phuprate immediately.

According to the Americam Sign Language, when you touch your finger on your cheek near your ear, then move your finger in a small arch and touch it near the mouth, it means, deaf, and proud of it.

This was too much to digest, really.