BACKGROUND
Present statistics show that one in every thousand children are born deaf and another two become deaf due to the problems during delivery. After interaction with various Educational Institutions, Hospitals, Medical Practitioners, Gynaecologists & ENT Surgeons, we have arrived at the conclusion that more than 1000 children of various age groups suffer from various levels of deafness in New Bombay alone and this number is continuously growing.
PURPOSE
Presently, there are no specialised schools for the deaf in the close vicinity. We plan to help these unfortunate children, age group 2 - 7 and the future children born with this deformity to hear & speak, to develop strong foundation of language/speech and to integrate them in normal schools. We plan to set-up a centre for the "Hearing Impaired" for the benefit of the children of New Bombay.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
Early diagnosis and evaluation of the hearing impairment, selection of proper hearing aid, instructions in auditory training, language stimulation & parental counselling are some of the methods we plan to put into practice.
At the pre-school, Children will learn to lip read, understand what their friends and family members talk and try to speak. Emphasis will be laid to help the child acquire and master the language. At primary school, children will be taught reading, writing, academic subjects. The children will be fully prepared to face the challenge of integration to a normal school.
All classrooms shall have proper acoustic insulation, group hearing aid system and other necessary facilities.
AUDIOLOGY CENTRE
Attached to this centre, will be an audiology centre for early diagnosis. Special sound treated rooms with adjoining instrumentation room is planned to accommodate the latest equipment for ENT examination, diagnosis & hearing aid trials. This centre will also carry out hearing tests of industrial workers in the Thane Belapur Industrial belt. It is imperative to note that no such facilities are available here today.
COST
It has been estimated that the total cost would be around $250,000/- which would take care of the specialised instruments, furnishings, administration, doctors' fee & other sundry payments.
PLAN FOR THE FUNDS
We plan to raise funds for the land locally, but for the rest of the funds we are on the lookout for partners within the Rotary world and outside, who could join us in our endeavour to make life a little better for these unfortunate kids.
Email us for more information.