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The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Standing up for their hapless children
From being frustrated parents of hearing-impaired kids they have evolved to being unrelenting fighters for the cause of their children’s ilk. The conference by National Association of the Deaf on Saturday provided a forum for them to air their views on the subject.
“My daughter Abigail lost her sense of hearing after being afflicted with meningitis,” said Arun C.Rao, the President of National Association of the Deaf and founder of Deaf Way Foundation.
The pain experienced by parents is immense when they first come to know about children’s disabilities, more so in an impervious society such as India, he says. After recovering from the initial grief, he started Deaf Friendship Clubs in different localities of Delhi.
Severe depression
“Isolation due to impairment leads to severe depression and subsequently to aberrant behaviour. Free flowing communication is the only solution for this. It is the very purpose of the Friendship Clubs,” he said.
Strengthened by 3000 plus members now, the clubs, numbering about 70, are spread “from Tanjore to Shimla.”
Abigail is now a happily married woman and a mother. She took charge of her life when she married a normal person despite apprehensions expressed by her father.
Another inveterate fighter is Thota Venkatrao who retired as a clerk with the State Bank of Hyderabad before becoming the General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Sports Council of the Deaf.
Tough fight
His is a difficult fight because he himself is hearing impaired. Silence pervades his world all the more as his wife, son and daughter-in-law are all hearing impaired. His son Sandeep is a Programme Coordinator for the Deaf Way Foundation in Hyderabad.
From being frustrated parents of hearing-impaired kids they have evolved to being unrelenting fighters for the cause of their children’s ilk. The conference by National Association of the Deaf on Saturday provided a forum for them to air their views on the subject.
“My daughter Abigail lost her sense of hearing after being afflicted with meningitis,” said Arun C.Rao, the President of National Association of the Deaf and founder of Deaf Way Foundation.
The pain experienced by parents is immense when they first come to know about children’s disabilities, more so in an impervious society such as India, he says. After recovering from the initial grief, he started Deaf Friendship Clubs in different localities of Delhi.
Severe depression
“Isolation due to impairment leads to severe depression and subsequently to aberrant behaviour. Free flowing communication is the only solution for this. It is the very purpose of the Friendship Clubs,” he said.
Strengthened by 3000 plus members now, the clubs, numbering about 70, are spread “from Tanjore to Shimla.”
Abigail is now a happily married woman and a mother. She took charge of her life when she married a normal person despite apprehensions expressed by her father.
Another inveterate fighter is Thota Venkatrao who retired as a clerk with the State Bank of Hyderabad before becoming the General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Sports Council of the Deaf.
Tough fight
His is a difficult fight because he himself is hearing impaired. Silence pervades his world all the more as his wife, son and daughter-in-law are all hearing impaired. His son Sandeep is a Programme Coordinator for the Deaf Way Foundation in Hyderabad.
