Hearing Impired

There are around 20 lakh deaf children in India. Out of them, only 12 lakh attend basic schooling and the rest 8 lakh children are either drop-outs or cannot access education. The hearing impired is a person’s inability to hear properly, considered hearing impairment as loss of 70dB and above in the better ear or total loss of hearing in both ears. 

Special education is required for such students to address their individual differences and special needs. It allows the students to enjoy the education and gain confidence due to individual learning.

Since the child with deafness cannot hear, he/she is unable to develop a language and hence it becomes difficult for them to learn. Even though hearing loss is a deficiency which can be solved by a better penetration of sign language across educational institutes and workplaces with barely pay attention to it.

There are many schools and institutes available to teach hearing impired students to acquire proper skills as per their abilities and capabilities, prepare them to lead normal life and to integrate them in the community.  Such institutes have different ways of teaching and tools, appliances and special equipment, and necessary support services.

Indian sign language alphabets

A special education teacher works with children of different ages who have a range of learning or cognitive disabilities, or emotional or physical problems. Special education teachers work to promote and manage the growth of their students in conjunction with their special needs. They teach reading, writing, communication and basic life skills.

Special education teachers typically do the following:

  • Adapt general lessons to meet the needs of students
  • Assess students’ skills to determine their needs
  • Develop Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for each student
  • Discuss students’ progress with parents, other teachers, counselors, and administrators
  • Implement IEPs, assess students’ performance, and track their progress
  • Plan, organize, and assign activities that are specific to each student’s abilities
  • Prepare and help students transition from grade to grade and for life after graduation
  • Supervise and mentor teacher assistants who work with students with disabilities
  • Teach and mentor students as a class, in small groups, and one-on-one
  • Update IEPs throughout the school year to reflect students’ progress and goals

Indian government is promoting inclusive education, teaching all students together with special schools having the resources and the ability to restructure their curriculum to adopt all types of students, by teachers who have the skills and proficiency to meet varying demands within the classroom and by having the support of family. If these changes are implemented, it will increase the confidence of a number of special children to aspire for a valuable education like their normal peers.

Courses

There are many institutions available with different and suitable courses for Hearing Impired students at different levels of special education. Some of the courses are as follows.

  • Degree: Course duration is 3 or 4 years
  • Higher Secondary: Course duration is 2 years
  • Industrial Training Institutes: Course duration is 2 years
  • Polytechnic: Course duration is 3 years 
  • Vocational Higher Secondary: Course duration is 2 years

Eligibility Criteria

Followings are the eligibility of courses for differently abled students in Hearing Impired. 

  • Degree:12 th pass
  • Higher Secondary: 10 th pass
  • Industrial Training Institutes: 10 th pass
  • Polytechnic: 10 th pass
  • Vocational Higher Secondary: 10 th pass

Entrance Examination

Admissions to the courses for differently abled students in Hearing Impired is mostly merit basis or Aptitude test conducted by the institute.

Job Profiles

The career opportunities of Hearing Impired is depends on the courses. Some of the jobs are

  • Accountants and Auditors
  • Auto cad draftsman
  • Craft and Fine Artists
  • Data Entry Operator
  • Interpreters and Translators
  • Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technicians
  • Special Education Teachers
  • Technicians such as Plumber, Welder, Electronic technician
  • Web Developers
  • Writers and Authors

Top Recruiters

Hearing impaireds can work in both Government as well as private sectors according to their qualifications. Followings are some of the firms where jobs for Hearing impaireds are available:

  • Banks
  • Central Government Departments
  • Colleges
  • Gail India Limited
  • Hearing Industry Manufacturers,
  • Hospitals
  • IT firms
  • LIC
  • NTPC
  • Polytechnics
  • Post offices
  • Railway
  • Schools
  • SEBI
  • State Government Departments

Institutions

Higher Secondary Schools for Hearing Impired:  Some of the top schools in Kerala are as follows:

  • Asha Bhavan HSS For Deaf, Padavarad, Ollur, Trichur
  • Azeessi School For Deaf, Perinthalmanna
  • Azeezi Mount HSS For Deaf, Neerpara, Kottayam
  • Calicut HSS For Deaf, Kolathara, Kozhikode
  • CSI HSS For Deaf Valakom, Kollam 
  • CSI HSS For Deaf, Manakala, Adoor, Pathanamthitta
  • Don Bosco HSS For Deaf, Karakkand, Kannur
  • Govt HSS For Deaf Jagathy,Thiruvananthapuram
  • Govt HSS For Deaf, Ottapalam 
  • HSS For Deaf, Enathu, Pathanamthitta
  • Karuna Speech & Hearing, Kozhikode
  • Karunya Bhavan HSS For Deaf, Vazhakkad, Malappuram
  • Marthoma HSS for Deaf, Kasargod
  • Sravana Samsara HSS, West Yakkara, Palakkad
  • CLAIR Oral And Speech School, Ernakulam
  • Rosella’s HSS For Deaf, Poomala, Wayanad

Vocational Higher Secondary Schools for Hearing Impired:  Some of the top schools in Kerala are as follows:

  • CSI VHSS For Deaf Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta
  • CSI VHSS For Deaf Valakom, Kollam
  • Govt. VHSS For Deaf,  Kunnamkulam
  • Govt. VHSS For Deaf,  Ottapalam
  • Govt. VHSS For Deaf, Tvm
  • Rahmania VHSS For Handicapped, Calicut

PolyTechnic for Hearing Impired:  Admission to special batches for hearing impired candidates (who have 60dB or above hearing loss) offered in the following polytechnics in Kerala.

  • Govt. Polytechnic Kozhikode
  • Govt. Women’s Polytechnic Trivandrum
  • Govt. Polytechnic Kalamasseri, Ernakulam

Also there is special reservation for all types of differently abled students who have a disability up to 40 % in all polytechnics for all courses.

ITI for Hearing Impired:

  • Snehalaya ITI, Irinjalakuda

Following trades are available in this institute- Plumbing, welding, Sheet Metal Works & Electronics.

Undergraduate for Hearing Impired: Some institutes & courses are as follows:

  • Ability Arts And Science College  For HI, Pulikkal, Malappuram is offering Bsc Computer Science & B.Com With Computer Application
  • Bishop Moore College For HI, Adoor is offering Bsc. Computer Science & B.Com
  • CSI College For HI, Valakom, Kollam is offering BCom
  • Marthoma College  For the HI, Kasargod is offering B.Com With Computer Application

National Institute of Speech & Hearing, Trivandrum, NISH is an institute devoted to the education and rehabilitation of individuals with speech-language and hearing impairments. NISH also runs early intervention programmes for speech, language, and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Followings are some of the activities of NISH:

  • Academic programs including degree courses for Hearing Impaired students,
  • Assistive Technology (AT) assessment, implementation, and follow-up.
  • Camps and outreach programs such as Public Seminars, Hands-on workshops, CRE programs
  • Collaborative projects with institutions in India as well as international
  • Consultative work on policy formulation and implementation on disability as assigned by Government
  • Counseling and parent guidance.
  • Early intervention programs for young children in the Autism Spectrum
  • Early intervention programs for young hearing-impaired children before school age
  • Faculty exchange programs with institutions working in similar areas both domestic and international
  • Implementation of various disability-related projects of Govt. of India and Govt. of Kerala.
  • Internship and employment support for students with industrial organizations
  • Professional rehabilitation courses like BASLP, MASLP, DECSE, and DISLI.
  • Social relevant research in the field of disability & rehabilitation
  • Trans-disciplinary assessment and intervention for various disabilities (Communication Disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Other Developmental Disabilities) by audiologists, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, special educators, psychologists, ENT doctors, and Neurologists.

Following degree courses are available in NISH exclusively for students with hearing impairment. Duration of the programme is 4 years having 8 semesters. The first year is Preparatory year and will focus exclusively in Basic Mathematics and Communicative English. A student admitted to a programme is required to pass all the subjects in Preparatory year to be eligible to continue into the second year of the degree program. The University of Kerala would award degrees to successful candidates. Admission is made on the basis of the marks obtained in the Aptitude test conducted by the institute.

  • Bachelor of Commerce (HI)
  • Bachelor of Fine Arts (HI)
  • BSc (Computer Science) (HI)

NISH also provides RCI approved professional courses at undergraduate level and graduate level in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology as well as diploma courses.

  • Audiology and Speech Language Pathology: These are general courses to generate skilled and efficient manpower to work effectively with persons having communication disorders. 
  • Bachelor of Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology (BASLP)
  • Master of Science (Audiology) – M.Sc. (Aud)
  • Master of Science (Speech-Language Pathology) – M.Sc. (SLP)
  • Diploma in Early Childhood Special Education (Hearing Impairment) – DECSE (HI) is a diploma programme for generating quality teachers who could meet the challenges of the millennium for sustained development in children with hearing impairment in the age range from birth to six years
  • Diploma in Indian Sign Language Interpretation (DISLI) is a course recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) and its main aim is to prepare skilled and efficient manpower to work effectively in the field of deaf education and rehabilitation.
  • The Higher Education Foundation Program (HEFP) It is a one-year foundation program which prepares students who have successfully completed their higher secondary education to be active participants in the enhancement of their own learning, as well as in their development and achievement as Degree students. Simultaneously, the training they receive over the one year better prepares students for the Degree Admission Competency Exam (DACE) in which they must achieve a passing score for admission to the Degree program.

Questions & Answers​

Q) Is hearing impaired a disability?

A) A hearing impairment or hearing loss is a full or partial decrease in the ability to detect or understand sounds. It can be mild, moderate, severe, or profound, to the point of total deafness. This is classified as a disability under the ADA and if unable to work is eligible for disability payments.

Q) What jobs can a deaf person not do?

A) Coastguard, Audiologist, Call Centre Operative, Childminder to Hearings, Window cleaner, Raider, Salesman, Escort etc.

This page is supported by: Nasar Alakkal