Spring Daleans learn importance of communication at commencement of World Disability Week celebration

WORLD DISABILITY WEEK 2018

Spring Daleans learn importance of communication at commencement of World Disability Week celebration

To step into Special Children’s shoes to bat for inclusive education during weeklong celebrations 

AMRITSAR, DECEMBER 3: If the ‘Census of India 2011 – Data on Disability’ is to be believed, Punjab has a total of 1,46,696 hearing impaired people, with each village having at least five to six people suffering from hearing impairment. Captain R P Singh, a retired Air Force officer, who runs the School for the Deaf, of the All India Pingalwara Charitable Society (AIPCS), shared these figures during an interaction with the students of Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar.

The occasion was a talk on importance of sign language by Capt Singh during the observance of World Disability Week, 2018, in the school premises. “Though silence is said to be the language of gods, lack of communication with their parents, teachers and peers drives the hearing and speech impaired children to the verge of despondency. This is because communication helps a person forge lasting bonds with his parents, family members, teachers and friends. In the absence of hearing, the hearing impaired children cannot learn to communicate. Hence, they cannot develop bonds, which triggers depression in them,” said Captain Singh.

Irrespective of the importance being attached to inclusive education, Captain Singh rued the lack of infrastructure for the education of the hearing impaired children in Punjab. “There are at least 10 districts in the state, which do not have any dedicated schools to cater to the academic needs of the hearing impaired children,” he said.

Stating that children with hearing impairment could not learn the customary languages like English, Hindi and Punjabi, normally taught in school, as learning these languages requires the faculty of hearing, he added that sign language was a complete language in itself, as it had its own syntax. “As compared to North India, South India is much more advanced in the use of sign language, while abroad the laws contain provisions for fitting the hearing impaired children with cochlear implants or hearing aids,” Capt Singh averred.

Giving details about the activities planned for the entire week, Mr Rajiv Kumar Sharma, Principal, Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar, said that a special assembly, during which the special students shared the stage with their other counterparts, was also held on this occasion. He added that each day of the week was dedicated to a particular disability.

“Monday was observed as ‘Blind Day’ during which students walked around blindfolded to understand the daily challenges faced by people with visual impairment. Tuesday would be observed as ‘Mute Day’, Wednesday as ‘Deaf Day’, Thursday as ‘the day of the Physically Challenged’, while Friday has been reserved for reflection and discussion on the lessons learnt from the previous days’ activities,” Mr Sharma said. He added that titled ‘Walking in their shoes’, the observation was a part of CBSE’s initiative on Inclusive Education, which aimed at empowerment of people of all abilities through education