VCONNECT LAUNCHED MAINSTREAM GUIDE FOR CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

by Suman Gupta

VConnect Foundation, a parent support group for children with hearing loss, launched its mainstream guide at the Y B Chavan Auditorium on the occasion of their 13th Founders’ Day celebrations. The guide was formally unveiled by Guest of Honour, Dr. Milind V Kirtane (Padma Shri), India’s most eminent ENT surgeon and the Chief Guest, Dr. Suni Mathew, Director, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for Speech and Hearing Disabilities (Divyanjan).

Josh Foundation is a non- profit organization, focusing on supporting hearing impaired children and create awareness about the need for integration of hearing-impaired children in normal society. Both the NGO’s came together for the event happened for the hearing-impaired kids and their parents for the guidance purpose, took place on 9th February.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Vahishtai J Daboo, co-founding trustee of VConnect said, “A concise yet comprehensive mainstream guide has been a long standing requirement from our parent members who have chosen the listening and spoken language approach for their children. The guide was extremely useful for parents, caregivers, professionals and educators as they all work together for mainstreaming children with hearing loss.”

The launch of the guide was followed by two very thought provoking panel discussions. Experts in the field of education and inclusion had engaging interactions on “Mainstreaming in Educational Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities” and “Inclusive India: How do we make it a reality!”

“We want to reach out to parents, centres and educational institutions with our mainstream guide and have planned a series of workshops and interventions over the course of the next one year”, said Ms. Fatema Jagmaag, co-founding trustee of VConnect.

VConnect Foundation is a parent support group for children with hearing loss. It is a supportive network for families of children committed to using ‘Listening and Spoken Language’ to communicate. It is a charitable organization founded in 2007 by two parents of children with hearing loss – Vahishtai J Daboo and Fatema Jagmaag –who are also professionals in the field. The purpose of the organisation is to mainstream children with hearing loss by providing hope and empowerment to their parents and primary caregivers and co-creating an ecosystem that fosters a culture of inclusiveness. The organisation services over 1,300 parents across India as well as Kenya, Sri Lanka and the Middle East.