HASHU ADVANI COLLEGE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION Report on 3 Days’ CRE on “Developing listening skills of Children with hearing impairment”

 Hashu Adavani College of Special Education, Chembur, Mumbai organized a CRE programme titled “Developing Listening Skills of  Children with hearing impairment” from 5^th November, 2012 to 7^th  November, 2012.

Participants: 30 special educators mostly preschool, teachers from Mumbai & its suburbs , Navi Mumbai, and places as far as Amravati made this programme a great success.

Inauguration:

The programme was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Miss Shraddha (Age 1yr 9 months), youngest student of Center for Audiological Assessment and Intervention, HACSE thereby, truly representing the  significance  of early  identification & early intervention underlying the theme of “Developing Listening Skills".

Miss Shraddha : Inauguration of the CRE Programme

 

 All the participants, guest invitees received a warm welcome by the welcome song presented by Ms. Chirta & Ms. Priyanka , B.Ed (HI) students, HACSE. Dr. Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, Assistant Professor & Incharge, Ankoor Unit, presented the welcome address. Dr. Asmita Huddar, Principal, HACSE, acquainted the participants to the main objectives of the CRE programme. This was followed by explanation of the theme and main topics by Dr. Gayatri Sirur, Assistant Professor & In charge, CAAI.  Shri. Papan Saheja, Director, HACSE, expressed his happiness and congratulated the efforts of HACSE, to organize short term refresher programmes on current topics in the field of rehabilitation & disability management of children and persons with hearing loss.  Ms. Kasturi Kulkarni, lecturer, HACSE, introduced the resource persons to the participants.

Day 1 – 5/11/2012. 

The first session of the day began with the theoretical and practical inputs provided by Mrs. Shefali Shah, Director, I Hear Foundation’s NAAD Centre, Mumbai on Auditory Verbal Therapy. Mrs. Shefali Shah, who is probably the only practicing Cert. Auditory Verbal therapist in India, oriented the participants to the meaning, need, candidates of AVT,  manner of planning objectives, significance of empowering parents in the therapy sessions & overall nature of Auditory Verbal therapy. 

Mrs. Shefali Shah, delivering lecture

This was followed by a session on the role of team work in developing listening skills of children with hearing loss by Dr. Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, Assistant Professor & Incharge, Ankur Unit, Hashu Advani College of Special Education. “Divided we fall, United we Stand” was the messages communicated through this topic. Dr. Gopalakrishnan, highlighted not only the need &effectiveness of building team spirit among the professionals and care givers in the delivery of educational goals to children with hearing loss but also on the various strategies & conditions that enhance team spirit. 

  

Dr. Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan delivering lecture

The last session of the day was dedicated to ‘medical issues related to cochlear implant’. In this session, Dr. Hetal Patel, E.N.T Surgeon, Professor at KEM Hospital, Mumbai, provided information about the possible issues, risks that may arise during Cochlear Implant surgery and post implant care. 

 Dr. Hetal Patel delivering lecture

Day 2  – 6/11/2012. 

The programme began with the lecture on “Managing Toddlers” by Mrs. Gauri Telang, Audiologist & Speech Pathologist, AYJNIHH,Mumbai. The participants enjoyed watching video clips of AVT sessions. She oriented the participants to the main principles of learning to listen, steps in AVT, baseline assessments for planning the therapy goals and activities. 

 Mrs. Gauri Telang delivering lecture 

 

The post lunch session of the day commenced with a presentation on “Choosing right amplification, Audiologist’s role in developing listening skills” by Mrs. Geeti Char, Pediatric Audiologist, I Hear Foundation’s NAAD Centre, Mumbai. She explained the different types of aided audiograms, & emphasized on the need for the teachers to comprehend aided audiograms as a first step in the selection of appropriate audiological appliances for their students. She also provided theoretical input about the different audio logical tests such as electrophysiological tests & behavioural tests and reiterated the fact that the responsibility of audiological rehabilitation of students with hearing loss is a shared and combined responsibility of an audiologist and a teacher. Her next session was very informative, titled, “Latest Trends in Cochlear Implant, Mapping concerns, what teachers should know”. The participants were acquainted with the types and parts of a cochlear implant, candidacy for CI, basic trouble shooting etc.

Day 3-  7/11/2012

The third and the last day dealt with strategies & practical issues faced during actual teaching by the special educators in their classrooms. A very senior faculty in the field of special education, Mrs. Shubhada Burde, Director, CSED, Mumbai, enriched the participants by sharing her experiences, teaching techniques, counseling strategies through her presentation on ‘Shift from classroom to AV practice—New challenges for special schools’. Later, Mrs. Deepali Bandekar, AVT Therapist, CSED, engaged the participants in an interactive discussion session on the topic ‘Managing older children- Therapy Issues’.

In the post lunch session, Mrs. Vahishtai Dabhoo, Director, V-connect foundation & a consulting AVT Therapist with EAR centre, discussed the role and importance of parents in auditory verbal therapy. Recorded video-sessions of the parents role in AV therapy, depicted the strength of empowering parents as equal partners in the education of students with hearing loss. The CRE Programme ended with a very interesting session about ‘Enhancing listening through technology’, by Ms Shilpi Kapoor, Managing Director, Barrier Break Technologies, Net System Informatics, Mumbai. She emphasized the need and benefits of using  variety of available assistive devices in a classroom setting  which enhance the communication competency & learning  of students with hearing loss. 

 CRE Participants with CRE co-ordinator, Mrs. Gayatri Sirur

The feedback given by the participants include:

1. The programme was a knowledge explosion in the area of Auditory Verbal therapy .
2. Since the programme was conducted in Marathi, we could derive maximum benefits
3. The topics like cochlear implant, AVT therapy issues, brought out the crux of individualized teaching --- which is empowering parents, broadened our vision to a great extent. 
4. Next CRE may focus on topics related to Sensory impairments, educational intervention of late identified children with hearing loss, Indian Sign Language.