Jump to content

Deafness in India: Difference between revisions

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Add a sorting parameter to a category
m per WP:SDNONE
 
(42 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{short description|none}}
⚫
{{underlinked|date=October 2021}}
{{Orphan|date=July 2022}}


The second largest country in the world, [[India]], is home to approximately 63 million people of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community (DHH).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Varshney|first=Saurabh|date=2016-04-01|title=Deafness in India|url=https://www.indianjotol.org/article.asp?issn=0971-7749;year=2016;volume=22;issue=2;spage=73;epage=76;aulast=Varshney;type=0|journal=Indian Journal of Otology|language=en|volume=22|issue=2|pages=73|doi=10.4103/0971-7749.182281|s2cid=78805217|issn=0971-7749}}</ref> India's government has focused much on modernizing the country with technological resources and infrastructure that it has completely ignored the needs of the DHH residents of India.<ref name=":0" /> Although, sign language has been evolving within the country for the last hundreds, it was not until 2017 when the Indian government decided to codify sign language in a dictionary format.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Jepson|first=Jill|date=1991|title=Some Aspects of the Deaf Experience in India|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26204775|journal=Sign Language Studies|issue=73|pages=453–459|jstor=26204775|issn=0302-1475}}</ref>
[[India]] is home to approximately 63 million people of the deaf and hard of hearing community (DHH).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Varshney |first=Saurabh |date=2016-04-01 |title=Deafness in India|url=https://www.indianjotol.org/article.asp?issn=0971-7749;year=2016;volume=22;issue=2;spage=73;epage=76;aulast=Varshney;type=0 |journal=Indian Journal of Otology |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |page=73 |doi=10.4103/0971-7749.182281 |s2cid=78805217 |issn=0971-7749 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It has been argued that while India's government has focused heavily on modernizing the country with technological resources and infrastructure, the needs of the DHH residents of India have been ignored.<ref name=":0" /> Although sign language has been evolving within the country, it was not until 2017 that the Indian government decided to codify sign language in a dictionary format.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Jepson |first=Jill |date=1991 |title=Some Aspects of the Deaf Experience in India |journal=Sign Language Studies |issue=73 |pages=453–459 |jstor=26204775 |issn=0302-1475}}</ref>


== Burden/Cultural Neglect ==
== Cultural neglect ==
In a study conducted by Dr. Jill Jepson, a fellow of the National Institute on Aging at the University of California, she examined the linguistics and sociolinguistics of sign language and hearing within India.<ref name=":1" /> Dr. Jepson diverted her research specifically to the urban states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.<ref name=":1" /> She concluded that families and people of the DHH community either late-deafened or born deaf were ashamed of deafness and continuously for a way to fix it as it was some kind of disease.<ref name=":1" /> Instead of making someone comfortable and trying to find ways to fit into society by accepting deafness to be unique, many families went to the extent of visiting several physicians to remove this "disease," experimenting on the deaf with traditional and folk procedures, and several obscure rituals, fasts, and vigils.<ref name=":1" /> It is important to keep in mind that a small portion of the country was interviewed as most people were afraid and shameful of getting interviewed because of the negatives consequences (rejection, neglect, abused by family and society).
In a study conducted by Dr. Jill Jepson, a fellow of the [[National Institute on Aging]] at the [[University of California, San Francisco]], she examined the [[linguistics]] and [[sociolinguistics]] of sign language and hearing within India.<ref name=":1" /> Dr. Jepson focused her research primarily on the urban states of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Rajasthan]], [[Maharashtra]], and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref name=":1" /> She concluded that families and people of the [[Deaf culture|DHH]] community, either late-deafened or born deaf, were ashamed of deafness and were looking for ways to fix it.<ref name=":1" /> Instead of using the social model of disability to find ways to help d/Deaf and hard of hearing people adjust to society, many families visited physicians to try to remedy their child's deafness. They also experimented on the deaf with [[traditional medicine|traditional and folk procedures]], including rituals, fasts, and vigils.<ref name=":1" /> It is important to keep in mind that only a small sample size was interviewed as most people were afraid or ashamed of getting interviewed because of the negative consequences (rejection, neglect, abuse by family and society).{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}


Even today in 2023, the deaf community experiences cultural negligence. There are two deaf communities in India: those who are capitalize the "D" in deaf, and those who do not. The capitalization represents those who are profoundly or severely deaf; they consider themselves to be culturally Deaf. They accept themselves as Deaf and are part of a Deaf community. Sign language is their native language and they prefer to speak and use sign language when able. Many of them have acquired a good knowledge of sign language and are comfortable with it and are in different professions.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
⚫
== Deaf Education ==
⚫
The country of India places a large emphasis on education as it has grown to become a foundation of Indian society. Yet, there little to no reliable literature accessible on the education for DHH people (children specifically).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Antia|first=Shirin D.|date=1979|title=Education of the Hearing Impaired in India: A Survey|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44388682|journal=American Annals of the Deaf|volume=124|issue=6|pages=785–789|jstor=44388682|pmid=389016|issn=0002-726X}}</ref> The biggest problem that DHH children face is India has eighteen equally significant languages and there is not one significantly more dominant especially since the country is so diverse.<ref name=":2" /> For decades now, developmental education has been tormented by this issue of which language to teach.<ref name=":2" /> For instance if one is chosen over the other, how do you deal with the different dialects as they are extremely different from region to region?<ref name=":2" /> With hearing loss specifically, schools are limited for DHH children are limited to begin with and the only logical language to consider is English.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=2017-02-28|title=The people behind India's first sign language dictionary|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39101899|access-date=2021-10-23}}</ref> The English language is emphasized much within the country as it is at least taught as the first or second languages within a large variety of schools. Now the major problem that arises from teaching ASL to the DHH community is that children would not be able to learn in their natural tongue.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> This would put families in an uncomfortable situation and chosen between branching out and imbibing a new cultural or preventing this cultural assimilation.<ref name=":0" /> Besides this dilemma there are numerous other problems that face teaching deaf education such as lack of funding, lack of experienced instructors, and lack of awareness and governmental support.


Those who do not capitalize "deaf" are also known as medically or clinically deaf. These are people who became deaf after the language acquisition period or have acquired deafness later in life in some way. They often consider themselves part of the mainstream society i.e. the hearing community; many may use a hearing aid and access speech therapy for. Rather than using sign language, they may prefer to use the hearing aids and search for medical treatment to improve their hearing ability.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}
⚫
== Employment Struggles ==
⚫
A census conducted in 2011 revealed that out of 13.4 million individuals with a hearing disability in India between the ages of 15-59 there were 73.9% were marginal workers.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Mishra, Nagarkar, Nagarkar|first=Abhishek, Anu, Nitin|title=Challenges in Education and Employment for Hearing Impaired in India|url=https://www.jodys.info/journal/january_2018/04_Jodys_January_2018.pdf|journal=Journal of Disabiltly Management and Special Education}}</ref> This implies that 26.1% of the active group were actually employed.<ref name=":4" /> It is extremely difficult for people of the DHH community to get an education as they are unable to obtain basic skills that the "normal" population would at a young age.<ref name=":4" /> Even with these intolerable statistics, there are not many organizations that are actively aiding the DHH community of India, besides the Mook Badhir Mandal (an organization that specifically targets job inequality within the nation).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Introduction - Mook Badhir Mandal|url=http://indiandeaf.org/AboutUs/About#:~:text=Mook%20Badhir%20Mandal%20has%20created,the%20motto%20of%20this%20organization.|access-date=2021-10-23|website=indiandeaf.org}}</ref>


Cultural struggles and stigma surrounding d/Deaf inclusion in India can lead to medical neglect, cultural deprivation, and lack of access to assistance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tivare |first1=Roma |last2=Holcomb |first2=Thomas |year=2021 |title=Deafness in India and the Indian-American Community |journal=Journal of Student Research|volume=10|issue=4|pages=1–10 |doi=10.47611/jsrhs.v10i4.2437 |s2cid=248784897 |url=https://www.jsr.org/hs/index.php/path/article/download/2437/1000/15392 |access-date=22 November 2023 |issn=2167-1907|doi-access=free }}</ref>
⚫
== Deaf Organizations ==

⚫
In a country like India that is set fast on progressing towards modernization, it shall be prioritized to keep an open mind and adapt to new cultural values. For this exact there are organizations such as the Deaf Enabled Foundation in India, Sai Swayam Society - Empowering the Deaf & Mute, and The National Association of the Deaf (India) that are advocating the DHH community.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Deaf Enabled Foundation – Independent {{!}} Able {{!}} Empowered|url=https://def.org.in/|access-date=2021-10-23|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Sai Swayam Society|url=https://saiswayamsociety9.org/|access-date=2021-10-23|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Chinoy|first=Aqil|title=Welcome|url=http://nadindia.org/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=nadindia.org|language=en}}</ref> The DEF of India primarily focuses on gaining equal access for the deaf specifically through "development, enhancement of quality of life, providing educational facilties, and social and cultural awareness."<ref name=":5" /> This organization has fleshed out on their projects by establishing a DEF skills center, academic academy and sign academy.<ref name=":5" /> In comparison to the DEF, the Sai Swayam Society also has been providing the DHH community with several resources such as skill training, remedial education, livelihood, and access to interpreters.<ref name=":6" /> Lastly, the NAD in India has a bit more access to more funding and resources on a larger platform as they branch off from the government.<ref name=":7" /> With this governmental connection, they are able to and have been working with NGOs around the country to target deaf rights issues, hosted state level meetings to recruit members that have connections in unnoticed high deaf population areas of the nation, and organized three national consultations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=NAD - National Association of the Deaf|url=http://nadindia.org/AboutUs/NAD|access-date=2021-10-23|website=nadindia.org|language=en}}</ref> Besides these three predominant organizations there are several other organizations within the nation that are actively taking steps to advocate for the DHH community. Even though this may not seem like a lot, it is a major step in the right direction.
⚫
== Deaf education ==
⚫
The country of India places a large emphasis on education. However, there is little to no reliable literature accessible on education for DHH people, especially children.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Antia |first=Shirin D. |date=1979 |title=Education of the Hearing Impaired in India: A Survey |journal=American Annals of the Deaf |volume=124 |issue=6 |pages=785–789 |jstor=44388682 |pmid=389016 |issn=0002-726X}}</ref> The biggest problem that Indian DHH children face is that India has eighteen equally [[Languages of India|significant languages]] that hold mutual dominance, due to cultural diversity within the country.<ref name=":2" /> Developmental teachers struggle to choose which languages to teach their students. Even within specific languages, dialect difference can lead to issues in learning cohesion.<ref name=":2" /> With hearing loss specifically, schools for DHH children are limited and generally choose English as the main language.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=2017-02-28 |title=The people behind India's first sign language dictionary |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-39101899 |access-date=2021-10-23}}</ref> This is due to the widespread prevalence of English in multiple school throughout the country. However, teaching [[American Sign Language]] to DHH children in India means there is little cross-intelligibility with local languages.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> This puts families at odds regarding [[cultural assimilation]].<ref name=":0" /> Other issues facing d/Deaf education in India include lack of funding, lack of experiences instructors, lack of awareness, and lack of governmental support.

⚫
== Employment ==
⚫
A census conducted in 2011 revealed that out of 13.4 million individuals between the ages of 15–59 with a hearing disability in India 73.9% were [[Marginal employment|marginal workers]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Mishra |last2=Nagarkar |last3=Nagarkar |first1=Abhishek |first2=Anu |first3=Nitin |url=https://www.jodys.info/journal/january_2018/04_Jodys_January_2018.pdf |title=Challenges in Education and Employment for Hearing Impaired in India |journal=Journal of Disability Management and Special Education}}</ref> This implies that only 26.1% of the active group were actually employed.<ref name=":4" /> It is extremely difficult for people of the DHH community to obtain an education, as they are unable to learn basic skills that the hearing population would learn at a young age.<ref name=":4" /> There are not many organizations that active aid the DHH community of India, besides the Mook Badhir Mandal (an organization that specifically targets job inequality within the nation).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Introduction - Mook Badhir Mandal |url=http://indiandeaf.org/AboutUs/About#:~:text=Mook%20Badhir%20Mandal%20has%20created,the%20motto%20of%20this%20organization. |access-date=2021-10-23|website=indiandeaf.org}}</ref>

⚫
== Deaf organizations ==
⚫
{{Advert|section|date=October 2022}}
⚫
There are organizations such as the [[Deaf Enabled Foundation|Deaf Enabled Foundation in India]], [[Sai Swayam Society]] - Empowering the Deaf & Mute, and [[The National Association of the Deaf (India)]] that are advocating for the DHH community.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Deaf EnAbled Foundation |url=https://def.org.in/ |access-date=2021-10-23 |website=Deaf Enabled Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |title=Sai Swayam Society|url=https://saiswayamsociety9.org/|access-date=2021-10-23|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Chinoy|first=Aqil|title=Welcome|url=http://nadindia.org/|access-date=2021-10-23|website=nadindia.org|language=en}}</ref> [[Deaf Enabled Foundation| The Deaf EnAbled Foundation]] of India focuses on gaining equal access for the deaf through "development, enhancement of quality of life, providing educational facilities, and social and cultural awareness."<ref name=":5" /> This organization has established a DEF skills center, academic academy and sign academy.<ref name=":5" /> Sai Swayam Society has been providing the DHH community with several resources such as skill training, remedial education, livelihood, and access to interpreters.<ref name=":6" /> Lastly, the NAD in India has a bit more access to funding and resources on a larger platform as they branch off from the government.<ref name=":7" /> With this governmental connection, they are able to and have been working with NGOs around the country to target deaf rights issues, hosted state level meetings to recruit members that have connections in unnoticed high deaf population areas of the nation, and organized three national consultations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NAD - National Association of the Deaf|url=http://nadindia.org/AboutUs/NAD|access-date=2021-10-23|website=nadindia.org|language=en}}</ref> Besides these three predominant organizations there are several other organizations within the nation that are actively taking steps to advocate for the DHH community.

==See also==
* [[Disability in India]]
* {{section link|Education in India|Deaf education in India}}


== References ==
== References ==
Line 20: Line 32:
[[Category:Disability in India]]
[[Category:Disability in India]]
[[Category:Deafness by country|India]]
[[Category:Deafness by country|India]]
[[Category:Deaf culture in India]]

Latest revision as of 12:58, 20 July 2024

India is home to approximately 63 million people of the deaf and hard of hearing community (DHH).[1] It has been argued that while India's government has focused heavily on modernizing the country with technological resources and infrastructure, the needs of the DHH residents of India have been ignored.[1] Although sign language has been evolving within the country, it was not until 2017 that the Indian government decided to codify sign language in a dictionary format.[2]

Cultural neglect

[edit]

In a study conducted by Dr. Jill Jepson, a fellow of the National Institute on Aging at the University of California, San Francisco, she examined the linguistics and sociolinguistics of sign language and hearing within India.[2] Dr. Jepson focused her research primarily on the urban states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.[2] She concluded that families and people of the DHH community, either late-deafened or born deaf, were ashamed of deafness and were looking for ways to fix it.[2] Instead of using the social model of disability to find ways to help d/Deaf and hard of hearing people adjust to society, many families visited physicians to try to remedy their child's deafness. They also experimented on the deaf with traditional and folk procedures, including rituals, fasts, and vigils.[2] It is important to keep in mind that only a small sample size was interviewed as most people were afraid or ashamed of getting interviewed because of the negative consequences (rejection, neglect, abuse by family and society).[citation needed]

Even today in 2023, the deaf community experiences cultural negligence. There are two deaf communities in India: those who are capitalize the "D" in deaf, and those who do not. The capitalization represents those who are profoundly or severely deaf; they consider themselves to be culturally Deaf. They accept themselves as Deaf and are part of a Deaf community. Sign language is their native language and they prefer to speak and use sign language when able. Many of them have acquired a good knowledge of sign language and are comfortable with it and are in different professions.[citation needed]

Those who do not capitalize "deaf" are also known as medically or clinically deaf. These are people who became deaf after the language acquisition period or have acquired deafness later in life in some way. They often consider themselves part of the mainstream society i.e. the hearing community; many may use a hearing aid and access speech therapy for. Rather than using sign language, they may prefer to use the hearing aids and search for medical treatment to improve their hearing ability.[citation needed]

Cultural struggles and stigma surrounding d/Deaf inclusion in India can lead to medical neglect, cultural deprivation, and lack of access to assistance.[3]

Deaf education

[edit]

The country of India places a large emphasis on education. However, there is little to no reliable literature accessible on education for DHH people, especially children.[4] The biggest problem that Indian DHH children face is that India has eighteen equally significant languages that hold mutual dominance, due to cultural diversity within the country.[4] Developmental teachers struggle to choose which languages to teach their students. Even within specific languages, dialect difference can lead to issues in learning cohesion.[4] With hearing loss specifically, schools for DHH children are limited and generally choose English as the main language.[5] This is due to the widespread prevalence of English in multiple school throughout the country. However, teaching American Sign Language to DHH children in India means there is little cross-intelligibility with local languages.[4][5] This puts families at odds regarding cultural assimilation.[1] Other issues facing d/Deaf education in India include lack of funding, lack of experiences instructors, lack of awareness, and lack of governmental support.

Employment

[edit]

A census conducted in 2011 revealed that out of 13.4 million individuals between the ages of 15–59 with a hearing disability in India 73.9% were marginal workers.[6] This implies that only 26.1% of the active group were actually employed.[6] It is extremely difficult for people of the DHH community to obtain an education, as they are unable to learn basic skills that the hearing population would learn at a young age.[6] There are not many organizations that active aid the DHH community of India, besides the Mook Badhir Mandal (an organization that specifically targets job inequality within the nation).[7]

Deaf organizations

[edit]

There are organizations such as the Deaf Enabled Foundation in India, Sai Swayam Society - Empowering the Deaf & Mute, and The National Association of the Deaf (India) that are advocating for the DHH community.[8][9][10] The Deaf EnAbled Foundation of India focuses on gaining equal access for the deaf through "development, enhancement of quality of life, providing educational facilities, and social and cultural awareness."[8] This organization has established a DEF skills center, academic academy and sign academy.[8] Sai Swayam Society has been providing the DHH community with several resources such as skill training, remedial education, livelihood, and access to interpreters.[9] Lastly, the NAD in India has a bit more access to funding and resources on a larger platform as they branch off from the government.[10] With this governmental connection, they are able to and have been working with NGOs around the country to target deaf rights issues, hosted state level meetings to recruit members that have connections in unnoticed high deaf population areas of the nation, and organized three national consultations.[11] Besides these three predominant organizations there are several other organizations within the nation that are actively taking steps to advocate for the DHH community.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Varshney, Saurabh (2016-04-01). "Deafness in India". Indian Journal of Otology. 22 (2): 73. doi:10.4103/0971-7749.182281. ISSN 0971-7749. S2CID 78805217.
  2. ^ a b c d e Jepson, Jill (1991). "Some Aspects of the Deaf Experience in India". Sign Language Studies (73): 453–459. ISSN 0302-1475. JSTOR 26204775.
  3. ^ Tivare, Roma; Holcomb, Thomas (2021). "Deafness in India and the Indian-American Community". Journal of Student Research. 10 (4): 1–10. doi:10.47611/jsrhs.v10i4.2437. ISSN 2167-1907. S2CID 248784897. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Antia, Shirin D. (1979). "Education of the Hearing Impaired in India: A Survey". American Annals of the Deaf. 124 (6): 785–789. ISSN 0002-726X. JSTOR 44388682. PMID 389016.
  5. ^ a b "The people behind India's first sign language dictionary". BBC News. 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  6. ^ a b c Mishra, Abhishek; Nagarkar, Anu; Nagarkar, Nitin. "Challenges in Education and Employment for Hearing Impaired in India" (PDF). Journal of Disability Management and Special Education.
  7. ^ "Introduction - Mook Badhir Mandal". indiandeaf.org. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  8. ^ a b c "Deaf EnAbled Foundation". Deaf Enabled Foundation. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  9. ^ a b "Sai Swayam Society". Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  10. ^ a b Chinoy, Aqil. "Welcome". nadindia.org. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  11. ^ "NAD - National Association of the Deaf". nadindia.org. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Deafness_in_India&oldid=1235653930"