CHENNAI: Science City conducted a seminar on science and technology for hearing and speech impaired students on Wednesday. The programme was inaugurated by Dr A Muraleedharan, director of department of ENT at the Madras Medical College.
The one-day seminar was targeted at exploring various avenues of science and technology for hearing and speech impaired children including subjects like multimedia technology, environmental sciences and astronomy. Speaking at the inaugural session, VK Subburaj, Vice Chairman of Science City said that close to 6 per cent of people living in India have speech or hearing impairments. “Of these 80 per cent are people with minor issues and close to one lakh children are born with some sort of hearing impairments,” he said.
Muraleedharan said that close to 50 per cent of hearing loss or impairment incidents are preventable provided there is proper awareness amongst people. “Simple steps like encouraging children to wear their hearing aid all through the day and talking to them and treating them in a normal manner itself can encourage the children,” he said.