Embedded Files
Introduction
A "Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH)" individual is one who has disabling hearing loss which can either be partial or complete loss of hearing.
The objective of this webpage is to sensitize people and create awareness about different aspects of DHH disability. With exposure to different real-life scenarios, our goal is to let different stakeholders draw insights about how to be more inclusive and considerate towards persons with DHH disabilities.
Empathizing
Let us do an activity to gain some perspective about one of the challenges faced by people with DHH individual.
Try following steps to get a slight glimpse in the day of
Next time you walk into a classroom try to spend first 5 minutes with an obstructed ear. Try to summarise those 5 minutes in terms of what you can hear people talking about.
At the same time, ask a friend to summarise those 5 minutes with an unobstructed ear.
After that compare your notes with your friend's notes and observe how much information is missing/incorrect.
Inclusivity
Academic setting
Academic settings could include any place that is related to your academic life. It can be in a common formal setting like a classroom or an uncommon setting like a conference. Let us see one such scenario of a classroom.
Scenario
Check your Understanding
Non-academic setting
A non-academic setting is any place outside the formal academic setting. It could be a cafeteria, gymkhana, mess, etc. Let us look at one such scenario of friends hanging out in a cafeteria and discussing travel plans.
Scenario
Check your Understanding
One small step
Are you wondering how you could make everyday situations more accessible and inclusive? Let's look at some pointers on how we can be mindful while interacting with DHH individuals and create an inclusive environment.
To make a change, we do not have to do something spectacular. Simple efforts, considerations, and intentions can greatly impact an individual and society. All it takes is a small step.
Inspiring Stories
There are many great personalities with locomotor disabilities who have impacted the world with their stories that inform their willpower, capabilities, and the importance of peer support in their lives. Let us get inspired by powerful stories of PwD individuals who have overcome different challenges to achieve their goals:
Meet Dr. Carla García-Fernández. She is an assistant professor of deaf studies at California State University in Northridge. In her Deaf Success story, she recognizes her multiple intersecting identities as a #Latina woman and a #deaf person. She explains the impact that this #intersectionality can have on people’s lives and emphasizes the importance of having role models and building connections.
Here is a playlist of more such videos with inspiring stories: #DeafSuccess
Meet Austin Vaday. He shares his efforts to bridge the gap between the hearing and deaf communities. Austin Vaday is a 21-year-old software engineer, innovator, and entrepreneur. Austin has proved to the world that disabilities are super-powers, not disadvantages. At only 17 years of age, Austin experienced his first of four software engineering internships at NASA and Amazon. When he was 19 years old, Austin co-founded a startup, Aquaint, a tool for social media discovery and organization. Currently a Computer Science student at UCLA, his technical skill-set includes web, iOS, and backend development. Some say that Austin's true talent is not in his technical ability, but in his ability to inspire and motivate others."
Additional Resources
These are some of the resources that can aid in achieving the objective of the webpage:
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse