On the occasion of World Hearing Day, the Mysuru-based All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH) in association with Frauscher Sensor Technology India distributed 110 hearing aids to persons with hearing impairment, including a three-month-old baby, on its premises here on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, M. Pushpavathi, director, AIISH, said a few months ago, Bank of Baroda donated 50 hearing aids to needy children in 0-5 age group and now Frauscher Sensor Technology has come forward to donate 110 hearing aids. This time, we not only distributed it to children but also to senior citizens.
“By providing hearing aids, only 10% of work is done. On wearing the aids, they will hear and listen to various sounds. Our experts at the institute will work with them to help them understand, which will take about two to three years,” she said.
Hence, it is also the responsibility of parents to cooperate with our experts so that children or elderly persons will have proper hearing. Each hearing aid, which was distributed on Thursday, costs around ₹29,000, she said.
To keep a tab on hearing related issues, the institute has been working with 13 hospitals across Mysuru district. In these hospitals, newborns are screened for hearing-related issues. If they come across any hearing-related problems, the babies will be brought to the institute for a detailed check-up and treatment, she said.
Earlier, Alok Sinha, country head, Frauscher Group, inaugurated the event and distributed hearing aids.
Workshop
A two-day national workshop on ‘Demystifying the relationship between brain cognition and behaviour across lifespan: Speech-Language Pathologists Perspective’ organised by the Department of Speech-Language Pathology began at AIISH on Thursday.
The workshop was inaugurated by Harsha S., professor and Head-Department of Neurology, JSS Hospital, Mysuru. Dr. Pushpavathi presided. Jayashree C. Shanbal, HoD-Speech-Language Pathology and co-ordinator, welcomed speech-language pathologists from different parts of the country.
Eminent resource persons in the field of neuroscience will deliver lectures. Over 200 students and practising SLPs from various institutes and centres participated.