Hearing-impaired meet today

From: Pune Newsline - Pune,India - Jan 27, 2006

Express News Service

Pune, January 27: ADITI Dukale became stone deaf when she was four years old. Hearing aids did not help and her parents mortgaged the house to buy cochlear implants that cost nothing less than Rs four lakh. It was well worth the effort as today a 13-year-old Aditi speaks and hears as a normal child would.

Aditi smiles shyly even as doctors Neelam Vaid, Hemant Dabke and audiologist Kalyani Mandke addressed media persons on Friday to talk about success stories that being deaf does not mean that they cannot hear and learn to speak!

A gathering of 30 such families who have had children who received nucleus cochlear implants at Pune Advanced Auditory Research (PAAR) will be held on Saturday at Hotel President.

The families will share their experiences. Nucleus Cochlear implant systems which are approved by the US-FDA for use in young children. PAAR has a dedicated cochlear implant team.

Says Dr Neelam Vaid, ‘‘Early diagnosis and intervention and the success of cochlea1r implants can help the hearing-impaired children overcome their disability.’’

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