Help Educate 500 Deafblind Children in India

When we face tragedies in life we have two options, either we lose all our hopes or we hold on to our hope. Thankfully for us, Badal’s parents held on the thin thread of hope after they discovered that their son was born with low vision and severe hearing loss.

Thirteen year old, Badal resides at Balianta village of Khairda District in Odisha with his parents, elder brother and a younger sister. A year ago, he joined our home-based programme in September 2016 after being identified through a community survey conducted by Sense India along with our Partner NGO, Aaina in Bhubaneshwar.

As soon as Badal joined our programme, he underwent clinical and functional assessment.  This helped us understand the degree of his disability and based upon the recommendations of experts and in consultation with his parents, we developed an Individualised Education Plan (IEP) for Badal, which determined the focus areas for his learning and therapy.

Badal came in with a lot of behavioural issues including attention deficiency and hyperactivity. He was completely dependent on his mother for all his daily living activities like bathing, brushing, eating and toileting among others. It was becoming very difficult for his parents as both of them were working as daily labourers.

We initially started working on his communication and then we slowly started focusing on his daily living skills. Today, after a year’s work, Badal is exceeding everyone’s expectations. He is unstoppable. He is now going to school and is learning basic sign language. With the constant support of his educator and mother he is becoming independent in his daily living activities.

Badal’s mother Chand is overjoyed at the progress of her son. “After the training, I am getting more and more confident that he can do all the activities like any other children,” she says.

Right now with the support of Badal’s family, his educator is working on improving his mobility and daily living activities. His family has been amazing, always supportive and trying their best to give Badal the best they can and considering their economic condition, we are planning to provide Badal with the regular nutritional support required to maintain his health and to reduce the financial onus of his family.