Socialisation & Value Education in School

The Deaf Way has been involved in conducting Value
Education programs in deaf schools as a means of providing
positive socialisation to deaf children. Deaf children growing
up in a hearing environment have little or no exposure to deaf
community. The Deaf Way's volunteers, both deaf and hearing, have played an important role in broadening the minds of the children by conducting regular classes and shows with dramas and skits and open forum interaction. This helps the children get more exposure to the Deaf Community and experience the extended family and culture that they are part of. They are taught basic moral values, manners and social graces to help them learn how to carry themselves well. They are also counselled about the dangers of substance abuse, a very common phenomenon among teenagers. In India The Deaf Way has done many such programs in schools all over the country.

Personal Counselling

The Deaf Way's main work with the deaf youth has always centered on giving them a positive outlook on themselves as individuals and helping them to build there lives with confidence. The Deaf Way is currently conducting personal counselling sessions on a regular basis to help deaf young people rid themselves towards life and deafness. They are also encouraged and trained to become counsellors themselves and help others by personally counselling there peers who look to them for advice, counsel and help.

Cultural Events

The Deaf Way conducts regular cultural programs to integrate deaf and hearing people. Hearing friends, associates and well wishers of The Deaf Way have participated in many of these gatherings, both formal and informal. We have also found that such gatherings have done a lot to create an awareness of the deaf world. The Deaf Way has also been organizing painting competitions, drama contests, dance competitions for the deaf school children on the International Day of the Deaf. These items are now a regular feature every year and participation from many deaf schools and institutions has increased manifold over the last few years.

Amateur Theatre

Many of the deaf are accomplished actors and actresses. In India, The Deaf Way has helped them to organize themselves into an amateur theatre group called 'The Silent Voice' which consists completely of young deaf people. The Silent Voice performs dramas on a number of pertinent social themes and performs the dual function of entertainment and education. The plays are scripted by the deaf.
Productions as well as direction are also done in teamwork. The audiences for which they perform range from deaf school children to hearing college students to parents of the deaf. They are extremely well received. Not only does amateur theatre serve as a medium for communicating concepts, but also fulfills, in some ways,

a more important role of helping the deaf obtain a sense of self-confidence and self-worth. One of the deaf members of the Silent Voice troupe has received the national award for being the Best Actor at the National Competition of Drama. Earlier on, their plays have been televised on local and national Doordarshan (TV) stations.

Social Work Orientation and Training

The deaf youth trained by The Deaf Way have, time and again, displayed a serious concern for many of the problems that affect society at large and have demonstrated a genuine concern for taking positive action to attempt to rectify some of those problems. Their immediate concern, of course, has always been the deaf community and they have proven themselves in the field of social service amidst the deaf. Besides this, they have even reached out to the hearing world and have helped many youth in particular suffering from depression and other problems by using a unique blend of printed literature and simplified sign language. They have even performed dramas on themes like National Integration and unity for prison inmates. In 1999 We were able to send teams to the Orissa cyclone affected areas and carried 4tonnes of stores and clothes to the most seriously affected areas. In 2001 a team of 4 deaf went to the site of the Gujurat earthquake and lived and worked among the people of Gujurat for 2 weeks.

Indigneous Sign Language Development [India]

The multilingualism of India has posed a challenge to the development of sign language in India. There is no single sign language school for the deaf all over the country has evolved their own variations of sign language. The Deaf Way is conducting classes on an ad hoc basis in schools and helping to fill gaps in sign language comprehension in these schools.
We have also helped to create the first ever sign language dictionary for the deaf in conjunction with the Sri Rama Krishna Vidyalaya IHRDC Coimbatore.

Interpreting Services

The Deaf Way has pioneered the work of setting up an interpreter orientation program for all the ad hoc interpreters we3 have in India. In addition to this we have helped to create and set up courses on sign language as well as interpereting taught at Govt. and private institutions.

Leadership Training Seminars

In today's rapidly changing world, the need for the infusion for young and dynamic leadership is becoming increasingly apparent and the deaf world is no exception to this crying need. The deaf need direction and training and their talents and capabilities need channelization. The Deaf Way has been providing in-depth leadership training to members of the deaf community by conducting weekly leadership training seminars in which a core group of trainees receive input in fields like Organization, Communication, and Personal Management. These trainees in turn share their training with other young deaf people throughout the country.

Family Counselling

Many deaf couples have hearing children and this poses a unique communication and socialization problem The Deaf Way has been providing a supportive environment for such couples and giving an opportunity and a forum to gather together and discuss problems and solutions. Regular seminars are also held to train

deaf couples in the area of a child development and child care from toddler to grade school age.

Literacy Classes

The general standard of education for the deaf in India is quite poor and many deaf persons are functionally illiterate. To enable them to benefit from the advantages of becoming competent users of a spoken language, The Deaf Way's volunteers conduct the only bilingual classes in India and have been training deaf persons to use English through sign language.

The classes are conducted thrice a week and are very popular among the deaf.

Vocational Training

We are committed to an agenda that involves the betterment of conditions and the quality of life for deaf persons in society at large. The fields of education and training as well as that of finding suitable employment for deaf persons are the ones we feel need the most attention at this stage. These are the two major problems of our society and the ones in which emphasis on

improvement and development are the need of the hour. To accomplish this we have set a unique education center for the deaf in Delhi. We provide computer education, and related employment and career counseling along with helping the deaf students prepare for job interviews and competitive exams.

Publications

In Delhi we have been publishing a magazine called "The Deaf Way "which is the only monthly magazine in India addressing deaf issues and deaf news. The inclusion of many articles from the Internet and from professional journals makes it possible for it's readers to stay abreast of the latest developments in the deaf world. Also news of the deaf schools and institutions included in this makes it very useful for parents of the deaf. This 16-page full colour magazine is sent free of cost deaf schools, associations and clubs all over the country. From time to time we also publish a booklet called the 'Deaf Digest'.