Dhun Adenwalla: It was necessity and later a focused interest that made me an Educator of the Deaf. Our eldest daughter, Dinaz, was born deaf.

At the time, I was by profession a qualified librarian, having worked at the American Library, the British Council Library in Bombay and the British National Bibliography, the British Museum, London. And before qualifying as a librarian, I had studied fashion designing and dressmaking in London and worked for a leading weekly in Bombay.

When we realized that Dinaz was not startling, nor reacting to our voice or any other gross sound, I contacted various organizations and people in the field of hearing and deafness. It was a period of pain, grief and mourning, but at the same time stimulating to communicate somehow with Dinaz. We were at the time living in Kolkata. We decided to visit the UK with my daughter and with initial training, we returned to India. I studied at the first post graduate course for Educators of the Deaf at EAR Centre, Bombay, while Dinaz aged 3 attended the school that had just been inaugurated. After qualifying , we returned to Kolkata, where my husband was working, only to find that the only school there for the deaf did not admit children under the age of 8 years, and Dinaz was only 3.

There was only one course open to us – to start a school for deaf children ourselves.

The Oral School for Deaf Children was started in August 1964 and is managed by the Society for Oral Education of the Deaf, recognized by the Government and registered as a charity qualifying for tax exemption for donations. When it began with the help of well-wishers, some teachers qualified, others not, there were only 2 children, but within weeks the numbers augmented to 20 lively children between the ages of 3 to 9 years. People ask:

How can you tell these children are deaf? The answer is – you can't. Deafness is the only impairment that is not visible. What happens when a child is deaf? Since from infancy a deaf child is denied all normal means of communication, the aim of the School is to provide a stimulating learning environment, to help deaf children acquire language through modes of communication best suited to their needs, involving the use of amplified sound, speech reading, sign language, reading, writing, finger spelling, mime and drama. The ultimate aim is to preserve and build up the resources of normalcy which have not been impaired by deafness.

The School is open to children from all socio-economic backgrounds, between the ages of 3 and 6 at the time of admission. Initially, the school charged no fees. However after some time, fees were graded according to parents' income and free to those unable to pay.

Auditory Equipment is used regularly and includes individual hearing aids, Speech Trainers, Group Hearing Systems, Audiometers for testing hearing loss and a laboratory manufacturing individual ear moulds to give the hearing aid a tight fit.

With English as the medium of instruction, the School provides an education that is broad based, giving the child opportunities for mental development. Young children learn language, speech, lip-reading, sign language through play activities. Senior children follow The National Open School curriculum or prepare for the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. The results have been rewarding. Apart from the basic subjects, children learn mime and dramatization, art and craft, rhythm perception and dance, physical training and some sports in our cramped premises.

School is fun, children learn through communicating to us their experiences, which are always interesting and important . Language is seeping in quite imperceptibly and more quickly than I had imagined it would. Our success, if you can call it that, is not ours but the children’s. There are 50 presently in the school, upto class ten level, with 10 teachers. After school, some students have qualified as artists, in computer software and hardware, beauticians, teachers of the deaf, photography, etc. Most have married deaf partners and a few have hearing wives. Problems they meet out of school are very real, but not insurmountable.

In order to make the public aware of deafness, our annual shows in Mime and Sign Language have been rewarding in promoting a new image of the deaf. Ms Zarin Chaudhuri, a drama teacher, has worked tirelessly in producing a professional Theatre of the Deaf, known as TAP. The audience in Kolkata look forward to the productions, the themes for which are often suggested by the deaf.

Plans for the future: Acquire larger premises. Presently the school is in rented apartments. There are areas in which we must expand: eg. Provide regular clinical services in our outreach programme. There are villages where the deaf community has intermarried; they need hearing aids and counselling.

Early detection and intervention of deafness in babies: some parents who can afford it, have opted for the Cochlear Implant. The Auditory services for the Cochlear Implanted have to be extended.

Parents and School leavers ask for counselling services. Research in and promoting the Indian Sign Language and bilingualism for the deaf and hearing, so communication is made fluent. Training teachers of the deaf. Conduct seminars to upgrade teaching methods and create awareness about the potential of hearing impaired people. All these ongoing projects require a good deal of money which we do not have, as we rely entirely on voluntary donations.