By IANS,
New Delhi : A special session aimed at increasing awareness and discussing problems related to deafness was organised at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for its students and staff.
Orientation to Deafness was organised by the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre and sponsored by the social justice and empowerment ministry at the IGNOU campus in south Delhi.
IGNOU Vice Chancellor M. Aslam said that at present, there were 90 deaf students in IGNOU and they were considered a linguistic minority rather than a disability group.
“The moment we pick up how they talk to each other, they start communicating with us as well,” he said.
The programme was attended by students of applied sign language studies and the staff. “It aimed at increasing awareness about deafness, problems of deaf community and initiatives necessary for solving them from different stakeholders,” a statement said.
For Aline, a first-year African student of sign language, the session was enlightening.
“This session has helped me break the barriers of communication and being here with the deaf community is like being in a family,” she said.