AURED – Aural Education for the Hearing Impaired

Mahatma Gandhi once said ‘Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will’. It’s this indomitable ‘will’ and ‘strength’ that AURED (Aural Education for the Hearing Impaired) aims at instilling in the hundreds of hearing impaired children that it works with by habilitating them and integrating them into mainstream schools. Their main goal is to make children with hearing impairment independent, participating and contributing citizens in mainstream society.

The AURED charitable trust is based in Mumbai and was set up in the year 1996 by Ms. Aziza Tyagi. AURED is mainly involved in the habilitation of hearing impaired children through therapy sessions involving the Auditory Verbal Approach (AVA) that focuses on the child’s residual hearing, enabling him/her to communicate successfully. The Auditory Verbal Approach involves assessment of each child and the extent of hearing impairment and assessing residual hearing capacity along with parental counseling.  Cochlear implants and hearing aids are fitted based on each child’s evaluation and the AVA approach is used to work with the recipients of the implants to communicate effectively using the same.

Vibha has been funding AURED since April 2006 and sponsors a component of the ‘Early Detection’ program. The major problem faced by children with hearing impairments is late intervention, which becomes a hurdle, for them to become a part of the mainstream. Also some children that come from low income groups cannot afford hearing aids and therapy. AURED helps the children overcome all these hurdles by providing therapy at the right time and also at low and subsidized rates. AURED has a very good network with expert organizations across the world and brings the same advanced technology and skills to India.

AURED has grown from 6 students to over 562 students currently enrolled from 64 different cities and 13 neighboring countries indicating the program’s wide reach. AURED has centers in Delhi, Hyderabad and a satellite center in Kenya. AURED conducts teacher training programs in association with Cochlear Ltd and Ali Javar Jung – Institute for the hearing impaired. They also conduct presentations in schools, colleges, housing societies and business houses to raise awareness on causes of deafness, noise pollution and sensitization of school children and staff to hearing disability. AURED has tied up with AWAAZ – a society for control of Noise Pollution for presentation and distribution of CDs on Noise Pollution, developed by AURED.

AURED’s planned activities include using Mobile vans for screening hearing impairment among infants, pre- school and school going children in Municipal schools, crèches and adoption centers in rural areas near Mumbai.  These tests will take only 30 seconds per child thereby increasing the number of children that can be screened. AURED has also started an Outreach program to train parents of children with hearing impairment, coming from villages, in Auditory Verbal teaching skills. This will enable children from same and nearby villages to get follow up therapy.

AURED is a program that has shown great progress from when it was started. Right from using the newest technology and sophisticated equipments to training and upgrading the skills of their team, AURED notices every minute need of the children and takes care of it all very efficiently. The program believes that every child with hearing impairment has the right to communicate and your support plays a major role in helping them achieve this.  Your contribution helps hundreds of children break barriers, communicate proficiently and become a part of mainstream society.