KOCHI: The Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in the new normal of social distancing. While social distancing in itself has brought many discomforts to the general public, its effect on the hearing-impaired community has been manifold. Many of them are left with very few authentic sources of information on the virus. In this context, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has uploaded a course on ‘Introduction to Covid-19’, in Indian Sign Language (ISL), ensuring accessibility to the deaf community. The course is available on the Massive Open Online Course platform of WHO (OpenWHO). The video in sign language has been developed by ISL interpreter Vinayachandran B S, a native of Thiruvananthapuram.
As per the 2011 Census, 2.68 crore Indians were found to be disabled out of a population of 121 crore. Of the total number of disabled, 19 per cent were registered as hearing-impaired. The Indian Sign Language is a mother tongue of sorts for the community, even though technological advancements such as hearing aids have made it possible for the deaf to communicate. The course can be utilised by deaf community and rehabilitation professionals across the country. Uploaded in May, the course has over 40,000 enrolments so far.
“There was a barrage of misinformation about the pandemic. The hearing-impaired community is one that is at a risk of imbibing such information. Hence I wrote to the WHO about the possibility of making verified information available in ISL. Their response was immediate and there was constant support throughout the process. The video in sign language also has voice-over in Hindi, to make it accessible for all,” said Vinayachandran who is currently working on two more videos to be added to the course. He had also been preparing the Covid-19 news bulletin for NISH, Thiruvananthapuram for three months since the outbreak of pandemic. The one-of-a-kind initiative of the institute ensured that there were daily news updates on the situation for the deaf community.
“Information being circulated by various agencies on the frontlines of combating the pandemic is in print format. The deaf community has relatively poor literacy skills making this information obsolete for them. ISL is the main medium of communication for a majority, hence such a video on the platform of WHO will help a large number of disabled people as well as professionals,” said Dr Sumi Mathew, director of Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities, Mumbai.The Rehabilitation Council of India has taken an initiative to promote WHO courses on Covid-19 among RCI’s approved institutions and certified rehabilitation professionals.