July 20, 2019
A rare disability, deafblindness combines degrees of hearing and
visual impairments. People with deafblindness face challenges of both
communication and mobility and as such experience far greater neglect and
discrimination. They are denied access to the most basic rights, something
the Society for Empowerment of the Deafblind is trying to highlight.
It was his struggles as a deafblind person that led Zamir
Dhale to start a society to address the community’s needs and make
them aware of their rights. Thanks to his love for knowledge and never say
die attitude, Zamir has been able to overcome many of these challenges and
shape the course of his life. Now, as founder of the Society for
Empowerment of the Deafblind (SEDB), Zamir wants to enable others
with this rare disability.
People who are deafblind have hearing, speech and vision disabilities. They
have varying level of impairments as well. There are over five lakh people
with deafblindness in India. Technology is one of the ways they can
communicate apart from the use of tactile signing, sign language, manual
alphabets, communication aides, interpreters, etc.
However, not everyone with deafblindness in India gets access to support and
opportunities. Lack of awareness about the condition and shortage of
resources in education, health care are some of the barriers they face from
joining the mainstream.
We need people to see our work and SEDB is the first trust by deafblind
people in India. People need to learn about how the deafblind travel and
communicate through touch tactile communication. I like the world to
understand our work at SEDB and support the cause. We want to be heard and
be considered as equals. – Zamir Dhale Founder-Chairman, Society
for Empowerment of the Deafblind
The SEDB has its work cut out as this needs the help and support of various
stakeholders. In Zamir’s case, he was born deaf and lost his vision at the
age of nine. With no schools for deafblind children in Pune at the time, he
moved to Mumbai with his brother Akhtar, who is deaf with
low vision.
Education and knowledge gave him much needed confidence, enabling Zamir to
take the steps towards independence. It was his love for computers and
accessible technology that finally helped him carve the direction for his
life and led to the foundation of SEDB in 2015.
Without proper education, people with disabilities cannot get jobs and be
independent financially. SEDB is focused on creating opportunities for
deafblind people in the field of education and employment while also
demanding their rights.
Puneet Gupta, a filmmaker and advisor for SEDB, says empathy
for the disabled community is lacking in India and this affects deafblind
people. “People with deafblindness are affected majorly due to the lack of
awareness and a shortage of empathy The SEDB is empowering the community with
knowledge, information and skills needed for survival in today’s world”.
SEDB provides assistive devices that help improve communication means for
people who are deafblind. It also offers vocational training and access to
educational resources to ensure the community gets all the opportunity needed
to lead their lives with dignity.
GET IN TOUCH:To know more about SEDB visit the website: http://www.sedbindia.org/
You can also write mail to info@sedbindia.org
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/society-for-empowerment-of-deafblind-community-rights-disabled
