World Day Of The Deaf: Generating Awareness About Hearing Impairment

The World Day of the Deaf is celebrated to generate awareness about deaf culture and promote understanding of the problems faced by deaf people.

Hyderabad:The World Deaf Day is celebrated every year on the last Sunday of September with the aim to draw attention of general public, politicians and development authorities towards the achievements of the deaf people as well as deaf people community.

During the celebration, all the hearing impaired organisations worldwide are encouraged greatly to fulfil the demands and needs of the deaf people as well as increase their rights in the society, worldwide.

This year, World Deaf Day would be celebrated on September 29, the last Sunday of the month. This day also aims to promote understanding among common people about the problems of deaf people in the community all over the world.

History:

World Deaf Day was first observed in 1958 by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the rights and quality of life for the deaf community. Granville Richard Seymour Redmond, a remarkable person who overcome deafness to succeed in the art world, is particularly associated with this day. Redmond, who was born in Philadelphia in 1871, offers an encouraging tale of the potential that exists among the deaf community. He studied painting, pantomime, and drawing at the esteemed California School of Design despite having hearing loss, and by 1905, he was recognised as a landscape painter and bold colourist.

Significance:

World Deaf Day is observed in order to create awareness about the types and causes of hearing loss and spread awareness about the deaf culture. Being Deaf is not a disability, on this day we can conduct some camps to educate people about healthy lifestyles and eating habits.

To educate people about deafness, many deaf organisations, schools, colleges, and universities hold several activities and conduct some events to create awareness about the cause of deafness. We can help them by arranging some workshops and lessons on sign language to motivate them. By using technology we can change their lives in a better way.

Theme, Importance and Activities:

The theme of this year's celebration is “Sign Up for Sign Language Rights.” This theme is in line with our vision where Deaf people in Ireland have full access to and can participate fully in all aspects of society.

People must participate in celebrating the World Deaf Day by helping in expanding the growth and development through the new technologies as well as offering deaf people wide variety of opportunities to change their lifestyle. It is usually celebrated in the form of rallies, seminar and various deaf awareness campaigns including some fun events.

Causes of Deafness:

• Infections including ear infection, meningitis etc.
• Ageing, Heredity
• Earwax build-up
• Occupational hazards ( those who are working in noisy areas)
• Trauma, Ear disease
• Certain medicines
• Long-term exposure to loud noise

Number of people with hearing loss worldwide

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80% of them live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages. UN defines Sign languages as fully fledged natural languages, structurally distinct from the spoken languages.

Tips to prevent hearing loss:

• Avoid inserting sharp objects in the ear
• Avoid noisy places
• Turn down the volume of TV, stereo, especially the headset on the music player
• Do not use any kind of oil or liquid into your ears unless advised by a doctor
• Do not ignore pain in the ear as it can be some serious infection.
• Avoid swimming/bathing in dirty\ water as it can lead to ear infections.

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