The research found the prevalence of hearing loss in school children in Nepal is very high and the parents and teachers of hearing loss children lack the knowledge and competency to support speech and language development and learning of children with hearing loss. Hence, with support from the Royal Kentalis, SHRUTI developed the experts to provide itinerant support to the children with hearing loss and to coach their parents and class teachers in 2021. SHRUTI has started to provide itinerant support services to young children with hearing loss with the support of the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens and the Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Now 18 young children with hearing loss are getting the service beyond their regular schooling time at SHRUTI’s premises. Besides the support services to the children with hearing loss, SHRUTI also provides training to the parents of hearing loss children and teachers of the schools where the hearing loss children study.
SHRUTI concluded a seminar to disseminate the overall activities and the outcome of the program on 26 June 2022. Representatives from the government authorities, such as Woman Children and Senior Citizens, Education Department and Social Development Department of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City; elected ward members (Ward 4 and 5) of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, representatives from the other organizations of people with disabilities, representatives from schools management, and teachers and parents of the hearing loss children participated in the seminar. The learning issues of the hearing loss children were discussed and the witnessed progress of the support services provided by the SHRUTI was highlighted in the seminar. Parents and class teachers of the children with hearing loss also shared the positive changes in the children after they applied the learning methods learned from the SHRUTI to the children at home as well as in the classroom.
The policymaker understood the importance of the support services for the children with hearing loss and committed to supporting continuing the services. The right of children with disabilities to acquire quality education in mainstream schools nearby their residence was discussed and guaranteed in the program, as some parents faced challenges to enroll their children in mainstream schools. Similarly, being invisible disability, the hard of hearing people have faced challenges to be recognized them as a disabled people by the government or to get disability cards from the local government.