Speech therapists, audiologists are you listening?
D.V.L PADMA PRIYA
For the gifted: Children with hearing and speech impairment being given therapy at the speech therapy unit.
One out of every thousand children is hearing impaired in India, according to a WHO report. India requires 45,000 speech-language pathologists and audiologists and currently there are only 1,000 trained professionals in the country. It is a case of demand outstripping supply.
The field too has fallen prey to ‘brain-drain’ where graduates are moving abroad for lucrative jobs. In such a scenario, allied medical courses such as B.Sc Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (ASLP), M.Sc (ASLP) and Diploma in Hearing, Language and Speech have a huge scope in the coming years, says Aparna Ravichandran, vice-principal of Shruthi Institute for Research and Training in speech and hearing, a unit of the Sweekar Rehabilitation Institute for Handicapped.
What are the various career opportunities available for students pursuing these courses?
In India, four per cent of the population are hearing impaired and with just 1,000 professionals to treat them career opportunities are immense. Students can work in State and Central government hospitals as speech therapists or audiologists. They can also work in institutes and NGOs providing servicing to the disabled or even in industries which manufacture speech and hearing aids. They can even start their own private practice, or go abroad and work.
What are the research opportunities available in this field?
Students who have completed their M.Sc can pursue their Ph.D. In India, only two institutes are offering Ph.D- All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore and Dr. S.R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing, Bangalore affiliated to Bangalore University. Research may be in the field of the disorder or in helping provide solutions for the disorder.
What are the selection criteria for getting admitted in these programmes?
For the B.Sc and Diploma programmes, the minimum qualification is plus two. Both M.P.C and Bi.P.C students with minimum 50 per cent can apply.
The selection is based on merit. The duration of the B.Sc course is four years, with one year internship whereas that of Diploma is one year and three months for internship. For the M.Sc programme, the student should have passed B.SC (ASLP) or related course with an average of 50 per cent.
The mode of selection for this course is through an entrance exam conducted by Osmania University.
Why should a student opt for these programmes?
For those students who want to serve the society, these courses are an excellent opportunity. The programmes provide one with immense job satisfaction. Also, there is clinical training which enables the students to interact with patients and learn to identify problems. Apart from this, students work with latest technology.
Which are the other institutes in the state offering these courses?
Apart from the Shruthi Institute for Research and Training in speech and hearing (which has four centres- Guntur, Kadapa, Tandur and Secunderabad), two other institutes offer these courses, Helen Keller Institute and Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped.
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