Speech and hearing museum proposed at AIISH

A speech and hearing museum, reckoned to be the first of its kind in Asia, has been proposed at the All-India Institute of Speech and Hearing Institute (AIISH) here.

AIISH director S.R. Savitri told presspersons here on Thursday that the museum would have exhibits that illustrated the functioning of the brain, ear, nose, tongue, vocal chords, and so on.

“The working of these organs can be experienced by visitors. Using advanced technology, we are planning to reconstruct the functioning of organs to explain the functions of voice in simple ways. It may take at least three years to establish the museum,” she added.

Dr. Savitri said the museum has been proposed at the old academic block on the main AIISH campus.

Boost for research

To boost research activities, five research centres, five clinical centres, a publication unit and a unit for the prevention of communication disorders had been planned at a multi-speciality centre of excellence, she explained.

On the Swallowing Disorders Laboratory, which would be opened on August 9, a press release from the institute said speech-language pathologists played an important role in the diagnosis and management of swallowing disorders (dysphagia).

The lab at the Department of Speech-language Pathology housed state-of-the-art equipment to help in diagnosis and management procedures. This venture would be a stepping stone towards extending specialised help for persons with swallowing disorders, she said.

Parent Infant Programme, which would be launched on August 9, had been designed to facilitate all-round development of children. This programme was offered to children with special needs from newborns to 2.5 years of age.

The services are offered by special educators/clinicians to the parents/caregivers of children with special needs with the objectives of improving physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional skills. It is a programme wherein parents/caregivers were trained in an informal but systematic way, which would be enjoyable for the child as well as the parent or caregiver, the release stated.

The assistive device developed for the visitors at Regional Museum of Natural History (RMNH) here with hearing impairment is compatible with the hearing aids worn by persons with mild, moderate, severe or profound hearing loss.

Feedback obtained from the field trials of the device indicated comfortable listening by the user, the institute claimed.