thefamilyindia.org

Members of The Family India began working with the Deaf in 1988 and today over 55,000 deaf people across the country in over 100 cities are being benefited.

Members of The Family India have opened Deaf Friendship Clubs in 64 cities in India. These Clubs provide Deaf Youth a forum to interact on a regular basis and evolve solutions to the problems and challenges that they face as deaf people in a hearing society. These Clubs also provide them the opportunity to learn English and Sign Language. Confidence-building seminars and personal enrichment programmes for hearing impaired youth are also held at these Clubs.

A major focus of our work with the deaf is integrating them into the workforce of mainstream society. Our eight Education and Vocational Training Centers in Delhi, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Nasik, Varanasi, Vijaywada, Biza and Vizag provide vocational training to the hearing impaired and help them to become proficient in areas like computer literacy and secretarial skills, thus greatly improving their chances of getting good jobs.

Youth Conferences

Our members organize annual youth conferences for the hearing impaired managers and leaders of our deaf work. These conferences give the attendees an opportunity to share experiences and learning, attend leadership training workshops and strategize for the future. Each youth conference usually ends with a recreational activity such as an adventure camp, trekking, rock climbing and so on.

Special Events

We organize regular special events for the hearing impaired where they get regular opportunities to hone and display their skills at sports meets, mime performances, art competitions, dance performances and general knowledge contests. We also make it a point to celebrate important days like the International Day of the Deaf, International Women’s Day, World AIDS Day and World Environment Day.

Matrimonial Services, Marriage and Family Counselling:

Being a deaf married couple brings with it its own set of challenges. The Family India's members provide marriage and family counselling to young hearing impaired couples. These couples often have hearing children.The Family India organizes “Swayamvar” programmes whereby prospective young deaf adults can find their life partners in the presence of their parents.

Audio Visual Resources

We have set up special audio visual libraries for the hearing impaired at our Vocational Centers as well as at our Deaf Friendship Clubs. These libraries contain books as well as teaching and training videos produced specially for the hearing impaired which contain a huge variety of material on disability-pertinent issues. They cover topics as diverse and varied as communication skills, social health, confidence building, Inspirational biographies, and world trends.

Advocacy

Working hand in hand with other local and national advocacy groups, our deaf members take part in advocacy programmes and campaigns which promote the cause of the differently abled and focus on issues such as human rights, inclusion and accessibility.