DEAF ROLE
MODELS

I am Deaf and have a Deaf family. I am living in Scotland currently. I love trekking, cooking, photography, I was forced into oralism since 4. Now I see and realize that it is not the speech, but my ability to communicate with gestures, writing and signs that helps in socializing. Communication barriers in lives of deaf people can be worked upon, not just with oralism, but with different methods such as gestures, writing etc. It the universal truth - applicable to both cities and villages across the world.

I am a 2nd year LLB student. Late-deafened, at the age of 9, I wanted to be a lawyer since childhood. I attended EPIC (Ethics and Professional Interpreter’s Code) workshop and saw a lecture by Howard Rosenblum, a member of NAD-USA. I saw a deaf lawyer and interacted further with him and found DLAW- Disabilities law- that necessitates access to students with disabilities. Studying in second year currently, I hope to complete my degree soon and support deaf community to get equal rights.

I have studied in Bajaj Institute of Learning which is based in Dehradun. I have studied through the bilingualism method throughout my childhood and have a strong base of English language. People usually asked me what I would like to do in the future, career wise and I just ended up saying to become a teacher, without realising the value of it. Now it has been 5 years of teaching experience, that was a completely different experience. I then applied for a BA course and we had the same atmosphere like Gallaudet University does, having Deaf teachers and leaders which inspired me a lot. Deaf people have different experiences as compared to hearing people because they imbibe Deaf culture and identify in them. I would like to thank Dr. Madan Vashisth who guided me to study more. I am working in a Haryana school as a language teacher and teach ISL to Deaf students.

My native place is Kerala and I was born and brought up in Coimbatore. I have studied upto BA. I did a job in private company and worked on a project with Ramakrishna Mission on Sign Language Dictionary. Later, I got involved in teaching SL course to hearing people for 5 years. I was the first deaf teacher in NIHH for ISL, deployed at various places in NIHH pan-India. Right now, I am working as General Secretary of AIFD, advocating ISL. I want children to learn ISL. I like swimming, cricket, football, arts, travelling and socializing with old people.

I was born Deaf and studied in mainstream school in Sikkim but no one knew sign language there and no accessibility was being being provided in the school. After this I moved to Chennai and studied in Deaf school where we could clarify doubts with each other and I became interested in learning subjects. I passed my 12th class but I was not aware about the Deaf culture. I applied for a BCA course and attended sessions and workshops which helped in getting the knowledge related to Deaf culture. I tried for 4 years to get a government job and now I am working as an Accountant in a government organisation. Now I have also made the videos and uploaded them on youtube so other Deaf people could learn too. I have suffered a lot and worked hard too to become successful which helps in leading a good life. I took part in international Capacity Building Training for Deaf Leadership skill, human rights and organizational development that was held at Lucknow. I was part of Deaf Youth Leadership training and National Deaf Youth Workshop.

I am interested in doing cinematography work (Videography, Editing, Act, 3D Animation). I had organised an yearly Acting competition for Deaf people and managed all the work related to videography or acting. It was a proud moment for me as I have received a total of 6 awards for my work. I got an opportunity to be a part of international cinematography competitions and went to Spain and also met other Deaf people. When I came back to India, I realised that I will continue my work and made funny youtube videos too. I do believe that people out there have the skills but they need to work hard to achieve their goals and make our country proud.

I Working as asst. For Ability unlimited foundation since 2008. Have been involved in various TV channels. Have travelled to many places across the world including India. In 2013, met the then president of India for an award. Have met the president of Singapore. Set up We Are One with the help of all PwDs in 2016. Dream is to have Deaf Heads at workplaces with hearing subordinates.

Deaf people in India do not have access to television content. Having struggled with inaccessibility, I worked on making it all accessible by setting up ISH. ISH News is a branch that was announced on 22nd Nov 2018, providing access to news and entertainment to the Indian deaf community since then. The staff keeps on expanding. 90% of the staff is deaf, some low vision people, and one hearing person. ISH news has more than 1 lakh subscribers on YouTube. All videos on Social Media (Youtube, Facebook etc) have more than 11 Crore 77 lakh views. This is because ISH gives access to news and entertainment with captions, signs, voice-over and excellent visuals.

I am the Executive Director of NAD. I advocated and won deaf rights in RPwD 2016. Right now, we are advocating for ISL to be put in the Census of India. We also demanded ISL’s inclusion in the 8th Schedule to be amended in Indian Constitution. The Social Welfare Department has been oppressing rights in DG school for the deaf. NAD has been working on supporting the school’s rights. Deaf education is not really happening in COVID times. NAD is fighting for that as well. My hobbies are watching movies and reading spiritual books.

I am from Gujarat, a Deaf businesswoman. I work on jewellery, diyas, cosmetics etc. I also work on recycling waste and selling the products. I started at small-scale 17 years ago and have expanded a lot today. I want to support NGOs working with women and poor people.

I am a person with Deafness and Cerebral Palsy and studied in Deaf school for 13 years and later from NIOS. I took several skills related training like in computer. I have 5.5 years of work experience. It has been a great experience. Whenever I have vacations, I go travelling along with my family members or friends. I can do some things.

I was born and brought up in Bhopal. I have many achievements in dancing and sports. I have also won many awards in 100m, relay and 500m races. I participated in the catwalk for the first time while doing my degree. Thereby, I went to Taiwan and won the competition, being 1st in India and 2nd internationally. I want to support deaf Indians interested in modelling. I hope to be involved in films in the future.

I am from Pune, and am now in Delhi. I used to work on tailoring clothes and crafts, but didn’t really feel satisfied with work. Then worked on my dream to be a baker. Been into it since 6 years, I am fulfilling cake orders from home. People love my cakes. It has been a lot of hardwork. My hobbies are cooking, dancing, embroidery, badminton and travelling.

I am from Manipur. I have completed my education and am married now. I am lucky enough to get the support from the family to work in other states. I taught for 4 years in different states like Delhi, Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh. Now I have come back to my native place and started working on my Youtube channel. I am confident enough to continue this work. I would like to thank God for everything. My aim is to teach and also help and support other Deaf people.

I am Ganesh Rao and I have been working in a Government organisation for 39 years. I have been associated with the hearing cricket team and also with AISTD cricket team. I am a President of KSDW Association and working for 25 districts in Karnataka which includes advocacy work for Employment or Sign Language. We have been planning to set up schools for Deaf children so that they can learn better.

I am working with Deaf Women Associations and this all started when I saw Deaf leaders working in different sectors and having the expertise and knowledge, which further developed a passion in me to work within the community. I was lucky enough to work with other leaders at a small age of 19 years. The aim of Deaf Women Associations is to help the Deaf women who have been suffering and facing challenges, so they can learn and bring positive change in their life. I am keenly interested in Art and Craft work and would like to sell my products by indulging in creative ideas and work.

I studied in mainstream school and had no ISL access until I was 17 when I joined a deaf school. I learnt sign language there and life changed thereafter. The was no Deaf Association in Goa. So I founded one there in 2012. I was also involved in the Department of Social Welfare and was responsible for funding there. My hobbies are chess and badminton. A formal registration of my association in govt office was an event that impacted my life. I was nominated by govt for special award as a deaf person and was nominated by my company for 12 years of successful social work.

I am working on multiple things. I am COO of Yunikee and I work with them. I have been counselling Deaf Children Worldwide in London and Speaking Hand School as well. I have been a Board Member of many NGOs like WFDYS, General Secretary of YADI and Treasurer of ISLTT. I am interested in doing youth-led things because we have young people who are skilled enough but donot get the proper guidance. I guide them to leading a better life and about their capability of doing things. Young deaf people from all over the world are doing much better things. I would like young indian people to grow more and develop.

I have an experience of 17 years supplying Indane gas and work is going on great. Happy Hands School has been established by my brother Sibaji Panda and I am working with him. It has been 3 years and now with this pandemic situation we have shifted to an online platform for teaching. For the last 7 years, I have been providing help, support and donation in sports related or other related things in 3 districts of Orissa. I love Deaf children a lot.

I am the Vice Principal of Speaking Hands School. I have an interest in English language. There are Deaf schools all over the country where Deaf people are studying but they did not get the quality education. My aim is to teach English language to Deaf students so they feel satisfied with their education. I have been making videos related to women's topics and uploading them on Youtube. I have Usher Syndrome but many people are not aware about it. I would like to spread awareness regarding Usher Syndrome.

I am working as a mehendi (henna) artist. I started seeing and learning Henna arts at the age of 9 and started taking orders for mehendi at the age of 11. I do not have a shop and I operate from home. I also teach mehendi to hearing and deaf children. When I go to clients, I communicate using gestures and writing. I love travelling.

I am a Deaf person and studied in deaf school in Mumbai initially and later on in mainstream school in Ahmedabad. I then moved to Chennai and completed my senior secondary class. In my childhood, we did not have many resources to learn. I went to Gallaudet University and learnt a lot along with other Deaf people in the group. I came to India to help out my parents in their business and handling financial matters. Communication is the most important part of your life which helps you in growing and becoming better.

I have been into magic since the last 22 years. I started by learning from someone. I have attended and won 6 competitions for magicians across India. I have been among the top 20 women in magic competitions in the USA. I attended another competition in Lithuania, Europe. I had to perform a lot of tricks and fun activities to win the competition there. I won for my skills in acting and facial expressions. Have won an award at international level too. First female deaf magician in india. Hobbies - ramp walk, dance and will continue my magic shows. I have performed regularly on Women’s Day in various programs organized by deaf associations and also hearing people. I love children for their laughs at my performance.

I studied upto class 8th. I learned cooking and kitchen essentials from my mother. I am married and am a mother of 3. I learned cooking skills from my family. People loved my cooking. So, in an endeavour to support deaf people, I started a cooking channel on Youtube in 2018.

I have been playing Chess for quite a long time and visited places in India. AISCD helped me in going here and there. I have won 7 Silver Medals and 1 Bronze Medal. I have participated in the Asia Chess Open Championship. I would like to thank AISCD for this. I would like to have the expertise like Vishwanath Anand has in chess so I could become famous too like him and can teach other Deaf people as well.

I studied in Deaf school till primary class and in mainstream school till senior secondary class. After that I did an year long computer training course. I then went to Bangalore to look for a job but no company was ready to accept a Deaf person as an employee. I came to my village and supplied medical items for 2 years and then shifted to wholesale marketing of medical items. Now, it has been 17 years and my work is still progressing. Request to all Deaf people to study hard to get the job easily and I am interested in helping people who are suffering from health issues and need help in sports related matters.

I would like to share my childhood experience. I used to play chess during my childhood which I learnt from my hearing coach and met other Deaf people too. I participated in the competitions and won 7 medals. I was the first woman who got a Gold medal in Asia Women's Team. I got the opportunity in the United Kingdom in the Women's Open Championship. My family and relatives were so happy. They used to have a mindset that Deaf people cannot do anything but later realised that they can achieve anything. I would like to thank AISCD. Being a role model, I would like to say that do not think anything would be difficult for you. Chess is a mind game whether your competitor is hearing or Deaf, it does not matter. You will definitely succeed.

I was born with profound hearing loss in both ears. With the help of speech therapy, I learnt to lip read and talk. I attended mainstream schools and went on to complete my degree in mechanics and automation engineering. Later on, I went on to do my MBA and worked as a Business Analyst for a corporate firm in Bangalore. Post that, I joined the Central Government as an auditor in the Ministry of Defence. Currently, I am an Assistant Audit Officer working with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. I am an outdoors person and I love exploring new places and reading in my spare time. From what I have experienced all these years, that there is a very long way to go in terms of accessibility, inclusivity and empathy especially for the deaf community in India. My ultimate goal is to ensure that we create new and better opportunities for the upcoming generations so that they can achieve great heights in the future.

I am hard of hearing, and though I studied in mainstream educational institutions in India, it was when I went abroad to study, that I realised how much difference access to classrooms, and later at workplace, make. When I returned to India, and found that the same access was not available to me at my workplace, I started to look for other deaf professionals or an organization that could help me navigate this lack of access. My research brought me to deaf schools, where quality of education was lacking mainly because students did not have access to classroom instructions and curriculum. This prompted me to set up Sanket Foundation, with focus on accessible and quality education, access in all areas of daily living, and improving quality of life and workplace experience for deaf and hard of hearing people in India.

I am the 3rd generation of my family’s business. We have factories, real estate properties, and many other kinds of business investments. It is my dream to launch my own clothing and jewelry business which is now called OMVAI.