At Noida Deaf Society we understand the constraints of the Deaf and focus on their abilities to bring out the best in them. The Deaf at NDS are not looked at as beneficiaries but are active participants in the organization. Every decision is taken in consultation with the Deaf keeping their hopes, aspirations and future vision in mind.
Our goal is to enable the complete integration of the Deaf into the mainstream through education and specialized vocational programs leading to meaningful employment.
All training programs are conducted by Deaf teachers as we feel that they best understand the needs of the Deaf and also act as role models for the community. Everything is taught in sign language using a variety of visual aids and interactive multimedia based material. The nurturing environment at NDS enables them to grow as individuals and become productive members of their families and society.
Our Programmes
1. Vocational Training Programmes
Our trainings are based on market research and are job oriented in nature. We provide training in following areas:
Indian Sign Language :
A strong language foundation is necessary to build learning capabilities such that they can be trained in the other in-house programs and interact with other Deaf.
Basic English Communication Skills : This program builds reading and writing skills that is needed and necessary for mainstreaming and employment.
Training in Key Boarding Skills : This is to give the Deaf youth a basic knowledge of computers especially those with very low literacy levels. Specialized Typing Tutorials have been installed on the computers to enable self paced learning to build industry required typing skills for backend Data entry.
Training in Basic MS Office and Internet : This program covers applications such as MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Internet which is required for entry level backend jobs.This course is evaluated and certified by The NIIT Institute, a CSR initiative of NIIT Ltd.
Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design :
This is a market researched program where the students are taught design software such as Corel Draw, Adobe Photoshop, Flash, In Design and basics of animation enabling them to join the print, publishing, advertising, e-learning industry. Specialists from NIIT have been mentoring our students and the training is facilitated by a trained Deaf teacher.
General Knowledge :
We have special classes to build general knowledge in different areas- about the country, body and health, environment, current affairs by a hearing trainer adept in sign language.
Life Skills and Work Ethics :
It is a key focus area and is inbuilt in all our training programs. We address issues such as personal grooming, discipline, responsibility and other soft skills which are crucial for sustaining oneself in life and at the work place. Team work and discipline is also developed through sports such as Carom, Chess and Cricket.
2. Engagement with the Industry :
We are actively engaging with the industry to build sensitivity and raise awareness about the Deaf through workshops, mentoring programs, collaborative industrial training, employee volunteering and sign language orientation.
We have a strong tie- up with industry for employment and conduct intensive pre employment training where the Deaf are given an orientation on the work profile, life skills and work ethics training, family counselling, contextual work-place vocabulary building and exposure to the work areas. We also facilitate the screening process for employers and help them with on the job-training for the Deaf. We have had a good success rate and over 200 of our students are working in diverse fields such as Information Technology, Graphic Designing, Data Entry, Retail, Hospitality, Export Houses and Packaging among others.
3. Education
Given the dismal state of education for the Deaf in the country, a need was felt to reach out to the young Deaf in the country. The right pedagogy for teaching the Deaf along with an enriching learning environment can greatly enhance their development and mainstreaming into the society at large.
Primary Education for Deaf Children : In December’ 2009 NDS started its dream project of providing quality education to young Deaf Children in the age group of 5 to 12. Through sign language and visual methods these children are taught Hindi, English and Mathematics so that they can develop at par with their hearing counterparts. Play way methods are used to facilitate learning and development of social and cognitive skills.
Remedial Education for School Going Deaf Children : We provide remedial education to school going Deaf children. They are trained in Indian Sign Language and English Literacy such that they are able to develop a strong language foundation which will enable them to perform better in schools.
