VAANI, Deaf Children’s Foundation (earlier known as IDCS-India) is a registered Trust and works to empower deaf children and their families across India. VAANI’s role is to act as a catalyst. Rather than delivering services, VAANI supports the development of accessible sustainable services for deaf children and their families whilst working closely with the overall development strategies within India. VAANI works with local organisations to build on existing good practices, develop a resource base and understand what works for deaf children and their families in India.
The organisation works with partners at the grassroots level, supports their ability to develop services, and most importantly, helps develop their capacity to maintain their services in the long run. It builds links with relevant government agencies and supports their programmes, to ensure long term sustainability and lasting change. All of VAANI’s work is need-based and our strategy responds to gaps in the current system identified through state level feasibility studies and baseline surveys, using a participatory approach with active participation of all stakeholder groups.
Our vision is to provide access for every deaf child:
Access to communication
Access to information and the knowledge to comprehend it in its entirety
Access to education
Access to equal opportunities
Access to protection and safety
Access to a full and complete life
We work to achieve this by:
• Promoting the exchange of clear and balanced information and opportunities for families of deaf children to come together, access information and develop their knowledge
• Supporting the empowerment of families of deaf children to advocate for more accessible and sustainable services for deaf children and young people
• Influencing development practitioners and policy-makers to include the needs of deaf children and their families in their work
• Supporting the development of good models of practice in service delivery
Fundamental to VAANI’s vision for deaf children and their families is the principle of informed choice. We believe that deaf children need to develop fluent language skills in order to understand and influence the world around them, by whatever means is the most appropriate for the individual.
Deaf children do not gain access to language in the same way as hearing children. It is therefore very important to ensure that the means are available for deaf children to learn to communicate and that families receive clear and balanced information to help them make choices that are best for their child.
Since its inception 4 years ago, VAANI has been working in Karnataka, Gujarat, West Bengal and Assam, and now in Mizoram and Meghalaya too.
