NISH NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPEECH & HEARIN G …nish.ac.in/docs/newsletter/NISH-Newsletter-Issue20-21.pdf · vibrations quarterly newsletter of nish national institute of speech &

IN THIS ISSUE

Dr Samuel N. MathewExecutive Director

A glimpse from the farewell function of EIP children.

NISHians during the staff tour to Chitharal & Kanyakumari.

NISH NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPEECH & HEARING Accredited as Excellent Institution by RCI I ISO 9001:2008 Certified I Accredited by NAAC with A-Grade

ISSUE 20 & 21 June 2017

VIBRATIONSQUARTERLY NEWSLETTER OF NISH

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPEECH & HEARING Accredited as Excellent Institution by RCI I ISO 9001:2015 Certified I Accredited by NAAC with A-GradeNISH

Dear Reader,I am pleased to present another issue of our newsletter. This time it is a combined issue and hence much larger than the regular one. We had a lot of visitors on campus and a lot of activities during the previous two quarters. As you can see, the students council, ‘’Harmony’” took leadership to involve a larger number of students in the activities. For the first time we organized a ceremony for our graduating students and it was a well orchestrated function. Our goal is to have a campus where we all enjoy and learn and provide an environment of freedom and peace. Hope you will skim through the pages and understand a bit of who we are as NISHians. Thanks for your valuable feedback.

Enjoy!Sam

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Graduation Day ....................................................................02International Workshop on Importance of ISL ......................02NISHians at the National Conference .................................03‘BITS’ focussing Innovative Technology ...............................04Network Expo .......................................................................04Making Banking Enjoyable ...................................................05Journey for Learning ............................................................06Farewell to Dr Madan M. Vasishta ......................................06 Flying Out Searching New Trees ..........................................07Inspiring Stories ...................................................................07A Day to Celebrate ...............................................................07Adding Feathers to the Cap!!! ..............................................09Celebrating Christmas in a Different Way ............................09National Anthem in Indian Sign Language ...........................10New Year Celebration at NISH .............................................10NIM - SET .............................................................................11Assistive Technology Workshop ...........................................11Aiming for Excellence in Higher Education...........................11Highlighting the Importance of Reading ...............................12Science & Technology for Specially Abled Persons .............12Saluting the Glory of India ....................................................13Signbee 2016 .......................................................................13Ripples .................................................................................13Hands on Training on Software Testing ...............................14Acquiring Experience at Thomson Reuters .........................14A Day of Celebrations ..........................................................15Applied Learning Series .......................................................15Be Positive ...........................................................................16Motivating Minds ..................................................................17HEFP Students Becoming Role Models ..............................18NISH Pace Setters ...............................................................19

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International Workshop on Importance of Indian Sign Languagein Deaf Education

NISH conducted a three day workshop, ‘Importance of Indian Sign Language in Deaf Educa-tion’ on March 1, 2 and 3, 2017 for the educators of deaf students. The aim of the workshop was to share the appropriate communication mode for effectively teaching the deaf and hard of hearing students, gather ideas about the modifications required in pedagogy and discuss innovative methods to impart knowledge. There were active discussions, presentations, and demos and the resource persons included deaf education experts like Dr Madan Vasishta, Dr Surinder P. K. Randhawa, Mr Rajesh Ketkar, Ms Jagdeep Kaur, Mr Sunil Sahasrabudhe, Mr Sibaji Panda and the faculty members of NISH.

The successful completion of courses by graduates of 2015-16 academic year was celebrated at NISH on December 10, 2016. The specially curated function was pre-sided over by Mr G. Vijaya Raghavan, Honorary Director of NISH.

Graduation Day

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World Aids Day commemoration was organized by NISH Students Council with the support of Castalia Event Management team. Red ribbons and leaflets were distrib-uted to students. Ms Sathikumari P. (State level Resource member, Kerala State AIDS Control Society) interacted with the students.

Dr Ramdas K. (Professor of Radiation Oncology, Medical Superintendent, Regional Cancer Cen-tre) delivering a talk on Cancer awareness at NISH on March 7, 2017.

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Participants & resource persons of CRE Programme on ‘Comprehensive Care for Neurodevelopmental Disorders’ organised by NISH in association with RCI from February 20th to 23rd, 2017 at NISH.

The papers authored by NISH staff mem-bers, Dr K.G. Sathessh Kumar, Dr Akila Suren-dran, Ms Raji Gopal, Ms Raji N. R., Ms Parvathy Pavithran, Ms Chithra Prasad, Ms Neena M, Dr Anu Mukund and Ms Silvy Maxi Mena were selected by ISLRTC and they were presented at the National Conference on ‘Empowering Deaf Through Indian Sign Langauge’ on March 20 and 21, 2017 organised by ISLRTC at Vighyan Bhavan , New Delhi. NISH Executive Director Dr Samuel N. Mathew chaired and moderated the sessions.

NISHians at the National Conference by ISLRTC

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Mr Venugopalan Nair (State coordinator, National Trust, State Nodal Agency Centre, Kollam) han-dling a session on ‘Legal Guardianship’ at the sixteenth online NISH Interactive Dis-ability Awareness Seminar (NIDAS) held on February 15, 2017 at NISH .

A session from Parental Awareness Programme by EIP conducted on February 17, 2017.

The B.Sc. 7th semester students of NISH organized a workshop called ‘BITS’ (Basics of Innovative Technology) about the recent innovations in the field of IT on November 18, 2016 for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Ms Anupama T.V. I A S (Director, Social Justice) inaugurated the workshop. The students also visited a firm in Techno Park to see a live demo of 3D printers.

A ‘Network Expo’ was organized by the 7th sem B.Sc.(CS) (HI) students of NISH from November 16th to18th, 2016. Different models of networking were exhibited.

‘BITS’ focussing Innovative Technology

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Network Expo

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Dr. Sekhar Lukose Kuriakose (Member Secretary, Kerala State Disaster Management Authority & Head (Scientist), State Emergency Operations Centre, Department of Revenue & Disaster Management, Govt. of Kerala) delivering a talk on Disaster Management at NISH on February 14, 2017.

A team of experts from the State Bank conducted a day-long workshop on ‘Practical Banking’ for deaf and hard of hearing students on Janu-ary 31, 2017. The attendees learned to use a bank ac-count and its various features including online banking tools.

Mr Aamod Samuel, Flight Systems Design Engineer from Armstrong Flight Research Center ,NASA giving a talk on ‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA’ on February 12, 2017. It was an exciting, interactive session with the students & staff of NISH.

Making Banking Enjoyable

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Participants & organizers of badminton (shuttle) tournament conducted at NISH in February 2017.

Faculty members & students of Bachelor of Fine Arts visited Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2016 on February 21st & 22nd, 2017 as part of the Journey for Learning Programme.

Dr Madan M. Vasishta (Retired professor of Gallaudet University, Washington) was at NISH for three months giving talks, conducting sessions and empowering the people working in the disability field. He was given a memorable farewell by the staff and students of NISH on March 28, 2017.

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Farewell to Dr Madan M. Vasishta

Kids in action during Sports Day by EIP on March 17, 2017.

Journey for Learning

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Second yearly meeting to promote culture of ethics & excellence at NISH held on February 11, 2017.

Fifteen students were given farewell by the staff of the Early Intervention Programme at NISH. NISH Executive Director Dr Samuel N. Mathew, Academic Coordinator Ms Daisy Sebastian, staff members and parents of the children spoke during the function.

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Flying Out Searching New Trees

Dr Madan Vasishta (Retired Professor, Gallaudet University, Washington DC, USA) delivering a talk at NIM-IS on March 4, 2017. ‘NISH Innovations Model – Inspiring Stories’ (NIM-IS) is a series of talks organised by NISH for the public by people who have over-come disabilities & have become role-models for others in society and also by pioneers & innovators who have gone beyond their call of duty to serve those with disabilities.

Inspiring Stories

A Day to Celebrate, Join Hands, Reflect and Innovate

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NISH students conducting a flash mob at the entrance of Thampanoor bus station as part of the disability awareness among public on January 23, 2017.

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B Com students presenting a skit ‘Accountancy in our daily life’ on the International Accounting Day celebrations on November 10, 2016.

Mr Kevin J. Nolan Jr. (Director of Oper-ations and Compliance at The Learn-ing Center for the Deaf) handling a session at the ‘International Workshop for Deaf College Students’ organised at NISH on February 23, 2017.

The research papers authored by Ms Vineetha Sara Philip, Ms Sangeetha G.S. (Faculty members, Dept. of ASLP), Ms Arya G. , Ms Dafia P. M. and Ms Krishnendu S. ( Students, BASLP) were selected for presentation at the International Seminar on Augmentative & Alternative Communication ti-tled “Roadmap to AAC: From Concept to Practice!” at Kas-turba Medical College, Manipal, held from February 13th to 15th, 2017 and the paper named : “Exploring the Use of Communication Supports Inventory-Children and Youth (CSI-CY) in Identifying Barriers in Implementing AAC” won the best scientific presentation award.

Mr Jurgen Pengel (Third from right), Consul and Dr Syed Ibrahim (Second from right), Honorary Consul of the Republic of Germany visited NISH on December 8, 2016.

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ISO internal auditors training for NISHians was conducted by Bureau Veritas India on No-vember 7th & 8th, 2016.

BSc(CS)(HI) Students won prizes in several technical events conducted as part of Na-tional Level Technical Symposium, DIGITAL DREAMZ 2K17,organized by Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Kalasalingam University on March 10th and 11th, 2017.

NISH students with the inmates of ‘Snehalayam’.As part of Christmas celebration, the Students Council organized a visit to ‘Snehalayam’ an old age home at Ulloor on December 23, 2016. The students & faculty members spent the afternoon with the inmates. They cut cakes and conducted entertainment programmes there with the participation of the inmates.

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VHSE teachers attending a training programme for teachers organized by New Initiative Department, NISH during February, 2017.

Celebrating Christmas in a Different Way

Adding Feathers to the Cap!!!

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Students & faculty memers of NISH with Speaker Sri. P. Sreeramakrishnan during their visit to Legislative Assembly on March 28, 2017.

NISH in association with Castalia Event Planners conducted a National anthem in In-dian Sign Language (ISL) inter-school competition on the 68th Republic Day of India. It was heartening to watch the kids from different schools signing the National anthem. Akkulam Kendriya Vidyalaya bagged the first prize and Sarvodaya School came sec-ond.

‘Finding your best friend’ programme was conducted on January 17, 2017 as part of New year Celebrations. NISHians exchanged gifts and celebrated the day with variety entertainments.

Smt. K.K. Shailaja Teacher, Minister for Health and Social Welfare of Ker-ala, visited NISH on January 11, 2017. The Minister interacted with the staff, students and clients as she was shown around the campus.

New Year Celebration at NISH

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National Anthem in Indian Sign Language

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The Degree HI faculty members at NISH undergoing a training programme, NIM - SET at NISH.

This is a program to train teachers of persons with disabilities in order to equip and empower them with skills, knowledge and attitude to provide quality eduaction to the deaf students in their higher education.

The Centre for Assistive Technology and Innovation (CATI) at NISH or-ganized the ‘QuickAT’ workshop on January 7, 2017 with around 70 par-ticipants from different parts of the country, primarily Kerala. The partici-pants tried their hands at making an AT device from everyday tools and materials guided by Dr. Therese Willkomm (Director of the New Hampshire Statewide Assistive Technology Program).

NISH set the stage for meeting for the Principals and Managers of special schools and colleges in Kerala hav-ing degree programs for the Deaf on January 31, 2017. Principals from seven colleges attended the meeting where the discussions regarding the current status of higher education for the Deaf in the state were con-ducted. The day concluded with brief visits to the Degree HI classrooms.

Mr Fritz Poerschke (Director, Research & Development, WISY AG, Germany) handling a session on ‘Rain Water Harvesting’ during the monthly assem-bly on February 7, 2017.

Assistive Technology Workshop

Aiming for Excellence in Higher Education

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NIM - SET

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A reading day was conducted at NISH on November 19, 2016 with the aim of developing reading skills among the students. Eminent writer Ms Khyrunnissa inaugurated the function and Prof. Vijayakumar (Mentor, HEFP, NISH) did a presen-tation on the importance of reading. Variety games and activities were conducted by the students and a book exhibition was also conducted.

Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) & Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India in association with NISH organised National Sci-ence Day Celebration 2017 on the theme of the year “Science & Technology for Specially Abled Persons” on February 25, 2017. Seminar, quiz & exhibition were conducted for students from colleges for the deaf and hard of hearing.

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Highlighting the Importance of Reading

Science & Technology for Specially Abled Persons

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A proud moment for all NISHi-ans!! Ms Parvathy Sujith, the first student in our Early intervention program (1997) graduated this year with a B.Arch from Col-lege of Engineering, Trivandrum. Her mother Jayalekshmi Sujith became a teacher in EIP after Parvathy went through our EIP successfully. Kudos Parvathy!!

Ms Parvathy with her mother Ms Jayalekshmi Sujith

NISH Celebrated the 68th Republic Day of India. The flag hoisting ceremony was conducted at the new building premises with Dr Samuel N. Mathew hoisting the flag. He addressed the gathering speak-ing about the real meaning of the present republic day celebrations.

The Department of Neurodevelopmental Science organized ‘Ripples’, the 5th passing out ceremony on December 23, 2016.

Signbee 2016, a national level competition for children who have no hearing and speech disability and have learnt basic sign language was organised by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. NISH was one of the nodal centres (Trivandrum) and trained about 20 children on Saturdays. Prefinal was conducted on November 26, 2016 at NISH. The five toppers represented Trivandrum for the finals on December 3, 2016 at Bangalore. Two of the NISH trained kids secured first prize.

Signbee 2016Saluting the Glory of India

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Mr. Awanish K. Awasthi IAS, Joint Secretary (DEPwD), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment visited NISH on December 27, 2016.

Ripples

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A four day hands on training on Software Testing was organised by NISH from January 3rd to 6th, 2017. The training was conducted by the former students of NISH, Mr Balu Gopakumar, Mr Aneesh Kukku, Mr Rajesh Kannan, Mr Appu C, Mr Ahamed Saheen and Mr Bhargav Dutta presently working as software engineers in different MNC’s like Allianz India, Envestnet and UST- Global.

Five BSc (Computer Science)(HI) students of 7th semester and eight BCom(HI) students of 5th semester got selected for the internship programme by Thomson Reuters, a multinational mass media and infor-mation firm. The programme was organised by the Training & Industry Placement cell of New Initiatives Department, NISH.

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Ms. Parvathi, actress and activist, interacting with the students during Interna-tional Women’s Day celebrations organised by NISH Students Council.

A Panel discussion on ‘Questionable Scenario of Womanhood in the Society’ was also conducted as part of International Women’s Day, on March 8, 2017.

Hands on Training on Software Testing

Kids from Early Intervention Programme celebrating Christmas with Santa.

Acquiring Experience at Thomson Reuters

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Dr Akila Surendran (Senior Engineer, Centre for Assistive Technology and Innovation, NISH), demonstrates Real Time Transcription Ser-vice (RTTS) for hearing impaired to follow conversations.The proceedings of the meetings and other programmes will be made available for the deaf students & staff and also those who cannot attend the meetings through live transcription service.

Dr Anne Varghese (Head, De-partment of Psychology, NISH) presenting a session on ‘De-pression - Let’s talk’ to com-memorate World Health Day on April 7, 2017.

Dr. Andrew Lancelot Myles Curran (Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the De-partment of Paediatric Neurology, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool and Clinical lecturer in child health at University of Liverpool) conducted the third session in the Applied Learning Series in Neurodevelopmental disorders on April 11, 2017.

A Day of Celebrations

NISH day was conducted on May 20, 2017. Cine actor Mr Sudheer Karamana, the chief guest of the programme interacted with the students. Dr Samuel N. Mathew addressed the gathering and the day was altogether colourful by the variety enter-tainment programmes of both staff and the students.

Applied Learning Series

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Dr Ananthanarayan Ravikrishnanan and Dr Lata Krishnan from Purdue University conducted a day-long seminar on topics in audiology on May 16, 2017.

The 19th session of NIDAS on ‘Empowerment of Differently Abled in Disaster Management’ was handled by Mr Joe John George (State Project Officer, UNDP Project, SEOC, State Disaster Management Au-thority , Thiruvananthapuram).

Ethics & Excellence meet for NISHians was held on May 27, 2017 at NISH. Mr Praveen Parameswaran (Educational Consultant and CEO of Thoughts Academy) interacted with the staff on ‘Positivity and Stress’. There were games in Indian Sign Language organised by the deaf staff during the afternoon session.

The second talk in the NIM-IS series was on April 29, 2017 by Dr Syam Prasad, Assistant Professor in the Central University of Kasaragod, Kerala. He shared his experience of overcoming difficulties in his life as a specially abled person.

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Be Positive

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Participants of the workshop on ‘Comprehensive Care For Neurodevelopmental Disorder’ with the organiz-ers, Department of Neurodevelopmental Science, NISH from April 18 to 21, 2017.

The Fire and Safety department, Govt of Kerala conducted an awareness session on April 25, 2017 at NISH.

A colourful valedictory function of the summer vacation programme organized by EIP (Early Interven-tion Programme) on May 12, 2017.

‘Harmony’ (NISH Students Council) conducted a motivational talk by the Director of Sahajeevan Special School, Mr Brahmanayakam Mahade-van on ‘Know Yourself and Do Yourself’ on May 13, 2017.

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Motivating Minds

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Thought-provoking art installation displayed at the NISH campus to commemorate the World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, 2017.

NISH FIGHTERS, the overall cham-pions of NISH Integrated Sports Day on April 28, 2017.

The day was memorable with an im-pressive display of sportsmanship by the students and staff.

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Participants and trainers of the ‘Training of Trainers Programme’ organized by NISH in collaboration with ASAP from May 8th to 24th, 2017.

Eighty students from ACE College of Engineering, Thiruvallom visited NISH and inter-acted with the deaf students of the degree programmes on May 6, 2017.

Ms Tiffany Brar conducting the third session of NIM-IS on June 23, 2017.

Ms Tiffany Brar, founder of the Jyothirgamaya Founda-tion is an Indian community service worker who has been blind since childhood. She is striving to bring a change in the society, constantly interpreting what a blind person can do and what they can’t.

Twenty two HEFP students and five teachers on their way to Ponmudi on May 30, 2017 came to see a van upside down stuck on a tree with 22 passengers on board it. They did the rescue operations while other people present there were watching the whole scene. The students were able to help all the passengers to get out of the van and go to the hospital on another bus. None of them took pic-tures or videos and it was a commend-able effort by the students giving impor-tance to values in life.

HEFP Students Becoming Role Models

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NISH Pace Setter program recognizes the staff who did something beyond their call of duty and thus set a positive example for oth-ers to follow. This program is just to say, “You set a good example. We salute you”.

Ms Shirly G. coordinates NIDAS - NISH Interactive Disability Awareness Seminars along with a committed team, Sindhu, Saumya, Shaji and Sangeetha aiming to reach out across the state to parents and caregivers not aware of the implications of disability. The team has set an example and showed us a higher level of thinking and worked tirelessly with commitment and makes sure that NIDAS was conducted every single month amidst their busy schedule.

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Ms Shirly G. Ms Sindhu I.V. Ms Saumya Sundaram Mr Shaji S.V. Ms Sangeetha G.S.

After attending a session by a motivational speaker-trainer Aiswarya thought about the benefit of the same for Nishi-ans and single-handedly or-ganized the event for every-one at NISH. What Aiswariya showed through this effort was the desire to share with others what one is privileged to have.

Sooraj had a tough decision to make when it came to correcting a mistake he did in the past. Though he had fi-nancial loss and also a chance of his friends isolating him, he took the right decision and met the people whom he had wronged and corrected the mistakes with a smile. In doing so, Sooraj revealed the innate goodness of a genuine person with his honesty and courage setting a good example for others.

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Mr. Dharmakumar developed a manual of ear mould technology that has detailed descriptions as well as graphics and photos very useful for medical personnel, audiologists, ear mould technicians and in particular for the ASLP students who study ear mould mak-ing as part of their syllabus. This is a good example of one’s will-ingness to share information and expertise with others.

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In spite of a small time span for preparation for an international workshop, Ms Silvy Maxi Mena was able to conduct a fruitful, vibrant, interactive and productive workshop on ‘Importance of Indian Sign Language in Deaf Education’ on March 1, 2 and 3, 2017 with many deaf school teachers and deaf education experts participating in it. She energized her team with her enthusiasm which resulted in good teamwork and a very positive outcome.

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Dr. K. G. Satheeshkumar created NISH Online Attendance sys-tem, a very valuable tool for NISH operations, where the attend-ance, leaves and movement can be recorded smoothly. He trained and motivated all the NISHians to handle it and has shown a very apt example of taking on a project, taking the ownership and pilot-ing all the way till completion.

Dr K.G. Satheesh Kumar

Staff Pace Setters

Student Pace Setters

Ms Aiswarya TMr A.O. Sooraj

NISH PACE SETTERS

Ms Sangeetha G S & Ms Vineetha Sara Philip organised the AAC event in October in NISH for the first time. The way in which they put in their heart and soul in organising the event was evident from the success. They showed us that leader-ship and initiative in a project is vital for success. With lim-ited resource, they created the maximum impact about AAC.

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Ms Sangeetha Ms Vineetha

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SPEECH & HEARINGSREEKARYAM P O, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA , INDIA

www.nish.ac.in email : [email protected] ++91-471-306-6666

Editorial team: Ms Silvy Maxi Mena, Ms Sapna K., Ms Swapna P

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Lecturers, Dept. of ASLP

Ear Mould Technician

Faculty member, Degree (HI)Director, CATI

III year BASLPBASLP IVth semester

Lecturer, Dept. of ASLP Lecturer, Dept. of ASLPIncharge, EIP System AdministratorHead, New Initiatives Dept.