| Description of good practice: |
The Society for Assistance to Hearing Impaired Children established the National Center for Hearing and Speech in Dhaka that accommodates preschool-aged children with hearing impairments.
National Centre for Hearing & Speech for Children (NCHSC) at Mohakhali, Dhaka was established and inaugurated in the year 1992, with most of the modern facilities for early detection of hearing loss, hearing aid fittings with ear moulds preparation and treatment of all types of ENT diseases in the out patient department at a nominal registration fee of Tk.100/- per patient which is effective for 30 days, and affordable charges for hearing tests and hearing aid fitting. Poor and destitute patients are examined and tested free of cost.There is a provision for the richer people to get consultation with in ½ hour by paying Tk.200/- registration fee(Fast Track) and with in 15 minutes by paying Tk. 400/-(Executive Fast Track). From inauguration till December 2020, a total of 16,74,567 patients attended the O.P.D. of NCHSC, of which 4,52,323 are children below the age of 15 and 11,83,908 are adults. Out of them 4,51,599 patients underwent various audiological hearing tests to identify the nature and extent of hearing impairment 19,335 patients were advised and fitted with hearing aids with ear moulds.
The following hearing and vestibular function tests are performed in the testing lab of NCHSC of SAHIC:
Behavior Observation test
Play Audiometry
Pure Tone Audiometry
Free Field Audiometry
Impedance Audiometry / Tympanometry
Alternate Binaural Loudness Balance test(ABLB)
Stapadial Reflex Threshold (S.R.T.)
Brain Steam Evoke Response Audiometry (BERA/ABR)
Aided Audiometry
Short Increment Sensitivity Index Test(S.I.S.I.)
Speech Audiometry
Tone Decay
Uncomfortable Level Test (U.C.L.)
Visual Re- enforcement Audiometry (V.R.A.)
Tinnitus Matching
Tinnitus Masking
Oto-acoustic Emission (O.A.E.)
Caloric Test.
Eustachian Tube Potency Test (ETPT)
Auditory Steady State Evoked Response Test (ASSER)
There are 10 ENT Specialists with Post graduate qualification and training in working both in the OPD and indoor patients. There are 5 Medical Officers with training in ear, nose and throat diseases working with the Specialists in the OPD and indoor patients.
For the educational rehabilitation of the hearing impaired children, with moderate to severe hearing loss, between the age of 3-6 years, a Pre-school was established in the year 1994 in the premises of the Centre with the capacity of 160 students to undergo oral-auditory method of special education (in two shifts) to develop language and speech and to make them fit to join the primary schools for normal hearing children for further education.
Till 2020 a total of 5,376 hearing impaired children were enrolled and 835 graduated with adequate language and speech to join various primary schools of the country. Many of these children are showing excellent performance in competition with the normal hearing children. The school charges nominal fee to those who can afford, which is determined on the basis of the declared income of the family. 50% of the children are enjoying free studentship because of poor economic condition of parents, and majority of the remaining students pays about Tk.1,200/- to Tk.6,000/- per annum as school fee. The average cost of running the school is about Tk. 24,000/- per student per annum. The teacher student ratio is 16 trained teachers for 80 hearing impaired children in a shift. |
