Syed Kirmani at Saheed Memorial Sangrami Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 11: For parents of five-year-old Sruti, giving a good education to their only daughter has turned into a difficult process.

Sruti, suffering from fluctuating hearing loss, is going through immense difficulties communicating with the rest of the world.

Often mocked and ridiculed by her peers, Sruti now consciously shies away from the world. In hope of a better life for daughter, Sruti’s parents had brought her to the Hearing Expo held at Saheed Memorial Sangrami Bhavan, this weekend.

The expo organised by the Institute of Health Sciences promised to make the world a friendly place for the hearing impaired. The two-day expo, being held for the second time, had arranged for a free treatment camp for people with hearing impairments.

The camp has organised separate booths for patients with different kinds of hearing problems. The check-up-cum-educative camp had sections such as hearing diagnosis, rehabilitation education, physiotherapy for speech defects, language disorders and cochlear implant. The expo was an attempt to make the people in the capital aware of the modern auditory equipment and facilities available for people with hearing problems, said the organisers.

The main attraction of the expo was former cricketer Syed Kirmani, who shared his traumatic experience during his hearing-loss days.

“It was just before the Australian tour in 1981, when I fractured my left jaw. After the injury there was a constant hissing sound in my ear. Without wasting time, I visited my nearest ENT facility and took the necessary precautionary measures. I would request everyone to take swift precautionary action to save themselves from turning completely deaf,” he said.

Addressing at the inaugural function, Satya Mohapatra, secretary of the Institute of Health Sciences said: “There is tremendous lack of awareness among the citizens regarding autism disorders. Here at the expo we are trying to make people aware with the latest equipment available that includes brain stem evoke response and brain scanning devices for patients with acoustic problems. We also have the auto acoustic emission that can even detect any hearing impairment in a one-day-old baby.”

Also present on the occasion was noted ENT specialist Rajendra Satpathy and Anjali Behera, women and child development minister.