People & Organizations
National Institute of Speech and Hearing
Daisy Sebastian
Ms. Daisy Sebastian joined National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH), as a special educator, since its inception in 1997 and was the Head of the Early Intervention Program. She is currently the Coordinator for all the academic and intervention programs at NISH. She holds an MA in English, M.Ed. Special Education (Hearing Impairment) and a Diploma in Teaching Young Hearing Impaired children (DTYHI) as well as a Post-Graduate Diploma in Auditory Verbal Therapy (PGCAVT). Daisy is involved in policy formulation at State level in issues related to disability and rehabilitation.
In 1991, her son, Denny George Sebastian, was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss at the age of 6 months. She was involved in his early intervention program from the beginning and later chose to pursue studies in Special Education. Denny eventually took his ME in Mechanical Engineering from RIT, Rochester, NY and is working as senior sales officer in the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Chennai. Email»
Arun Gopal
I am a preschool bilingual teacher and I have been working at NISH for 6 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to have completed a degree in BFA (HI) in painting from Kerala University, also a diploma in DECSE (HI) from RCI. Exploring new places and cultures is what excites me, especially Sign Language, Deaf culture and Deafhood. It helps to broaden my mind and my personality.
I am currently working on an "ISL storytelling" initiative. There are 18 million Deaf people in India who have poor literacy due to language deprivation. Indian Sign Language, the first language for Deaf babies, remains to be fully accepted by the mainstream society, parents, educators, and medical and clinical professionals. I hope to use fun and engaging story videos in ISL as a mode to develop literacy in Deaf children. The quote has a impact, "What matters deafness of the ear, when the mind hears? The one true deafness, the incurable deafness, is that of the mind." -Victor Hugo Email»
Aswathy Vinod
My passion for education and learning new skills landed me a job at NISH as Educational Consultant. Today, my role as Assistant Program Director of Innovation by Youth with Disabilities helps me live by me belief in individuals having the freedom to execute their free will and choose one's own path. Working with a beautiful Sign Language community of Deaf individuals has, no doubt, made me a better person.
I am grateful for the opportunity to have completed a degree in B.Sc. (Hons) in Eductaional Psychology from Lancaster University and Masters in Leadership in Education from Strathcycle University; both experiences which transformed me in terms of my knowledge, attitude and wordly perspectives. To me, what makes our world so beautiful is how different and unique each of us humans are. Through my work and actions, I strive to express my appreciation for diversity and in ways I best can, make individuals I interact with feel the same sense of belonging to this world as I do. Email»
Sandeep Krishnan
My passion to work for the Deaf youth and bring them to the mainstream of society brought me to NISH, where I currently work as Indian Sign Language (ISL) teacher. I find true comfort and joy in the work I do. Communication was my biggest challenge during my childhood days. Understanding my difficulty, my parents enrolled me at Marthoma School for the Deaf, where I got introduced to Sign Language. It changed my life. And then in 2013, an opportunity to attend an International Youth Leadership training course, Frontrunners in Denmark widened my perspectives and helped me learn about my values and choices.
Through the 10 years I spent working for the betterment of the Deaf community and the important positions I held at NISH and other organisations that work for the Deaf, I was able to make giant strides in making education accessible for Deaf children through sign language. Today, I dream about that day when ISL would become recognised as an official language in our country. Email»