Twenty-five children from underprivileged families received hearing aids at a programme in the city on Friday.
Rup Adhikary, 5, one of the recipients, had hearing problems since birth and was unable to join school when others of his age started going to school.
“His development has been very slow. He took more time than others to start walking. He could not hear either. We realised this when he did not respond to our calls,” said Madhumita Pal Adhikary, Rup’s mother.
Rup’s parents — his mother is a homemaker and his father is a driver — waited for three years but when the boy still did not respond to their calls, they went to see a doctor.
“The doctor sent the family to a hospital where the boy was tested. The results showed that he could not hear in his left ear and could hear partially in the right ear,” said Madhumita
“The hearing aid that Rup required would have cost Rs 50,000, which is beyond our means. My husband is a driver. We also have a daughter who is now in Class XII,” she added.
Madhumita said she could not take up any job as she had to take care of Rup.
The family had got hearing aid equipment for both ears a year ago from a state-run hospital, but they were not performing well.
On Friday, Rup was one of the 25 recipients of hearing aid equipment.
Early identification and onset of treatment for children born with “prelingual deafness” is very important, said Arunava Sengupta, the head of head and neck surgery at the SSKM Hospital.
“There are tests to determine deafness in children. If the tests confirm it, they are given hearing aids,” said Sengupta.
Rehabilitation programmes are also done along with providing the equipment for proper speech development of the child, he said.
Those who do not respond to hearing aids have to go for a cochlear implant before by the time they turn five, he said.
The parents are the best judge to understand if their child is responding to sounds, said a doctor.
CC Saha Limited, a chain of hearing clinics in eastern India, and Signia, a manufacturer of hearing aids, jointly gave the machines to the children on Friday.
“We, along with Signia decided to hand over hearing machines to these children on the occasion of the 90th year of our company,” said Vikram Saha, director of CC Saha Limited.
Pratibandhi Kalyan Kendra, an NGO from Bandel, identified the children who received the hearing machines at the programme.