Hearing Impairment

Introduction

In March 2006, Seta Iskandaryan, Shushi Program Coordinator at the Naregatsi Art Union, learned that Hanganak NGO was interested in the fate of hearing impaired children and asked Dr. Gohar Hovhannisyan, President of the organization, to help organize a summer art camp for such children in Shushi. The request was accepted with enthusiasm by the organization, given that children with hearing impairments, unfortunately, were left out of the attention of both the authorities and non-governmental organizations.

The initial initiative of the Naregatsi Art Union of organizing the summer camp turned into the necessity to convene a conference. Both the summer camp and the conference were organized by the joint efforts of «Hanganak» NGO and Naregatsi Art Union.

The conference called «Deafness: The situation today and suggestions for tomorrow» was hold on August 14, 2006. The main goal of the conference was to get an accurate assessment of the situation with hearing impaired children. For this purpose the NKR Ministers of Health, Education, Sports and Culture, as well as the Minister of Social Affairs, the Chairman of the NKR NA Standing Committee on Social Affairs, representatives of the NKR Government, non-governmental and international organizations, individuals, doctors, speech therapists, teachers were invited to the conference. And the participation of parents of deaf children provided an opportunity for a comprehensive and accurate assessment of the situation.

The conference was not an ordinary meeting where the participants had the opportunity to speak, to talk, but they had the opportunity to present the current situation from all possible points of view. The conference was more like a focus group discussion and the conference room, resembling a round table, allowed all parties to speak from equal positions. It also resembled a coordination meeting, in which each party proposed to use their capabilities to solve the problem in the most effective way. As a result, the conference gave the parties an opportunity to present the situation and, based on the situation, to make demands to people who have the power and were able to make and implement decisions.

An accurate assessment of the situation was made on the basis of a detailed transcript of all speeches, reports, discussions, as well as an analysis of the results of the survey.