Woodford the School for young deaf children now known as Balavidyalaya School for young deaf children was started with Mrs. Menaka Parthasarathy as Principal and Mrs. Saraswathi Narayanaswamy as Headmistress with firm policies of admitting
i) only deaf children below the age of 3
ii) all the children would wear body worn hearing aids throughout their waking hours &
iii) offering all services free of charge. It was started in Mowbrays Road in a rent free premises
In-service Teacher Training in Pre-School Deaf was started
The Parent Teacher Association of the School was formed
The Tamil Medium was inaugurated.
The Srinivasan Parthasarathy Trust”- The management body of the school was constituted
Little Woodford School for young deaf children was renamed as Balavidyalaya The school for young deaf children
A National Seminar on ‘Education of the Hearing- Impaired’ and an Exhibition of Teaching Materials was held in connection with the Decennial Celebrations of the School -. His The Governor of Madras his Excellency Sri Prabhudass Patwari, presided over the celebrations
“Breaking the Silence”- A handbook for Teachers of the Hearing – Impaired, was approved and financed by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi was published by the school
A National Seminar on Pre-School Education of the Deaf was held in connection with the15th Anniversary of the school.
The School moved into it’s own new premises at Shastri Nagar
The 20th Anniversary of the School was celebrated. A National Seminar on ‘Integration of Deaf Children into the Mainstream through pre-School Training’ was conducted along with the celebrations
The Principal Mrs. Saraswathi Narayanaswamy presented a paper on ‘Early Language Development in Deaf Children through Informal Inputs’ at the Centenary Celebrations of A.G.Bell at the International Convention of Alexander Graham Bell Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at Washington D.C.-U.S.A.
The school got a Building Grant of Rs 5,00,000/- from the Ministry of Welfare, Government of India.
The new building of the school was inaugurated by the Honorable Minister Sri. Tankha Balu Minister for State, Social Welfare, Government of India.
The Silver Jubilee of the School was celebrated. A National Seminar on ‘Mainstreaming of Young Hearing-Impaired Children’ was conducted. His excellency Shri K.R.Narayanan, Vice President of India presided over the celebrations
‘SAHAYAK’ the Syllabus for teaching Hearing – Impaired children 0 to 6 years formulated by the School’s Principal received Copyright
U.S.$ 69,000.00 was sanctioned by the Government of Japan for the Project on ‘Diagnostic & Early Intervention Centre’
Mrs.Saraswathi Narayanaswamy the principal of the school visited Japan as one of the 5 Indian Delegates and attended the Seminar conducted by FWEAP (Foundation, Welfare and Education for Asian People) in Tokyo
The Diagnostic Centre was inaugurated by His Excellency Mr.Yuzuki Kaku Consul General of Japan in Chennai.
The Early Intervention Counseling Hall was inaugurated by His Excellency Mr.Ryuichi Ishii The Japanese Consul General of Japan in Chennai
Cummins Diesel India donated an Impedance Audiometre to the school
Balavidyalaya Institute for Teacher Training is started. The Rehabilitation Council of India accorded one-year recognition to the Diploma in Teaching Young Hearing Impaired (DTYHI)) offered by the Institute.
Mrs. Saraswathi Narayanaswamy attended the International Seminar on ‘Teaching Speech to Hearing Impaired Children less than 5 years’ held in Sydney Australia, on an invitation from Cochlear Ltd.
Balavidyalaya, The School for Young Hearing Impaired Children, Pondicherry was started by a candidate trained by us in our Institute
Meera Suresh, the Honorary Academic Co ordinator of the school was awarded a Ph.D degree from the University of Madras. Her Thesis ‘Impact of Infant Intervention on the Hearing Impaired Children.children’ was the first study in the country on Early Intervention in the various developments in the young hearing impaired
Mrs. Saraswathi Narayanaswamy received the BEST INDIVIDUAL National Award for the Welfare of persons with disabilities from the President of India during the World Day of the Disabled
Apex Foundation US launched our Website www.balavidyalayaschool.org. Apex Foundation also started donating fund to school towards its functioning
BALAVIDYALAYA TOPPED EDUCATION FOUNDATION Early Intervention Centre was started in Kottayam, Kerala headed by DTYHI candidates from our institute
SILVER BEACH SINGARAM PILLAI VIDYALAYA – Early Intervention Centre was started in a Regular School Singharam Pillai Matriculation School Villivakkam, Chennai headed by 2 DTYHI candidates trained in our institute.
Master Trainers Programme – TOT on DHVANI was conducted in collaboration with Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for Hearing Handicapped – Mumbai. The Program was conducted in two phases
The school received International Affiliation from The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Washington DC., US. The affiliation was given to institutions involved in developing listening skills and verbal language in children with hearing impairment
The State Resource Training Center in K.K.Nagar was inaugurated. Two staff members were deputed to go every Friday to assist 3 to 6 year old children
Balavidyalaya Institute for Teacher Training & Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams signed a MOU and Sri Venkateswara Institute for Early Intervention SHRAVANAM was inaugurated at Tirupati with two senior Early Intervention Teachers, deputed by BALAVIDYALAYA
Government of Tamilnadu accorded recognition to the Diploma in Teaching Young Hearing Impaired (DTYHI)
Balavidyalaya changed its policy and children using BTE hearing aids were enrolled.
Balavidyalaya Trust was formed and took over managing the Organisation.
The Commissioners Office for the Disabled conducted a meeting with District Rehabilitation Officers and Representatives of NGO’s from all the Districts of Tamilnadu. Interviews were held and candidates were chosen for DTYHI and Special Educators for the Early Intervention Centers in Tamilnadu.
The web site of the school was updated by Apex Incorporation
The 40th Crystal Jubilee Celebrations of the school was held on the 11th at the Vivekananda Auditorium in the Guindy Complex of Anna University. Dr. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM, the Former President of India graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Dr. Mannar Jawahar, Vice Chancellor, Anna University participated as the Guest of Honour. Lt. Gen. R.K.Swamy, VSM, AVSM, Chief of Staff, HQ, Southern Command Pune, Indian Army was the Special Guest. The DHVANI Parent Kit was released
A National Conference on CHALLENGES & ACHIEVEMENTS IN EARLY INTERVENTION OF DEAF & HARD OF HEARING was conducted on the 10th at Rani Seethai Hall as part of the Crystal Jubilee Celebrations. The Conference was Inaugurated by Hon’ble Minister for Social Welfare, Government of Tamilnadu, Smt. Geetha Jeevan. Dr. Rama Mohana Raju IAS., Principal Secretary, Department of Social Welfare, Government of Tamilnadu delivered the Keynote Address.
As a policy change children using cochlear implants were enrolled
DHVANI Parenting programme was started using the DHVANI Parent Kit. A team of teachers were put in charge with two of them taking it in turns to conduct the programme for the parents. They empowered the parents using the DHVANI Parent Kit 1 and 2
SRAVANAM sub center in Vizag was inaugurated. Balavidyalaya Institute for Teacher Training was in charge of training man power for the sub center.
Dr. Valli Annamalai and Dr. Meera Suresh presented papers during the ‘Listening and Spoken Language Symposium’ conducted by the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf in Los Angeles. Dr. Valli Annamalai presented a paper on ‘The DHVANI Literacy Programme for young deaf children.’ & Dr. Meera Suresh presented on ‘Early Intervention Services to the Deaf Children in rural Tamilnadu, India’.
Dr. Valli Annamalai and Dr. Meera Suresh visited Advanced Bionics and interacted with the Surgeons and Professionals. They went around the campus see the different stages of how Cochlear Implants were made
Dr. Valli Annamalai and Dr. Meera Suresh visited John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles. They spent an evening going around the clinic getting an insight of the entire program. They also interacted with the people working in John Tracy.
Dr. Meera Suresh visited Jean Weingarten Peninsula Oral School for the Deaf in San Antonio. She watched the school at work and talked to the Management exchanging information on what was happening in Balavidyalaya
The floor of the play pen on the second floor was re-done
Jindal SAW Ltd donated an OTO Acoustic Emission Screener (Otoport OAE)
Apex Foundation updated our website
Bank of Baroda donated a water dispenser.
The first Early Intervention Center started functioning in Columbo in Srilanka. Candidates trained in Balavidyalaya Institute for Teacher Training sponsored by Amaliya Foundation head the center.
Balavidyalaya received the coveted NATIONAL AWARD for CREATING OUTSTANDING BARRIER FREE ENVIRONMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES on the International Day of the Disabled. Mrs Saraswathi Narayanaswamy, Dr Valli Annamalai and Dr. Meera Suresh attended the Award function in Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi. Dr Valli Annamalai received the award from the Honorable Minister Arun Jaitley.
The school was badly affected by floods. The floor and bathrooms were damaged. So bathrooms were broken down and completely redone. Coromandel International Ltd sponsored the renovation of the bathrooms under their CSR activity. ASHA for EDUCATION sponsored fumigation of the entire school. The State Government of Tamilnadu sponsored clothing, and bed sheets for the children.
A Well Wisher hosted a dinner to Balavidyalaya, its friends and well wishers for having received the coveted NATIONAL AWARD for CREATING OUTSTANDING BARRIER FREE ENVIRONMENT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES on the International Day of the Disabled.
Under their CSR project Coromandel International Ltd donated a slide for the playpen, 5 desk tops computers, 1 lap top, a desk top printer and a copier machine.
The civil work of changing the flooring that had got damaged during the floods started. This was funded by Apex Foundation US. The entire floor was redone and the entrance of the premises was raised to prevent further flooding issues.
The difficulties faced by children from the Tamil medium in the mainstream was assessed and a policy change was made. All the parents of children in the Tamil medium were given an option to change the children into the English medium while continuing to talk in their mother tongue at home. Except four children the whole Tamil medium decided to shift to the English medium. A syllabus was worked out for the transition classes and the new venture started with a decision to review the progress of the children at the end of the term.
Mrs. Mohana Narayanan our neighbor along with Mrs Brinda Vivekanand another well wisher volunteered to help our parents of the transition class by conducting English classes free of charge every day for one hour.
Under their CSR project Coromandel International Ltd donated two computer tables, three Office tables, and three computer chairs for our Office rooms.
A new short term course was started – A short term training in Early Childhood Special Education – Hearing Impairment in DHVANI Methodology for Master Trainers. Dr. Sheelu Srinivas an ENT Surgeon from Bangalore enroled into the programme
Work started to convert the second floor into a acoustically treated auditorium. The auditorium would have a feature of transmitting what is happening to the ground floor too. To make this possible the partitions in the ground floor was being remade to make them collapsible. Coromandel International Ltd as part of their CSR project funded the entire Auditorium and ground floor work.
Coromandel Auditorium was inaugurated by Mr. Sameer Goel the Managing Director of Coromandel International Ltd. Mr. Prasannatha Rao the Executive Vice President and Head of HR Coromandel International Ltd was the Guest of honor.
Mr. Veerappan Murugappa from Coromandel started shooting the film on the Organisation titled ‘Liisten and Talk’. It was a CSR Project by Coromandel Productions
Members of Thursday Charity Club donated money towards 6 ceiling fans.
‘Listen and Talk’ the full film and a 3 minute teaser was completed after editing and handed over to Balavidyalaya. It was decided to release the film during the Golden Jubilee of Balavidyalaya.
A new Hybrid Diagnostic Audiometer AD 629 was bought for the Diagnostic Center and installed.
300 audience chairs and 5 stage chairs for Coromandel Auditorium was bought by Coromandel International Pvt Ltd under their CSR Project.
Indian Oil Corporation – Chennai as part of their CSR Activities provided funds to construct a 2nd set of staircase
It was decided to have twelve celebrations / open houses and finally culminate in the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the school.
The first ‘Open House’ for friends, well wishers, alumni students, current students and their respective family members from 10 am to 12.30 pm was held on the 49th Birthday of the school. The children’s work, tips on identification and milestone banners were displayed. The three minute teaser on Balavidyalaya was released. The staff cut a cake as part of the celebrations.
The 2nd Open House was held for NSS students of city colleges on ‘Importance of Identification, Intervention, and prevention of Deafness in young children’.300 students took part from 8 city Colleges. The children’s work, tips on identification and milestone banners were displayed. The staff gave a presentation on what Balavidyalaya does and how it goes about it work. The three minute teaser on Balavidyalaya was screened.
The 3rd Open house was conducted for all the National Convention of the Educators of the Deaf (NCED) delegates who had come for the NCED Conference that was held in Chennai. Around 44 delegates from Cities of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, Mumbai, and Pune visited Balavidyalaya. They watched the school at work. The three minute teaser was screened. Balavidyalaya showed a presentation on how they could start early intervention centers in their home towns. A discussion ensued where clarifications were answered. They dispersed after lunch.
The 4th open house was held exclusively for the students of IIT Madras. 80 students of IIT M participated in the programme. Charts on importance of Identification, intervention and prevention of deafness were put up and explained. The three minute Listen and Talk video was screened.
The two volunteers who were helping the parents develop fluency in spoken English could not continue helping. So the staff of the school took over and conducted spoken English fluency classes for the parents to help them improve their fluency in English
The 5th open house was held for 250 final MBBS students of the Department of community Medince – Madras Medical College. The president of the PTA Dr Nirmala Muthu and Dr Meera Suresh presented the work of Balavidyalaya to the students.
The 6th open house was held for the Post Graduate students of the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology – Egmore Dr Nirmala Muthu along with the staff of Balavidyalaya explained what and how Balavidyalaya works to them
The 7 th open house was held in the Institute of Child Health – Egmore. The participants included a team of Doctors from the Institute, Dr Nirmala Muthu and staff of Balavidyalaya spoke to them on the work done by Balavidyalaya
The second flight of staircase – a CSR Project of IOCL was inaugurated
The 8th open house was held in school. The participants included teachers from mainstream schools. In addition to the tips on identification the work by the children was displayed
The 9th celebration was the Teachers Day. The parents took care of the children and entertained the staff. They also hosted a tea party for the staff and children.
The 10th celebration was held along with the Navarathri Celebrations. The children invited their parents to the navarathri golu display in school. They individually pay obeisance to their respective parents and give them thamboolam bags, fruits and flowers.
The first floor of the school was renovated by Coromandel International Ltd as part of their CSR Activity. The whole wing of classrooms was made with partitions that could be folded when needed to become a big hall with a LCD screen that screened events in the auditorium. They also bought four Computers and a laptop for the administation
The first floor of the school was renovated by Coromandel International Ltd as part of their CSR Activity. The whole wing of classrooms was made with partitions that could be folded when needed to become a big hall with a LCD screen that screened events in the auditorium. They also bought four Computers and a laptop for the administation
The 11th celebration was the Childrens Day celebrations. It was held in school. The teachers organized a merry go round and games for the children. Some alumni and some parents sponsored gifts, balloons and snacks for the children
The 50th Birthday of the school was the twelfth celebration. An awareness walk was held on the 1st of December. Posters and slogans were carried during the walk which was in Elliots Beach Road. The walk was flagged off by Dr Nirmala Muthu the President of the PTA. The participants wore Balavidyalaya T Shirts and Caps. Balloons were released at the end of the walk
The Golden Jubilee Celebrations was held in Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Roa Concert Hall. The two-day Golden Jubilee International Conference was made totally inclusive with the help of Microsoft Translator converting live speech to text.
Dr Suni Mathew the Director of Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities inaugurated while, Dr Christina Yoshinaga Itano Research Professor of the Institute of Cognitive Sciences attended as the lead resource person of the conference with Dr N.Rathna former Director of All India Institute of Speech and Hearing Mysore and AYJNISHD as the Special Guest.
The other resource persons included Mr. Emilio Alonso Mendoza the Chief Executive Officer of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the deaf and hard of hearing – Washington DC USA, Ms Gayla Guignard the Chief Strategy Officer of AG Bell – Washington DC, Prof R Rangasayee Chair Audiology Committtee International Association of Logopedics and phoniatrics under WHO and the former Director of AYJNISHD, Dr M.N.Nagaraja the CEO of Dr S.R.Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing Bangalore and the former director of AYJNISHD, and Prof Roopa Nagarajan Academic Officer and Chairperson of Department of Speech, language and hearing sciences in Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research Chennai.
The Conference had 9 sessions and over 450 participants.
The evening of the second day of the conference had a reunion of alumni of Balavidyalaya followed by a dinner for all the current and alumni children along with their parents.
The Golden Jubilee celebrations was held on the 21st of December 2019. Three films were released. One on the vision and mission of the school – ‘Listen from Infancy and talk for a life time’, second on ‘The pioneering journey of Balavidyalaya for the last five decades’ and the third on ‘Path Breakers of Balavidyalaya’. Dr Soumya Swaminathan Dy Gen Sec Programs WHO presided as the Chief Guest. a coffee table book was released.
The school and the Institute closed due to the Covid Pandemic
Mrs Saraswathi Narayanaswamy the co-founder and Honorary Director of the school passed away after a brief illness
School and Institute started virtual classes
Website was updated
A new Hearing Aid Analyzer was sponsored by Coromandel International Ltd and installed in the Diagnostic Center
The school and Institute started functioning in person.