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ALDA - Asia Pacific
by
Muhammad Akram
ALDA - Asia Pacific or
ALDA - AP is an official group of the Association of Late Deafened
Adults (ALDA) Inc. This group covers countries in Asia and the
Pacific region.
In the USA, ALDA has
offered a great platform for deafened people, their families, and
friends, for many years. They have many chapters and group
in different states, which arrange various activities. However, it
has been noticed that movement of Deafened people is no where in
Asia-Pacific countries. People don't know the term "Deafened".
Communication needs of deafened people have not been understood, and
there were none who raised awareness about the needs of
deafened people. There was no platform where deafened people could
turn to seek technical and emotional support after becoming deaf.
Therefore, we started ALDA - AP to provide
a platform to deafened people and their families and friends, in the
Asia-Pacific region.
ALDA AP: What and Why?
Deafened or Late-Deafened means post-lingual
deafness. There are thousands of people who lost their hearing or
developed hearing loss after illness, trauma, and accident or for unknown reasons. These people are facing new challenges and
often face difficulties to cope with their new lives without
hearing. Accepting the truth and adjusting the life without hearing
often causes stress, frustration, and embarrassment. Moreover,
Deafened people are usually surrounded by friends and families who
have no clue how to cope with the situation. On the other hand,
doctors and medical staff can only give medicine in hopes
of curing the deafness, but once they fail, they, too, dont have
any idea where their patient should go and how to adjust in daily
social life.
In such situations,
people who already faced and coped with similar situation can be a
great source of Peer Counseling and support. They
can give a feeling to newly Deafened people that they are not alone
facing such situation. These experienced people have a wealth
of knowledge and coping strategies that they can share with peers.
However, connecting such
people together is not an easy task on an individual level. It needs
a platform to network the people, to offer knowledge sharing, and
for possible social gathering opportunities with similar people. The
platform also offers opportunities to discuss the barriers in
society and to raise a movement to bring positive changes not only
at the individual level, but also at the whole society level.
ALDA Asia Pacific is an
effort to offer a platform for Deafened people, their friends,
families as previously there was no such platform.
ALDA AP as a platform
ALDA-AP is providing;
- A region wide
platform for Deafened people, their friends, and
families.
- A platform to
discuss deafness and related matters.
- A platform to raise
a family feeling among all the Deafened people.
- A platform to share
post-deafness coping strategies, recreational programs, get
togethers, information seminars, conferences or workshops on
hearing loss and accessibilities issues.
You will find everything at ALDA AP that you
want to know or want to talk about.
ALDA-AP discussion
forum
We offer an online
discussion forum where you can network with other Deafened people,
their families, and friends.
ALDA AP Newsletter
With the ALDA-AP
Newsletter, stay up-to-date about the latest developments in the
hearing loss field, from all over the world. Know what is happening
by receiving information about events, seminars, and conferences.
Share your own experiences, difficulties, and coping strategies.
Support or get support from peers, in the shape of
advice / suggestions.
FREE Membership
Individual membership is
open to all people from all Asia-Pacific countries.
Whether you yourself are a Deafened person, or you are a relative or
a friend of a Deafened person or you just want to be friends with
Deafened persons and support the cause for any reason, ALDA Asia
Pacific invites you to join the group.
For further detail visit:
http://www.danishkadah.org.pk/networks/ALDA-AP/
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