Sound of success: Hearing-impaired girl in Bengaluru to be a graduate

BENGALURU: Urging others to draw inspiration from her journey, Shama Mantagi, a 23-year-old who suffers from hearing loss, completed her undergraduate degree in computer science engineering this year, and will be graduating from Cambridge Institute of Technology on Saturday.  Shama’s hearing impairment was diagnosed when she was one-and-a-half years old. As part of the World Hearing Day celebrations on March 3, Shama encouraged other specially-abled children not to lose hope, and to work towards their goals assiduously.

Shama’s parents -- Madhuri and Pradeep Mantagi -- said they never treated her like a specially-abled child, and raise her like any other child. They made a conscious effort to ensure that Shama grows up to be an independent woman, who can communicate using sign language. She can also lip-read to some extent. 
Madhuri explained that unlike other specially-abled people, those with hearing impairment struggle more sometimes as it is hard to identify their problems, and they can blend in easily. 

Pradeep said that despite the difficulties she faced, Shama was adamant that she should not be treated differently in school or college. Even during her exams, she refused to seek any special help from the institute, and wrote her exams like other students. 

Most of the times, teachers are not trained to handle such students. Shama said she often struggled to grasp lessons in school. But her parents always took the extra effort to explain to her different subjects, as her ability to process information is slower than compared to other children.