Objectives of the trust are as follows,
- To run and maintain Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing, which is a Rehabilitation Center for Speech and Hearing.
- To run Dr. S. R. Chandrasekhar Institute – College of Speech and Hearing, which conducts UG, PG and Diploma courses as recognized by RCI as well as Ph.D programs in field of Speech and Hearing.
- To run Sunaad School for the Hearing Impaired
- To run courses on COM DEALL for children with autism spectrum disorders and Sign language courses.
- To foster research in speech and hearing as a major activity
- To undertake education of children with hearing impairment
- To undertake education and training of professionals in field of speech and hearing.
BSHT is responsible for full integration of thousands of disabled over last four decades. It has filled the needs of society in identifying disabilities, providing rehabilitation and education for the hearing impaired. It has paired up with Government hospitals in providing diagnostic services in speech language pathology and audiology and eased the burden on government. For the first three decades of its existence, BSHT was only organization offering necessary services in this specialty for the people of Bangalore and neighboring districts. The diagnostic work of the Institute was well recognized and respected by eminent medical professionals like ENT and Neurologists and some of them teamed up with faculty of the Institute in starting first ever cochlear Implant program in Bangalore , in 1997.
BSHT also takes its commitment for social responsibility seriously. It has well functioning mobile unit with dedicated clinicians working for it. The mobile unit regularly conduct camps which helps people in remote areas avail services.
BSHT over the years has formed four units in meeting its mission and objectives.
- S.R Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing.
- Dr .S.R Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing College
- Sunaad School for the Hearing Impaired
- SRC BNG Research Center
The functioning of all units are regularly audited by bodies such as Women and Child welfare, University LIC, RCI and COMDEALL Trust. Governing council includes prominent members of society not connected to Institute. It meets twice a year and comments on activities of the college and makes its recommendation to the trust. Similarly research center is supervised by research advisory committee, research technical committee and institutional ethical committee.
- S. R .Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing.
It’s a clinical and rehabilitation wing of BSHT. It has clinical facilities in the area of speech language pathology and audiology which later expanded to include psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy departments and ENT outpatient consultation facility.
It has a team of expert clinicians, junior clinicians and students in every department. Outpatient consultation and diagnostics are offered from Monday to Saturday 9.00 AM to 5.30 PM. Services are availed by an average 130 individuals every day.
Hearing loss evaluation, diagnosis of cause and type of hearing loss, evaluation of hearing level in young children and babies, candidacy for Cochlear implant, selecting and fitting hearing aids with modern sophisticated equipments for all age groups, identifying nerve related problems in auditory system like tumors,
and auditory processing issues and assessment of vestibular disorders or causes of vertigo and dizziness are some of the OPD work in Audiology department.
Many children who received therapy here, are now successfully completed their education and working in companies in different professions like managers, software engineers, teachers etc.
It offers hearing screening at birth, a unique non invasive program at many hospitals in Bangalore free of charge (Including Prominent Govt. hospital of Bangalore- Vanivilas Hospital).
Audiology Department also has a rehabilitation unit, Auditory-Verbal Therapy Unit which is a approved method of therapy for cochlear Implanted children in order for them to learn to speak and talk like their peers. It takes care of rehabilitation of children implanted by Govt. Schemes like RBSK.
Speech and language issues in young children, poor speech development, behavior problems like Autism, Intellectual disability, phonological disorders etc are some of the disorders identified at department of speech language disorder. Regular therapy is offered for all these conditions. Many success stories are available with children gaining enough language and speaking ability to integrate to mainstream schools and society. Rehabilitation of stroke patient, neurologically impaired and helping them to return to work Is undertaken regularly.
Assisting stroke patients in regaining eating and swallowing ability is another niche area the Institute offers its clinical services.
Other facilities are the behaviour management program for children and NIOS
Therapy programs can accommodate 100-150 individual sessions per day.
- Dr SR Chandrasekhar Institute of Speech and Hearing college
It’s an academic wing of the BSHT. Its aims to contribute to the growing need of professionals in the field of speech language pathology and audiology. It offers RCI recognized courses at Diploma, UG and PG courses and also PhD program
with Bangalore University and Bangalore North University. The courses are of allied health profession and therefore intensive clinical training is main part of these programs.
The alumni of these programs are recognized world over, some of them are eminent professionals in India and abroad, scientists in universities, working in cochlear implant group and faculty as well.
It invites eminent professors and experts from around the world for invited talks and workshops. It organizes over 15-20 webinars in a year and 5-10 public awareness activities.
- Sunaad School for the Hearing Impaired
Started in 1988 it offers schooling from pre-school and first grade to 10th grade both in Kannada and English medium regular classes following state syllabus. It integrated ICT into regular teaching. It is also recipient of state grant from Govt. of Karnataka.
- Bangalore Speech and Hearing Research Foundation.
Started in 2018, it is aimed at promoting research in the areas of speech language pathology, audiology and disability. It has collaborated with prominent technical Institutes in Karnataka to develop technological solutions to speech and hearing disabled and their clinical services and also to promote research with social impact.
It has joined with Manipal Academy, Manipal, to offer Ph.D Program. 4 candidates are currently enrolled into this program.
To promote clinical research two clinical labs are established, vestibular unit and neuro-communication lab. This has promoted standardization of testing protocol and development of required questionnaire tools. Neuro-communication lab also has standardized a tool to assess quality of life .
The research has promoted scientific temperament and skills related to research among faculty and students by regularly conducting workshops and webinars by inviting experts in the area.