Voice Within Silence

  Breaking Barriers: Google’s SignGemma Translates Sign Language into Spoken Words In a landmark announcement at Google I/O 2025, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, unveiled SignGemma —a cutting-edge AI model that translates sign language into spoken language in real-time. This breakthrough technology promises to transform communication for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community worldwide. For too long, communication gaps have isolated many Deaf individuals from everyday conversations. SignGemma aims to bridge this divide by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning. The model recognizes hand gestures, facial expressions, and body movements, converting them seamlessly into spoken words. Currently optimized for American Sign Language (ASL) and English, SignGemma is in its testing phase and is expected to become publicly available by the end of 2025. Google has expressed a commitment to expanding support for additional sign languages and diale...

 Lip Reading, Sign Language, and Technology: Tools I Use to Navigate the World Living with hearing loss doesn’t mean being cut off from the world, it just means learning to navigate it differently. For me, communication is not one-size-fits-all. I use a beautiful mix of lip reading , sign language , and modern technology to connect, express, and understand. In this post, I’d like to share how these tools work in my daily life and how each one plays a role in helping me bridge the gap between silence and sound. 🗣️ Lip Reading: Watching Words Take Shape Lip reading has become second nature to me. By focusing on facial expressions, lip movements, and context, I’m able to catch much of what people say, especially in one-on-one or quiet environments. When it helps most: Face-to-face conversations, classroom lectures (with good lighting), or video calls with clear visuals. What makes it hard: Masks, fast speech, mumbling, or people who cover their mouths when talking. What you can do...

 The Unheard Struggles: Why Deaf Education Still Needs More Attention Deafness is often called an "invisible disability", not because it lacks impact, but because the struggles are easy to overlook by those who don't experience them. While we've made significant strides in technology and awareness, the reality for many deaf and hard-of-hearing children is still one of isolation, under-resourcing, and unmet potential. As someone who has walked the path from attending a special school to receiving a cochlear implant and integrating into mainstream education, I’ve seen both the progress and the painful gaps. This blog is a call to recognize those gaps, not as distant issues, but as urgent matters that affect lives, identities, and futures.   Hidden Gaps in the System It starts early. In many rural or underserved communities, early diagnosis of hearing loss is delayed. Families are often unaware of the signs, and access to audiological testing is limited. Without timely...

 Breaking the Stereotypes Around Deafness Deafness is not a defect. It's not a limitation. Yet, for far too long, the world has viewed deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals through a narrow, often misinformed lens. This blog is my voice raised not only to challenge those misconceptions, but to celebrate the richness and resilience of the deaf community. 1. Myth: Deaf people can't communicate effectively Truth: Communication is far more than spoken words. From sign language and lip-reading to writing, texting, and cochlear implants, the deaf community has a diverse and powerful toolkit for expression. Communication happens when people are willing to listen with their eyes, their minds, and their hearts. 2. Myth: All deaf people use sign language Truth: Deafness is a spectrum, and so are the ways people choose to communicate. Some use sign language. Some speak orally. Some use hearing aids or cochlear implants. Others may use a combination. There’s no one-size-fits-all appro...

  My Cochlear Journey: Rediscovering Sound, Redefining Identity   When my parents first took me to the audiologist, they held a deep hope in their hearts “Our child will be able to hear well.” But what the audiologist said at that meeting completely changed our lives and marked the beginning of a journey filled with struggles, triumphs, and profound emotions. He spoke of the cochlear implant surgery. This was not an ordinary hearing device; it is a sophisticated tool implanted inside the ear, directly connecting and working with the brain’s hearing center. This surgery transformed my world; it gave me the rebirth of sound.    My Childhood in the Shadow of Silence My early childhood days were shaped by the Kasturba Gandhi Oral School for the Hearing Impaired in Varatharajapuram, Coimbatore. It is a special education institution where each lesson is taught in a unique way through sound, pronunciation, lip reading, and training, unlike regular schools. Those three year...

 Beyond Silence: What It Truly Means to Be Heard For many, being heard means simply catching the sound of words. But for me as a deaf person with a cochlear implant being heard goes far beyond sound. It’s about being truly understood, seen, and valued for who I am beyond the noise. Growing up, only my family and special school teachers really understood what it means to live in a world shaped by silence and sound at the same time. People in normal schools, teachers, students, even friends often didn’t grasp what I was going through. They thought that with a cochlear implant, I could hear and focus like anyone else. The reality was very different. I don’t just hear the sounds I want to focus on; instead, every noise surrounds me all at once the hum of the ceiling fan spinning overhead, the constant chatter and flicker of the television, the rush of wind brushing through the window, vehicles passing by on the street, the clatter of pots and pans in the kitchen, the clicking of the co...