{"id":69089,"date":"2026-01-14T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T10:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?post_type=feature&#038;p=69089"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T07:02:45","slug":"learning-to-advocate-for-myself-and-my-community-as-a-deaf-person","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/features\/social-justice\/learning-to-advocate-for-myself-and-my-community-as-a-deaf-person\/","title":{"rendered":"A book club, sign language, and our fight for Deaf rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"A day in the life of: A Deaf student and founder of a community-led book club\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1P_4bGPqMg0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>I am the founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/deaf_bookwave\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Deaf Bookwave<\/a>, a community-led book club by and for Deaf individuals. I am currently an undergraduate student of psychology and English literature. My educational pursuits also reflect my broader interest in books and my commitment to advocacy, awareness, and inclusion of the Deaf community&mdash;including in the field of mental health.<\/p><p>Over the course of attending school and college, I experienced first-hand the gaps in India&rsquo;s education system in meaningfully accommodating the needs of students with disabilities. During this time, I learned how to advocate for myself, connected with people and organisations working on issues related to disability rights and inclusion, and started to build a space for Deaf people to share their interests, socialise, and learn from one another.<\/p><p>Watch this video to follow a day in my life, from classrooms to community-building.<\/p><div class=\"idron-article-in-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 15px;\" id=\"idron-1206181463\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/what-is-idr-answers\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png\" alt=\"What is IDR Answers Page Banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1.png 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-300x60.png 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-1024x205.png 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-150x30.png 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/What-is-IDR-Answers-Page-Banner-1-768x154.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><em>The Indian Sign Language (ISL) interpretations for this video have been provided by Neha and Shivam Vadhera. Neha is a Deaf person, and she hails from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. She holds a Diploma in Teaching Indian Sign Language (DTISL) from the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre. Her interests include dancing and watching movies. Shivam is a sign language interpreter associated with the Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) and EnAble India. Through his work, Shivam focuses on social inclusion.<\/em><\/p><p>&mdash;<\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-know-more\">Know more<\/h3><ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Learn <a href=\"https:\/\/mhi.org.in\/voice\/details\/invisible-intersection-mental-healthcare-deaf-community\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how<\/a> the intersections of stigma and disability impact Deaf people&rsquo;s access to mental health services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Understand <a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/article\/education\/what-could-a-rights-based-approach-to-education-look-like\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how<\/a> a rights-based approach to education centres the needs of marginalised students, including children with disabilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"idron-troublemakers-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\" id=\"idron-1139452077\"><a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/donate\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"donate banner\"><img src=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg\" alt=\"donate banner\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-150x30.jpg 150w, https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Donate-banner-1-768x154.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" width=\"1250\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":69090,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[38,20,582,24],"tags":[362,3666,141,151,3707],"series":[],"meta-filter":[],"schema-filter":[743],"no-display":[],"class_list":["post-69089","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-day-in-the-life-of","category-diversity-inclusion","category-instagram","category-social-justice","tag-disabilities","tag-marginalised-communities","tag-mental-health","tag-right-to-education","tag-social-change","contributor-parmeet-singh","states-india","states-karnataka","schema-filter-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Learning to advocate for myself and my community as a Deaf person | IDR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A day in the life of a Deaf student and founder of a book club as he strives for awareness, inclusion, and building a shared space for the Deaf community.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/features\/social-justice\/learning-to-advocate-for-myself-and-my-community-as-a-deaf-person\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"kn_IN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A book club, sign language, and our fight for Deaf rights\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1P_4bGPqMg0 I am the founder of Deaf Bookwave, a community-led book club by and for Deaf individuals. I am currently an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/features\/social-justice\/learning-to-advocate-for-myself-and-my-community-as-a-deaf-person\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"India Development Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-15T07:02:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Parmeet_feature.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learning to advocate for myself and my community as a Deaf person | IDR","description":"A day in the life of a Deaf student and founder of a book club as he strives for awareness, inclusion, and building a shared space for the Deaf community.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/features\/social-justice\/learning-to-advocate-for-myself-and-my-community-as-a-deaf-person\/","og_locale":"kn_IN","og_type":"article","og_title":"A book club, sign language, and our fight for Deaf rights","og_description":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1P_4bGPqMg0 I am the founder of Deaf Bookwave, a community-led book club by and for Deaf individuals. 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