Internet-An innovative tool for persons with hearing impairment

Usage of Internet is increasing day by day. Persons with Hearing Impairment are also using Internet for various reasons. In this study an analysis was made to find out the Usage of Internet among Persons with Hearing Impairment. The present study adopted descriptive survey method and a survey has been employed for the data collection. The sample comprised of 300 Persons with Hearing Impairment eighteen and above years of age. The results revealed that Internet as an innovative and empowering agent for the Persons with Hearing Impairment. This scale with five points indicated the ratings as ‘Strongly Agree’, ‘Agree’, ‘Neutral’, ‘Disagree’ and ‘Strongly Disagree’. In addition, there were two multiple choice questions to find out the impact of Internet in terms of ‘increase’, ‘decrease’ or ‘stable’ in the usage in a period of one year and also find out the entry time into Internet in terms of ‘minimum Six months to maximum more than Three Years’. Barak and Sadovsky suggest that the internet serves as an empowering agent for Persons with hearing impairment. Their finding is particularly significant because previous work indicates that adults with hearing impairment have lower self-esteem than their hearing peers, even when their educational backgrounds are comparable (Weisel&Kamara, 2005).