facilitating communication access to non-speakers
Established in 2007 by Chandima Rajapatirana, a person with non-speaking autism and his family E.A.S.E. foundation has been working to enable people with disabilities create stimulating productive lives. An App such as “Kathakaramu” facilitating communication access to non-speakers fits our mission well.
E.A.S.E. Foundation, in collaboration with a dedicated group of software developers, from Yaala Labs has created a Sinhala language communication app called ‘Kathakaramu’ with the potential to transform the lives of non-speaking individuals. The app, which will be available free of charge, was originally created for the non-speaking students of the E.A.S.E. Foundation who communicate by pointing to letters on a board. It has now been expanded to help a variety of others, including deaf/mute persons who use sign language to communicate.
Non-speaking persons are often considered incapable of learning language. The students of E.A.S.E., using our simple approach to teaching language, have demonstrated repeatedly that this idea is obsolete. Each student represents a story of triumph over daunting challenges. Their language skills have enabled them to become included in their community, including their own families, as thinking, understanding beings.
Deaf/mute individuals have their own difficulties negotiating their way among a society largely unversed in sign language. Even lip readers have shared that the need to wear masks has stalled them. The ‘Kathakaramu’ app providing text to speech and speech to text is designed specially to help them. The ease with which the Sinhala alphabet is presented makes it an ideal app for anyone wanting to communicate in Sinhala.
The free ‘Kathakaramu’ app will be launched on Sunday the 22nd of January at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute auditorium in an engaging and interactive event from 5 pm to 7 pm. For more details on the launch event, please contact 0773409148 or 0766931810.
