KATHMANDU, July 29 -- Soni is a 13-year-old in Banke district in the western Tarai, and she is the second of eight children in her Muslim family. She has been hearing impaired since she was born.
Soni attended primary school as a child but had to drop out because it lacked the resources to support children with disabilities. Her parents, unaware of any institutions that might be able to help their daughter learn, kept her at home, where she helped her parents by doing household work as well as helping out in the fields.
At home, Soni communicated with her family through signs that family members taught themselves. But it had become increasingly difficult for her to communicate with people outside her family without learning Nepali sign l...