When Deaf children learn in their own language, learning stops being a struggle and starts feeling natural. That simple shift lies at the heart of SignSetu — a bilingual Indian Sign Language (ISL)-based learning platform built by Deaf entrepreneur Shraddha Agarwal (28).

Born deaf and raised in Chennai, Shraddha grew up navigating classrooms that were never designed for students like her. From lip-reading her way through lessons to receiving delayed notetaking support at a UK university, she experienced firsthand how Deaf learners are routinely expected to “fit into” systems built for hearing students.

Today, she is the founder of SignSetu. The bilingual literacy platform uses ISL and visual learning tools to teach English to Deaf children in a way that feels intuitive rather than intimidating. Early pilots have already shown a 50–75% jump in word recall with just 15 minutes of daily use.

In this conversation with The Better India, Shraddha talks about her journey, the urgency of Deaf-inclusive education, and why literacy is the single most transformative gift we can give a Deaf child.

I think it was a gradual realisation built over years of sitting in classrooms that weren’t designed for me. Early intervention at Balavidyalaya gave me a strong foundation, but entering mainstream schools was a shock. I was always the only Deaf child, constantly trying to catch up through lip-reading and repeated explanations.

Even at the University of Warwick, where I expected better accessibility, the notetaker would hand me notes only after class. Real-time learning still felt out of reach.

When I returned to India and met so many deaf individuals struggling with the same barriers — some far worse — I realised this wasn’t an isolated problem. It was systemic exclusion.

That’s when SignSetu began taking shape in my mind: a bilingual ISL and English platform designed from the ground up for Deaf learners.

The biggest gap is the lack of inclusive, language-first learning.

Our education system is heavily dependent on text, speech, and rote memorisation. Deaf children navigate this without the linguistic foundation that........

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