Policy Suggestions and Roadmap for Voluntary Actions

3

The Organized Volunteerism today Perspectives on voluntary work for people with disabilities: IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS OF VOLUNTEERS The predominant definition of "voluntary action" and a "voluntary contribution" is the Council of Europe (1982) in conjunction with that of the Agency Volonteurope (with members of hundreds of volunteers and voluntary organizations, from all states of the European Union).

Includes four identifying characteristics: a) Projects and roles performed for some socially useful purpose by citizens, without economic terms. b) Volunteering is an act of freedom, where the offer of assistance made in the context of rate citizen, by peaceful means, without consideration. c) The benefits of voluntary work intended for the general public or the interests of third persons or groups. d) Voluntary work offered in organized more or less frames, non-profit, small purely voluntary bodies, as major non-governmental, non-profit social organizations (NGOs).

However, the question of the definition of volunteer work and mission of volunteering, as well as the certification criteria Volunteerism remains open to debate, not only in Greece but also in other states of the European Union.

From many sides sought a new profile of the volunteer, innovative actions and new initiatives for volunteering. Catalytic role in these redefinitions playing social policy and the wider European Union policy. It's hard to describe the model of social volunteer. There is a stable model. The social volunteers come from different social, cultural, educational, and economic levels. They have different ideologies and political beliefs. May be members of the same community or from different communities or different countries.

The reasons or motives that push someone or an organized group, to concern for his fellow man or to the public interest are many and varied, other utility and other undesirables, as shown and relevant research.

5

VOLUNTEER WORK AND ORGANIZED VOLUNTEERING Every citizen is free to exercise the right to voluntary work and action. The ongoing volunteer work we can classify in three types of volunteers: 1) Managerial volunteer managers: 

Participate - appointed or elected - the governing bodies of nonprofit, non-governmental, church, and government - municipal agencies and institutes.



Assume responsibilities for the organization and management of these entities.



This voluntary work in demanding charisma and skills, catalytic effect on the efficiency of the operation of these social actors, and the Voluntary Sector in general.

2) Staff members volunteered: 

Undertake specific work or service within the operation of welfare, entertainment,

environmental,

educational,

health

or

other

programs. 

Collaborate with professionals in completing the project of social organizations and often cover significant gaps in staff of these organizations.



Their work includes a wide variety of activities that usually do not require previous experience or long-term training.

3) Volunteers for Social Action: 

These are small groups of citizens (activists), who within a specified geographic area (neighborhood, settlement, community, township) and organized a) undertake advisory work for a start, with ideas for development of their area.



Act as a lobby for improvements in social changes and humanitarian (eg a Race Committee for the protection of children from harmful information on the Internet).



As pioneers seeking new services and test innovative solutions to local social problems (eg self-managed Nursery).

CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS OF VOLUNTEERING: 

Common prerequisite for success of volunteering can be considered the selflessness, the ability of volunteers to cooperate and conclude good interpersonal relations, social responsibility and a racing mood.



Apart from the personal qualities and skills of each volunteer, which is a fact that contributes to the success of the bid, need to be met and other requirements for the performance of the Social Volunteering as:



Voluntary work not perceived as amateur work, but as a form of work, offered and organized according to certain criteria and rules of good practice.



Organized volunteering, need training, proper installation and proper use of volunteers.



Volunteers citizens should obtain a clear understanding of the project and their role, through the preparation and practice.



Where volunteers coexist with highly skilled professionals, it is necessary mutual respect, support, encouragement, and supervision of volunteers from other professionals or experienced volunteers.



In turn, volunteers must respect and encourage a shared responsibility and active participation of those who serve and those who benefit from their offer.



The State, municipalities and social NGOs should not underestimate or take advantage of the skills and dedication of the volunteer.



Volunteers and voluntary private initiative must be shared and are not the sole source of labor for Welfare Services, regardless of carrier.



Saving energy and resources from the use of voluntary work at the bodies of Social Policy, although that is a fact, does not compensate the need for a decentralized welfare state and for specialized professional executives.



Typical problems of the Voluntary Sector in the European Union.

In recent years, there have been several attempts to study volunteering and registration of voluntary organizations and their work, in the countries of the European Union.

There is a rapid increase in organized social volunteering (NGOs), horizontal and vertical, with a variety of forms of administration, organization, operations and feasibility. The main reason was the social policy of the European Union and the Community financial support frames.

7

Other important reasons are: 

The legislation recognizing voluntary work as "important social service" within national law.



The strengthening of the institution of local government and the participation of many stakeholders, other than the State in addressing social needs.



The presence of new forms of social exclusion, and the many social problems such as addiction and cybercrime against children.



The prevalence of information technology, with many positive effects on the yield of Social Organizations and Networks social policy.



Understanding NGO collegiate and rallying in Federations and Confederations in national and transnational institutions, to an active presence on the inside, but also in Brussels, in the interests and demands of various vulnerable groups.



Social services and attracting more citizens to voluntary action.



Demographic changes, but also changes in the labor market and the institution of the family have been difficult to ensure or increase the number of volunteers from the traditional sources.

Today, social NGOs need to work intensively and with more targeted manner in order to attract and retain volunteer their potential. Also, there is widespread concern about the ability of volunteers to provide complex and demanding services. On the other hand, in an era of change and economic crisis, replacing paid staff with volunteer troubles representatives of NGOs, and governments. Common issues are also the independence of the voluntary sector from an underlying guardianship of the State, and the recognition of the role of the planning and decisions of national and European social policy.

Even sought the role of the voluntary sector and there is a risk of improper use of volunteer resources and services. How ready are Local Government and the Voluntary Private Sector in Social rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, to respond adequately to the realities mentioned above?

Regarding the voluntary work of parents and organized groups of disabled people (Private Voluntary Social Sector) distinguish six (6) categories of action:

1. Enlightenment, Public Relations, Information for stakeholders and the wider community.

2. Employment and service within a program or rehabilitation centers.

3. Inclusion - creating equal relations environment with collaborations and partnerships.

4. Promoting an improved social policy through the influence of centers of power, with useful alliances and exploiting opportunities.

5. Administration - Function Rehabilitation Programs In a nongovernmental non-profit organizations. The great opportunity given by the grants of the European Union.

6. Prevention of disabilities with the participation of parents and the Associations activities to reduce risks and avoid causes of disabilities.

Arguably, the voluntary work of parents and other citizens is very large and, for the first decades after 1960, was groundbreaking. Their initiatives and involvement started state care for the disabled citizen. But today, organizations and voluntary disability movement is affected by the conditions and developments mentioned above.

How could attract more volunteers?

The attraction is directly linked to the work and personal gain each volunteer. However, the upgrading of organized volunteering today not, primarily, those directly concerned citizens.

More care should be the State, local government, the Church and the major non-governmental non-profit organization. Ideas - proposals as a contribution to rejuvenating effort of Local Government and the Private Sector for Social institution of Volunteering in Restoration disabilities. 

Development of a 'mechanism' attracting, training, placement, monitoring and training volunteer staff (eg Municipal Office Volunteers).



Inventory and classification of work that can be done volunteer work in the local community, district, and municipality.



Enlightenment-Information for the needs of people with disabilities in our region or Rehabilitation and offered voluntary work in order to facilitate the candidates attracting volunteers to supplement and extend, but not replace paid professional staff.



Create Registry Volunteer with formal and substantive qualifications, region and municipality for proper installation and use, monitoring, replacement, support. The numbers of volunteers are not unlimited!

9



Education and proper placement of volunteers



Evaluation - Assessment of volunteering in the local network of social services for the disabled in order to make recommendations for improvement and better organization.



Setting the relationship with professionals and volunteers use to distinguish individuals and groups can volunteer, with emphasis on the quality of their services.



Features self-criticism of their own voluntary social work, for further creative activity



Strengthening of interest to the common culture and social responsibility, volunteering opportunities mainly by children and young people.



Dissemination of assistance and supply of volunteering with recording and dissemination of best practices and examples of volunteering citizens, groups, parents with disabilities all stakeholders and the wider public. So slowly prepared and trained the community to recognize the equality of disabled members.



Motivation of the State, Local Government and the Church for a spending review of volunteering and how their registration as special funds budgets, when the volunteer work is organized into specific permanent or temporary services, without of course neglecting the need for the presence of salaried - qualified staff in these costs.



Study the adoption of contributory voluntary agreements between NGOs and local government, for projects of social rehabilitation, which is, inter alia, an important motivation for addressing the lack of volunteers



Focus on Civil Society to upgrade the role of the volunteer and Voluntary Organizations (NGOs) in planning and evaluation of the local Social Policy. (2) However, as we all know, a successful and effective presence of volunteering at the local level requires the setting aside differences, find common interests and convergence interests.



Also requires multifaceted consensus a strategic and operational planning of the upgrade of volunteering companionship and networking, effective management of resources and above all optimistic, loyal and hard-working volunteers.

Investigation of the level of social inclusion in the area Objectives:

The purpose of this Work Package was to investigate the levels of social inclusion of people with disabilities in the area of the study, emphasizing three aspects in particular:

Inclusive volunteerism

Vocational training and informalexperiential learning

Improving accessibility Inclusive volunteerism

Methods: The means of investigation as originally proposed was by interviews based on semistructured questionnaires in two groups: the disabled and local stakeholders (municipal authorities, NGOs, associations, organizations, etc.). Although small sample sizes (25 per group) were planned, these were judged to be sufficient because this was envisaged as principally a qualitative research study; hence the use of semi-structured questionnaires that would allow indepth investigation. These interview schedules were to be drawn up by UEHR and the fieldwork would be conducted by Ege University.

11

UEHR was subsequently informed that, following an application by Ege University (citing lack of time due to delayed start of the fieldwork and inability to execute the proposed workload within the available budget), the Managing Authority had approved changes to the plan of investigation. The study was consequently converted into a quantitative investigation by structured questionnaire in a sample of 100 disabled people in Cigli in 2014. Dr. Goknur Ege of Ege University supplied UEHR with a data file containing the participants’ responses to the questions.

Details of the sample recruitment and fieldwork procedures will be found in the report on WP 3 “Social Benefits derived from inclusive volunteerism�. The part of the questionnaire that pertains to WP2 is presented here in Appendix 1.

Sample description: The breakdown of the sample by gender, age, marital status and educational level is shown in Table 1. Males formed two-thirds of the sample. Respondents were fairly evenly spread across a wide range of age from 18 years upwards. Slightly more were married (46%) than single (38%), the remainder being widowed or divorced. Only 17% had received post-secondary education while more than half the sample (59%) had not gone beyond primary school level.

Table 2 reports the nature of the disabilities of the sample members. The percentages in this table total more than 100 because many people reported two or more disabilities. Over half (58%) had restricted mobility and about a quarter (27%) were blind or partially sighted.

13

Employment: As many as 42% of the sample have never held a paid job and only 27% are currently in employment (Table 3). A large proportion (62%) reported being unemployed for 2 years or more.

Employment status is quite strongly related to gender, age and education. 

More males than females have ever held a job and currently hold a job (X

2

1

2

= 4.16, p = 0.041 and X 1= 3.48, p = 0.062, respectively; Table

4a) 

Respondents in the 36-55 years age group were more likely to have a job or to have had a job in the past compared to both younger and 2

2

older respondents (X 2 = 13.5, p = 0.001 for past job and X 2 = 16.7, p < 0.001 for current job; Table 4b) ď&#x201A;§

The higher the educational level, the more likely was the respondent to have had a job or to currently hold one (X 2

2

2

= 8,28, p = 0.016 for a

past job, X 2 = 13.4, p = 0.001 for a current one; Table 4c)

Gender

4a

Male

Ever had Job Currently has paid job

Female

N

%

N

%

Yes

43

66.2

15

42.9

No

22

33.8

20

57.1

Yes

22

33.8

5

14.3

No

43

66.2

30

85.7

Age 4b

Ever had a paid job

Currently has paid job

N

%

N

%

N

%

Yes

11

36.7

31

79.5

16

51.6

No

19

63.3

8

20.5

15

48.4

Yes

6

20.0

19

48.7

2

6.5 15

No

24

80.0

20

51.3

29

93.5

Education

Primary

4c

Ever had a paid job

Currently has paid job

High school

Higher

N

%

N

%

N

%

Yes

29

49.2

14

58.3

15

88.2

No

30

50.8

10

41.7

2

11.8

Yes

9

15.3

8

33.3

10

58.8

No

50

84.7

16

66.7

7

41.2

Table 4. Past and current employment status by (a) gender, (b) age and (c) educational level.

Education and vocational training: As already indicated in Table 1, the educational level of the sample was generally low.

About a quarter of the respondents (26%) said that their education had been affected by their disability, which either led them to quit school completely (15%) or prevented them taking part properly (11%). The percentage of respondents whose education was affected did not depend noticeably on the nature of the disability (Table 5).

Disability affected education Yes, I had to

Yes, I could not

quit school

take part

No

properly

Blind/partially sighted

disability

4

2

21

%

14.8

7.4

77.8

Deaf/hearing

n

3

2

9

impairment

%

21.4

14.3

64.3

n

8

9

41

%

13.8

15.5

70.7

n

4

1

10

%

26.7

6.7

66.7

Orthopedic-mobility Nature of

n

Mental health Learning disability Progressive disability Other

n

3

0

4

%

42.9

.0

57.1

n

0

0

5

%

.0

.0

100.0

n

5

5

26

%

13.9

13.9

72.2

Table 5. Effect of the disability on education, by nature of the disability. (Percentages add to 100 in each row.)

There was an indication that the disability had a greater effect on the education of the older respondents (Table 6; X

2

1

for trend = 3.31, p = 0.07), possibly because facilities have

improved over time. Effects appeared to be the same for both genders.

Age

Yes, I had to quit school

Disability affected education

18-35

36-55

56+

N

7

6

2

%

23.3

15.4

6.5

N

3

6

2

%

10.0

15.4

6.5

N

20

27

27

%

66.7

69.2

87.1

Yes, I could not take part properly

No

Table 6. Effect of the disability on education, by age.

Of the total sample, 42% reported that they had attended vocational training. Of these, 23.8% (10/42) said that they had experienced physical difficulty in attending the program.

Table 7 shows the percentages of respondents who had taken part in vocational training broken down by gender, age and educational level. â&#x20AC;˘ Men and women did not differ significantly in respect of the proportion who had received vocational training (X

2

1

= 0.87, p =0.35)

â&#x20AC;˘ People in the 36-55 years age group were more likely to have attended vocational training than younger and older respondents (X

2

2

= 11.5, p =0.004)

â&#x20AC;˘ The higher the general educational level, the more likely it was that the respondent had attended vocational training (X

2

2

= 11.6, p =0.003)

17

Attended vocational training

Yes Gender

Age

N

%

N

%

Male

30

46.2

35

53.8

Female

12

34.3

23

65.7

18-35

11

36.7

19

63.3

36-55

24

61.5

15

38.5

7

22.6

24

77.4

Primary

18

30.5

41

69.5

High school

11

45.8

13

54.2

Higher

13

76.5

4

23.5

56+ Education

No

Table 7. Attended vocational training, by gender, age and educational level. (Percentages sum to 100 in each row.)

As would be expected, employment status was related to vocational training (Table 8).

Those respondents who had attended vocational training were twice as likely as the others to currently have a job (X

2

1

= 6.35, p = 0.012).

Attended vocational training

Yes

Ever had a paid job

Currently has paid job

No

N

%

N

%

Yes

31

73.8

27

46.6

No

11

26.2

31

53.4

Yes

16

38.1

11

19.0

No

26

61.9

47

81.0

Table 8. Employment status in relation to having received vocational training.

Effects of the disability on the respondent´s life: This section examines what effect the respondent’s disability has on his or her life (according to the respondent’s own opinion), excluding the effect on education which has already been considered in Section 5. Overall, the area that the greatest proportion of respondents (75.3%) said was affected was work (Table 9), followed by participation in the community, living alone and accessing social services, each mentioned by over 60%. Other items, including getting married, having friends and having a social life were mentioned less often. It seems therefore that the main effects of disability are on work and independence.

N

%

64

75.3

56

65.9

Go to school

30

35.3

What does your condition

Live alone

53

62.4

affect?

Get married

30

35.3

Access social services

53

62.4

Have social life

40

47.1

Have friends

32

37.6

Other things

10

11.8

Work Participate in community

Table 9. Respondent’s opinion of which aspects of his or her life are affected by the disability.

Opinions about which aspects of life are affected by the disability did not noticeably depend on the respondent’s gender (Table 10a). In relation to the respondents’ age (Table 10b), the younger respondents (18-35 years old) were much more likely than the rest to say that their disability affected their ability to live alone (X

2

2

= 16.5, p < 0.001). The largest differences between

subgroups arose in relation to the respondents’ educational level (Table 10c). Except for the ability to live alone (and for the unspecified activities in the “other things” category), respondents with higher education were much less likely to say that their condition affected what they could do. In particular, these differences were statistically significant for: ability to work (X 0.001); accessing social services (X community (X

2

2

2

2

2

2

= 19.4, p <

= 8.25, p = 0.016); and marginally for participating in the

= 5.89, p = 0.053) and having a social life (X

2

2

= 5.16, p = 0.08).

19

10a

Female

Male N

&

N

%

Work

43

81.1

21

65.6

Participate in

34

64.2

22

68.8

Go to school

16

30.2

14

43.8

Live alone

37

69.8

16

50.0

What does your

Get married

21

39.6

9

28.1

condition affect?

Access social

32

60.4

21

65.6

Have social life

27

50.9

13

40.6

Have friends

20

37.7

20

37.7

Other things

8

15.1

2

6.3

community

services

Age 10b

56+

n

20

21

23

69.0

77.8

79.3

n

20

17

19

%

69.0

63.0

65.5

Go to school

n

9

11

10

%

31.0

40.7

34.5

Live alone

n

24

12

17

%

82.8

44.4

58.6

n

13

10

7

%

44.8

37.0

24.1

n

19

14

20

%

65.5

51.9

69.0

n

15

10

15

%

51.7

37.0

51.7

Have friends

n

13

8

11

%

44.8

29.6

37.9

Do other things

n

2

4

4

%

6.9

14.8

13.8

Participate in community

affect?

36-55

%

Work

What does your condition

18-35

Get married Access social services Have social life

Education 10c

Work

Higher

n

47

13

4

%

88.7

68.4

30.8

n

36

15

5

67.9

78.9

38.5

n

21

7

2

%

39.6

36.8

15.4

Live alone

n

33

12

8

%

62.3

63.2

61.5

Get married

n

21

6

3

%

39.6

31.6

23.1

n

37

12

4

%

69.8

63.2

30.8

Have social life

n

29

7

4

%

54.7

36.8

30.8

Have friends

n

22

7

3

%

41.5

36.8

23.1

n

5

2

3

%

9.4

10.5

23.1

Go to school

affect?

High school

%

Participate in community

What does your condition

Primary

Access social services

Do other things

Table 10c. Aspects of life affected by the disability, by (a) gender, (b) age and (c) education.

Participation in social life and the community: Respondents were asked what were the factors that most affected their participation in the community, negatively and positively. The negative factors that were reported are shown in Table 11. Top of the list comes the lack of provision of services or social support by the state, followed by lack of information and the failure to protect rights. Bottom of the list comes the stigma of disability and discrimination against the disabled, as well as the nature of the disability.

Thus it appears that practical matters are regarded as having the main effects, compared to the less tangible issues of stigma and discrimination. Female respondents were much less likely than males to mention employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lack of interest (48.5% versus 82.8%; X discrimination (45.6% versus 75.9%; X

2

1

2

1

= 6.64, p = 0.010) and

= 4.82, p = 0.028). The relation to age is shown in Table

12. Respondents in the age group 36-55 years were much less likely than younger and older respondents to mention the negative effect of the nature of the disability (X

2

2

= 14.6, p = 0.001).

Older respondents (56 years and over) were less likely others to mention discrimination (X 2

2

2

=

6.38, p = 0.041) and stigma (marginally significant with X 2 = 4.98, p = 0.08). There appeared to be no association with the respondentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; educational level.

21

N

%

57

62.6

76

83.5

70

76.9

67

73.6

53

58.2

73

80.2

73

80.2

64

70.3

Discrimination

59

64.8

Other factors

3

3.3

Nature of disability State's lack of services/social support Civil society's lack of services/social support Negative effect on participation in community

Accessibility problems Stigma Lack of protection of rights Lack of information Employers' lack of interest

Table 11. Factors affecting negatively participation in the social life of the community.

Age 18-35 n

22

13

22

75.9

39.4

75.9

State's lack of

n

24

29

23

services/social support

%

82.8

87.9

79.3

Civil society's lack of

n

23

26

21

services/social support

%

79.3

78.8

72.4

Accessibility problems

affect?

56+

%

Nature of disability

What does your condition

36-55

Stigma

n

21

23

23

%

72.4

69.7

79.3

n

21

18

14

%

72.4

54.5

48.3

Lack of protection of

n

23

27

23

rights

%

79.3

81.8

79.3

n

21

28

24

Lack of information

%

72.4

84.8

82.8

Employers' lack of

n

22

25

17

interest

%

75.9

75.8

58.6

Discrimination Other factors

n

22

24

13

%

75.9

72.7

44.8

n

1

1

1

%

3.4

3.0

3.4

Table 12. Factors with a negative effect on the respondentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s participation in the social life of the community, by age.

Factors that positively affect participation in the community are shown in Table 13. Good health was mentioned most often, by 81.3%, closely followed by the provision of support services (80.2%). In contrast to the findings regarding negative factors, in this case an intangible factor – society’s positive perspective – was mentioned more than most other factors (78.1%). None of the factors was regarded as unimportant, since each was mentioned by over 60% of the respondents.

Good health Provision of support services Improved accessibility Positive perspective of society Legal framework to

Positive effect on

protect rights

participation in community

Provision of information Interventions by civil society Anti-discrimination strategies Support by civil society Other factors

N

%

78

81.3

77

80.2

71

74.0

75

78.1

69

71.9

66

68.8

63

65.6

69

71.9

61

63.5

7

7.3

Table 13. Factors affecting positively participation in the social life of the community.

Female participants were more likely than males to mention the positive effect of the provision of support services (94.1% versus 72.6%; X (82.4% versus 56.5%; X

2

1

2

1

= 5.14, p = 0.023) and intervention of civil society

= 5.60, p = 0.018). None of the factors was related to the respondent’s

age and only one to the education level. This was good health, mentioned by 78.6% of respondents with primary education and 73.9% of those with junior or senior high school education, but by 100% of respondents with higher education. The respondents’ actual participation in the social activities of their community is limited. Shopping, meeting friends and family meetings are the main activities that they have taken part in during the last year (Table 14).

Just over half did not go at all to a cinema or theatre, and half did not go on holiday. Participating as a volunteer in one or more NGO activities was reported by 39% of the sample.

23

Have attended in last year Cinema/theatre

Political/union meeting

Protest/demonstration NGO activity as volunteer Holiday

Religious event

Shopping

Family meeting

Friends' meeting

None

1-2 times

3-5 times

6-10 times

55

23

10

5

7

55.0

23.0

10.0

5.0

7.0

n

70

12

4

2

12

%

70.0

12.0

4.0

2.0

12.0

n

70

13

9

2

6

%

70.0

13.0

9.0

2.0

6.0

n

61

20

2

3

14

%

61.0

20.0

2.0

3.0

14.0

n

51

33

11

3

2

%

51.0

33.0

11.0

3.0

2.0

n

66

10

4

6

14

%

66.0

10.0

4.0

6.0

14.0

n

19

10

7

11

53

%

19.0

10.0

7.0

11.0

53.0

n

23

14

15

9

39

%

23.0

14.0

15.0

9.0

39.0

n

25

15

5

8

47

%

25.0

15.0

5.0

8.0

47.0

n %*

More than 10 times

Table 14. Activities in which the respondent took part during the last year. (Percentages sum to 100 in each row.)

Gender did not appear to affect participation in activities; the greatest difference was found for volunteering for an NGO activity, which 46.2% of males had done compared to 25.7% of females (X

2

1

= 3.18, p = 0.07). There were strong associations with age (Table 15a) and education

(Table 15b).

Every activity was undertaken less often by the older respondents (56+ years) except for participation in religious events (Table 15a). All these differences between age groups were statistically significant, although only marginally so for volunteering for an NGO activity (p = 0.07) and going on holiday (p =0.08). Going to the cinema or theatre and volunteering for NGO activities were commonest in the 18-35 years age group; the remaining activities were commonest in the 46-55 years age group.

Age 18-35 n Cinema/theatre

Political/union meeting

Protest/demonstration

NGO activity as volunteer

Holiday

Religious event

Shopping

Family meeting

Friends' meeting

36-55 %

n

56+ %

n

%

No

12

40.0

18

46.2

25

80.6

Yes

18

60.0

21

53.8

6

19.4

No

23

76.7

21

53.8

26

83.9

Yes

7

23.3

18

46.2

5

16.1

No

21

70.0

22

56.4

27

87.1

Yes

9

30.0

17

43.6

4

12.9

No

15

50.0

22

56.4

24

77.4

Yes

15

50.0

17

43.6

7

22.6

No

13

43.3

17

43.6

21

67.7

Yes

17

56.7

22

56.4

10

32.3

No

23

76.7

28

71.8

15

48.4

Yes

7

23.3

11

28.2

16

51.6

No

5

16.7

1

2.6

13

41.9

Yes

25

83.3

38

97.4

18

58.1

No

7

23.3

5

12.8

11

35.5

Yes

23

76.7

34

87.2

20

64.5

No

7

23.3

4

10.3

14

45.2

Yes

23

76.7

35

89.7

17

54.8

Table 15a. Participation in activities during the last year, by age.

With regard to the association with the respondentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational level, all activities differed highly significantly (p â&#x2030;¤ 0.005) between levels except for taking part in political or union meetings and in religious events (Table 15b). In all other cases, respondents with only primary education were less likely than the rest to take part in the activities. In most cases, the percentages participating were similar for respondents with high school education and those with higher education. Exceptions were participating in protests or demonstrations and volunteering for an NGO activity, both of which were commonest at the highest level of education.

25

Education Primary n Cinema/theatre

Political/union meeting

Protest/demonstration NGO activity as volunteer Holiday

Religious event

Shopping

Family meeting

Friends' meeting

High school %

n

Higher

%

n

%

No

44

74.6

7

29.2

4

23.5

Yes

15

25.4

17

70.8

13

76.5

No

46

78.0

14

58.3

10

58.8

Yes

13

22.0

10

41.7

7

41.2

No

50

84.7

14

58.3

6

35.3

Yes

9

15.3

10

41.7

11

64.7

No

44

74.6

12

50.0

5

29.4

Yes

15

25.4

12

50.0

12

70.6

No

38

64.4

7

29.2

6

35.3

Yes

21

35.6

17

70.8

11

64.7

No

39

66.1

17

70.8

10

58.8

Yes

20

33.9

7

29.2

7

41.2

No

18

30.5

0

.0

1

5.9

Yes

41

69.5

24

100.0

16

94.1

No

21

35.6

2

8.3

0

.0

Yes

38

64.4

22

91.7

17

100.0

No

22

37.3

3

12.5

0

.0

Yes

37

62.7

21

87.5

17

100.0

Table 15b. Participation in activities during the last year, by education.

Respondents were further asked whether they faced barriers to taking part in activities.

For every one of the activities, the percentage who said that they faced no barriers was around 50 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 60% (Table 16). It is notable that high percentages faced obstacles in using public transport and public services.

Faced barriers Attend cinema/theatre

Access a social service

Access a public service

Access a social event

Attend an NGO activity

Go on holiday

Attend religious event

Access a health service

Go to shopping centre

Use public transport Access school/vocational centre

No

Sometimes

Often

I am not able to

I do not do

n

45

15

6

10

24

%

45.0

15.0

6.0

10.0

24.0

n

55

17

15

5

8

%

55.0

17.0

15.0

5.0

8.0

n

47

26

18

4

5

%

47.0

26.0

18.0

4.0

5.0

n

65

15

11

5

4

%

65.0

15.0

11.0

5.0

4.0

n

47

11

6

4

32

%

47.0

11.0

6.0

4.0

32.0

n

57

9

5

11

18

%

57.0

9.0

5.0

11.0

18.0

n

53

3

4

5

35

%

53.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

35.0

n

51

28

18

2

1

%

51.0

28.0

18.0

2.0

1.0

n

58

14

13

7

8

%

58.0

14.0

13.0

7.0

8.0

n

46

25

24

4

1

%

46.0

25.0

24.0

4.0

1.0

n

48

18

10

7

17

%

48.0

18.0

10.0

7.0

17.0

Table 16. Percentages of respondents who faced barriers to using services or taking part in activities.

Sources or support: All members of society find themselves in need of support at some points in their lives.

Many disabled people may find the need even greater. Respondents in the survey were asked from where they could get support when faced with various difficulties. Responses are shown in Table 17. It is noteworthy that the majority of respondents regarded the family as the main source of support in every area, except for providing help in finding a job – where quite a large proportion (28%) expected to find no help from anywhere. “Official” sources (the government and the municipality) were mentioned by relatively few respondents and NGOs by hardly any.

27

Family

Neighbourhood Govern-ment

Munic-ipality

NGO

None

Help around the house

n

88

2

4

2

0

4

when ill

%

88.0

2.0

4.0

2.0

.0

4.0

Advice about personal or

n

80

9

2

0

1

8

family matter

%

80.0

9.0

2.0

.0

1.0

8.0

n

39

6

14

9

4

28

%

39.0

6.0

14.0

9.0

4.0

28.0

Someone to talk to if

n

65

24

2

0

1

8

depressed

%

65.0

24.0

2.0

.0

1.0

8.0

Borrow money in

n

70

5

10

3

0

12

emergency

%

70.0

5.0

10.0

3.0

.0

12.0

Help to access

n

67

14

3

7

0

9

Help in looking for a job

service/event % 67.0 14.0 3.0 7.0 .0 Table 17. Expected sources of support when faced with various difficulties. (Percentages sum to 100 in

9.0

the rows.)

Volunteering for NGO activities: Almost a third of the respondents had taken part as a volunteer in organizing or running NGO events (Table 18). This was generally a positive experience: 87% of those who had done this agreed that it made them feel an active part of society and 71% would like to participate more (with another 13% answering â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;perhapsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;). n

%

Volunteer in

Yes

31

31.0

running/organizing events

No

69

69.0

Yes a lot

27

87.1

Yes just a bit

2

6.5

Not much

1

3.2

No, not at all

1

3.2

22

71.0

Perhaps

4

12.9

No

5

16.1

Felt active part of society

Would like to participate in more

Yes

Table 18. Volunteering for organization or running of NGO events, and outcome of this among those who volunteered.

The percentages of volunteering by gender, age groups and educational level are shown in Table 19. Higher levels of participation appear among males, younger people and those with better education, but the differences are not statistically significant.

Volunteer in running/organizing events Yes

Gender

Age

Education

No

n

%

n

%

Male

23

35.4

42

64.6

Female

8

22.9

27

77.1

18-35

10

33.3

20

66.7

36-55

15

38.5

24

61.5

56+

6

19.4

25

80.6

Primary

14

23.7

45

76.3

High school

9

37.5

15

62.5

Higher

8

47.1

9

52.9

Table 19. Volunteering for organization or running of NGO events, by gender, age and educational level. (Percentages sum to 100 in rows.)

Income: The current economic crisis is affecting many people. In addition to increasing the difficulties of obtaining employment, it may have led to reduced or abolished allowance and benefits. Therefore, disabled people may be particularly severely affected. Participants in the survey were asked whether their income was adequate for their needs now and also whether it was adequate in the past. Only 8% answered that their current income is sufficient to meet their needs, compared to 28% in the past (Table 20). About a quarter said that it was nearly enough, but two-thirds said that they did not have enough, this being an increase from just below a half in the past. n

%

Yes, enough

8

8.0

Current income is enough

Nearly enough

24

24.0

for needs

No, not enough

66

66.0

No, almost no income

2

2.0

Yes, enough

28

28.0

Income was enough for

Nearly enough

23

23.0

needs in the past

No, not enough

47

47.0

No, almost no income

2

2.0

Table 20. Sufficiency of income now and in the past.

Regarding oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s income as adequate did not depend on gender or age. However, adequacy of the current income depended on education (Table 21): those with higher education were more likely to regard their current income as sufficient to meet their needs (X

2

2

= 7.50, p = 29

0.024). This did not apply to income in the past. Of course, it was shown in Table 4 that people with higher education are the most likely to have a job, so it is natural that they would be the most likely to feel that their income is sufficient.

Education Primary Current income is enough for needs

Income was enough for needs in the past

Yes* No Yes* No

High school

Higher

n

14

8

10

%

23.7

33.3

58.8

n

45

16

7

%

76.3

66.7

41.2

n

30

12

9

%

50.8

50.0

52.9

n

29

12

8

%

49.2

50.0

47.1

Table 21. Sufficiency of income now and in the past, by educational level.( *Enough or nearly enough)

Conclusions: The main conclusions regarding this survey among the disabled people of the study area are as follows: 

Disabilities have affected their ability to participate in various spheres of life: mainly in the work market and in the social life of their community.



Disabilities have a lesser effect on their personal life; it mainly affects their independence.



In general, the Government, Municipality and NGOs play a very limited supporting role



Gender does not seem to make any particular difference in positive or negative effects of the disabilities.



Educational level does not seem to make any particular difference in positive or negative effects of the disabilities



Age seems to make small difference in positive or negative effects of disabilities.

Youngest participants feel less independent than the oldest. Oldest participants seem to face more problems of accessibility.



Participation in vocational training is limited but not more so than in the general population.



Participation in NGOs organizations has a positive impact regarding their active participation in society and they willing to participate more.

[This Report is a part of a EUROPAID Project; IDP500: Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, and Participation]

31

AUTHOR : Göknur (Bostancı) EGE CONTACT DETAILS: Göknur (Bostancı) EGE Postal Address: Ege University, Sociology Department, 35100 Bornova-İzmir/TURKEY Phone (Office) : 090 2323111683 Email: goknurege@gmail.com goknur.ege@ege.edu.tr

August 2014, Izmir TURKEY

The scientific report in a sociological perspective on mobility, volunteerism and participation of disabled people

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Göknur Ege [PhD] is a sociologist working at Sociology Department, Ege University (İzmir Turkey). She participated in many national and international projects as consultant, coordinator or researcher and also gives lectures at the university such as "Introduction to Sociology", "Introduction to Social Sciences", "Social Anthropology", "Applied Statistics", “Sociology of Space”, “Social Change” and she is the researcher in IDP500 who is responsible for leading/coordinating the field research and writing this report to evaluate both findings and project outcomes in a sociological perspective.

ABOUT THE PROJECT: “Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, Participation” is a EuropeAid programme addressed to people with disabilities living in Cigli Municipality, Izmir, Turkey and has duration of one year(15/08/2013-15/08/2014). The purpose of this project is the inclusion of people with disabilities into local society and the shift of the traditional perception of the latter from passive recipients of social activities to active contributors to the local community.

ABSTRACT: This report will include a general evaluation of the program, and also it will focus on the importance of socio-cultural perspective in this kind of programs and the elimination of the social barriers. It also takes a sociological look at and examines how participation in a volunteer work can affect the persons with disabilities. The findings from a field research conducted in the framework of the SMVP project will be presented and interpreted. The analyses will include: The quantitative data obtained through 2 surveys on disabled people (n=100) and the qualitative data gathered through observations and conversations with persons in the same sample.

KEYWORDS: Volunteering, Disability, Participation, Inclusion, stigma

33

The scientific report in a sociological perspective on mobility, volunteerism and participation of disabled people People with disabilities

disabled persons.

constitute a significant portion of the

However I was very well aware that we

Turkey

population.

to

need first to challenge the ignorance of

Turkish

Statistics

the

socio cultural barriers those disabled

percent of disabled people in Turkey

people have. Because, the socio-cultural

population is 12.29% (TUIK, 2002). And

perspective is of great importance in this

when I accepted to participate to the

kind

project,

in

neglected. Therefore in this report the

participation to and expectation from

necessity of socio cultural perspective in

the project was to contribute

the projects of this kind will be fairly

my

only

According Institution,

motivation

the

project for its purposes on benefiting

THE

GENERAL

of

projects

but

it

is

mostly

emphasized.

EVALUATION

ON

SMVP,

THE

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE IN SUCH PROGRAMS AND THE ELIMINATION OF THE SOCIAL BARRIERS First of all, the persons with disabilities encounter not only physical barriers that directly or indirectly prevent their participation into society, but their participation is also excessively affected by the social barriers in any society. And social barriers are more difficult to eliminate compared to physical ones. You can design cities, houses, workplaces, schools, streets and social environments so that the physical conditions can be suitable enough for a disabled. For example by building ramps for wheelchair users, audial signs for persons affected by sight loss or visual signs for persons with hearing loss, you can improve the participation of those who suffer from that physical barriers. However there are social barriers which exist in and produced by any society. Therefore, any study, action, project or work related to inclusion of disabled, inevitably needs a socio cultural perspective.

For the projects related to disabled people, it is not enough to have health professionals, urban planners, politicians, educators working in the field, the social scientists are also exceedingly necessary.

35

The socio-cultural elements play significant role in constituting social barriers for disabled. For example one of those barriers is social “stigma” or another one is social values about beauty and physical attractiveness. Some of the results of a research conducted on 32 preschool and 32 third grade children reveal how disabled are stigmatized among young students:

“Several children made comments to the effect that they would choose to play with the child in the wheelchair because s/he probably had fewer friends than the able-bodied child, that they had never played with anyone in a wheelchair before, or that "there's nothing wrong with a wheelchair” (Spillers, 1982:65) All those statements contain discrimination to some degree and the separation of disabled as “the others” from themselves. For example “to choose to play with a child in the wheelchair because s/he probably has fewer friends than the abled bodies” includes feeling sorry for and to pity on disabled who is just different. “to choose to play with a child in the wheelchair because they never played with anyone with wheelchair” also implies that they see a wheelchair user as a different person than the normal people. Even the statement “to choose to play with a child in the wheelchair because there's nothing wrong with a wheelchair” which was most egalitarian and humanist one among the others, include a kind of segregation. Nobody would make a distinction between the children who use bicycle and who do not, and tell that nothing wrong with a bike…

Discriminative attitude towards disabled people exist almost in every society, however the practices change across cultures. For example in Turkish society, the cultural values encourage the benevolence. But some of the disabled persons think that benevolence culture negatively affecting the disabled.

The exclusion of disabled people is a universal social problem that exists in almost every society. To produce solutions for any social problem, we first need to define it and unde rstand its real context. And to do so, we ne e d to conduct scientific researches. That is very important. During the field research the disabled people were very well aware of why we ask their opinions and their situations. However some abled people (working with/for disabled) asked why we need to conduct a research on disabled people. They stated that we should rather build ramps, place signs or support disabled in that sort of possible ways. It would be hard for a person who is abled, who

has not any disability and who suffers from

ethnocentrism, ableism and also lack of socio cultural perspective, to understand why we need to investigate and ask questions and to do scientific researches first before starting any project on a social problem. We should remark here that: it is more important to look through the eyes of the disabled person than to provide any other support for them and we should first acknowledge that disability itself is a social construction in a sense.

The socio cultural values create social identification of disabled by separating the disabled from the abled and they re-construct “the disability” in socio cultural ground, the physical barriers also produced by the society. Therefore in this respect we could see “disability” as a social construction:

“A wheelchair user is disabled when a building does not have ramp access; a deaf person is disabled if a service provider does not provide a 1 minicom for them to access that service. In this view, the ‘problem’ is not the disabled person, but the lack of appropriate goods and services” (G. Dewsbury et al.2004:148)

Despite of the technological developments, If a society does not provide those necessary changes in the goods and services such as Computers for the Blind (CFTB), textphones for deaf, and appropriate space design for disabled in everywhere and available and accessible for every disabled people, this will create a divide between abled and disabled, between disabled who has money to access those possibilities and the disabled people for whom those services and goods are not accessible.

VOLUNTEERING AND PARTICIPATION INTO THE SOCIETY: Volunteering has an important part in the inclusion of the disabled people into society.

Volunteering can play 2 roles in two different contexts. Firstly volunteer activities by abled persons can function for the elimination of physical and social barriers for disabled. And secondly, inclusion of disabled persons

into society can be improved

through the

participation of disabled persons into volunteer actions and projects "Volunteerism is a basic expression of human relationships. It is about people’s need to participate in their societies and to feel that they matter to others. It is infused with values including solidarity, reciprocity, mutual trust, belonging and empowerment, all of which contribute significantly to the well-being of individuals, their communities and societies."

(UNDP, 2011) The volunteer actions and activities are valuable for the inclusion of the disabled, to make them feel part of their society, and equal to the abled persons.

1

Textphone, a technology for communicating through the phone by using text.

37

FIELD RESEARCH: In the framework of this program, a field research was planned by researchers from Greece. I have made some corrections on the questionnaire prepared by UEHR. Due to the delays in the project, we had to change the sampling technique to be able to complete the survey on time.

SAMPLING: 1. Sampling size The previous sample size [25 questionnaires] determined by Greek academicians was not representative. The percent of disabled people in Turkish population is 12,29 % Çiğli population is: 255718 (approx.) This numbers indicates 31428 possible disabled people living in Çiğli. Even we use a small sampling technique (which allows us to choose smaller samples) it is n=379 for N=30 000. However, due to lack of money resources allocated for the research in the project, I suggested to improve the sample size at least to 100.

2. Sampling Technique We have used “convenience sampling” the most commonly used sampling method in behavioural sciences in which researchers simply use subjects who are easy to access, and they are selected on the basis of their availability and willingness to respond (Gravetter; Forzano, 2011: 151). One of the major drawbacks for adopting this technique is: It is not a probability sampling.

However a non-probability sampling is not necessarily a biased sample:

"Although convenience sampling offers no guarantee of a representative or unbiased sample, you should not automatically conclude that this type of sampling is hopelessly flawed."

(Gravetter; Forzano, 2011: 151).

Besides, in most cases it is almost impossible to use an EPS (equal probability of selection) design. Because those designs not only require rich resources both in terms of money and time but also identification and possible access to every individual in the selection.

QUESTIONARIES: 1. Preparation of the questionnaires: Because the first questionnaire was prepared by UEHR in a different view and we did not have time to discuss and make fundamental changes on the questionnaire, when I was informed that I am also expected to write a scientific report/paper, I have prepared a small questionnaire â&#x20AC;&#x201C;mini survey- with 12 questions investigating the subject in a socio cultural perspective.. The mini survey combined with the original questionnaire and conducted on the same sample during the field research. In doing so, we gathered the data especially for this report here: a (second) scientific report in a sociological perspective within the framework of the Project Work package III, in which the data gained through the original survey also were referred.

2. Application and the Barriers: Not surprisingly, we have experienced some difficulties and barriers during the conduction of the survey. Those difficulties derived from the characteristics of the target group.

To work with and on disabled people, we started with the training of the pollsters about how to communicate with persons with different kind of disabilities, what to do and what not to do when they are working with disabled or applying the questionnaire.. Because possible barriers in the communication change according to the type of the disability, the nature of the communication would vary in accordance with whether their disability physical or mental, about to see or to hear, or to move etc.

At first participants were reluctant to speak and answer the questions, However after the purpose of the survey is explained in detail, and they are convinced how their opinions can contribute the studies on disabled people, they became more open to sharing their opinions.

39

RESEARCH FINDINGS 85 plus 12= total 97 variables were investigated during the field research. This provides a rich data and information resource on disabled people through publication of the reports for the access of people who are interested in the subject…

1. DEMOGRAPHICS We have demographic variables in the survey including

GENDER, AGE,

MARITAL STATUS, EDUCATION and EMPLOYMENT.

GENDER: Most of the participants were male. The sample consisted of 65% male and 35% female respondents (see Figure 1) As explained hereinabove, the sampling technique of the research was not a random one. The logic of the convenience sampling is based on inclusion of the people who are convenient. According to the Population and Housing Research PHR by TÜİK in 2011, for the population aged 15 years and over in Turkey, labor force participation rate is 47.5%, this rate was69.2% for men and 25.9% for women. This statistics demonstrates that the proportion of women who participated in the labor force is only one-third of men. The majority of Turkish women are unemployed and housewives who less willing to participate public actionsorganizations. Because we found the participants through the disabled association, this difference in the number of surveyed according to gender might be reflection of this situation and that men were more convenient to participate…

Figure 1: Gender

Male

35% Female

65%

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

AGE: There was no significant difference in the number of participants according to their age groups. Because we have enough participants from every age group, it enabled us to make comparisons in other variables according to variable age (see Figure 2; Age). However no distinctive difference was found according to age for any dependant variable of the survey as marital status).

MARITAL STATUS: 46% of the participants are married, 38% single-never married, 14% widowed and 2% was divorced (see Figure 3).

Not surprisingly, the cross-tabulation below reveals the relationship between age and marital status. Single participants are generally below the age of 35. However if we have researched the abled people, we would probably see the same or similar picture. Because our society has changed and the marriage age is not low -especially in urban areas- as in the past.. Considering this cross tabulation we can conclude that there is not clear indication of any experienced handicap for disabled to get married. (see Table1) 41

Figure 3: Marital status

14% 46% Widowed Single

38%

Divorced Married

2

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

AGE X MARITAL STATUS CROSSTABULATION

TABLE 1

MARITAL STATUS ACCORDING TO AGE Count

Single- never married

Married

Divorced

18-25

11

1

0

0

12

26-35

15

3

0

0

18

36-45

9

14

1

0

24

46-55

2

9

1

3

16

56-65

1

12

0

3

16

65+

0

7

0

8

15

TOTAL

38

46

2

14

100

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

EDUCATION: Majority of the participants (total 59%) have an education level of graduation from primary school or below. This result indicates the handicap of disabled people to have regular education (see Figure 4).

EMPLOYMENT: The majority of the respondents (73%) do not have a paid job currently. This result highlighted the unemployment problem among the disabled persons in Turkey (see figure 5).

Current Employment

Q=Do you have a paid job currently?

Figure 5

27% No Yes 73%

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

43

2. BEING DISABLED: TYPE OF DISABILITY: Some types of disabilities are visible whereas the other types are not apparent. The type of disability has a great importance on inclusion of the persons or societal reaction to them (Darling, 2013).The majority of the participants 58% has a disability in the physical disability group (see Figure 6).

DEFINING ONE´S SELF AS DISABLED: Having read definition of disabled by WHO2, 61% assessed themselves as disabled whereas 39% did not. This indicates a kind of rejection to be classified and identified as disabled. (see Figure 7).

Their answers for the question: “if they consider themselves as disabled” were compared for different disability groups. The lowest percent who considered themselves as disabled was of mental health difficulty group ((46,67%) and the highest percent was of progressive disabilities. (see Table 2)

Figure 7: Self assenment on to be disabled.

Yes No

Q=Do consider yourself to be disabled? n=100

39%

61%

Self consideration of Disabled According to Disability Type

Table 2

DISABILITY X SELF CONSIDERATION OF DISABLED- CROSSTABULATION CONSIDERING ONE’S SELF DISABLED Count Percent Blind-partially sighted Deaf-hearing impairment DISABILITY

Orthopedically- Mobility (physical disability) Mental health difficulty Learning disability-difficulty Progressive disability Other

16

59,26

8

57,14

39

67,24

7

46,67

6

85,71

4

80,00

24

66,67

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

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DISABLED SINCE BIRTH/AFTER BIRTH: There is very important difference between a person who has disability since birth and a person who has become disabled after birth. The former would have no experience of how was not to have a disability, whereas the latter would have remembrance of the times she or he has no disability. Considering this difference we have asked them if their disability is since birth or they become disabled after birth: In doing so, we could compare their answers with the other variables. The results showed that 71 percent of them have become disabled after birth. (see Figure 8).

Figure 8: Disabled since birth/after birth Inborn

Q=Your disability is inborn or after birth?

After birth

n=100

29%

71%

Figure 9: Change the opinions of disabled

No idea No, totally the same

Q=After becoming disabled, do your thougths of disabled changed? n=100

Yes changed

10%

Inborn disabled

29% 32%

29%

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

TABLE 3. SEX x CHANGE IN THE OPINIONS ABOUT DISABLED CHANGE IN THE OPINIONSABOUT DISABLED No idea Male

No, the same

TOTAL

3

17

25

45

6,7%

37,8%

55,6%

100,0%

30,0%

58,6%

78,1%

63,4%

7

12

7

26

Row%

26,9%

46,2%

26,9%

100,0%

Column%

70,0%

41,4%

21,9%

36,6%

TOTAL

10

29

32

71

Row%

14,1%

40,8%

45,1%

100,0%

Column%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Row% Column% SEX

Yes changed

Female

n=100

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

41% of participants who become disabled after-birth stated that their opinions of disabled have changed. However, their explanations were different: Some of the participants spoke of a change referring increased consciousness for the issues related to disabled people. Some answers implied regret from their previous attitudes towards disabled such as showing pity/feeling sorry for disabled, to belittle to them or believing that they are second class members of the society The answers for the question “if their opinions of disabled have changed” were compared for the gender groups. The results showed statistical difference between the answers of the females and that of males (see Table 3).

This difference indicates that after they become disabled, compared to the males the female participants’ opinions about disabled have changed more.

3. REMEMBERING THEIR ATTITUDES BEFORE BECOMING A DISABLED: I have also prepared some questions derived from their complaints in the pilot study.

They have complained about not to be preferred to marry, employ and about general public not to care or think about the problems of disabled persons. So the questions related to these issues are added to the mini survey to create awareness about those problems which are related to exclusion of disabled people and also to expose the connection between awareness of the issues and having any disability. We asked before they become disabled if they think they would marry or they would employ a disabled person and if they have ever thought of the disabled people.. The results were surprising but noteworthy.

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TO MARRY A PERSON WITH DISABILITY: When we asked the participants who have become disabled after birth that “Before they became disabled (if they were single) do they believe they could think to marry a disabled person?” 38% stated that they certainly believe so. However, 15% stated that honestly responding their answer is "no". (See Figure 10).

The answers for the question “before they become disabled if they would think to marry a disabled person” were compared for the gender groups. Although the results showed no statistically meaningful difference between the answers of different genders, there is an apparent difference in the answers of the females and the males. (see Table 4). This difference indicates that after they become disabled, compared to the males the female participants’ opinions about disabled have changed more.

TABLE 4: THINK TO EMPLOY A DISABLED PERSON ACCORDING TO GENDER SEX x MARRY A DISABLED PERSON-CROSSTABULATION

n=100

CHANGE IN THE OPINIONSABOUT DISABLED Yes certainly

TOTAL

No

39

3

3

1

46

Row%

84,8%

6,5%

6,5%

2,2%

100,0%

Column%

69,6%

42,9%

100%

16,7%

63,9%

17

4

0

5

26

Row%

65,4%

15,4%

,0%

19,2%

100%

Column%

30,4%

57,1%

,0%

83,3%

36,1%

TOTAL

56

7

3

6

72

Row%

77,8%

9,7%

4,2%

8,3%

100,0%

Column%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Male

SEX

I do not know

Yes may be

Female

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

TO THINK ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE: We asked “Before they became disabled, if they have ever thought about the disabled people?” According to the responses to this question:

33% often, 31% sometimes,

8% rarely, but 11% never have thought about disabled persons (see Figure 11).

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The answers for the question “before they become disabled if they ever thought of disabled people” were compared for the gender groups. Although the results showed no statistically meaningful difference between the answers of different genders, there is an apparent difference in the answers of the females and the males (see Table 5).

TABLE 5: TO THINK TO ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE ACCORDING TO GENDER SEX x TO THINK ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE-CROSSTABULATION

n=100

TO THINK ABOUT DISABLED PEOPLE Rarely

13

18

4

7

4

46

28,3%

39,1%

8,7%

15,2%

8,7%

100,0%

54,2

81,8%

66,7%

87,5%

33,3%

63,9%

11

4

2

1

8

26

Row%

42,3%

15,4%

7,7%

3,8%

30,8%

100%

Column%

45,8%

18,2%

33,3%

12,5%

66,7%

36,1%

TOTAL

24

22

6

8

12

72

Row%

33,3%

30,6%

8,3%

11,1%

16,7%

100,0%

Column%

100%

100%

Row% Column% SEX

TOTAL

Sometimes

Male

Female

Never

I don't know

Often

100%

100%

EuropAid/SMVP-IDP500 Scientific Report by G. Ege, 2014

This difference indicates that before they become disabled, female participants more often thought about disabled people.

4. EFFECTS OF THE BENEVOLENCE CULTURE IN TURKEY We have asked questions on relation between social-cultural structure of Turkish society and its effects on the disabled. An attitude scale is used in this part of the survey. Results showed that:

77% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: The traditional structure (in Turkish society) encouraging benevolence helps disabled people to get support from society members.

58% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: It prevents disabled people develop self-confidence while leading them to get support.”

64% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: “It compensates the lack of institutional services and regulations”.

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52% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: “It delays the development of institutional services and regulations by taking their place”.

51% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: “In our society traditional and social values have a discriminative character that reinforces the prejudices about disabled persons”.

50% (PARTLY OR COMPLETELY) THINK THAT: “In our society traditional and social values have egalitarian character that reduces the prejudices about disabled persons”.

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5. PARTICIPATION: We investigated how frequent they attended to some activities in the past year (Figure 18). Highest frequency belongs to â&#x20AC;&#x153;shoppingâ&#x20AC;? and lowest frequencies were of protests and political actions.

87% of the Respondents who participated to a volunteer activity declared that the experience made them feel a more active part of their society. This result itself indicates the importance of participation in volunteer activities for the inclusion of disabled (Figure 19).

6. CONCLUSION-SUGGESTIONS: When we combine all the information we gained through our observations during the field research, conversations with disabled people and the both of the surveys, we conclude that we have long way to go:  No measure should be taken without the evaluations o f the professionals from related disciplines.  Those disciplines are not only of the city planners, trainers, or project experts but also of social sciences (sociology, psychology, anthropology etc.)  Special programs should be organized for eliminating social barriers of disabled not only for disabled people but also for abled people,  Scientific researches needed for understanding of the real situation of disabled people and of their problems. The researches should to be published for the access of people who are interested in reading.  Governments and local governments need not only to focus on space designs (audible, visual signs or building ramps etc.) but also on elimination of prejudices and social barriers. And they need to get support from social scientists.  We need to change even the discourse on disabled people which includes high level of ableism and not help for the solution of the problems, but lead them to get worse.

And we have to change the approaches in the studies of this kind. We first should eliminate discrimination of the disabled. People who work for disabled even are not aware that some of their attitudes contain discrimination to some degree. The people who are suffering from divisions and inequalities such as women, elderly, disabled or poor need to be cared and to be treated as equal rather than to be felt sorry for. And most importantly any study or practice on disabled persons should not focus on what a person is incapable of doing something, instead they should focus on what a person is capable of doing other things.

55

57

Educational Guide

The specific Educational Guide has been produced as a material with guidelines for interactive learning, inclusive volunteerism and active participation of disabled people. It has been formed through the program EuropeAid and through the trainings which have been realized in the framework of EuropeAid, in order to help disabled to get involved actively in the local society and get familiarized with volunteering activities.

EuropeAid program addressed to people with disabilities living in Cigli Municipality, Izmir, Turkey and had duration of one year (15/08/2013-15/08/2014). The core purpose of this project is the inclusion of people with disabilities into local society and the shift of the traditional perception of the latter from passive recipients of social activities to active contributors to the local level. The project “Special MVP” proposes activities with the active participation of people with disabilities as well as local stakeholders in the context “Nothing about us without us”.

The program has been established in three pillars: 1) Develop inclusive VOLUNTEERISM, namely volunteerism accessible to everyone without discrimination on the grounds of disability.

2) Increase of PARTICIPATION of people with disabilities in vocational training/non formalexperiential learning.

3) Improvement of accessibility in every type of activity, including international MOBILITY projects.

ULTIMATE RECIPIENTS: 

Disabled people,



Family and Social Environment,



Local community/national, local authorities and



Civil Organizations / NGO’S

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OBJECTIVES OF THIS MATERIAL: 1) Provide trainers and organizations for disabled, with guidelines and theoretical background for educational activities.

2) Create a base for further development of non formal activities and experiential learning.

3) Promotion of volunteerism and make people eager to create participatory communities without discrimination, based on volunteerism and encouragement.

The hereby manual is divided into 3 parts/Chapters. The first one describes the relation between volunteerism, disabilities and the mentality which is the dominant related to this issue.

Moreover, we quote some ways in order to raise the awareness local environment and foster the contribution in this endeavor, in a more practical manner.

The second part describes analytically the role of non formal education (main differences between formal and non formal education), games, methodology, working tools, challenges and the positive impact which has in the enhancement of their daily lives. In addition to this, you can find some tips and counseling from the trainer of Europe Aid. In the last part, we can find witnesses of disabled people, of stakeholders who participated. They gave their response in two questions:

1) Did their participation in the trainings encourage their further/successful involvement?

2) Which are their expectations for the future?

Resource: http://www.theguardian.com/voluntary-sector-network/2013/aug/14/disabilities-difficult-volunteering-roles

Is it possible and if yes, wich is the proper way?

What does actually mean Volunteerism?

Volunteering motivates people to help others and to develop independence, becoming the givers not the receivers of care, and becoming active participants, not excluded from opportunities.

As a volunteer you feel more independent, with more self esteem, confidence and doing more things yourself, without external help. You'll also meet and socialize with other people in your community. Volunteering is a great way to create new social relationships, increase interpersonal skills, and do wonders for confidence levels!

How can volunteering help people with disabilities?

Definition of disability and parameters: The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act Defines a disabled person as anyone with ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect upon his ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/50/contents) (http://www.volunteering.org.uk/component/gpb/disabled-people)

In this section, a person with a disability is defined as someone who has a substantially reduced capability to communicate, socialize, learn and travel, and is continually in need of support services. Disability refers to something which is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment or a combination of those impairments which is permanent or likely to be permanent.

Disability covers a wide spectrum of Physical impairments (difficulties in moving parts of the body) including:  Sensory impairments (hearing or sight)  Communication difficulties (speech impairments)  Learning difficulties (for example Autism, Down’s Syndrome)  Mental health issues (eg. depression, schizophrenia)

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People with a disability are often thought about in terms of what they cannot do. For people with a disability, volunteering can be a manner which simplifies the involvement in the community. In some (rare) occasions, it can also lead to paid employment, confidence, friendship and enjoyment.

Barriers to volunteering There are extremely limited opportunities for people with a disability to volunteer. This can be due to barriers such as awareness and understanding in the wider community (especially in societies where people are not tolerant towards the diversity and they still reinforce stereotypes), access to transport and people with disabilities seeing themselves as recipients of volunteering rather than volunteers themselves. (http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/142/over3.html)

Common myths and issues of people with disabilities volunteering include: Barriers to involving disabled people in volunteering.

Lack of understanding around what a person with a disability can contribute to volunteering.

Traditional attitudes of people with a disability doing 'light work'.

Concerns that a person with a disability will not be as reliable because of poor health.

Organizations unable to provide flexible work arrangements, physical access and provision of equipment.

Stakeholders need disability awareness training in relation to communication, etiquette and language. This is particularly important if various barriers exist. Addressing barriers to volunteering for disabled people is not as complicated as some organizations assume. Good awareness training, staff attitudes, mentoring systems and accessibility into buildings, toilets and social rooms is all it takes.

Of course, like everyone, people with disabilities have individual barriers that they have to overcome. It is important to consult with the volunteers and work together to identify and overcome obstacles.

Social Inclusion, Community Membership Volunteer service has the power to contribute to the vitality of communities, countries, and people around the world. It also has the power to transform volunteers in the process, leading to increased confidence, a strong sense of personal accomplishment, new professional aspirations, and more. International volunteerism can be a particularly empowering experience for people with disabilities who traditionally have been recipients – not providers – of volunteer service. Like all volunteers, those with disabilities bring a unique knowledge and skill set to any program or project. Volunteers with disabilities also help dispel stereotypes and change perceptions about what people with disabilities can and cannot do in countries and communities with fewer opportunities than the United States. In return, volunteers with disabilities, as well as their fellow volunteers without disabilities, can gain insight into their own culturally based perceptions of disability through the lens provided by interactions and experiences in a different culture. Given the social isolation of many people with disabilities, volunteering is important and one of the most useful manners for really getting to know other community members. The social lives of many people with disabilities often consist of “activities” and “outings” such as shopping or attending movies, without genuine opportunities to get to know others.

While efforts to promote volunteerism should never displace finding jobs and increasing the income of people with disabilities, many people with limitations in their abilities and vocational opportunities will not have the chance to befriend others through work; volunteering can provide powerful alternatives.

Working with people who have a disability People with developmental disabilities often are on the receiving end of contribution.

People without disabilities often report getting a great deal of satisfaction from volunteering for people with disabilities. When people with disabilities themselves have the opportunity to volunteer, they can receive those same benefits. The more opportunity they have to give, to contribute to others, the more personal satisfaction is possible.

Developing Skills Volunteering provides many opportunities to learn and to practice skills that can be useful in all sectors of their life

Status and Reputation In any city or town in the country, examine the lives of the people considered the leading citizens. Almost invariably, everyone is involved in some form of volunteering. Actors and actresses, politicians, and corporate executives receive huge acknowledgment and recognition for their “charity work,” the benefits they put on or attend, the work they do for a vast array of groups, and many for their own foundations. For individuals who have historically been in the

63

most socially devalued roles, their volunteering can serve to shift their own view of themselves, as well as their community’s and the entire cultural view of people with disabilities.

In this section, a person with a disability is defined as someone who has a substantially reduced capability to communicate, socialize, learn and travel, and is continually in need of support services. Disability refers to something which is attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, cognitive, neurological, sensory or physical impairment or a combination of those impairments which is permanent or likely to be permanent.

Win - Win Scenarios - Bonds between Community and Disabled under the framework of Volunteerism.

Inclusive Volunteering: People, Family, and Community Perspectives Communities are strengthened when the assets of every citizen are recognized, utilized, and valued. Inclusive volunteering (i.e., the engagement of volunteers with and without disabilities) capitalizes on the assets of community members who traditionally have not been sought out. However, when individuals of diverse abilities are supported appropriately, these barriers

can

be

successfully

overcome

and

a

win-win

scenario

realized.

(http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/volunteering)

Tips for attracting people with a disability. 

Build relationships and partnerships with community groups that involve people with a disability.



Promote volunteering in ways that include people with a disability.

Consider advertising in publications that target people with a disability.



Mention in your advertising that people with a disability are welcomed as volunteers.



Be clear and consistent about the volunteer’s role and responsibility to the organization.

(http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/resources/communityservices/volunteering/documents/recruitingvolunteers.pdf)

Non Formal Learning (NFE) Interactive games Experiential Learning

Description – Methodology – Tools – Targets: According to the Quality Assurance of Non Formal Education (written by European Youth Forum Working Group on Non Formal Education, with the support of European Commission and the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe), NFE is an organized educational process that gives people the possibility to develop their values, skills and competences other that the ones gained in the framework of formal educational system. Those skills include a wide range of competences such as interpersonal, team, organizational and conflict management, intercultural awareness, leadership, planning, self-confidence and responsibility.

65

What is special about NFE? Individuals participants are the actors actively involved in the education/learning process.

The methods used aim to give people the tools to further develop their skills and attitudes.

Learning is an ongoing process. One of the crucial features is LEARNING BY DOING. Non formal does not imply unstructured, rather, it refers to the fact that the process of non formal learning is shared and designed in such a way that it creates an environment in which the learner is the architect of the skills development and influence the learning process.

Nonformal education is instruction that is not obligatory and structured and is learned outside the context of a formal school. The term is often used in reference to adult education.

Nonformal education includes any organized educational activity outside the established formal system- whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity that is intended to serve identifiable learning clienteles and learning objectives.

This education is called nonformal because: 

It is not compulsory



It does not lead to a formal certification, and



It may or may not be state-supported.

Inclusion is regarded as a wider concept and focuses on the changes needed within society to end the exclusion of certain groups so that all citizens are accorded full human rights and equal status. For education, inclusion implies the need for changes in every aspect of the education system to create environments where all who wish to do so can learn.

Prerequisites for using Non formal learning tools If each learner has a different learning style, then how can we facilitate the learning of all these people? In this paragraph, we try to find effective ways to respond to the different needs of each learner through the active participation of all learners, without exception. Specifically, all the workers, facilitators, trainers have to consider the following: 

Understanding the learners and determine their needs.



Before starting the teaching-learning sessions, trainers have to look around to see whether their centre is a comfortable place for learners to come.



Active learning: If we just stand up in front of people and give them information, we do not know whether they are interested in or have understood what we said. Learners have to actively participate in order to satisfy their learning needs.

Europe Aid and Non Formal Learning An inclusion strategy requires not only actions for the preparation of society to include disability within its activities; it is also indispensable that the disabled acquire the necessary preparation to undertake their active role in the society. The training of individuals with disabilities took place in Izmir. Therefore, it has been organized a training addressed to 30 people with disabilities in Cigli Municipality in order to cultivate their digital competences, their communication skills in foreign languages (English) and their social and civic competences.

Methodology: The method used was peer-to-peer, experiential and mutual learning (mainly, role playing games). During the specific training, trainees participated in interactive games, worked in mixed ability groups for the development of voluntary activities in the parks, became familiar with internet research and paid visits to parks and historical monuments.

Objective: The objective of this training was to provide people with disabilities with all the necessary skills in order for them to get included actively in CSOs or organize activities on their own (voluntary and educational activities).

Which are the expected results?

The participants of the training cultivated the managerial skills necessary for the management of a voluntary or educational activity and therefore became actively involved in local voluntary activities. One of the unique points of this training was the empowerment of the self-esteem of people with disabilities to talk in public, defend their opinions and carry out activities independently.

List of games: Planetbook Orange game Blinded Castles and knights Palermo

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Number of participants: 18 Mixed ability group Planetbook is the first board game about the environment, created by KEAN – Cell of Alternative Youth Activities (coordinator of EuropeAid). There are 700 knowledge questions about the environmental issues of our planet, the NGO’s for its protection and Nature’s four basic elements (Earth, Air, Water and Fire). By participating in the game the players get to know and care for the world that surrounds us as well as they acknowledge the responsibility we all have as parts of it.

The board game is divided into three zones: Grey zone- pollution and indifference.

Questions and facts Questions and facts of the Earth’s disasters are raised -Green zone – hope and participation. Respected environmental organizations, such as GreenPeace, WWF and BirdLife Europe, are referred -Saving the planet zone. The player that will succeed in climbing up the “tree of salvation”, will be able to collect Earth’s pieces (pieces of a puzzle of the Earth’s image) and therefore, make a better world out of them! GreenPeace, WWF and BirdLife, as well as four Greek NGO’s (Archelon, Pandoiko, MedSOS, EvropaikiEkfrasi) have provided for Planetbook’s scientific validity by supplying the information used.

Planetbook is created

in

a U.S.-International version, including

700

educational questions about the environment and climate changes focusing on environmental issues in the United States and the world.

The team is divided in two groups. Each group supports its opinion, which is the opposite of the other team’s opinion. No matter what their real opinion is, they have to defend their group’s opinion.

The team played this game three times per day under three different topics: 1)

Rights of Women and Men – Equal or Not?

2)

Animals – Should we have them as pets or not?

3)

Do disabled people have the same rights as normal’?

In the middle of the game, the trainer may ask them to change teams.

Objective: They develop the sense of hearing and can understand better, but also help people with hearing problems.

Players work in two and create a sound that expresses them the most. The one of two players gets out of the room and closes his/ her eyes. The other player stands still in the room and makes the sound of the team. The players who have closed their eyes need to understand where the sound of their team is coming from, come closer to the other player until they touch him.

BLINDED PATH Purpose of the game: 1) Take full advantage of their senses except of their vision and the perception of the space.

2) Understand people with vision problems.

3) Develop trust between people with and without vision problems.

HOW IS THE GAME PLAYED? The participants create a line, touching each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoulders. The first in line is the trainer, having his eyes open. The participants close their eyes, losing in this way their sense of sight. They are walking around really slowly, while the trainer gives them instructions on the tough parts of the path turns, etc).

There is one coordinator and one informant. The rest of the participants play the role of the murderers or the citizens.

The proportion of murderers-total number of players is 1 to 4, namely: 8-11 people: 2 murderers 12-15 people: 3 murderers 16-19 people: 4 murderers Etc The murderers- who are the minority-know each other, while the citizens- who are the majority- donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know each other. Each team wants to destroy the other team. The informant belongs to the group of citizens but also knows the killers. His goal is to guide the citizens to kill the murderers without revealing his identity and becoming their next victim.

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At the beginning of the game the coordinator gives cards to each participant. Depending on the card each one receives, s/he undertakes the role of the citizen, the murderer or the informant. Nobody can reveal his/her identity.

Each round of the game is divided in two phases; the day and the night. During the day, the players accuse each other and try to reveal who are the murderers. At the end of the day, players vote and whoever gathers the most votes (accused of being the murderer), “dies”. When the night falls, all players close their eyes. The murderers open their eyes and after deciding together without making noise, they kill one of the remaining players. After that, the day comes again, with one player less. Each player who gets out of the game reveals its identity and stops participating.

OBJECTIVE OF THE ACTIVITY: Participants learnt how to work in a team but also how to defend themselves but also their opinions and ideas. The aim of the game is to make participants develop a strategy that they will follow until the end of the game.

CONCLUSIONS: In order to achieve your goals, you have to develop a strategy and make use of convincing arguments. For every type of activity you want to develop, you need to have an argument and be able to convince others to follow you.

Participants: 9+1 or 12+1 or 15+1 A cluster of a castle and a knight is created per 3 persons. The two persons hold hands (and create a castle) and between them there is the knight. The player who does not belong to any team says ‘Castle or Knight’. If he/she says ‘Knight’, the players who are between the castle go out and try to find another castle to get in. If he/she says ‘Castle’, the castle is destroyed and the players need to find another player and create a new castle in the place of knight.

Objective: This is s speed/reflection game. Players need to act quickly but also need to have a strategy. This game cultivates team work, speed and makes players create their own strategy.

Outcomes:

Through this participatory game, participants worked as part of team, working

under the same cause. They were introduced to the concept of successful and unsuccessful strategy.

Learning Internet Research Research for their town/landhome No of the participants: 10

The trainees were divided into groups and conducted web research on the history of their Municipality, on the local parks and collected photos which reflect the beauties of their town. In the end of the research, one member of each team, made a presentation.

By this activity, trainees learn how to use PC in order to conduct research, to browse internet, to work in a mixed team. They have also learnt how to use other programs, they cultivated their communication and presentation skills through their public presentations and they saw the outcomes of their personal/team work.

Education Non Formal, informal

Formal

Invisible Learning

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The importance of visits to Parks: Learning the types of parks (urban, suburban, local, supralocal, small sized, medium sized, thematic, etc) Learning how to distinguish the various types and how to take advantage of their special features for future activities Activities inside the parks. For instance, Picnic, Cleaning, Tours, Painting, Educational Visits for Schools and tourists.

Using the gym equipment (if exists), as everybody else does.

Playing games of awareness on the environment and the disabled.

Elaboration on the flora and fauna.

Coming in touch with animals.

Five reasons to spend your time in nature: 2010 a version of the Harvard Health Letter publishing five good reasons to go out and spend your time in nature: 1.

The levels of vitamin D increase. Sunlight when reflecting on the skin initiates a process that leads to the creation and activation of vitamin D. Studies show that this vitamin helps fight under certain conditions , osteoporosis , cancer, depression and heart disease . The limited sun exposure (without exaggeration), can support supplement pills if necessary.

2.

Become more active. If you put aim to go out , this will automatically mean less time watching TV and sitting in front of the computer and more time in activities that put your body in motion .

3.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re happier. The sunlight tends to improve people's mood, given that usually there is more light available outside the home rather than inside it . Physical activity has been shown to help people relax and improve their disposal, which means more smiles.

4.

It will improve your concentration. Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit blaring Hyperactivity) seem to concentrate better after outdoor activities. It could also be an example that applies to adults.

5.

You can heal faster. According to a study, people who recovered after surgery had less pain and stress and took fewer pain medications when they were exposed to natural light. An earlier study showed that the view from the window (trees against a brick wall), helped in recovery at the hospital.

Behavior rules in a park 1-04 Prohibited Uses: 1. Destruction or Abuse of Property and Equipment No person shall injure, deface, alter, write upon, destroy, remove or tamper with in any way, any real or personal property or equipment owned by or under the jurisdiction or control of the Department.

2. Destruction or Abuse of Trees, Plants, Flowers, Shrubs and Grass No person shall deface, write upon, injure, sever, mutilate, kill or remove from the ground any trees under the jurisdiction of the Department without permission of the Commissioner.

No person shall deface, write upon, sever, mutilate, kill or remove from the ground any plants, flowers, shrubs or other vegetation under the jurisdiction of the Department without permission of the Commissioner.

No person shall go upon or allow any animal or child in his or her custody to go upon any newly-seeded lawn or grass plot.

No person shall go upon or allow any animal or child in his or her custody to go upon any area enclosed by fencing, temporary or permanent, where such fencing or signs posted thereon reasonably indicate that entry into such area is forbidden.

No person shall possess any tools commonly used for gardening, or any plant, tree, shrub or other vegetation, in any park except where such possession is specifically designated to be permissible by the Commissioner.

No person shall use a metal detector in any park, except in unvegetated beach areas. Use of metal detectors in other park areas will be permitted if the prior written consent of the Commissioner is obtained.

3.

Littering, Polluting, Dumping, and Unattended Property No person shall litter in any park. All persons shall use receptacles provided for the

disposal of refuse. No person shall deposit household or commercial refuse in any park receptacle.

No person shall throw, drop, allow to fall, or discharge into or leave in the waters within any park (including pools and bathing areas), or any tributary, brook, stream, sewer or drain flowing into said waters, any substance, liquid or solid, which may or will result in the pollution of said waters.

No person shall engage in dumping in any park.

No person shall, within or adjacent to any park, store or leave unattended personal belongings.

73

4. Restrictions on Glass The Commissioner may, in his or her discretion, designate certain parks, or portions thereof, as restricted areas wherein no glass bottles or other glass containers will be permitted.

Failure to comply with such restrictions shall constitute a violation of these rules. This subdivision (d) shall not apply to glass bottles or containers used in the care and feeding of infant children.

5. Aviation No person shall voluntarily bring, land or cause to alight within or upon any park, any airplane, balloon, parachute, hang glider, or other aerial device, except that certain areas may be designated appropriate landing places for medical evacuation helicopters. For the purposes of this subdivision (e), voluntarily shall mean anything other than a forced landing caused by mechanical or structural failure of the aircraft or other aerial device.

6. Explosives, Firearms and Weapons No person, except a police officer or peace officer while on duty, shall bring into or have in his or her possession in any park, any firearms, slingshots, firecrackers, missile propelling instruments or explosives, including any substance, compound, or mixture having properties of such a character that alone or in combination with other substances, compounds or mixtures, propel missiles, explode or decompose to produce flames, combustion, noise, or noxious or dangerous odors. Nothing in this subdivision (f) shall be construed to prohibit the proper use of cigarette lighters, matches or of charcoal lighter fluid in proper containers in picnic grills where permissible pursuant to the provisions of these Rules.

7. Abuse of Park Animals No person shall within any park (including any zoo area) molest, chase, wound, trap, hunt, shoot, throw missiles at, kill or remove any animal, any nest, or the eggs of any amphibian, reptile or bird; or knowingly buy, receive, have in his or her possession, sell or give away any such animal or egg taken from or killed within any park (including any zoo area).

No person shall feed animals in any park (including any zoo area) except unconfined squirrels and birds, and where specifically authorized by the Commissioner. The Commissioner may also designate certain areas where all feeding of animals is prohibited. It shall be a violation of these rules to feed animals in any area where such feeding is prohibited.

8. Marijuana; Controlled Substances No person shall bring, possess, distribute, sell, solicit or consume marijuana or any controlled substance, as defined in ยง220.00 of the New York State Penal Law, in any park, playground, beach, swimming pool, or other park property or facility.

9. Failure to Control Animals Except as specified in §1-05(s)(3) or in paragraph two of this subdivision, no person owning, possessing or controlling any animal shall cause or allow such animal to be unleashed or unrestrained in any park unless permitted by the Commissioner in accordance with these rules.

No person owning, possessing or controlling any animal shall cause or allow such animal to be out of control in any park under any circumstances. Animals that are unleashed or unrestrained, except as permitted by these rules, or out of control may be seized and impounded. Properly licensed dogs, wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York and restrained by a leash or other restraint not exceeding six feet in length, may be brought into a park, except in no event shall dogs or other animals be allowed to enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner and not during the designated bathing season), bridle path (unless leashed dogs are permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ballfield, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner. Nothing in this subdivision (i) shall be construed to prohibit persons with disabilities from bringing seeing eye dogs, or other service dogs trained to assist such persons into these areas. Nothing herein shall prohibit horses from entering or being within a park as provided in § 1-05(q).

Unless specifically prohibited herein or by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH"), properly licensed dogs wearing a license tag and vaccinated against rabies pursuant to the laws of the State of New York and City of New York may be unleashed within a designated park or designated portions of a park between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. under the following conditions: such dogs shall, except for being unleashed, be kept under the control of their owner and shall not at any time harass or injure any park patron and/or, harass, injure, damage, sever, mutilate, or kill any animal, tree, planting, flower, shrub or other vegetation; such dogs shall not at any time enter any playground, zoo, swimming pool and swimming pool facility, bathing area and adjacent bathing beach (unless otherwise permitted by the Commissioner and not during the designated bathing season), bridle path (unless leashed dogs are permitted therein by the Commissioner), fountain, ball-field, basketball court, handball court, tennis court, or other area prohibited by the Commissioner; such dogs shall be immediately leashed by their owners upon any direction or command of any Police Officer, Urban Park Ranger, Parks Enforcement Patrol Officer or other Department employee or employee of the DOHMH, the refusal of which direction or command shall constitute a violation of § 1-03(c); owners of such dogs shall provide proof of current vaccination against rabies and proof of current licensing upon the request of any Police Officer, Urban Park Ranger, Parks Enforcement Patrol Officer or other Department employee or employee of the DOHMH, the refusal of which shall constitute a violation of § 1-03(c), § 1-05(s)(3) and of this subdivision.

75

10. Control and Removal of Animal Waste No person shall allow any dog in his custody or control to discharge any fecal matter in any park unless he promptly removes and disposes of same. This provision shall not apply to a guide dog accompanying a person with a disability.

Anyone who drives a horse-drawn carriage into or within a park is required to equip it with horse hampers, horse diapers or some other similar manure catching device which is effective in preventing manure from being deposited on any park street, road or way.

11. Urination and Defecation in Parks No person shall urinate or defecate in any Park, or in or upon any park building, monument or structure, except in a facility which is specifically designed for such purpose.

12. Disorderly Behavior It shall be a violation of these rules to engage in disorderly behavior in a park. A person in any park shall be guilty of disorderly behavior who: enters or leaves any park except by designated entrance ways or exits, or enters or attempts to enter any facility, area or building sealed, locked or otherwise restricted from public access; or Climbs upon any wall, fence, shelter, tree, shrub, fountain or other vegetation, or any structure or statue not specifically intended for climbing purposes; or Gains or attempts to gain admittance to the facilities in any park for the use of which charge is made without paying such charge; or Engages in any form of gambling or game of chance for money, or tells fortunes for money; or Interferes with, encumbers, obstructs or renders dangerous any part of a park or park road; Obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or Engages in fighting or assaults any person; or Engages in a course of conduct or commits acts that unreasonably alarm or seriously annoy another person; or Engages in any form of sexual activity; or Engages in a course of conduct or commits acts that endanger the safety of others.

13. Loitering for Illegal Purposes It shall be a violation of these rules to engage in loitering for illegal purposes in a park.

Any person in any park shall be guilty of loitering for illegal purposes who: Loiters or remains in a park for the purpose of engaging, or soliciting another person to engage, in sexual activity for money; or Loiters or remains in any park with one or more persons for the purpose of unlawfully using, possessing, purchasing, distributing, selling or soliciting marijuana, alcohol or any controlled substance, as defined in ยง220.00 of the New York State Penal Law.

14. Unlawful exposure It shall be a violation of these rules to appear in public on property under the jurisdiction of the Department in such a manner that one's genitalia are unclothed or exposed.

15. Obstruction of sitting areas No person shall use a bench or other sitting area so as to interfere with its use by other persons, including storing any materials thereon.

16. Unlawful camping No person shall engage in camping, or erect or maintain a tent, shelter, or camp in any park without a permit.

17. Unlawful spitting It shall be unlawful for any person to spit or expectorate in or upon any park building, monument or structure.

18. Unhygienic use of fountains, pools, and water No person shall use, or permit any animal under his or her control to use, any water fountain, drinking fountain, pool, sprinklers, reservoir, lake or any other water contained in the park for the purpose of washing or cleaning himself or herself, his or her clothing or other personal belongings. This subdivision shall not apply to those areas within the parks which are specifically designated for personal hygiene purposes (i.e., bathroom, shower room, etc.), provided, however, that no person shall wash his or her clothes or personal belongings in such areas.

19. Unlawful solicitation No person shall engage in any commercial activity or commercial speech in any park, except pursuant to a permit issued under ยง1-03(b) and/or ยง2-08 of these Rules.

No person shall solicit money or other property from persons not known to such person in any park, unless such person possesses a permit for noncommercial solicitation issued by the Commissioner.

77

We came in contact with a limited number of participants of these trainings. Initially, we managed to communicate with non disabled people who participated in mixed ability groups.

We asked them to give us answers in the following two questions:

1. How was your experience of participating in this kind of training? Did you see any change in your perception towards disabled people?

2. Would you like to participate again?

1ST PARTICIPANT: Firstly it was great for me to gain awareness about the disabled people. For example one of the disabled volunteer said that he experienced adversities in the ATM.I never thought of that before I participated to this project. Maybe I ignored this issue before but now I'm really careful about providing necessary help to these people and defend their rights.

Secondly it would be great to participate again. Besides discovering about disabled people, our trainer attributed so many characteristics to this project.

Thanks to him and to the game of KEAN that we played, I've learned lots about the environment.

2ND PARTICIPANT: I have to say that we all had a great time with volunteers and disabled people.

First of all we were kind of shy to talk to them, because we tried to avoid some words that may hurt their feelings. Then they made the first step, and things got easier and entertaining for all of us.

I can assure you that we all changed our perspective towards disabled people and we are ready to help them in any circumstances. And lastly I would like very much to participate in this kind of training again:)

79

Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, Participation

This report was prepared for the project â&#x20AC;&#x153;Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, Participationâ&#x20AC;? in the context of the Development and Cooperation-EuropeAid Program, funded by the European Commission and the government of Turkey.

81

N.G.O.CIVIS PLUS 28, Vasileos Georgiou Av. 11 635, Athens Tel: +30 211 012 14 41-42 Fax: +30 211 012 14 43 E-mail:info@civisplus.gr www.civisplus.gr ŠN.G.O. CIVIS PLUS Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged

NGO CIVIS PLUS WORKING PACKAGE 4

ΤHE IMPORTANCE OF THIS DATABASE This database has been created through internet research.

It consists of European nongovernmental organizations and governmental bodies which act not only in local level but also in PanEuropean level and in some occasions in international level. This database serves the following purposes:

1)

BEING THE PLATFORM OF INTERACTION BETWEEN DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS

2)

SHARING INFORMATION ON THE BEST PRACTICES

3)

NETWORKING, COOPERATION AND SOLIDARITY

4) INCREASING OF PARTNERSHIPS 5) IMPROVING THEIR WORKING METHODS 6)

INCORPORATION OF INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES

7)

PARTICIPATION OF DISABLED IN INNOVATIVE PROJECTS

OBSERVATIONS:

The majority of web sites were not translated in English. Consequently, we have not managed to have a complete view of their missions, actions, objectives.

83

AUSTRIA Öar: austrian national council of disabled http://www.oear.or.at/

Description: The

ÖAR

is

politically

independent

and

non-

confessional. The ÖAR offers a wide range of services to member organizations, individual members and partners. The secretariat fulfils all administrative tasks forwarded by the representatives of the Österreichische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation.

Activities: 

Development and upkeep of various documentations (technical aids, specialized literature, social services and institutions.



The preparation of various - political - proposals and demands of disabled persons and consequently the attempt to realize these proposals and demands; especially in the areas of building and engineering, justice, labor market, social affairs, education and vocational training.



The operation of an European department so as to inform the Austrian Disability Organizations on disability related issues in the European Union and so as to coordinate their according activities as well as to enable their participation in projects of the European Union.



Contact to all scientifically active institutions, active in the area of disability relevant issues, for instance architecture, mechanical engineering, medicine, pedagogic, social-, political, information- and sports sciences.



The Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities is from mayor importance for our work.

Österreichischer Gehörlosenbund , (Austrian Federation of deaf people) http://www.oeglb.at/

Österreichischer Schwerhörigenbund , (ÖSB – Austrian Federation of people with hearing impairments) http://www.oesb-dachverband.at/

85

Österreichischer Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband, (Austrian Federation of blind and visually impaired people) http://www.oebsv.at/

Mission: Founded in 1946, the Austrian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (BSVÖ) is the country’s largest self-help organization of its kind. Our mission is to promote the interests and address the special needs of those living with visual impairment in order to contribute to an inclusive society in which blind and partially sighted lead a self-determined life.

International Cooperation: Along with 44 other national associations of the blind and partially sighted in Europe the BSVÖ is a member organisation of the European Blind Union (EBU) and furthermore forms part of the World Blind Union (WBU) on the global level. The BSVÖ Office for International Cooperation is in regular contact with the EBU and the WBU, aiming at harnessing European and global developments for the blind and visually impaired people in Austria as well as representing Austrian interests on the international level.

Österreichischer Zivilinvalidenverband, (ÖZIV - Austrian Federation of civil invalids) http://www.oeziv.at/

SLIOe http://www.bizeps.or.at/links.php?nr=75%2520

Uniability http://info.tuwien.ac.at/uniability/english/home.htm

Description: UNIABILITY is a working committee consisting of disabled representatives, affected students, and others. Their aim is to improve the standards and capabilities of all Austrian universities and colleges, and to represent the interests of the handicapped students to the public.

BELGUIM

Autonomia http://wal.autonomia.org/

Description: Since 1989, a constant "Enough to know, now we canr". Autonomia asbl has as objective the sharing of information connected with disabled people. The association has as goal to promote the social integration of physically disabled people.

Blindenzorg Licht en Liefde http://www.blindenzorglichtenliefde.be/

Federation of Flemish Deaf Organisations http://www.fevlado.be/

FĂŠdĂŠration Francophone des Sourds de Belgique (FFSB) http://www.ffsb.be/

Created in 1977. The organization promotes: 1) The sensitization and the information.

2) The support of organizations and the projects.

3) The emancipation and the support for independent living.

Handiplus http://www.handiplus.com/

Handiplus asbl has been created since 2000 for promoting the integration of vulnerable disabled groups, based in integrated computer technologies for the creation of social bonds and equality for all. The ultimate goal is to eliminate barriers for all the sorts of handicapped (physical, mental, social or cultural) and avoid the creation of ghettos.

Kaholieke Vereniging Gehandicapten http://www.kvg.be/

87

Ligue Braille Liga http://www.braille.be/

Launched in 1922, the Ligue Braille is now lending support to over 13,300 blind and partially sighted people all over the country. Our free services are designed for just one purpose: seeking to increase the self-reliance, integration and development of blind and partially sighted people. The Ligue Braille owes its existence to the generosity of the general public, as grants cover only 22.96% of its needs. 

The valuable support of volunteers The more than 380 volunteers assisted and trained by the Ligue Braille serve in the

interests of blind and partially sighted people and provide support to the members of staff. 

Foundation for the Visually Impaired

The aim of this non-profit-making foundation is to: 

Lend support to the Braille League's activities.



Organize awareness-raising and information campaigns on the theme of visual impairment.



Lend support to scientific research in the area of ophthalmology.

Underpinned by the scientific committee comprising professors from the country's

seven university ophthalmology centers, the Foundation is required every year to present awards to lend its backing to research conducted by young ophthalmologists.

Oeuvre Nationale des Aveugles (ONA) http://www.ona.be/ona/index.asp L’ONA asbl was created in 1922 and covers the francophone side of Belgium.

The organization acts for the independence of people with visual problems and their active participation in the social life. Finally, the l’ONA makes a campaign for sensibilization to the population and to the public authorities concerning the various problems of visually impaired individuals. 

Social Accompaniment



School accompaniment



Center for adjusted transcription



Library



Hobbies

BULGARIA Bulgarian Association for People with Intellectual disabilities http://bapid.com/bapid/

Description: Bulgarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities (BAPID) is a national network of parentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organizations which defends the right to dignified and independent life for persons with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Missions: 1) Advocates for national and local policy that respects the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and contributes building of the necessary supporting environment and inclusion in the society.

2) Support for full involvement of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families in developing, monitoring and control over national, regional, and local policies, related to disabled persons.

3) Support our members in realizing of their activities for people with intellectual disabilities and their families as providing information, expert and methodological consultations, financing and project implementation support.

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee - monitors mental health institutions http://www.bghelsinki.org/en/

Description: The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee was established on 14 July 1992 as an independent non-governmental organization for the protection of human rights.

Goals: The objectives of the committee are to promote respect for the human rights of every individual, to stimulate legislative reform to bring Bulgarian legislation in line with international human rights standards, to trigger public debate on human rights issues, to carry out advocacy for the protection of human rights, and to popularize and make widely available human rights instruments.

Center for Independent Living http://www.cil.bg/en/

The Center for Independent Living - Sofia (CIL) is a Bulgarian nongovernmental, nonprofit organization of disabled people. CIL has been working for a change in the governmental policy in the area of disabilities since 1995 by actively promoting the values of Independent Living and the application of the Social Model of Disability.

89

The Independent Living The concept of Independent Living represents a system of values that guide our work. The most important of them are: 1.

Human dignity;

2.

Right to choose;

3.

Opportunity to control you own life;

4.

Equal opportunities;

5.

And full participation in the life of the community on behalf of the disabled people.

The Social Model of Disability The Social Model of disability is the main instrument for critical reflection when considering disabled persons' living situation. In order to fulfill this critical function, the Social Model usually is opposed to the Medical Model of disability. The two models represent two distinct ways of thinking and acting when it comes to disabilities.

EUFAPA http://www.eufapa.eu/index.php/eufapa/aims.html

Description: EUFAPA is a European organization concerned with promotion and dissemination of experiences, results and findings in the fields of adapted physical activity and sport science, and their practical application to the benefit of individuals across the life span.

Fundamental purposes of EUFAPA are: 1.

Encourage European cooperation in the field of physical activity to the benefit of individuals of all abilities.

2.

Promote, stimulate, and coordinate scientific research and experiences in the field of Adapted Physical Activity (APA) throughout Europe, and to support the application of research results in various areas of professional practice such as education, adaptation, inclusion, coaching, leisure, recreation, and rehabilitation.

3.

Make scientific knowledge of adapted physical activity and practical experiences available to all interested national and international organizations and institutions.

National Alliance â&#x20AC;&#x153;Smile with Meâ&#x20AC;?(a group of parents of disabled people) http://usmihnisesmen.org/

National Council of Disabled People http://www.disability-bg.org/bg/nshu.php

Union of the Blind (in Bulgarian) http://www.ssb-bg.net/

Union of the Deaf Union of the Deaf in Bulgaria (UDB) is presented as a national NGO for people with hearing impairment performed a socially useful activity.

His main purpose is to defend and protect the interests of citizens with hearing problems collaborate with the state, administrative, municipal and other organizations in the country and abroad to implement and support the individual and group level social, occupational, medical, cultural rehabilitation of deaf people; to contribute to society and its structures to adopt deaf citizens like his equal members.

Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria http://www.netzkraft.net/mitglied.php?teilnehmer=816&lang=deutsch

The Union of Disabled People in Bulgaria (UDPB) is one of the first non-governmental organizations for people with disabilities, established at the offset of democratic changes in Bulgaria - 15th of December 1989.

UDPB unites 319 basic organizations and associations, set up in 203 municipalities in Bulgaria with more than 41253 individual members with various impairments and disabilities, including sensor impairments - blind and deaf and together with the associated members its membership amounts to more than 72 000.

With Decision of Council of Ministers, the Union is recognized as a representative organization at a national level and a member of the National Council for Rehabilitation and Social Integration

Mission: UDPB promotes the interests and rights of disabled people before state, public, and other bodies and associations in the country and abroad; it works on increasing disabled people's capacity for complete performance; advocates for a change in public opinion for more tolerant attitude towards human difference, for awareness raising and incorporation of the best European practices in combating discrimination and for social integration of people with disabilities.

91

CROATIA Hrvatski savez slijepih Croatian Association of the Blind www.savez-slijepih.hr

Fields of work: Education, rehabilitations and employment of the blind and visually impaired; - their habitual and general social care; - their supply with tiflo-technical aids for every-day life and work; - development of their spiritual and physical abilities (Braille and audio literature production, multipurpose magazines, rent-a-book library, music, acting and radio amateur groups, also sport and chess); - blindness prevention; legislative regulation of many known opportunities (employment, shorter working life period, financial aid for help and care) and so on, for blind it has been creating light coming out of darkness. If this word has managed to keep your attention on high level, please, peek inside some other areas.

Hrvatskisavez gluhih i nagluhih Croatian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing www.hsgn.hr

Hrvatska udruga gluhoslijepih osoba Dodir Croatian Association for the Deafblind Persons http://www.dodir.hr/

Hrvatskisavez udruga mladih i studenata s invaliditetom â&#x20AC;&#x153;SUMSIâ&#x20AC;?

Croatian Association of Young and Students with Disability SUMSI www.savezsumsi.hr

Hrvatski savez udruga za osobe s mentalnom retardacijom Croatian Association of Societies for Persons with Mental Retardation www.savezmr.hr

Description: The Association is the national organization of and for the people with mental retardation and their families. It consists of 32 local branches with more than 10,000 members. It was founded in 1957 by a small group of parents and concerned professionals with the aim of changing public perception of children with developmental disabilities.

Mission: Our mission is gathering of parents for advocating for the rights and full participation of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities; prevention of institutionalization; promoting of non-institutionalized forms of care; influencing public policy and improving existing systems of support.

Hrvatskisavez udruga invalida rada Croatian Association of Societies of Disabled Workers www.hsuir.hr Savezdruštva distrofičara Hrvatske Croatian Muscular Dystrophy Association www.sddh.hr Hrvatska udrugaparaplegičara i tetraplegičara Croatian Paraplegic and Tetraplegic Association www.hupt.hr Croatian Paraplegic and Tetraplegic Association (Hrvatska udruga paraplegičara i tetraplegičara) is independent, non-profit, non-government, and humanitarian association of persons with spinal cord injury and their close relatives and persons professionally and morally united by the same tasks and goals.

Hrvatskaudruga za školovanje pasa vodiča i mobilitet Croatian Guide Dog and Mobility Association www.psivodici.hr

Description: Croatian Guide Dog and Mobility Association promotes basic human rights and life quality of the blind and other persons with disabilities and children with developmental difficulties, creating conditions for their social inclusion in the community.

Mission: 

CGDMA′s Mission Statement is to raise awareness of the rights, opportunities and needs of persons with disabilities, which contributes to the sensitization of the community and increases the number of independent people by improving their mobility and quality of daily life.



The Association bases its work with individuals, informal groups and non-profit organizations, the business sector, local, regional and national authorities on the principles of empowerment, self-help, education, active involvement, starting positive initiatives, encouraging cooperation, mutual respect and respect for diversity by creating a sustainable model of development for civil society organizations.



Encourages and develops self-advocacy role of its members in promoting human rights in the context of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, legislations and national strategic documents.



Provides mechanisms for the application of prescribed standards and working criteria for clients with their assigned service dogs.

93

Hrvatska udruga bolesnika sa rijetkim bolestima Croatian Society for Rare Diseases www.rijetke-bolesti.hr.

Hrvatski savez udruga tjelesnih invalida Croatian Union of Physically Disabled Persons Associations (CUPDPA) www.hsuti.hr HVIDRA- zajednica 탑upanijskih zajednica Udruga hrvatskih vojnih invalida iz domovinskog rata The Croatian Disabled Homeland War Veterans Association www.hvidra.hr Union of Associations of Persons with Disabilities in Croatia (SOIH) www.soih.hr

CYPRUS Cyprus Paraplegics Organization Description:

The Organization of Cyprus

Paraplegics (OPAK) has been founded in the beginning of 1979 and the headquarters are based in Nicosia. The idea of the creation was born by the need of resolving special problems aiming at the re-integration of paraplegics in the society.

Objectives: 1.

Promotion of well-being of organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s members, including their social integration and also their professional development.

2.

Provide them with medical and pharmaceutical insurance

3.

Promotion of measures for a more active support of the state and the society towards people with paraplegia.

4.

Educational help.

5.

Financial contribution in special cases.

6.

Cooperation with other organizations.

7.

Encouragement of sport between handicapped people.

Muscular Dystrophy Association Cyprus www.mdacyprus.org

Description: Muscular Dystrophy Association Cyprus (MDA Cyprus), was founded back in 1986 and its members are children and adults from all over Cyprus.

Main objectives of MDA Cyprus are the reassurance and provision of medical and emotional support to its members, and the promotion of measures for the active support from the Cyprus Government and society for all matters concern people with neuromuscular diseases. MDA Cyprus organizes lectures and other events for the update of its members on research or other issues concerning their diseases. MDA Cyprus is involved with people suffering from neuromuscular conditions such as Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Myasthenia Gravis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), peripheral nerve diseases like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and almost all categories of neuromuscular diseases. MDA Cyprus cooperates very closely with the Institute of Neurology and Genetics (CING) that where its main offices are located. Research 95

facilities and services co-exist in CING, offering an excellent research and medical center in Cyprus. MDA Cyprus uses these services of CING to offer the best possible medical support to MDAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s members locally in Cyprus.

MDA Cyprus with the cooperation of CING, organizes Cyprus TELETHON each year, which is an annual international charity event. TELETHON first organized in USA and adopted by many other European countries such as France, United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

Some additional purpose of MDA Cyprus is the updating of all people with neuromuscular and other genetic diseases on the research programs of CING on these diseases.

Pancyprian Organization of the Blind www.pot.org.cy Organization of Students and Graduates of the Centre for Vocational Rehabilitation The Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of Disabled People www.kysoa.org.cy Vision: Protection, promotion and reassurance of human rights and human liberties for every person without any discrimination.

Moreover, the organization takes measures for the

independent living of every disabled person.

CZECH REPUBLIC Sdružení pro podporu osob s mentálním postižením Association for Support of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities, SPMP ČR http://www.spmpcr.cz

Description: 

An association of people with intellectual and multiple disabilities, their families and other professionals.



A national non-governmental organization active at national, regional and local levels. We have currently more than 8000 members.



An organization defending the rights and interests of people with intellectual or multiple disabilities and their families.

Vision: A society for all: People with intellectual disabilities and their families have the same opportunities as anyone else in the society.

Národní rada osob se zdravotním postižením Czech National Disability Council, CNDC http://www.nrzp.cz/czech-national-disability-council.html

Description: The Czech National Disability Council (CNDC) was established in 2000 in recognition of the fact that people with disabilities have many common needs and interests. From this recognition it was but a small leap to the realization that the collective needs and interests of disabled people would be substantially more effectively promoted and defended by one overarching, professional organization than by the individual agendas of separate disability associations.

Objective: The fundamental aim of the CNDC is therefore to advocate, promote and meet the rights, interests and needs of disabled people, regardless of the type or extent of their impairment. Our work is orientated towards collaboration with state administration and local government at all levels and with organizations and institutions working in this field at both the national and regional level.

97

CNDC is also part of the European and worldwide movements of people with disabilities.

Its principal international partner is the European Disability Forum (EDF). EDF is the most important coordinative body of people with disabilities and their organizations in the EU Member States. EDF consists of the National Disability Councils of the EU Member States and the largest European disability organizations, which altogether represent over 50 million disabled EU citizens. The promotion of the needs and interests of persons with disabilities is carried out in various forms. To the principal activities of the CNDC belong: 

To put forward proposals to both national and local government concerning legislative or other relevant measures for the advancement of persons with disabilities;



To assess draft measures concerning the living conditions of persons with disabilities, drawn up and submitted to the CNDC by other bodies or institutions;



To participate, in compliance with the relevant legislation, in the development and execution of long-term policies related to the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities at both the national and the regional level.

Svaz neslyších a nedoslýchavých, ČR Union of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Czech Republic http://www.snncr.cz/

DENMARK Danish Disability Council (DSI) http://www.dch.dk/content/english-0 In

1980

the

dialogue

between

representatives of disabled persons and the authorities was strengthened by the formation of the Danish Disability Council.

Devolvement of the care of disabled persons implied a desire both with the organizations for disabled persons and the Government that the dialogue about equal opportunities for disabled persons should be placed with an effective central body. This led to the establishment of the Danish Disability Council.

The Danish Disability Council is a Government-funded body. The representatives are from Disabled Peoples Organizations in Denmark (5 representatives) and different organizations and institutions in society. The Chairman and two members are personally appointed by the Minister for Social Affairs and Integration.

The Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tasks are to monitor the situation of disabled people in society in view of UN Convention on Rights for Persons with Disabilities. The Council acts as an advisory body to Government and Parliament on issues relating to disability policy. The Council can take initiatives and propose changes in areas affecting the life of disabled people and their living conditions.

Disability People Organizations- Denmark (DPOD) http://www.disability.dk/

Description: DPOD (Disabled Peoples Organizations - Denmark) is a Danish umbrella organization with 32 member organizations, representing 320.000 people in Denmark. DPOD (Disabled Peoples Organizations Denmark). The work for an inclusive world for persons with disabilities is an important task, and the Danish disability sector is a growing stakeholder.

Objectives: In cooperation with the member organizations the DPOD Department for Development Cooperation seeks to advance the lives and human rights of persons with disabilities in the developing world. This is done in cooperation with DANIDA (the Danish Development Agency) who backs the activities through the Mini-program administered by DPOD. The Danish member organizations can get support and funding from DPOD through the Miniprogram in order to carry out activities in developing countries. DPOD does not support or back individuals or organizations who do not have a connection to the Danish member organizations.

99

The overall goal of the DPOD Mini-program is to improve the opportunities for persons with disabilities in the developing countries so that they can implement and achieve their rights as human beings. Thus the focus of the Mini-program is development and building of strong organizations of persons with disabilities in developing countries as well as lobbying and advocating in relation to governments in developing countries in order to make them comply with the human rights for persons with disabilities.

Disability Rights Fund http://www.disabilityrightsfund.org/

The Disability Rights Fund (DRF) is acollaboration between donors and the disability community to advance the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

The first human rights treaty of the 21st century and the fastest-negotiated UN treaty ever, the CRPD is also unique for its unprecedented inclusion of civil society in the drafting process.

Building on the momentum of this landmark treaty and on its mandate on States Parties to include people with disabilities and their representative organizations-Disabled Persons Organizations (DPOs)-in Convention implementation, the DRF focuses grant making on building the capacity of DPOs to be full and equal participants in the achievement of rights for the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one billion people with disabilities.

With modest grants, DRF supports country-level DPOs in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and Eastern Europe to participate in treaty ratification, implementation, and monitoring efforts.

Vision: A world where persons with disabilities participate fully in society and enjoy equal rights and opportunities.

Mission: DRF supports Disabled Persons Organizations in the developing world to take the lead in advocating for the human rights of persons with disabilities at local and national levels, utilizing the mechanism of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Guiding Principles 

DRF encourages and promotes, for ourselves and our partners, respect for the general principles stated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 3), as follows:



Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one's own choices, and independence of persons.



Non-discrimination.



Full and effective participation and inclusion in society



Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity



Equality of opportunity



Accessibility



Equality between men and women



Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities



We also encourage and promote respect for these additional principles:



Learning and Change: Embracing an open approach to the work we are doing to advance rights of persons with disabilities. This requires learning from our actions, responding to needs as well as successes, and changing course when appropriate;



Partnerships: Encouraging the pursuit of a variety of partnerships as part of a strategy to increase capacity and advance rights;



Accountability: Committing to take responsibility for one’s actions, especially when in a position of power;



A Culture of Rights: Promoting rights-based policies and programs;



Sustainability: Recognizing the need for community-led processes that can be sustained longterm in an environmentally friendly manner;



Celebration: Remembering the importance of sharing positive experiences, reflecting on achievements, and celebrating the diversity around us.

Danske Handicaporganisationer (DH) Disabled Peoples Organizations Denmark http://www.handicap.dk/english/about_dsi/?searchterm=disabled%20peoples%20international

Disabled Peoples Organizations Denmark (DPOD) was founded in 1934 (as "De Samvirkende Invalideorganisationer" - DSI) and has 32 national member organizations representing more than 320.000 people with disabilities in Denmark. DPOD is the only Danish umbrella organization in the disability field.

The principal objective of DPOD is to take care of the common interests of the member organizations. Characteristic common tasks are negotiations with the national government on issues like pensions and social benefits, medicine, health care, technical aids, and other general questions of importance to all disability groups - such as education, labor market questions, and insurance. Whenever the government - national, regional and local - consults with disabled

101

people or wants disabled people to be represented, DPOD is the organization consulted or asked to designate representatives. This is the situation in respect to almost all the Danish ministries.

DPOD designates 7 members to the Danish Disability Council set up by The Danish Government.

Furthermore DPOD designates members to a number of other public committees and commissions at national, regional & local level. DPOD often play an active part in the committees and

commissions

dealing

with

disagreements,

complaints

etc.

Many

of

the

DPOD

representations are written into the law. Some examples of areas/cases where the work of DPOD have been essential: ·

Employment on special conditions (flex job etc.)

·

Inclusive education

·

Support of the implementation of the UN Standard Rules

·

Independent living

·

User participation

·

Development policy

·

Education of Architects

·

Actions plans on accessibility

·

Early retirement pension

·

Free physiotherapy for people with disability

Handicappede Studerende og Kandidater http://www.hsknet.dk/ Sjældne Diagnoser Rare Disorders Denmark http://www.sjaeldnediagnoser.dk/00581/ Rare Disorders Denmark is an alliance of 48 national patients organizations. Some of the organizations have hundreds of members, whereas others only have a few. Common to them is that they organize people who are born with a serious rare disease or disability. These "rare" groups face similar problems: the number of patients is often very small and the diseases unknown. Consequently, little knowledge and awareness of the disorders have been accumulated – neither in the health care sector nor in the social and educational sectors.

Based on the need for an umbrella organization to speak on behalf of rare disorders, Rare Disorders Denmark was founded in 1985 under the name "KMS". The name was changed in April 2005.

ESTONIA The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People http://www.epikoda.ee/index.php.

Description:

The

Estonian

Chamber

of

Disabled People is the national co-operation and

co-ordination

body

for

the

work

implemented by and for disabled people in Estonia.

Goals: The goal of the Chamber is to facilitate to raising disabled people quality of life in Estonia.

For this purpose the Chamber co-operates with governmental bodies and social partners in order to secure that the Estonian legislation and enforcement of the legislation take the disability perspective seriously.

Through social benefits the government compensates the extra costs for disabled people what is occurred because of the need for external help in the daily life. The severity of disability can be reviewed as a result of rehabilitation, use of technical aids, adaptation of housing or other improvement of the situation.

Estonian Union of Persons with Mobility Impairment http://www.elil.ee/eng/

Member societies 1.

Disabled Children Support Organization

2.

East Harju Countly Disability Association

3.

Järva Society of Persons with Mobility Impairment

4.

Läänemaa County Disability Association

5.

Narva Disability Association EENAR

6.

NGO Viru Valere

7.

Nissi Parish Disability Association

8.

Otepää Disability Association

9.

Pärnu Disability Association

10. Pärnu Wheelchair Club 11. Põlva Disability Association 12. Rakvere Society of Persons with Mobility Impairment 13. Rapla Society of People with Disabilities

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14. Saare County Disability Association 15. Saue City Disability Association 16. Tõrva Union of People with Disabilities 17. Tallinn Society of People with Mobility Impairment 18. Tallinn Sport Club for the Disabled 19. Tapa City Society of People with Mobility Impairment 20. Tartu Society of People with Mobility Impairments 21. The Viljandi Wheelchair Club 22. Võru County Disability Association 23. Võru Wheelchair Club 24. Valga Society of People with Mobility Impairments 25. Viljandi City Disability Association 26. Viljandi County Disability Association 27. West Harju County Disability Association Eesti Pimedate Liit MTÜ Estonian Federation of the Blind http://www.pimedateliit.ee/

Estonian Association of Deaf http://www.ead.ee/eesti_kurtide_liit/organisatsioon

Τasks: Employment: 

Conducting systematic data collection about employment of deaf people.



Raising the interest of employers in hiring a deaf person should be guaranteed with tax benefits.



Including EU funds to diminish employment problems.



Bringing in new professions and finding partners who wish to employ deaf people.



Compiling a brochure which explains the possibilities to bring hearing-impaired people to job market and problems which may arise.

EAD members and societies: 

EAD and its societies continue working on the database of deaf people living in Estonia.



EAD supports deaf people's initiative to found new local societies. This way, more deaf people will be included in social co-operation.



Establishing better working conditions for the societies which operate in EAD buildings and supporting the purchase of necessary office equipment.



Organizing training for the societies in different topics: transaction of affairs, accountancy, management, project work and archiving.

Social sphere 

Starting a counseling service for deaf people and for those hearing-impaired people who use sign language.



Establish the post of a social worker in larger centers of EAD to help the deaf people find a job and securing regular financing of the post.



Organizing sign language courses for social workers of the local government in order to enhance the subsistence of deaf people living in the country.



Gathering deaf patients of care homes and those hearing-impaired patients who use sign language into one place.



Standing up for the continuation of the interpreted news in ETV and making preparations for a broadcast delivered by deaf people.



Adding the necessary communication equipment (mobile phones, faxes, signaling equipment) in the list of aids with reduced price.



Starting negotiations with telecommunications companies in order to obtain free 3G video calls for the deaf or video calls with reduced price.

Sign language and interpreting service 

Developing sign language interpreting service.



Training sign language interpreters and supporting sign language teaching.



Supporting and developing the activities of sign language workgroups in EAD.



Continuing activities connected with Estonian Sign Language.



Developing vocational standard for sign language interpreters and ratifying it at the Estonian Qualifications Authority (Kutsekoda).



Research on Estonian Sign Language.

Conducting research on Estonian Sign Language. 

Establishing a sign language centre financed by the state, which would co-ordinate research on Estonian Sign Language and compilation of study materials.



Compiling textbooks for teaching Estonian Sign Language as a first language and as a foreign language.



Compiling Estonian Sign Language dictionary (CD/DVD).

Teaching Estonian Sign Language 

Developing methodical basis for teaching Estonian Sign Language as a first language.



The focus in teaching Estonian Sign Language is on Deaf community and Deaf culture.



Training sign language teachers for teaching Estonian Sign Language as a first language and as a foreign language.



Advocating Estonian Sign Language and Estonian Deaf community, spreading information.

105



Implementing a qualifying year for the students studying sign language.

Culture and communication 

Collecting and keeping in order documents and data connected to Deaf history (documents, films, photos, written and filmed memories, and things).



Establishing a collection for Deaf history museum and finding suitable rooms for storing and exposing that.



Adding materials to EAD website and making preparations for keeping the website up-todate.



Publishing EAD newsletter once or twice a year.



Making sign language videos (teaching materials, history, etc).



Organizing cultural events in Estonia.



Supporting the activities of hobby groups.

Education 

EAD turns special attention to developing different educational opportunities for deaf people.

Eesti Vaimupuudega Inimeste Tugiliit Estonian Mentally Disabled People Organization http://www.hot.ee/e/evpit/

FINLAND Autismi- ja Aspergerliitto ry The Finnish Association for Autism and Asperger´s Syndrome http://www.autismiliitto.fi/liitto/in_english/

The Finnish Association for Autism and Asperger´s Syndrome was founded in 1997. The Association serves individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) or Rett syndrome, and their families. Τhe Association has 27 local member organizations, with about 3400 members in total.

This includes individuals with ASDs and family members, as well as professionals in the field of autism. All of these groups are represented in our decision-making, on the national and local association boards.

Our goal at the Finnish Association for Autism and Asperger`s Syndrome is to change society in such ways that a good quality of life becomes attainable for all people on the autism spectrum. Οobjective: The Finnish Association for Autism and Asperger´s Syndrome is a non-governmental, non-profit organization. We work to create the best possible conditions for children, adolescents and adults with ASDs, in the following ways: 

Distribution of information through seminars, training events, printed material and other such means, to increase knowledge and understanding of the difficulties caused by ASDs.



Developing the quality and improving the availability of services that support education, housing and everyday life.



Creating opportunities for exchange of experience and knowledge between individuals with ASDs, parents and professionals.



International collaboration to access and distribute research-based information, and to contribute ideas to research within the field.

Information: •AUTISMI magazine 4-5 times a year, received by all members •Monthly newsletter to member organizations •PR and information to main target groups, political decision makers, professional and general media

107

Projects: 

Developing services and interventions



Spreading good practice



Creating networks for professional collaboration



Conducting research

Service advisor: 

Daily guidance by service advisor during office hours, by phone or personally at the central office.



Guidance concerning diagnosis, support, interventions and services



Basic information about autism spectrum disorders

Educational activities -Several educational seminars per year organized by the Association.

-Providing information on ASD related training and education by other organizers.

Support and interventions: The Association participates in planning, developing and organizing activities centered around support and intervention measures.

Epilepsialiitto ry The Finnish Epilepsy Association (FEA) http://www.epilepsia.fi/epilepsialiitto/in_english

Finnish Epilepsy Association (FEA) 44 years of volunteering and action The Finnish Epilepsy Association (FEA) was established in 1969 to promote equality and good care for people with epilepsy and to support them to achieve a world without prejudices.

The FEA is a respected and strong social and health care organization which values respect of every human being, equality of people with epilepsy, users’ experiences and continuous development of its own activities. The FEA is the national umbrella organization for the 24 local affiliates in Finland. The number of members is 8500. They are mostly people with epilepsy and their family members. There are about 300 volunteers in the association and the affiliates.

Furthermore the FEA has 2000 donors who support economically the activities of the FEA. The FEA has not reached all the potential members yet. There are about 56 000 persons with epilepsy in Finland. About 36 000 of these use their right to have their epilepsy medication covered by the state. The FEA has 17 full time employees. In addition, about 100 professionals receive fees for their work in the rehabilitation services of the FEA. The annual budget of the FEA is total 2 million euro. Income sources are governmental grants, service provision, membership fees and fundraising.

The strategy of FEA aims to: 1.

Achieve a world without prejudices of epilepsy. The aim is to educate the public about the different kinds of epilepsy syndromes and the individual symptoms of the disease.

2.

Promote good quality of epilepsy care and rehabilitation.

3.

Support employment.

4.

Guarantee adequate level of assistance, services, benefits and support.

5.

Promote volunteering.

FIDIDA ry - Vammaisjärjestöjen kehitysyhteistyöyhdistys Finnish Disabled People's International Development Association http://www.fidida.fi/english/index.htm

Finnish Disabled People’s International Development Association FIDIDA is an umbrella organization of international development cooperation for seven Finnish disabled people’s organizations. In FIDIDA the people with disabilities from the North and South work together to promote the human rights of the disabled. Equal rights and participation of people with disabilities is a starting point for all activities. FIDIDA is a service, coordination and collaboration organ for its member associations in issues concerning disability and development co-operation.

FIDIDA gathers and distributes information, provides training on issues concerning disability and development, and lobbies for the mainstreaming of disability issues in national and international development co-operation. FIDIDA is a member of IDDC (International Disability and Development Consortium). FIDIDA became a partnership organization of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in 2010. FIDIDA's Finnish Disability & Development Partnership (FDDP) gathers together the development co-operation of FIDIDA's member associations as well as global education and advocacy work conducted by FIDIDA. Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities http://www.invalidiliitto.fi/portal/en/

The Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities (FPD) is a national advocacy and service association. The ideological basis for our work is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the rules of the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities. FPD functions within the community in such a way as to enable everyday life to be independent and fulfilling for people with physical disabilities.

The association's values are: 

Human dignity



Justice



Courage



Fairness 109

Käpylä Rehabilitation Centre The task of FMD’s Käpylä Rehabilitation Centre is to complement the public service system with rehabilitation services for people who have a spine or brain injury caused through accident or illness. The nucleus of activities constituting the platform of service and expertise is knowledge of the special questions posed by persons with neurological disabilities, and multiprofessional rehabilitation.

Lahti Rehabilitation Centre FPD’s Lahti Rehabilitation Centre provides and develops the kind of rehabilitation services which support the lives of people with a disability and their close relatives in their home and living environment as equal and independent members of society.

FPD’s Rare Disability Unit at the Lahti Rehabilitation Centre is a national centre for groups of people with rare musculoskeletal disabilities and illnesses. The unit functions as part of the national Rare Diseases Network consisting of ten specialist units from different organizations.

Lapin Kuntoutus Oy Lapin Kuntoutus Oy functions as a provider and expert for the Lapland region regarding rehabilitation services that demand multi-professional expertise. The rehabilitation centre principally provides the rehabilitation and expert services required by the Province of Lapland and develops them according to the region’s needs.

Rehabilitation instruction The task of the FPD’s rehabilitation instructors includes supporting the opportunity for people with a mobility disability to function independently in everyday life. The nucleus of the work is the home visit, whose purpose is the assessment of the person with a disability and his or her family in terms of the overall situation, assistance and service needs. The FPD has rehabilitation instructors operating in four hospital districts.

Järvenpää Training Centre The FPD’s Järvenpää Training Centre is a vocational special education institution. The training centre provides those in need with specialist support in vocational basic education and further education in the fields of technology and transport, culture, natural sciences, and business and administration.

SEESAM Vocational Rehabilitation SEESAM is the FMDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vocational rehabilitation unit. The prime target group is people with a musculoskeletal disability requiring rehabilitation, whose life management and integration into the working community is supported by means of vocational rehabilitation. SEESAM Workshop is an FPD unit focusing on workshop activity, operating as two departments, SEESAM Services and SEESAM Production.

Assistance Dogs The assistance dog is intended for people with a mobility disability who are active and fond of dogs. Once training â&#x20AC;&#x201D; funded by the Finnish Slot Machine Association â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is complete, the service dogs are handed over to their new owners free of charge.

Finnish Disability Forum http://www.vammaisfoorumi.fi/

Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired http://www.nkl.fi/7

Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired is a special service provider with a social element as well as an advocacy organization for the blind and the partially sighted.

The aim of the Federation is to secure the blind and visually impaired an equal status with other Finnish citizens. To achieve this the Federation seeks to improve the capabilities and skills of the visually impaired, while also trying to influence the society at large.

The Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired 1.

Looks after the interests of the blind and partially sighted.

2.

Is a specialist of rehabilitation from children to seniors.

3.

Provides consulting regarding employment.

4.

Provides IT training and guidance, import, sales and lending of technical aids and production of Braille, large-print and audio materials as well as the transmission of newspapers, magazines and other publications by means of information technology.

5.

Provides guide dog training

6.

Creates opportunities for shared leisure activities

7.

Maintains a strong network of international contacts by projects and development cooperation.

The visually impaired have established number of associations (14 regional and 11

activities related).The associations look after the interests of the visually impaired within their own areas and provide information services and arrange leisure activities. Regional associations 111

are divided into 80 local branches. The services of the Federation are available for all who need information and/or counseling about seeing regardless of official diagnosis of visual impairment or association membership.

Visual impairment in Finland - general information There are about 80 000 visually impaired people in Finland; roughly 10 000 of them are blind. About 70 000 of the visually impaired are elderly people and about 1000-1500 are under 18 years of age. About 10 000 visually impaired people are in their working-age. One third of registered visually impaired has also some other disability or a long-term illness. Most common reason for visual impairment is age-related macular degeneration. Other common reasons among pensioners are glaucoma and diabetes. Within children visual impairment is mostly caused by congenital anomalies of eye and disorders of visual pathway. Within working-age the most common reasons are diabetes, glaucoma, neurological diseases and hereditary eye diseases that often appear in young adulthood.

Accidents concerning eyes have diminished significantly since using diverse protection.

Also blindness related to premature birth is falling down although it is still the fourth common reason for visual impairment within children. Developed medicines have also decreased infections as a cause for visual impairment.

Kehitysvammaisten Tukiliitto ry Association of Societies for Persons with Mental Disabilities http://www.kvtl.fi/fi/etusivu/in-english/

Inclusion Finland KVTL The mission of Inclusion Finland KVTL is to provide support for its members, protect and develop the social equality and rights of the intellectually disabled and their families, and act to promote its membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; quality of life. Persons with intellectual disabilities have the right to be born and live a valued life, the right to have sufficient and high-quality rehabilitation services and the right to life-long learning and an independent life. They are also entitled to meaningful work and day activity as well as individually supported housing. They have the right to culture and the right to age with dignity. In order to implement its basic tasks, the Association gathers and distributes information, tests and develops, trains its members and speaks on their behalf in various networks and cooperation structures. The Association also has a significant role as an influence on society. Much work remains to be done, for example in regard to changing peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitudes.

Kehitysvammaliitto The Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (FAIDD) http://kehitysvammaliitto.fi/en/

The Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (FAIDD) is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that promotes good life, equality and participation for people with intellectual disabilities and others who need support with learning, understanding and communicating.

Our goal is that all people can live together from an equal footing. This requires appropriate support and sufficient, quality services for people who need them and positive attitudes within the surrounding society. Public and private services, education, work and culture need to be accessible to everyone. In order to reach these goals, we exercise social influence and serve as a centre of knowledge and expertise and a cooperative forum. We engage in a wide range of cooperation with people with intellectual disabilities, their families, professionals in the field, service providers, organizations, businesses and public authorities.

Kuuloliitto ry The Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing (FFHOH) http://kuuloliitto.fi/fin/in_english/

The Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing (FFHOH) represents the rights and interests of HOH people and provides services for HOH and deafened people and their families. The Federation has as its members 87 local and two national associations: The Finnish Tinnitus Association and The Finnish Acoustic Neurinoma Association and has a total membership of 16 500 people. FFHOH is a member of IFHOH (International Federation of Hard of Hearing People), EFHOH (European Federation of Hard of Hearing People), IFHOHYP (International Federation of Hard of Hearing Young People) and NAS (Nordiska Audiologiska S채llskapet).

Kuulovammaisten Lasten Vanhempien Liitto ry The parent association for deaf and hard of hearing children http://www.klvl.org/muut-kielet/finnish-association-of-parents-of-the-deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-children-the-klvl/

The parent association for deaf and hard of hearing children, the KLVL, is a national organization. It has been founded in 1963 and has 15 local member associations. The children of our member families are either deaf or hard of hearing. Also grandparents and other family members as well as other persons who work with our children can join the association. We feel that it is rewarding to have members with different backgrounds because the information is given and received both directions. The amount of member families in our local associations is nearly 1100.Each member family has an opportunity to influence the future of an hard of hearing or deaf child. Together we can work efficiently for the benefit of our children both nation wide and locally.

113

There are different ways to solve the problems concerning the care and rehabilitation of a deaf child. Every child is an individual. We do respect the independence of each family and we do not make any decisions on behalf of the family. KLVL provides its members and all those who are interested with diversified and up to date information on the subject. The families are given a file called Key-information and a magazine? Nappi? This comes out six times a year. KLVL organizes different kind of courses such as family courses, summer camps for children and their siblings etc. We feel that families also need rehabilitation along with their disabled child.

Parents can support each other by sharing mutual experiences. By meeting other families in conferences, summer events and in other activities both parents and their children are bound to obtain happy moments and golden memories. KLVL is also a societal pressure organization. It safeguards the social and legal interests of our children for example by giving statements in individual cases and also in matters concerning e.g. day-care, schools or legislation. It also takes a position on a variety of issues and provides expert views as a contribution to the public debate.

The organization of klvl The association is based on the principle of associate membership and the families are members of local associations. Local associations are responsible for the activities of their own area. They also have mutual co-operation well as co-operation with local schools and day care centers. The national association has two general meetings each year. The agendas of these meetings consist of issues such as financial matters, the strategies of the organization as well as the election of the Council of the association. In connection with the official meetings there are always lectures and discussions concerning questions of current interest.

The Council is responsible for the ay-to-day activities and routine business of the association. The period of office of the Council is one year and it consists of 10 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16 members who all are parents of deaf or hard of hearing children and are representatives of local associations. The Council can also take a stand in topical questions. The Chairman of KLVL is also the chairman of the Council. The Council can set up committees such as executive and financial committees. The Council has at least five meetings per year. The headquarters of KLVL are located in Helsinki and the staff consist of one clerk and occasionally additional help. The office staff takes care of the routines of the association and assists the council in different tasks such as publishing our magazine and co-operation with local associations. A great deal of work is done by members on voluntary basis.

Kuurojen Liitto ry The Finnish Association of the Deaf http://www.kl-deaf.fi/en-GB/

The Finnish Association of the Deaf is advocacy, expert and service organization. FAD develops with other organizations living environment suitable for all, where also Deaf sign language users are equal citizens. The association produces expert and other services also for sign language and sign-supported communication users as well as others who need these services The personnel of FAD is made up of a multilingual and multicultural group. About half of the employees are deaf and half are hearing. The number of Deaf employees continues to rise. A study is being carried out in the working community of the Association itself on what constitutes a good working community from the point of view of a sign language using Deaf person.

The Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD) is highly regarded both nationally and internationally as an advocate for equality of sign language users as well as an expert and service organization. The organization acts innovatively and reacts sensitively to its members´ and clients’ needs as well as to changes in the society. FAD is a nation-wide organization working in collaboration with different governing bodies and other national organizations. FAD´s affiliated Deaf Clubs with their Activity and Service Centers formulate a regional collaboration network with other regional organizations.

FAD's international activities cover Nordic countries, Nearby Region countries and European Union as well as other countries through The World Federation of the Deaf and FAD´s development co-operation. Special attention is drawn to improve the status of the Deaf in development countries. The association formulates multi-linguistic and multi–cultural work community, where all employees have good knowledge both of Finnish Sign Language and Finnish as well as other spoken and signed languages needed in work assignments. FAD’s professional management and trained staff work in co-operation with elected officials and different stakeholders for reaching the objectives. FAD produces high level expertise and other services to all age groups of Deaf sign language users as well as sign language and signsupported communication users or others who need these services. The products and services of FAD´s development projects are designed to follow “Design for All” principles. The association owns several companies acting on national and international levels.

Kynnys ry The Threshold Association http://www.kynnys.fi/kynnys/english.html

The Threshold Association is a disability organization that was founded in 1973 by disabled people and its main mission is based on three elements, human rights, independent living and culture, all to empower disabled people in Finland. They also have development projects in some third world countries. The head office is located in Helsinki, the capital, and the association has branches in five other cities in Finland: Tampere, Kuopio, Jyvaskyla, Oulu and Turku. It has 1,600 members.

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Threshold is a cross disability organization in that there people with mobility disabilities, blind, deaf etc in the membership The activities of the Threshold Association are based on the philosophy of the independent living movement. From 1988 it established this module and has since been raising awareness about the issue in Finland. The independent living philosophyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main aim is to ensure that all disabled people have the freedom and opportunity to be able to do their daily activities may it be work, school, leisure activities etc and not be hindered by their disability. Important factors in these areas are advocacy, peer support, personal assistant system and other services for disabled people (transportation, sign language interpretation, access to information, access to the built environment etc.). The employees and decision makers in the organization are themselves disabled. The best trainer to a person with a disability is another person who has had similar experiences before.

Threshold Association receives most of its funding from the Finnish Slot Machines Association which finances many other nongovernmental organizations in Finland and which in turn receives its funding by having a monopoly for gambling and slot machines within Finland. Î&#x2019;ase: The care of disabled people was mostly left to family members and although this had its good qualities like being with loved ones and not feeling lonely it was not very efficient for disabled people because they had to be under the control of the family members and the situation also made them feel as if they are a burden to the family. To be able to achieve this dream of independent living, the founders of the Threshold Association traveled to many countries in Europe and other areas to observe how disabled people are able to cope with their daily schedules and after that came back to Finland and advocated for the implementation of the positive elements. The idea they came up with was to introduce personal assistants, who would help the disabled people according to their needs in their daily activities and they would be paid by the city.

PERSONAL ASSISTANT PROJECT (PAS) The personal assistance system was introduced to Finland at the end of the 1980's. The personal assistance project was started in spring 2005 to address a number of issues where the system needed enhancing. The Threshold Association, The Finnish Neuromuscular Disorders Association, The Finnish MS Society and the Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired came together and started a three year ongoing project with members from each organization forming the committee.

Description of the Personal Assistance System: Disabled people who cannot manage to do everyday activities due to their disability are entitled to a personal assistant. The disabled person contacts a social worker in their local argument, who then evaluates whether there is a need to provide a personal assistant. At this stage, disabled people say that the social workers sometimes are not able to discern all their needs and the level of help they need as individuals are unique and coping systems vary, so they should listen more to the disabled person, all within reason of course.

Once the need for an assistant has been established, the disabled person looks for a personal assistant; they now act in the position of an employer and have the right to hire anyone they feel comfortable with. The local government pays the personal assistant, either through the employer or then directly to the personal assistant. The personal assistant however does not deal with the social worker and all problems are solved through the employer.

The three main problems that PAS tried to address were: 1. Problems related to knowledge and application of the Personal Assistant system, there was an insufficient level of understanding of the system at different levels of collaborators.

2. Financial questions of the system of the personal assistance services, e.g. low salary level, different systems of paying wages in different places and the imperfect level of compensations including overtime pay, evening and night work.

3. Difficulties related to everyday life of disabled person in the system e.g. lack of peer support, Insufficient training on how to be an employer, need for legal and other advice and availability of employees.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS 1.

In the course of the project, there were several seminars held for the disabled people.

One of the problems above was not having peer support and the seminars and meetings helped in that regard, they could share their experiences, learn what is expected of them in the role of an employer and also know how to work with personal assistants.

2.

There were also seminars held for personal assistants, this also were for support because it is not an easy job but mostly for training them on how to work for a disabled person, learning the do’s and don’ts of the job and also recruiting other assistants in order to get replacements in case of illness or a problem.

3.

The project was not aimed at disabled people only so other people’s knowledge to independent living was increased. There were action options that were created for the personal assistance services for the future when change will be necessary. The peer support groups however are still actively going on and are open to anyone.

HUMAN RIGHTS There are three lawyers working in the Threshold Association (Helsinki). Their main task is offering individual counseling to disabled people living in Finland, whose rights have been infringed in any sort of way. The lawyers’ expertise and duties vary to offer a broad range of service. They offer advice on how to solve injustices and in cases where the issue cannot be resolved quickly they can is some cases write a formal complaint to the courts. Most of the advice is given through the telephone and emails but occasionally in person. Phone counseling is given on three days, altogether 30 hours per week by two lawyers. It has two essential goals, improvement of legal security of individuals with disabilities and secondly, through individual cases, the change of existing practices and decision making.

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They also help in information retrieval, the centre has a library which specializes in disability, stocking Finnish and international literature, magazines and video tapes. The lawyers also give lectures and hold seminars with other organizations, to persons with disabilities and authorities alike, sometimes abroad, to raise awareness on the rights of disabled people and when needed aim to influence the legislation in regard to disability issues.

Culture: The key goal of the culture work is to make culture of persons with disabilities from distant area to an equal footing with other culture work. It aims to improve accessibility of culture and the way disabled persons see themselves. There are art exhibitions every month at the Kynnys gallery, here art done by disabled people is displayed and everyone is welcome to come and view the work. The exhibitions are a big hit and usually there is a long wait to have the work displayed because very many people submit their work. There are no particular themes in the exhibitions, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s open to all sorts of work and the work is done by both amateurs and professionals.

Youth activities: There are large numbers of young disabled people who once they finish 9 years of basic education do not know what to do with the rest of their lives. In the Threshold Association they can get to speak with someone who will advise them on career choices, places to study, how to apply for jobs and for general advice on practical issues related to disability.

They can do this over the phone or email.

Tasks: Working in cooperation with other organizations that work with disabled people, Kynnys organizes activities such as seminars, summer camps where young disabled people can interact, have fun and share their experiences. Another important task that they deal with is going to companies and also schools to raise awareness of people on disability issues. Many organizations have construed ideas about hiring disabled people, most of them think it is a big risk to take because disabled people will have to take more time off and they might not cope with the work load but in most cases this is not the case, disabled people can pull their weight as well as other people. The reality is that there are many disabled people who well qualified but are not given a chance to work due to their disability.

Peer groups: There are a few peer groups like women, employers; minorities etc and they meet once a month in the Threshold premises. The groups are increasing and are now being encouraged to run themselves because there are not enough workers to run the groups, this is an ongoing process. The purpose of the peer groups is so that members can support each other and learn from each others experiences, exchanging knowledge with one another and also be aware that they are not alone in this world.

Courses: There are many courses that are offered in the Threshold for both disabled and nondisabled persons and their purposes are to increase knowledge on issues that disabled people live with daily e.g. 

Boss courses: Disabled people are taught how to become employers and also how to work with assistants.



Advocacy afternoons: The objective of this course is to educate the public on disability issues.



Web courses: This is a new project that will be starting soon, it aims to teach interested disabled people how to use computers. Microsoft donated computers to the Threshold.



Summer academy: This is also a new 3-day project that will be starting this summer 2006 and hopefully continuing in the years to come.

International affairs: Threshold Association represents the Independent Living movement in Finland and has close relations to Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI).

Development co-operation work: Threshold has also long tradition to implement development co-operation projects with the sister organizations. Today Threshold has a partnership program with three separate subprojects in Ethiopia and one specific project in Central-Asia. The partnership program in Ethiopia consists of the following projects: 1.

Empowerment of Disability Movement in Ethiopia'.

2.

Empowerment of Disabled women and their organization EWDNA (Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association).

3.

Support and empowerment of Disabled students in Addis Ababa University.

The co-operation project in Central-Asia is actively implementing activities in five (5) Central-Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The main purpose of the project is to empower disabled women through a network, training and peer support.

Threshold has a strategy to support and empower disabled people in different countries to participate and work actively for improvements of the conditions. The main component of the projects is the peer support.

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MS-liitto The Finnish MS Society http://www.ms-liitto.fi/english

Description: The Finnish MS Society looks after the interests of people with MS and rare progressive neurological diseases as well as their families. Both MS and many of the rare neurological diseases usually break out at the age of 20–40 years. There is no curing treatment for these diseases, but the quality of life of most of patients can be improved by medication, rehabilitation, exercise and peer support.

Apart from the patients themselves, the family and friends are affected by the progressive neurological disease. The Finnish MS Society aims at offering the people with MS and their families the best possible support for a good life. The Society provides, among other things, guidance and information in a new life situation. The rehabilitation and accommodation services of the Society are available at different stages of the disease.

The MS Society aims at promoting the research in neurological diseases, as well as the nursing and rehabilitation and looking after the social benefits of people suffering from such diseases. The MS Society provides information and publications to serve the people with MS and their families, as well as e.g. professionals and students in public health care.

Näkövammaisten Keskusliitto ry Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired (FFVI) http://www.nkl.fi/7

Description: Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired is a special service provider with a social element as well as an advocacy organization for the blind and the partially sighted. The aim of the Federation is to secure the blind and visually impaired an equal status with other Finnish citizens.

To achieve this, the Federation seeks to improve the capabilities and skills of the visually impaired, while also trying to influence the society at large. Οobjectives: The Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired 

Looks after the interests of the blind and partially sighted



Is a specialist of rehabilitation from children to seniors



Provides consulting regarding employment



Provides IT training and guidance, import, sales and lending of technical aids and production of Braille, large-print and audio materials as well as the transmission of newspapers, magazines and other publications by means of information technology.



Provides guide dog training.



Creates opportunities for shared leisure activities.



Maintains a strong network of international contacts by projects and development cooperation.

The visually impaired have established number of associations (14 regional and 11

activities related).The associations look after the interests of the visually impaired within their own areas and provide information services and arrange leisure activities. Regional associations are divided into 80 local branches. The services of the Federation are available for all who need information and/or counseling about seeing regardless of official diagnosis of visual impairment or association membership.

Vammaisten lasten ja nuorten tukisäätiö The Finnish Foundation for Disabled Children and Youth http://www.vamlas.fi/kieli/englanti.php

The Vamlas Foundation is the one of the oldest disability organizations in Finland, founded in 1889 by a teacher, Vera Hjelt. She and her colleagues wanted to promote learning and working opportunities of children and youth with disabilities and the Foundation first consisted of a school and a work shop.

Today the Foundation promotes equal opportunities and inclusion of children and youth with disabilities, especially in the fields of education and employment. Vamlas provides expert services, implements research and development projects and acts in various networks promoting rehabilitation, education and employment.

Vamlas also provides housing services for students with disability, total of 22 appartments. It also helps families with disabled children by providing legal help and consultation in getting the right services. Vamlas also promotes inclusion in social life and hobbies by organizing summer camps, and various events to support children and youth with disabilities to take part in social activities.

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FRANCE Handicap International http://www.handicapinternational.be/fr/qui-sommesnous/organisation

Handicap International is an international, non-governmental organization, mainly known for its fight against anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions and helping the victims of these unexploded devices. However, its mandate has been extended over the years and today includes providing assistance through work in various fields for people in developing countries with other kinds of disability.

Handicap International primarily focuses on the prevention of disabilities and providing support for people with disabilities by ensuring they can fully take part in social life. The organization’s interventions are not restricted to long-term development activities. Handicap International also provides support in emergency situations, for instance, in the aftermath of natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Its actions always focus on those suffering from disabilities.

The organization works as far as possible with the human and material resources available in the country. Its projects are implemented in cooperation with local partners, the objective being to ensure their autonomy in the long-term. All of its actions concentrate on training, raising awareness and the involvement of local communities in its projects.

CFHE- Le Conseil Français des Personnes Handicapés http://www.cfhe.org/

The CFHE aims to provide a link between France and Europe for disability policies.

The European Institutions still seem remote to most people. However, their decisions are the result of negotiations between the elected representatives of the EU’s member countries, whose work is based on consultation documents originating from the European civil society.

It is clear that the European Union’s decisions have an impact on our lives and as members of civil society we have the authority to influence these decisions. Similarly, the European Union provides a new platform for dialogue and decision taking, and represents an opportunity to defend the interests of 80 million European citizens with disabilities.

Via the European Disability Forum, we actively seek to promote the voice of people with disabilities and their families, in France and in Europe. Our goal is to ensure that relevant legislation is improved to ensure a better inclusion for all.

With this new website, our aim is to provide clear, quick access to precious, often unknown information. We hope that all of you will use it as a data bank: people with or without disabilities, associations, charities, institutional partners, European institutions, National Councils of Europe, the media, etc.

The idea is that this website will become a gateway to Europe for all those keen to make a commitment and help build a more inclusive society in Europe! The CFHE aims to provide a link between France and Europe for disability policies. Our structure is composed of more than fifty French national associations representing all kinds of disabilities.

UNAPEI - Union Nationale des Associations de Parents et Amis de Personnes HandicapĂŠes Mentales http://www.unapei.org/

L â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Unapei is the first federation which represents and defends the rights of mentally disabled people and of their families. The federation managed to gather 550 associations. All these associations are specialized in specific types of disability (Autisme, Xfragile, various syndromes). The associations of Unapei which share the same values are being organized by volunteers, families, friends of disabled people.

Associations are counting 60 000 families, 80 000 professionals and manage 3 100 social and medical infrastructures for 180.000 disabled people.

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GERMANY ASL Association for Self-determined Life of seriously disabled people – Berlin http://www.asl-berlin.de/ Autonom Leben e.V - Selbstbestimmtes Leben für alle behinderten Menschen http://www.autonomleben.de/

Das Zentrum für Selbstbestimmtes Leben (ZsL) e.V in Mainz http://www.zsl-mainz.de/

We are a nonprofit organization by and for people with disabilities.

Support and counseling in the following areas: 

Employment,



housing and community living,



starting a business, personal assistance and



Computer access for people with disabilities.

We speak German and English.

Deutscher Behindertenrat http://www.deutscher-behindertenrat.de/

Deutscher Blinden- und Sehbehindertenverband Association of blind and visually impaired people http://www.dbsv.org/ Die Kate - Selbstbestimmtes Leben – Bonn http://www.diekate.de/ Independent Living Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen http://www.independentliving.de/

INDIVIDUALHILFE für SCHWERBEHINDERTE e.V. Heidelberg http://individualhilfe.de/ Jenaer Zentrum für selbstbestimmtes Leben behinderter Menschen e. V. http://www.jzsl.de/ Selbstbestimmt Leben Bremen http://www.slbremen-ev.de/ Sozialverband VDK Deutschland Disabled people's organization http://vdk.de/cgi-bin/cms.cgi?ID=de1 VbA-München - erbund behinderter Arbeitgeber - Selbstbestimmt Leben http://www.vba-muenchen.de/ WüSL - Selbstbestimmt Leben Würzburg e.V http://www.wuesl.de/ Zentrum für selbstbestimmtes Leben behinderter Menschen Frankfurt http://www.selbstbestimmt-leben-frankfur Zentrum für selbstbestimmtes Leben Köln http://www.zsl-koeln.de/

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GREECE

Hellenic Society for Disabled Children (ELEPAP) http://www.elepap.gr/

ELEPAP is the first non-profit organization in Greece, which provides rehabilitation services to children since 1937 with six Centers operating throughout the country. ELEPAP cares for the functional rehabilitation of children with physical disabilities and developmental difficulties such as cerebral palsy, neuromuscular diseases, syndromes with accompanying motor disabilities, cerebral dysfunction, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, myelodysplasia, scoliosis, kyphosis, valgus foot, while at the same time provides support to their families.

ELEPAP operates 6 fully equipped Centers (Athens, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Chania, Volos and Agrinio) with highly scientifically specialized personnel. ELEPAP addresses all the developmental needs of each child with motor and developmental difficulties in a holistic approach fostering psychomotor development functionality, independence, speech and communication, cognitive abilities, emotional and psychosocial adjustment, learning skills, education and social integration.

ELEPAP offers a series of holistic intervention programs for infants, pre-school and school age children while at the same time supports the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s families creating a strong bond of trust and cooperation between the family members and the interdisciplinary scientific team.

ELEPAP continuously follows the international scientific developments, participates and organizes international congresses and meetings.

National Confederation of Disabled People (ESAEA) http://www.esaea.gr/

The movement for disabled has the permanent and consistent obligation to emerge the issues for disabled and for their families. Fundamental principle <Nothing for disabled, without disabled>. We need new approaches, new techniques and the active involvement of disabled in the policy making for their own benefits.

National Federation of Physically Disabled http://www.eoka.com.gr/



Promotes the united expression, voice and willingness of disabled.



Claiming the improvement of quality of life in every level of social and financial system.



Equal participation in the local community.



Being active citizens as first priority.

Panhellenic Association of the Blind http://www.pst.gr/central.aspx?sId=97I260I747I646I396252

The first body of self-organization of blind people in Greece (including people with other forms of disabilities). Main objective is the defense of rights and the improvement of life quality of all people with sight problems.

Panhellenic Union of Paraplegic & Physically Disabled http://www.pasipka.gr/frontoffice/portal.asp?cpage=NODE&cnode=2

Panhellenic Federation of Societies of Parents and Guardians of Disabled People http://www.posgamea.gr/

Panhellenic Federation οf Families For Mental Health http://www.posopsi.org/

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HUNGARY Down Foundation http://www.downalapitvany.hu/

The goal of the activity of the Down Foundation is to ensure that as many children with intellectual disability as possible are brought up within their own families and live and independent life. To assure this, the Foundation Endeavour to provide a range of support services to the parents of these children, so that they are encouraged to bring the children up within the family and support their child to live an independent life as an adult, rather than send them away to institutions. All of our activities and projects during the past 20 years have been in pursuit of these goals: the development and training of children and adults to achieve normalized life in and integrated way.

Our support system has developed by: 

Establishing and funding clubs formal and informal associations for families and intellectually disabled individuals to be able to meet and help each other.



Providing an advisory service for parents and adult intellectually disabled persons by professionals.



First aid from parents to parents: the Down Dada service consist of trained parents and is available from the first day of the birth of a baby with Down-syndrome.



Supporting research, development and innovation and organizing conferences.



Organizing and support an out-patient-clinic, the Down Ambulance together with the Bethesda Hospital for maintaining a preventive health assessment program.



Maintaining Respite-Care (crisis-) Homes for 30–30 people in Buda and in Pest.



Maintaining Day-Care Centers at 3 locations for 90 persons.



Developing and maintaining four types of group homes for intellectually disabled persons.



SALSA Project: managing and supporting independent living of intellectually disabled individuals or couples in flats



Practicing alternative education, vocational training, life-long learning, teaching independent life skills, supported decision making, self-advocacy, disability rights, self-representation, etc.



Complex assessment and preparation for (supported) employment: ability-assessment, orientation, vocational training, establishment of sheltered workplaces and employment including support in an integrated employment



Organizing courses, creative studio, theatre, orchestra, holidays etc. for intellectually disabled children and adults, for their families, also in an integrated form



Special support of talented intellectually disabled persons

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Supporting sports by organizing sports program, sport-camps, sport-holydays in summer and during the winter-time, regular trainings, sports’ education.



Communication in order to make intellectual disability better understood, and accept intellectual disabled people. Fighting for the human rights of intellectual disabled persons, increasing mental accessibility, equal rights with anybody else, voting right, inclusion in school, workplaces and housing, as well as for changing the unacceptable present system of guardianship.

We believe that all of our programs have considerably benefited children and adults with

intellectual/developmental disabilities and their families by improving the quality of their lives. To find co-workers for most of our projects is generally easy, young professionals, special education teachers, social workers, and parents are generally pleased to be involved.

By contrast, securing financial support for our projects in Hungary is more and more difficult. We continuously are in need of financial support are seeking new sources of support: donations, sponsors, volunteers, project proposals, etc.

Our social services based on the modern social work and ethics have confirmed to be able to serve children and adults with an intellectual disability. We hope that the holistic support system from the birth, through the development and teaching, until the independent adult life and elderly days will serve as a model for establishing similar programs by other organizations, and ultimately by the government, instead of the more hundred years old, antihuman institutional system.

Hungarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability (ÉFOÉSZ) http://www.efoesz.hu/index.php?m=en

ÉFOÉSZ was established 30 years ago (Hungarian Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability) as an umbrella body for organizations concerned with the care and rehabilitation of people with intellectual disability in Hungary. At the present time our organization represents 50 member associations, 25 local branches and 22.000 individual members all over the country and we run 9 community based settings.

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Our vision is to improve the lives and well being of people with intellectual disability in Hungary.

Our mission is to work with and for people with intellectual disability so that their rights are upheld in line with international agreements (such as the European Social Charter, the UN Standard Rules...), by cooperating with government departments and other stakeholders and also by lobbying and working with and on behalf of people with intellectual disability.

Objectives: One of the main goals of ÉFOÉSZ is to represent the interests of the people living with intellectual disability and their families in national level and also in international organizations such as EDF, Inclusion Europe, Inclusion International. On the other hand, ÉFOÉSZ's objective is to support persons with intellectual disability in the field of having equal rights, equal opportunities and leading a life without having to rely on others, while actively participating in social life as visible citizens.

Most important achievements: 1.

We take an active part in the work of National Disability Affairs Council, which is one of the consultancy organizations of the Government.

2.

We organize national seminars, workshops and conferences (e.g. seminar for self-advocates, conference for parents of persons with multiple disabilities); we also publish a quarterly national newsletter called "Kapaszkodó" (which means "Handrail" in English) as well as different publications that address important issues in the intellectual disability area (e.g. on discrimination, human rights of people with intellectual disability).

3.

We also provide legal assistance, family support service and other services (e.g. disseminating information’s, important documents such as Madrid Declaration in easy-to-read version) for people with intellectual disability and their parents.

The local branches of ÉFOÉSZ provide social, educational and health services. They also organize cultural activities such as art and music festivals.

Hungarian Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons (MVGYOSZ ) http://www.mvgyosz.hu/

The Hungarian Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (MVGYOSZ) has been representing the interests of the visually impaired in Hungary for more than 90 years. With our advocacy activities and our various services our aim is to create a more accessible and liveable world for the blind. The books and periodicals produced by our Federation in accessible formats (Braille, audio and electronic files) enable people with visual impairment to access all kinds of information and culture. Our Textbook Section transcribes textbooks, produces Braille, large print and audio books according to the visually impaired students’ needs. Our shop sells a wide range of products at affordable prices to support blind and partially sighted people’s independent living.

Hungarian Association of Deafblind (SOE) http://www.siketvak.hu/index.php?lang=en

The Hungarian Deafblind Association was founded in 1994 with the following purposes: 

To support deafblind children, adults and their families, and provide them with advocacy;



To support the integration of deafblind people into the society;



To raise public awareness regarding deafblindness as a distinct disability;



To contribute to deafblindness-prevention

People living with visual and hearing impairments are considered deafblind, if their dual sensory loss does not allow the use of educational and assistive methods commonly used with visually impaired and hard of hearing/deaf people.

On behalf of the members of the Association: 

We provide informative and legal consultation;



We keep contact with deafblind persons and their families;



We provide parents raising deafblind children, other organizations and their professionals with counseling;



We organize free time activities, summer camps and meetings for our members;



We organize clubs: handicraft and Usher-club, sport activities;



We edit and distribute our paper “Szemfüles” and our Newsletter

Hungarian Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (SINOSZ) http://www.sinosz.hu/

The situation of the deaf and hard of hearing persons in Hungary: Hundreds of thousands of people suffer from hearing loss in Hungary. Tens of thousands are fully deaf. Fortunately, modern hearing equipment can effectively help the majority of those with only partial hearing loss.

National Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (1907-) SINOSZ is an organization formed by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. SINOSZ has served both communities for over 100 years through direct assistance programs and advocacy. The work of SINOSZ is driven by our commitment to equal opportunity. Our vision is a world where the sign language of the Deaf is part of the national culture and where the deaf and those who have partial hearing loss are helped on the road to active social participation in national life.

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The mission of SINOSZ: SINOSZ was established in Hungary in 1907 to secure social acceptance of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and to advocate for the establishment of education, employment and transportation conditions that promote independent living. Deaf and hard of hearing members and their friends and relatives and national and international experts help SINOSZ realize our goals.

Hungarian Autistic Society (AOSZ) http://www.aosz.hu/

National Council of Federations of People with Disabilities (FESZT) http://www.edf-feph.org/Page_Generale.asp?DocID=1094

National Council of Disability Affairs (OFT) http://www.szmm.gov.hu/main.php?folderID=21203

National Federation of (Physically) Disabled Persons' Associations (MEOSZ) http://meosz.hu/index_23_05.php

The goal of the National Federation of Disabled Persons' Associations (MEOSZ) is to achieve equal opportunities and full participation in the society for all persons with physical disability living in Hungary by representing, protecting and promoting their interests and advocating for their rights. As member of the National Council of Disabled Persons' Organizations (FESZT), MEOSZ has been striving together with the three other national NGOs - the national federations of the blind, of the deaf, and of the mentally disabled persons - to achieve the same goal for people with disabilities. 

MEOSZ was established by people with physical disability in 1981 and it is still controlled by them. It is one of the largest and most powerful NGOs for public use in our country, built up and working democratically.



Within the 85 member associations 540 local groups are working throughout the country.

The total number of individual members amounts to 190.000.



Working groups and sections within the Federation:



Working Group for Legislation contribute to the work of the Board in initiating amendments or new laws to improve the opportunities and living conditions of disabled persons, and they provide legal advice to individuals, as well as legal training to leaders of the member associations.



The Working Group of Human Rights help disabled persons in case of discrimination.



Sections according to certain diagnoses



Section of young people ◦ Section of women



The Circle of Artists



Rolling Dancers - dancing group composed by people in wheelchair



The activity of the Federation is determined by voluntarism. Regular administrative work is carried out by paid staff. Most of the volunteers and the paid staff are disabled people themselves.

Main Fields of activity: 

Carrying out expert work in the course of improving legislation and in many other fields.



Making efforts to raise awareness in the society and among disabled people by PR work, our newspaper HUMANITÁS, by actions and different events.



Promoting creation of facilities for employment, education, culture, sport, leisure time activities, which are otherwise not available for disabled persons.



Promoting creation of support services, like personal assistance, transportation, peer counseling, information service, etc. Maintaining such a service in the Headquarter of MEOSZ



Organizing regular events, like Day of Equal Opportunities in May, National Balaton Meeting of disabled people in August, National Abilympics, National Cultural Festival



Organizing training seminars regularly in different topics for leaders or for the staff of member associations, for specialists.



Organizing 3 to 12 month training by the MEOSZ Institute for Distance Learning and Teleworking in computer skills, in English language, in business skills, in leadership, etc.



Based on certain laws and regulations MEOSZ has taken part in some State duties, like awarding financial support to people with disabilities for adapting their flats to their needs (to make them accessible), or for solving the difficulties of transportation.

International activities We strive to get closer to Europe in the disability field as well. MEOSZ has been member of FIMITIC (www.fimitic.org), of DPI-Europe (www.dpi.org) and of EDF (www.edf-feph.org).

Through our cooperation within Central and East European NGOs of disabled persons, we help each other to solve difficulties, to raise awareness, to achieve appropriate legislation for equal opportunities and full participation.

In line with the accession process to the EU we consider it to be important to take part more actively in European activities of the Disability Movement by exchanging experiences and information.

MEOSZ is maintained by some state support and membership fees, activities are financed by projects. All member associations and working groups, sections have their own budget.

133

IRELAND Association

for

Higher

Education

Access

and

Disability (AHEAD) http://www.ahead.ie/index.php

AHEAD, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability is an independent non-profit organization working to promote full access to and participation in further and higher education for students with disabilities and to enhance their employment prospects on graduation. AHEAD provides information to students and graduates with disabilities, teachers, guidance counselors and parents on disability issues in education.

AHEAD works with graduates and employers through the GET AHEAD Graduate Forum and the WAM Mentored Work Placement Program. AHEAD coordinates LINK, a worldwide network of professionals promoting the inclusion of students & graduates with disabilities in Higher Education managed by 6 European partner organizations.

Cork Centre For Independent Living Ltd. http://www.corkcil.ie/

Independent living is a philosophy, a way of looking at disability and society, and a worldwide movement of people with disabilities working for self-determination, self-respect and equal opportunities. Cork Centre for Independent Living (Cork CIL) was opened in 1996 by people with disabilities. Cork CIL is committed to working towards the removal of barriers to inclusion and working for rights-based equality legislation for people with disabilities.

Our main aim is to empower and enable people with disabilities to achieve Independent Living, choice and control over their lives and to achieve full and active participation as equal citizens in society.

Cork Centre for Independent Living (Cork CIL) was opened in 1996 by people with disabilities. Cork CIL remains committed to working towards the removal of barriers to inclusion and working for rights-based equality legislation for people with disabilities. Ireland map for Centers of Independent LivingThere are currently twenty-seven Centers for Independent Living operating throughout Ireland.

Each Centre functions on an individual basis, although all adhere to the same principles of Independent Living. CILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s provide a range of services to people with a disability. In Ireland they are funded primarily through the Health Services Executive and Department of Social Protection formerly FĂ S.

The Board and staff of Cork CIL work vigorously to ensure that life for people living with physical disabilities is made as straightforward as possible. We do this by working with various Local and National Government Departments to ensure that the prospect of everyday living can be made possible.

We are committed to fight for these rights as we have a passion for life to be an independent journey not an independent struggle.

What We Do? Cork Centre for Independent Living works in partnership with people with disabilities, the HSE & FÁS to provide a range of support and services to people with disabilities living in South lee area of Cork city.

Our main aim is to empower and enable people with disabilities to achieve Independent Living, choice and control over their lives and to achieve full and active participation as equal citizens in society The services offered by Cork CIL aim to respond to individual needs and preferences.

Everyone who uses the Cork CIL services is unique, however many people who do use the services have very complex and high support needs.

Services Cork CIL Services include: 

Provision of Personal Assistant (PAs) Service to Adults



Provision of Special Needs Personal Assistant to Children with a primary physical disability in mainstream pre-school setting



Provision of information on the rights and entitlements of people with a disability



Promoting advocacy and self-advocacy



Disability Research & Training



Sponsor FÁS Community Employment Scheme



Supporting employment opportunities for people with a disability Cork CIL is contracted by the HSE to provide a level of PA services to adults and children

with a disability. This statutory funding is limited but we are committed to working to ensure best value and offering services to as many people as possible in line with our Service Level Agreements.

Adult Services 

To be eligible for Adult Personal Assistant (PA) Services you must be



Between ages of 18 and 65 years



Eligible for inclusion in the National Physical Sensory Disability Data Base (NPSDD) and



Living in South Lee

135

Applications should in the first instance be made through your local Public Health Nurse.

S/he will arrange to meet with you. A written application will be sent by your PHN to the HSE Disability Services. These applications are reviewed by a team made up of representative s of HSE Disability Services, the PHN Service and the Cork Centre for Independent Living.

Based on the information you give, applications are prioritized and placed on a waiting list. As resources become available services are offered to those people on the waiting list.

Children’s Services Special Needs PA Services to Children in Mainstream Pre-school Settings For your child to be eligible for Special Needs PA Services in Pre-school s/he must be: 

Attending or about to attend mainstream preschool,



Eligible for inclusion in the National Physical Sensory Disability Data Base (NPSDD) and



Living in South Lee. Applications should in the first instance be made through your local Public Health Nurse.

S/he will arrange to meet with you. A written application will be sent by your PHN to the HSE Disability Services. Your child is in all likelihood attending the Community Disability Early Intervention Services, Enable Ireland Early Intervention Services, or a similar service. Application for a PA in preschool should be accompanied with a statement of your child’s need from either the Early Education Specialist, or member of the Early Intervention Team. It is important that Cork CIL is providing a Service that is in line with your child’s assessed needs and as reflected in your Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) Applications are received by the HSE Disability Office reviewed by the HSE Disability Services Co-ordinator and sent to Cork CIL. We will then contact you. Our aim is to find a suitable PA for your child as soon as possible. We may not be able to offer all the hours that you would like and the service will be reviewed each term with you and the other members of the Early Intervention Teams that your child is linked with.

FÁS Community Employment Project Cork CIL is a sponsor of a FÁS Community Employment Scheme Participants work in a range of settings including PA and administration. The FÁS Community Employment Schemes offer a valuable opportunity for participants to gain further training and work place skills. (See our Job Opportunities Section).

Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) http://www.disability-federation.ie/

The Union of Voluntary Organizations of People with Disabilities trading as The Disability Federation of Ireland is a company limited by guarantee not having share capital, registered in Dublin. Registered No 140948, CHY No 6177. 

Supporting Organizations to Enable People with Disabilities.



An advocate for the Voluntary Disability Sector.

Disability Federation of Ireland (DFI) is the national support organization for voluntary

disability organizations in Ireland who provide services to people with disabilities and disabling conditions:

      

Hidden Intellectual Mental Health Physical Sensory Emotional Neurological DFI works to ensure that Irish society is fully inclusive of people with disabilities and

disabling conditions so that they can exercise fully their civil, social and human rights. In pursuit of this vision DFI: 

Acts as an advocate for the voluntary disability sector.



Supports organizations to further enable people with disabilities There are 132 organizations within membership or as associates in DFI (list of

membership). DFI also works with a growing number of organizations and groups around the country that have a significant disability interest, mainly from the statutory and voluntary sectors.

DFI provides: 

Information



Training and Support



Organization and Management Development



Research and Policy Development



Advocacy and Representation



Networking DFI represents the disability interest within social partnership through its participation in

the Community and Voluntary Pillar. DFI is a member of the Disability Stakeholders Group, which works with government to progress the National Disability Strategy and it is also active in other form.

137

Down Syndrome Ireland http://downsyndrome.ie/

Down Syndrome Ireland is a national voluntary organization supporting people with Down syndrome and their families in twenty-five branches nationwide. Down Syndrome Ireland represents and supports 3,500 members through a professionally staffed national office and twenty-five local branches nationwide. The National Office comprises of a Fundraising Team, a Central Support Team and a National Resource Team. The National Resource Team provides specialist consultancy services around the country in healthcare, education, early development, speech and language therapy, counseling and independence. In addition, the organization is governed by a Board of Directors who consults with a National Council and a National Advisory Council. Down Syndrome Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Advisory Council represents the opinions of adults with Down syndrome within our organization. The council is made up of twelve adults with Down syndrome from across Ireland.

Down Syndrome Ireland actively lobbies on behalf of the interests of our members. Our lobbying efforts are carefully co-ordinated to represent accurate and well-researched information. Lobbying issues include health, education, political participation and language accessibility of public and political information.

Enable Ireland http://www.enableireland.ie/

Enable Ireland provides free services to children and adults with disabilities and their families from 40 locations in 14 counties. Covering childhood to adulthood our expert teams work with the individual and their family on a plan for each life stage.

Our services for children and their families cover all aspects of a child's physical, educational, and social development from early infancy through adolescence. For adults we offer a range of services covering personal development, independent living, supported employment, social and leisure activities.

The demand for our services continues to increase throughout Ireland. We have set ourselves the challenging goal of meeting these needs by providing a full range of high quality services, and expanding into local communities.

Our Mission: Enable Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to work in partnership with those who use our services to achieve maximum independence, choice and inclusion in their communities.

Background Enable Ireland was founded in 1948 as Cerebral Palsy Ireland. The founder, Dr. Robert Collis, used a £100 donation from the Marrowbone Fund to establish an assessment clinic for children with disability. The first clinics were held weekly in the National Children’s Hospital.

Initially, assessment and treatment services were provides on a voluntary basis.

The National Association of Cerebral Palsy was established in 1951 and worked in partnership with the State (through County Councils, Regional Health Boards and the Department of Education) to provide a range of services for children with physical disabilities and their families. That same year a clinical service commenced in Bray, Co Wicklow and a similar service began in Cork in 1954. During the 1980’s, parents, friends and families of children requiring services established a branch network throughout Ireland to meet the need for local assessment and treatment. These volunteers fulfilled demanding roles as advocates and fundraisers. They provided the impetus for the substantial growth of Enable Ireland. Partnerships with families have grown into strong working relationships and provide a crucial framework to plan, fund and deliver services. By the 1980’s, Enable Ireland had also established an innovative fundraising strategy. A chain of profitable retail shops was set up to supplement the running costs and build a capital fund to boost State provisions. The profits generated have enhanced Enable Ireland’s capacity to work in partnership with the State in the expansion of services and facilities.

Inclusion Ireland www.inclusionireland.ie

Vision: The Vision of Inclusion Ireland is that of people with an intellectual disability living and participating in the community with equal rights as citizens, to live the life of their choice to their fullest potential.

Mission: The Mission of Inclusion Ireland is to be the independent champion of people with an intellectual disability and their families whose standing and expertise in intellectual disability is acknowledged and to ensure that people with an intellectual disability have their voices heard, are not isolated or segregated and can lead more independent and healthier lives.

Patron: Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, is the Patron of Inclusion Ireland.

Inclusion Ireland was founded in 1961 (as namhi) and has now become the umbrella body for over 160 organizations. Inclusion Ireland's membership comprises both organizations and individual members.

139

What does Inclusion Ireland do?

Inclusion Ireland provides a central forum for its members to identify priorities and formulate nationally agreed policies to present to government, statutory bodies, other relevant groups as well as the general public. Inclusion Ireland campaigns for changes in services and legislation that will improve the quality of life and participation of people with an intellectual disability in Irish Society. In addition to this central role, Inclusion Ireland: 

Promotes Advocacy for people with an intellectual disability, particularly self-advocacy



Provides an information and advice service by phone, post and through its website



Publishes information leaflets/booklets



Publishes a quarterly newsletter



Organizes seminars and conferences on intellectual disability



Gives information & training talks to a range of groups



Represents the intellectual disability sector in Ireland at an international level by its membership of Inclusion International & Inclusion Europe.



Promotes research into intellectual disability.

Information and Advice Inclusion Ireland provides an information and advice service to people with an intellectual disability, their families and also to services that support people with an intellectual disability as well as students and others doing research in the sector etc.

If you are looking for a service, some advice, a link to a support group etc we can point you in the right direction. However, if you have a specific query you would like Inclusion Ireland to help you with please email us at info@inclusionireland.ie or you can phone us at 01 8559891. If you would like to meet with someone from Inclusion Ireland.

Irish Society of Autism http://autism.ie/

The Irish Society for Autism was formed with the goal of creating awareness of autism and convincing the authorities that early diagnosis and specialized education would greatly enhance the quality of life for people with Autism. In the last 51 years the Irish Society for Autism has been providing information on Autism for thousands of people, parents, families, educators, students and health care workers. It has also been successful in creating residential services for Adults with Autism in Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Wexford and creating the European Charter of Rights for People with Autism.

The headquarters of the Irish Society for Autism are situated at Unity Building, 16/17 Lower O’Connell Street, Dublin, 1. All of its activities are co-ordinated from this office which include: 

A Drop in Centre: provides access to our library, books, publications and videos where parents, professionals and students can come and access information on Autism.



Activity Management:

All of the Society’s fundraising activities which include “Rose

Campaign”, “Spring Campaign”, Mini Marathon and Dublin City Marathon are organized and co-ordinated there. 

Seminars and Meetings: The ISA holds a monthly Board meeting in O’Connell Street. The ISA is very active in assisting and supporting Autism Europe (A.E.) and the World Autism Organization. The ISA runs seminars and information days.



The Executive Director of the Irish Society for Autism, Pat Matthews, was a founding member and the first President of the World Autism Organization. He is now the immediate past President of the World Autism Organization and a member of the Council of Administration.



Public Relations: The ISA has become very active politically and has enlisted the support of many well-known politicians to pursue its aims. We always try to maximize on any events that might highlight Autism or present Autism to the public in a positive way.



Support Groups: The Irish Society for Autism runs support groups in Kerry, Wexford, Donegal and Kilkenny. Please contact our office for further information.



Finance: The Society depends entirely on its income from fundraising to run its office and support activities.



The capital development of Dunfirth Farm, Cluain Farm and Sarshill House was largely the result of dedicated parents and friends using initiative, imagination and hard work to fund the projects.



The housing projects were supported by the Department of the Environment who have generously contributed to our projects. However, the ongoing revenue to enable us to pay our way is still very scarce.



The Years Ahead: As we become more knowledgeable about Autism and adults with Autism, there is a greater realization that although people with Autism can acquire, improve and develop their skills they will continue to require intensive continuity of training to enable them to reach their true potential.



We know that given the right training and by creating meaningful work opportunities in a suitable environment our young people with Autism can lead greatly enriched lives.

141

Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) http://www.iwa.ie/

IWA is a national organization founded in 1960, dedicated to the achievement of full social, economic and educational inclusion and integration of people with physical disabilities as equal, independent and participative members of their communities and society. IWA is one of Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading social enterprises and representative organizations providing services and support to over 20,000 members nationwide. IWA has 2,000 registered volunteers and 2,221 staff. The Association provides over 2 million hours of service annually to people with disabilities in their homes and communities throughout Ireland.

Although it is estimated that ten percent of the Irish population has some form of disability, it can be surprisingly easy to feel isolated and alone. By coming together as an association, we can support each other in dealing with the many issues facing people with disabilities and their families.

As an association, we become a stronger force in advocating for positive changes in society. We can organize national campaigns around key issues and also share information and ideas. As a member, you will receive our quarterly magazine, Spokeout, which includes many personal stories about living with a disability as well as useful information on issues such as accessible holidays, sport, motoring and aids and appliances. You will also be invited to input into the running of the association through the Annual General Meeting and other forums.

Membership is free-of-charge and open to all people with limited mobility (whether or not you are a wheelchair user) or with an interest in the association. IWAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strength is in its people. We are a diverse organization, involving people of all ages and many different types of disability. Whatever your skills or interests, we encourage you to become actively involved in our association.

Leitrim Association of People with Disabilities http://www.lapwd.com/

LAPWD was established to promote the rights of all persons regardless of age, type or nature of disability to: 1.

Live in the community.

2.

Have a range of choices in housing, transportation, education and employment.

3.

Participate in social, economic, cultural and political activities.

The core aim of LAPWD is to empower people with disabilities to achieve independence,

self-determination, choice and control over their own lives.

Our principal activity is the provision of a Personal Assistant Service for people with physical and sensory disabilities.

As a Centre for Independent Living, we also aim: ď&#x192;ź

TO PROVIDE support for people with disabilities to live and work independently in the community:

ď&#x192;ź

TO PROVIDE a forum for people with disabilities to explore and realize their human and civil rights:

ď&#x192;ź

TO FACILITATE the raising of disability issues at local, national and international level.

The main issue for LAPWD is its need to secure ongoing core funding to continue and

expand the PA service. The PA services operated through LAPWD shows that national schemes do not always take into account the different lifestyles and requirements of urban and rural living. PA services in both rural and urban areas have been greeted by people with disabilities as a genuine step forward in enabling them to live independent lives. As the services continue to expand, the expectations of people with physical disabilities will rise to include access to training and employment and to recreation facilities. Transport which is accessible to people with physical disabilities is a requirement for their inclusion in the rural community.

Mental Health Ireland http://www.mentalhealthireland.ie/

Mental Health Ireland aims to promote positive mental health and to actively support persons with a mental illness, their families and carers by identifying their needs and advocating their rights. The MHI Strategic Plan 2009-2013 guides us in our operational and corporate function. This four-year plan proposes to focus with greater clarity on how to succeed in our mission to improve the wellbeing of persons at an individual and group level.

Other areas to receive priority attention include: 1.

Volunteer recruitment and retention.

2.

Continued development of social housing throughout the country.

3.

Increase awareness / information program on mental health issues.

4.

Active engagement with research and other mental health research agencies.

5.

Greater service user involvement at both local and national level.

6.

Pursue appropriate funding for Training and Development program for volunteers and cares and also to facilitate operation of the Volunteer, Advocacy and Support program in other parts of the country following the successful piloting in Waterford Institute of Technology.

7.

Increased partnerships with HSE and other service providers.

143

National Disability Authority http://www.nda.ie/

The National Disability Authority is the independent state body providing expert advice on disability policy and practice to the Minister, and promoting Universal Design in Ireland.

The National Disability Authority’s mandate is set out in the National Disability Authority Act 1999 and the Disability Act 2005, and in summary is: 

To provide policy advice to Government and public bodies.



To undertake, commission and collaborate in disability research and assist in the development of statistical information.



To advise on standards and guidelines in services to people with disabilities.



To develop standards, education and promote awareness of Universal Design.

Our vision is of an inclusive Irish society in which people with disabilities enjoy equal

rights and opportunities to participate in the economic, social and cultural life of the nation, and of an environment which is accessible to all.

How we work?

The National Disability Authority’s advice and guidance is independent and impartial, rooted in what the evidence shows. In developing advice and guidance, we consider the national and international evidence, and listen to the lived experience of people with disabilities and other stakeholders through consultation and listening. We work in partnership, guided by the need to deploy resources as effectively as possible.

Background to the NDA There have been major changes in disability policy in Ireland in the last few years. These began with the publication of the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, entitled A Strategy for Equality, in 1996. This report in turn was the result of a major consultative process involving people with disabilities. On the basis of a recommendation in this report the government set up an Establishment Group for the National Disability Authority. The Authority was established on June 12, 2000.

National Federation of Voluntary Bodies http://www.fedvol.ie/

We are the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies Providing Services to People with Intellectual Disability - a national umbrella organization for voluntary/non-statutory agencies who provide direct services to people with intellectual disability in Ireland on behalf of the HSE. Our 60 Member Organizations account for in excess of 85% of this country’s direct service provision to people with an intellectual disability.

The services provided to people with an intellectual disability are founded on the values as set out in the O’Brien (1987) Principles of Inclusion, Choice, Dignity, Respect, Participation and Contribution. They are rooted in the rights based perspective that people with intellectual disability have the right to live full and active lives, and be active participating members of their own community.

Our Mission: “To provide the leadership and support that will enable voluntary organizations to adapt to a radically changing operating environment, with the ultimate aim of ensuring that the people whom our members support benefit from best quality service according to their needs.”

Guiding Principles: People with an intellectual disability have the right: 

To be supported to live a life on their own terms;



To be included in all decisions that affect their lives;



To have meaningful, freely chosen relationships;



To be included as a contributing member of their own communities;



To choose their own supports and have access to the resources to do this;



To have the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities as every other citizen.

Core Values The values that guide the way we behave as a Federation are: Integrity – We are loyal and committed to the mission and guiding principle of the National Federation of Voluntary Bodies. 

Professional Conduct – Ensure that we adopt only the best business practices and disciplines.



Openness – Ensure that our communication is open and effective and our Governance and decision making processes transparent.



Accountability – Ensure that we are fully accountable to our members, to the people who we support and their families, funders and communities in respect of the decisions and actions we take.



Person Centered – Ensuring that we listen to, and are responsive to, the people we support.



Quality Focused – Ensure that we always seek to improve and maintain commitment to innovation and development.



Commitment to Staff – Ensure that we facilitate and recognize staff contributions and efforts, and support individual development.



Voluntary Ethos – We are committed to the preservation of a voluntary ethos in the provision of supports to people with intellectual disability.

145

We support the following internationally agreed statements: 

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities



The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights and on the Rights of Intellectually Disabled Persons



The United Nations Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities



The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Our Goals and Objectives While we and our member organizations are constantly open to new challenges and opportunities our goals are: 

The sharing of information relating to the provision, maintenance and development of services.



The development of strategies in areas of common interest



The provision of information and support to individual members and local groups of members, when required, and supporting member organizations in their advocacy on behalf of individual persons.



Making representations to the Departments of State, other public authorities and national and international bodies on issues agreed by the members.



Entering into negotiations on behalf of National Federation members as required.



Promoting and undertaking public education and information actions, and by issuing public statements on behalf of the members, on matters already agreed.



Appointing or nominating, as appropriate, representatives on deputation’s and as members of other relevant bodies, committees, commissions, working parties and boards.



Undertaking the co-ordination of activities agreed by the members and which are appropriate to the role and functions of the National Federation.



Drawing up codes of good practice or guidelines for the provision of intellectual disability services by its members.



Stimulating the growth of the voluntary sector in areas of need and promoting the interlinking of voluntary agencies to promote the interests of persons with an intellectual disability.

Northern Ireland Deaf Youth Foundation http://www.nidya.org/ ď&#x192;ź

We are the leading deaf youth charity in Northern Ireland, working to meet the current needs of deaf children and young people.

ď&#x192;ź

We offer youth support provision by running regional children's youth clubs across the province.

ď&#x192;ź

We provide a range of projects and opportunities to enable deaf children and young people to participate and achieve their full potential.

West Limerick Independent Living CIL Disability Services http://www.limerickcil.com/ Limerick Centre for Independent Living is one of the largest providers of Personal Assistant Services to people with disabilities in Limerick. Over the past decade the organisation has develop high quality, Personal Assistant (PA) service for people with disabilities in Limerick City and County.

A PA service is a service for persons with significant disability who need assistance in aspects of daily living, at home, travelling, at work, college or socially. The identified need of an individual determines the level of service required (i.e. number of hours and how many PA's required) to enable an individual to achieve independent living.

Independent Living is having control of one's own life, having opportunities to make decisions that affect one's life and being able to pursue activities of one's own choosing, regardless of disability.

Independent living is a philosophy, a way of looking at disability and society, and a worldwide movement of people with disabilities working for self-determination, selfrespect and equal opportunities.

147

ITALY

ANFFAS (National association of families with persons with intellectual or relational disabilities) http://www.anffas.net/Page.asp

Consequor - Associazione Consequor per la Vita Indipendente http://www.consequor.it/

Consiglio Nazionale sulla DisabilitĂ (CND) http://www.cnditalia.it/chi-siamo/

DPI Italia (Disabled Peoples' International) http://www.dpitalia.org/

FISH (Italian Federation for overcoming Handicap) http://www.fishonlus.it/

Italian National Association of the Deaf (ENS) http://www.ens.it/

Italian union of the blind and visually impaired http://www.uiciechi.it/

La Cooperativa sociale a r.l. Independent Living http://www.independent.it/

LATVIA Latvian Association of the Deaf (LAD) http://www.lns.lv/eng/

Latvian Association of the Deaf (LAD) is the successor of the first organization of the Deaf of Latvia, established on the 19th of May, 1920. At the moment it is the biggest organization for deaf people in Latvia and it functions in the whole Latvia. There are regional LAD societies in the 9 cities of Latvia. LAD is a member of the World Federation of the Deaf since the 27th of April, 1992. LAD is a social organization, and its members are volunteers. Full deaf as well as people with hearing problems, who know Latvian sign language and take part in achieving aims of LAD, participate in it's activities.

LAD main aims are: 

To help people with hearing loss;



To attain the societies understanding and responsiveness regarding people with hearing problems.

To achieve these aims, the main tasks of LAD are:  To attain support of the government and self-governments regarding social rehabilitation of the members of LAD, to provide their integration in the society;  To satisfy the material, every-day's and cultural needs of members of LAD, to raise the level of the education, protection of health and rehabilitation.

In order to fulfill these tasks, LAD:  Organizes social rehabilitation, establishes specialized centers on rehabilitation work;  Sets up cultural and holiday centers;  Publishes informative issues;  Establishes business structures and stirs other commercial activities;  Provides the acquisition of knowledge and helps to raise the level of education;  Provides different activities for leisure time;  Cooperates with other social organizations;  Works out and moves proposals in governmental, self-governmental and legislational authorities.

149

Institutions and organizations, which work in this center, in cooperation with different supporters, have developed a large sphere of activities which allows to provide deaf people with: 

Necessary technical devices;



Sign language interpreter and communication services;



Consultations in solving social and other problems;



Opportunity to get information (newspaper "Kopsoli", regular meetings at LAD and other solutions);



Understandable information in the National Television (TV "Program for the Deaf", news and theatre performances with translation to sign language;



Research and development of sign language - mother tongue of deaf people; creating and publishing different dictionaries of the sign language and providing opportunities to learn sign language.

Latvian Association 'Rūpju bērns' http://saule.org.lv/

Latvian Society of the Blind http://www.lnbrc.lv/english.htm

Goals and activities of LSB: 1)

Cooperates with parliament, government, local institutions and nongovernmental organizations in order to promote solution of problems, which concern visually impaired people,

2)

Encourages awareness-raising in public of causes and consequences of blindness, emphasizing possibilities and ways of overcoming difficulties and achieving success in education, professional career, social and private life,

3)

Advances occupational training, rehabilitation and integration, favors exercising of human rights in accordance with United Nations' Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for People with Disabilities,

4)

Provides assistance to obtain assistive devices such as white canes, magnifiers, talking watches, audio cassette players, etc.

Structure: LSB consists of 12 structural units â&#x20AC;&#x201C; territorial (regional) organizations as well as Liepaja Society of the Blind and Tukums Society of the Blind which work in all regions of country, further they are divided in local organizations.

LSB territorial organizations: 1)

Collaborate with local authorities and institutions in order to provide the best possible ways to improve quality of life for people with partial or total sight loss.

2)

Provide basic rehabilitation for visually impaired persons in places of their residence,

3)

Collect information about specific needs of their members, distribute and deliver assistive devices according to costumers' choice,

4)

Inform children in preschool age and give advices to their parents about accessible medical aid and education facilities etc.

Finances From 1950's till beginning of 1990's LSB was able to sustain itself financially because of its four profitable enterprises. Goods manufactured by these enterprises â&#x20AC;&#x201C; brushes, electrical appliances, metal caps for preserving food in jars and so on â&#x20AC;&#x201C; found market not only in Latvia but also in former Soviet Union. But now market has dramatically decreased, and currently they can sell only 2 percent of what was sold twelve years before. That is the reason why LSB is forced to rely mostly on government's financial assignations for rehabilitation program and for procurement of assistive devices. LSB isn't able to give to members such a financial support as it was able to allocate in past.

Rehabilitation Center of Latvian Society of the Blind LSB Rehabilitation Center is the only one in Latvia which deals specifically with rehabilitation and vocational training of persons after sight loss. It was established in 1993.

During last years understanding of importance of rehabilitation among visually impaired has positively changed. One reason of shift in attitude is good quality of services and individual approach towards every person's needs. Another reason may be sharp decrease of number of workplaces in four LSB sheltered enterprises, which provided employment for everybody who wanted to work.

Rehabilitation center and its 12 territorial rehabilitation day centers all over Latvia offers for blind and partially sighted people basic social rehabilitation services. In cooperation with Latvian State Employment service occupational training for persons in working age is organized.

Social rehabilitation includes mobility training, Braille reading and writing, selfservice skills, housekeeping, cooking etc.., in 2008 there are 2 program - 50 and 400 hours per person. Earlier within the framework of occupational training person could learn or improve skills in two professions: making of wickerworks and massage. Approximately 75 percent of 61 trainee who have learnt wickerwork making, have found their places in the labor market working mainly as self-employed craftsmen. After finishing training courses many of 61 masseurs successfully continue to work in this profession of their choice.

151

Latvian Umbrella Body for Disability Organisations (SUSTENTO) http://www.sustento.lv/

Union of People with Disabilities and Their Friends APEIRONS http://www.apeirons.lv

Be together: in equality and independence.

The organization “Apeirons” is a NGO where people with and without disabilities are together. The main goal of our organization is the full integration of people with disabilities in the society. Apeirons is working actively since 1994. It was founded in 1997 and in that year was officially formed and registered like a NGO. The motivation of our organization is included in its own name itself, “Apeirons”, the infinite substance, where everything starts and the point where everything go back in an unlimited cycle. Our organization for people with disabilities and their friends is always changing, improving, developing new ideas and looking for the ideal Society’s model.

Target Group – All the society in a global way, dedicating special attention to the people with disabilities, including youngsters.

The main fields our organization works with are: 

Defending common interests: Our work involves as well our collaboration with other NGOs of the region and municipalities. Organize seminars, trainings and different campaigns and activities. We work with different groups to popularize topics important for people with disabilities and find potential solutions for the inconveniences.



Employment: Apeirons staff offers consultation and guide people with any disability to involve themselves in the labor market. One of our departments is also dedicated to help the one who is looking for workers to find the perfect employee.



Environmental accessibility: Regularly we monitoring environmental accessibility and we made the annual evaluation „Zelta Kruķis” (Gold Crutch – Annual prize to the best new and completely renovate based in the universal design). We offer as well audits about universal accessibility and evaluations of different buildings, working with standard & recommendations and also, with universal design.



Human Rights: As for us is a really important task, we are also monitoring human rights. We prepare informative seminars for local NGOs which are working with people with disabilities for them to know their own rights. By the results of the United Nations’ conventions who took place in Latvia (“About people with disabilities rights’”), State, Municipality and NGOs agreed to develop

common dialog formations through teamwork. In addition, they would also take part making decisions in local and National level and above all by creating a positive attitude in the Society.



Participation in the collaboration’s network of people with disabilities in National and International level: We are associated to the biggest European collaboration’s network of independent lives (ENIL).



Teaching inclusion & integration: One of our work fields is carrying out projects of inclusion, teaching and developing collaboration for and with different schools.



Social services for children: In cooperation with biggest charity organization in Latvia “ziedot.lv” Apeirons do administrate two projects for children with severe disabilities. “Let’s help little hearts” is a project where families can apply for funding for rehabilitation of disabled children. The other project called “Sweet babysitter” is a project where families can apply for funding for hiring babysitter for a disabled child in this way giving opportunity to parents have free hands for a least 8 hours a week.



Accessibility: Apeirons promote the understanding about new technologies supporting people with disabilities while all their life in this aspect. Here, we host and organize computer courses and we work in the production of the Internet accessibility standards.



Youth movement: There is a strong youth movement in our organization that is growing year after year. Most of our activities and initiatives are involving youngsters of our community. They lead seminars, talks, lessons, meetings, camps, travels and, time to time, some crazy activities too.



Volunteer service:

Our work is developed with volunteers who are not just Latvians, but

foreigners arrived from all around the world. Adding our experience and knowledge with their enthusiastic mood and work, we all together promote the development of different field in benefit of people with disabilities 

Apeirons Video Studio: In 2005 we proudly started with the ambitious project of Apeirons’ Video Studio. Since that time, we prepared many videos, broadcast and sketches about topics we consider important for the daily life of people with and without disabilities. Two years after start our program, in 2007, the short film “Cits skatu punkts” (Another point of view) won the first prize in the French festival “People with disabilities among us”. 

Our work in this film is based not just in showing News, but as well in preparing documentaries, artistic movies and, SOBRE TODO, we are focus in telling Apeirons stories, about our staff and what we do, our friends & moreover our people.

153

LHITUANIA Lithuanian National Forum of the Disabled http://www.lnf.lt/ Lithuanian forum of the disabled (LNF) is a nonprofit, voluntary, independent, and non-political association.

LNF UNITES Lithuanian non-governmental organizations, academic establishments, institutes and individuals acting in the area of social integration of people with disabilities LNF acts in cooperation with its social and public partners, international organizations and agencies of the European Union and European Economic Area.

Mission of LNF: Protection of the rights of people with disabilities, Promotion of equal opportunities for all by following the principles: 

of non-discrimination,



diversity



and equality

Lithuanian Union of Persons with Disabilities http://www.negalia.lt/

UNRIIS http://www.unriis.lt/home.unriis

LUXEMBURG Nëmmen mat Eis Nothing About Us Without Us http://www.nemmemateis.lu

Conseil Supérieur des Personnes Handicapées The Higher Council of Persons with Disabilities http://www.csph.lu/

Elteren a Pedagogen fir Integratioun The Parents and Teacher Promoting Integration group http://www.integration-epi.lu

MALTA Deaf People Association http://www.deafmalta.com/,

Association Aims: The aims of the Association are as follows:



To ensure that Deaf persons have equal opportunities to live an independent life of the highest possible quality;



To exert reasonable pressure on Maltese authorities to ensure that Deaf people have equal opportunities to enable them live an independent life of the highest possible quality;



To investigate ways Deaf people can have equal opportunities;



Raise public awareness on how Maltese Society can change to offer equal opportunities to Deaf people to enable them live an independent life of the highest possible quality.



Disseminate information on existing facilities available to Deaf people;



Enter into partnership with Government, Authorities and Organizations that are consonant with the Association's aims;



Encourage international contacts with similar organizations abroad and takes part in international meetings

Malta Federation of Organizations Persons with Disability http://www.mfopd.org/

155

NETHERLANDS Council of the Chronically ill and the Disabled (CG-raad) http://www.cg-raad.nl/home.php

About Ieder(in) Ieder (in) {Everyone in} is an umbrella organization

for

people

with

a

physical

disability, mental disability or chronic illness. Two hundred and fifty organizations are affiliated to us. This makes Ieder(in) the largest network for people with disabilities in the Netherlands. We represent the interests of more than two million people.

Our goal: Ieder(in) is committed to a society in which everyone can participate and where no one is excluded. This means that today's society needs to adjust more to meet the needs of those with a disability or chronic illness who should be able to rely on tailored care and support. And just like everyone else, they should be able to choose how they want to live, learn, work, travel and spend their leisure time.

Our name: As a constant reminder of this ideal - the inclusive society -, we have chosen Ieder(in) {everyone in} as our name.

Our history: Ieder(in) came into being on 1 January 2014 as the result of a merger between Platform VG and the CG-Raad.

Mission: Ieder(in) stands for a humane society. A society in which people with a disability or chronic illness can participate to the maximum of their ability in all areas of life. A humane society calls on all of us to make an effort. Those with a disability should participate as much as they can. Their surroundings should offer the support that is needed. And the government should create the conditions in which everyone can participate freely. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities serves as our benchmark which we use to clarify, underpin and promote our views.

Vision: We stand for a society in which people with disabilities can contribute as full citizens within the given possibilities. We want to achieve three goals: 1.

Equal treatment and complete legal equality and status for those with disabilities.

2.

A society that is arranged so that everyone can participate. This requires a coherent policy in all areas of life: housing, education, employment, income, mobility, care and leisure.

3.

Good quality and appropriate treatment, counseling and support for those with a disability.

What we do Ieder(in) has three key functions: 1) Representing collective interests (Advocacy) 2) Equipment and support 3) Provision of services Representing collective interests Ieder(in) represents the collective interests of the affiliated member organizations. We endeavor to ensure that people with disabilities are able to participate in society to the full. We do this in as many areas as possible, including government, politics, social organizations and the media. When representing the interests of others we invoke the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The treaty boldly states: participation and self-determination are human rights! So we demand that the government and other bodies uphold the Convention. Our advocacy covers all areas of life. It focuses on many themes. Namely: care and support, housing, education, employment, accessibility, transportation, income, legal status and inclusion.

Equipment and support Ieder(in) provides support to the affiliated member organizations. We report on current developments that are important to the member organizations. We do this through newsletters and the separate membersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; section on the website. In addition, we regularly organize information and discussion meetings on burning issues.

Moreover Ieder(in) is becoming increasingly concerned in strengthening local interests. This is necessary since local authorities are becoming responsible for providing support and guidance for people with disabilities in an ever increasing number of areas. When strengthening local interests, we make use of, whenever possible, the knowledge and experience of the VCP Program, which has been stopped as a result of cutbacks.

157

Provision of services We offer a number of services and products that are specially tailored to suit our supporters. One example is the Meerkosten.nl website, where people can get information regarding compensation schemes and tax relief. Additionally, we also have a Contact Point. This is where people with disabilities can report on the problems and issues they encounter in daily life. We also provide legal support.

Coalition for Inclusion www.coalitievoorinclusie.nl

For young people with a handicap http://www.moov.nl

ANGO http://www.handicap.nl/

National Federation of Self-advocates LFB http://www.lfb.nu/

POLAND Autism-Poland Alliance http://www.synapsis.waw.pl/_synapsis_1/index.php/content/blogc ategory/46/207/

Polish Association for People with Mental Handicap Polskie Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Osób z Upośledzeniem Umysłowym http://psouu.org.pl/

Polish Association of the Blind Polski Związek Niewidomych http://www.pzn.org.pl/

Polish Association of the Deaf Polski Związek Głuchych http://www.pzg.org.pl/

Polish Disability Forum Polskie Forum Osób Niepełnosprawnych http://www.pfon.org

Polish Federation of Organisations of Persons with Physical Disabilit y Ogólnopolska Federacja Organizacji Osób Niesprawnych Ruchowo http://www.ofoonr.lublin.pl/

Ofoonr was initiated in April 1999 by 21 associations of persons with impaired motor functions. the federation unites associations of people with physical disabilities and persons acting in their interest from all the country. We are tending to ensure for people with disabilities equal access to all institutions and services of the community and to follow up their rights to independent life and full citizenship. Our purpose is to protect the interests of persons with physical disability, to guarantee their comprehensive rehabilitation and to provide that they play a full role in society, taking part in all economic, social, cultural and leisure activities.

Main activities of OFOONR are aiming at: 

Creation of changes in law in order to ensure for people with physical disabilities equal opportunities in terms of access to education, employment, recreation, etc.,



Elimination or reduction of every kind of barriers (psychological, architectonic, technical, etc.) which hinder full integration of people with disabilities into the community,



self-help in solving problems concerning various activities of organizations - members of Federation 159

PORTUGAL Portuguese Confederation of Organizations of Disabled People (CNOD) http://www.cnod.org.pt/

The National Institute for Rehabilitation (INR, I.P.)

ROMANIA Alpha Transilvană, Targu Mures Οrganisation

for

children

and

adults

with

disabilities http://www.alphatransilvana.ro/

Association of Persons with Neuromotor Disabilities http://www.ahnr.ro

The Association of Persons with Neuromotor Disability from Romania - AHNR headquartered in Arad, is the national, nongovernmental organization with the most intense legislative lobby and advocacy activity in the disability domain from Romania.

Association of Persons with Somatic Disabilities http://www.ahsr-crrs.ro/

Association of persons with Prader Willi Sindrome and with rare diseases http://www.apwromania.ro/

Autism Romania Asociatia Părintilor Copiilor cu Autism din Romania http://www.autismromania.ro

Estuar Foundation http://www.estuar.org/

Hans Spalinger Association www.ahs.ro

Motivation Romania http://www.motivation.ro/

Motivation was established in 1995 and since then it has been providing support to children and youth with disabilities in Romania.

Our initiatives and successes have recommended us in 2002 to the international alliance IMPACT International (with member organizations for people with disabilities from the United States, Great Britain, Germany and Norway), who invited us to develop a project of deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities in Romania. In 2008, the organization Shaw Trust, one of the largest providers of employment services for people with disabilities in the UK, proposed us to become partners to jointly develop sustainable support services for people with disabilities in Romania.

We are also members of the Federations ANCOR and Workability Europe, and since 2004 we are affiliated to the International Tennis Federation's wheelchair tennis program. Since 1995, Motivation Romania brought back freedom of movement and hope in a life of fulfillments to over 5,400 children and adults with disabilities. The services we offer cover a wide range of needs of children and adults with disabilities, from equipment suitable for different types of mobility disabilities, in rehabilitation therapy and independent living training, with an instructor in the wheelchair.

Our programs focus on social, educational and professional inclusion through consultancy for accessibility, by facilitating employment of people with disabilities, through day center services or leisure activities such as adapted sports or cultural events.

One of our most important initiatives was to develop the community care services for children with disabilities from state-run institutions. Since January 2003, through the Impact program we transferred 37 children with disabilities from Tancabesti Placement Center (Ilfov). Of these, 27 live in Motivation group-homes.

We have developed for our children medical and psychological rehabilitation services, a day center and an occupational workshop. We provide educational support in our own day center, as well as in public special and mainstream schools. We organize camps and other activities designed to bring the lives of our young children closer to those of a true family.

National Association of Blind People Asociattia NattionalÄ&#x192; a Nevazatorilor din Romania www.anvr.ro

National Organisation of Disabled Persons Organizattia NationalÄ&#x192; a Persoanelor cu Handicap din Romania (ONPHR) www.onphr.ro

161

Pentru Voi Foundation, Timisoara Organisation for persons with intellectual disabilities http://www.pentruvoi.ro

RENINCO Romania www.reninco.ro

Establish a partnership structures between non-governmental organizations, representatives of institutions, parents, professionals interested and involved in achieving the goal;



Training and development of an active network of information, communication and exchange of experience through:



Encourage and facilitate information and cooperation between members;



Promote and develop communication between members and authorities at regional and local level;



Facilitating the transfer of information between members and NGOs RENINCO similar concerns;



Promote early intervention, school and social integration of children and young people with SEN;



Preventing and reducing institutionalization of children and young people with SEN;



Promote and encourage collaboration between units and special education and regular structures.

Ruhama Foundation http://www.ruhama.ro/

Vision: The Ruhama Foundation vision is to contribute for an equitable society where people respect each other, and live a good and decent life.

Mission: Established in 1996 Ruhama Foundation’s mission is to act for improving the quality of life of people and communities that are in social risk. Ruhama Foundation was founded in 1996, in Oradea (a town located in the North-West of Romania), with the expressed purpose of fighting against the leading causes of stereotyping and discrimination affecting the Roma minority, and creating the conditions for higher standards of living and dignified existence. One of the reasons behind the establishment of Ruhama Foundation is the ethnic based rejection and discrimination directly experienced by some of its founders. Those personal experiences coupled with excellent professional skills of the initial organizational team, and the input of professionals and dedicated associates, helped make this organization a commendable institution admired for its civic activism at home and abroad.

Ruhama (a Hebrew name meaning “spared” or “mercy”) was chosen by the founders to illustrate the empathy felt towards people living in poverty and social exclusion.

The focus is placed on three groups: 

Roma ethnics at risk of social exclusion



People disproportionally disadvantaged by the job market



Physically dependent people (due to old age and/or illness)

The values of the organization are: 

Act and interact with empathy with all the Foundation’s beneficiaries;



Take action for the independence and dignity of beneficiaries;



Promote respect, team working and initiative;



Act pragmatically, fairly and responsibly;



Promote respect for people and their choices;



Believe in partnership and team work;



Contribute to the wellbeing of the communities in which we work;



Act responsibly for future generations.

Ruhama Foundation example of good practice: 1) In the competition „Cele Mai Bune Rapoarte Anuale realizate de ONG-uri din Romania”, edition 7, organized by the Federatia Forumul Donatorilor din Romania and patroneted by the Petrom SA, Ruhama Foundation won the top prize of the contest: "Best Annual Report".

2) In the competition “Premiile Fundatiei Erste pentru Integrare Sociala 2009”, organized by the Fundatia Erste, Ruhama Foundation won mention, the project "Developing inclusive and sustainable educational programs for Roma children"; 3) In the competition Gala premiilor în educatie, organized bz the Fundatia Dinu Patriciu, Ruhama Foundation won, NGO of the Year, award because of the educational programs.

Speranta Foundation http://www.adhd-speranta.ro

The National Association of Deaf People Asociattia Nattionala a Surzilor din Romania http://www.ansr.org.ro/index.php?opt=contact

163

The National Support Association for Children with Physical Disabilities from Romania Asociatia de Sprijin a Copiilor cu Handicap Fizic din Romania http://www.aschfr.ro/

Values of ASCHF-R 

ASCHF-R vision: "A world in which children and young people with physical and associated disabilities exploit their potential and they are full members of society."



ASCHF-R members, families who take care for children / young people with physical and associated disabilities believe in the idea that the full potential of the child and young person with disabilities can and should be capitalized.



The family is the appropriate environment for the development of the child with disabilities.



The family should be informed in order to provide the necessary support for the child or young person's development.



Only by acting together - parents, students and specialists - will find solutions to the problems of disability.



ASCHF-R Mission: Develop programs with and for children and young people with physical / associate disabilities and their families in order to facilitate social inclusion.



ASCHF-R Scope: the scope is to improve the living conditions of children and young people with physical / associate disabilities and of the families which take care of them.

The strategic directions of development of the organization are: 

Social integration of children / young people with physical disabilities / related



Providing social services



Advocacy and representation



Institutional Development

Activities: 

Lobbying and advocacy campaigns to promote the rights of children and young people with physical disabilities.



Monitoring Law. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities, concentration of complaints received from the branches of ASCHF-R on breaking the rights provided by law.



National Center for distribution and service of means of help (free repair of means of help for children / young people with physical disabilities, members of ASCHF-R).



Social assistance for families in difficulty.



Documentation and advisory service for members.



National Conference of parents.



Technical and organizational development for ASCHF-R branches.



Summer camp for children and families.



Christmas tree festivities.



Fundraising Campaigns

Traditional Projects •

Summer camp for children and families

•

National Conference of parents

•

Christmas tree festivities

Recent Projects  The "Know my world" - funded by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA), aims to promote social inclusion and access to social services for children / young people with physical and / or associated disabilities and their families.  Project Transform disability in ability "- funded by the Transition Facility 2007/19343.03.03 integration into society of young people belonging to minorities and disadvantaged groups, seeking to develop communication and presentation skills of 18 young people with physical disabilities who will participate, together with 18 volunteers, future professionals in social work at an information campaign in nine schools from nine branches. We want young people with disabilities to overcome barriers of physical condition, to better know their potential and also to develop it.

Activities •

Lobbying and advocacy campaigns to promote the rights of children and young people with physical disabilities.

•

Monitoring Law. 448/2006 on the protection and promotion of persons with disabilities, concentration of complaints received from the branches of ASCHF-R on breaking the rights provided by law.

•

National Center for distribution and service of means of help (free repair of means of help for children / young people with physical disabilities, members of ASCHF-R).

•

Social assistance for families in difficulty.

•

Documentation and advisory service for members.

•

National Conference of parents.

•

Technical and organizational development for ASCHF-R branches.

•

Summer camp for children and families.

•

Christmas tree festivities.

•

Fundraising Campaigns.

Traditional Projects •

Summer camp for children and families

•

National Conference of parents

•

Christmas tree festivities

TREBUIE! The National Association for Children and Adults with Special Needs http://www.trebuie-bucuresti.ro/

www.trebuiefetesti.ro

165

SLOVAKIA The National council of persons with disabilities in the Slovak republic (NCPD) http://www.nrozp.sk/

Slovak Blind and PartiallySighted Union http://www.unss.sk/

Združenie na pomoc ľuďom so zdravotným postihnutím v SR Association on help for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in Slovakia http://www.zpmpvsr.sk/

Slovenský zväz zdravotne postihnutých Slovak Association for Persons with Disabilities http://www.szzp.sk/

Slovenský zväz telesne postihnutých Slovak Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities http://www.sztp.sk/

Liga za duševné zdravie League for Mental Health http://www.dusevnezdravie.sk/

Asociácia organizácií zdravotne postihnutých občanov v SR Association of organizations of people with disabilities in Slovakia https://www.facebook.com/pages/Asoci%C3%A1cia-organiz%C3%A1ci%C3%AD-zdravotne-postihnut%C3%BDchob%C4%8Danov/188980017788680

Silva- Association for Quality of Life of Persons with Special Needs Sklad Silva, Društvo za kakovostno življenje ljudi s posebnimi potrebami The Slovene Association of Disabled Students http://www.dsis-drustvo.si/

Association for Muscular Dystrophy of Slovenia Društvo distrofikov Slovenije www.drustvo-distrofikov.si

Association for Sports of Invalids of Slovenia – Paralympic comittee Zveza za šport invalidov Slovenije - Paraolimpijski komite www.zsis.si

Association for Theory and Culture of Handicap Društvo za teorijo in kulturo hendikepa (YHD) www.yhd-drustvo.si and www.handyworld-si.com

Association of Disability Charities ILCO of Slovenia Zveza invalidskih društev ILCO Slovenije http://www.zveza-ilco.si

SLOVENIA Organisation of the Disabled Students of Slovenia http://www.dsis-drustvo.si

Organisation of the Paralysed of Slovenia www.drustvo-paralitikov.si

Sonček - Cerebral Palsy Association of Slovenia Sonček - Zveza društev za cerebralno paralizo Slovenije http://www.soncek.org

Organisation VIZIJA – Association of physically disabled Društvo VIZIJA - društvo gibalno oviranih http://www.drustvo-vizija.si

Organisation VITA – Support After Head Injury Društvo VITA - pomoč po nezgodni poškodbi glave http://www.vita-poskodbe-glave.si

Organisation of deaf-blind of Slovenia Društvo gluhoslepih Slovenije – Dlan www.gluhoslepi.si

Paraplegics Association of Slovenia Zveza paraplegikov Slovenije www.zveza-paraplegikov.si

Slovenia Association of Disabled Workers Zveza delovnih invalidov Slovenije http://www.zdis.si

The National Council of Disability Organisations Nacionalni svet invalidskih organizacij Slovenije (NSIOS) www.nsios.si

Union of Associations of Blind and Visually Impaired of Slovenia Zveza društev slepih in slabovidnih Slovenije http://www.zveza-slepih.si

Union of Associations of Deaf and Hearing Impaired of Slovenia Zveza društev gluhih in naglušnih Slovenije http://www.zveza-gns.si

Sožitje-Union of Associations for Helping the Persons with Intellectual Disabilities of Slovenia SožitjeZveza društev za pomoč osebam z motnjami v duševnem razvoju Slovenije http://www.zveza-sozitje.si

Union of Associations of War Invalids of Slovenia Zveza društev vojnih invalidov Slovenije www.zdvis.si

167

SPAIN CERMI http://www.cermi.es/enUS/QueesCERMI/Pages/Inicio.aspx

CERMI's mission is to represent and defend persons with disabilities, and to protect their human rights, both individually and as a whole. CERMI acts with one sole and unified voice but respecting diversity and pluralism.

CERMI establishes contacts with public authorities, stakeholders and society to raise awareness on the needs and claims of this social group. CERMI becomes the interlocutor and referent of disability, to promote non-discrimination, equal opportunities and social emancipation and to improve living conditions for citizens with disabilities and their families in Spain.

European Network on Independent Living, ENIL http://www.enil.eu/

The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) is a Europe-wide network of people with disabilities, with members throughout Europe. ENIL is a forum for all disabled people, Independent Living organizations and their non-disabled allies on the issues of Independent Living. ENIL represents the disability movement for human rights and social inclusion based on solidarity, peer support, deinstitutionalization, democracy, self-representation, cross disability and self-determination. ENIL promotes equal opportunities for disabled people and fights against discrimination in Europe. ENIL addresses the under-representation of persons with extensive disabilities in European disability and social politics, as well as in mainstream society. ENIL’s mission is to: 

Promote the Independent Living philosophy among disabled people, general public, national policy makers, government administrations, as well as among regional bodies such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE);



Develop the concept, principles and definition of Independent Living. Promote the development of Centers of Independent Living throughout Europe and enhance solidarity and networking among them;



Carry out training and awareness raising activities at the European level;



Represent Independent Living Organizations and the Independent Living movement at the European level and in different European bodies and organizations (the European Disability Forum, Disabled People’s International etc.);



Combat social exclusion and discrimination through policies which promote Independent Living of disabled people. Make the Independent Living framework instrumental to end discrimination against disabled people in Europe;



Embrace the social model of disability in acquiring independence and self-determination by overcoming the barriers of the medical and attitudinal models.

Mission ENIL is an NGO made up of individuals and organizations promoting equal opportunities and fighting against multiple discrimination of disabled people. All its members are to follow and support Independent Living values, principles and practices. ENIL addresses the underrepresentation of persons with extensive disabilities in European disability politics and social organizations as well as in mainstream society.

ENILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to advocate and lobby for Independent Living values, principles and practices, namely for barrier-free environment, provision of personal assistance support and adequate technical aids, together making full citizenship of disabled people possible. ENILâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s activities target European, national and local administrations, politicians, media, and the general society. ENIL works to strengthen the empowerment of disabled people mainly through providing resources for peer counseling and peer training. ENIL enhances the European disability network by providing the arena for the sharing of experience of services and in providing economical, logistics and technical expertise. This as well as by being a strong network of grassroots activists. ENIL works directly with disabled individuals, organizations (mainly Centers of Independent Living), politicians, social agents, media, the business world and any individual or organization interested in learning about Independent Living history, values, principles and its practical application.

That which makes ENIL different from other disability-related European organizations is its make-up of strong grass roots guided by the social model approach; the dedication of us as members to promote, advocate and lobby for social change (empowerment of disabled people to take control over their lives); and the transferability of the Independent Living principles into applicable practices. ENIL represents a disability movement for human rights and social inclusion based on solidarity, peer support, de-institutionalization, democracy, self-representation, cross disability and self-determination.

ONCE - National Organisation of the Spanish Blind http://www.once.es/new

The birth of the ONCE in 1938 was made possible by the confluence of a series of historical and social factors, resulting in a unique, member-based organization that is unequalled anywhere else on Earth. A delicate moment in the history of Spain and the courage of a group of men and women who refused to be marginalized by society and asserted their many abilities are two of the key elements that contributed to the founding of the ONCE. Over these years, the institution has laid the foundation for a system of specialized social services for the blind that today forms the basis for associations for the blind worldwide and is a requisite standard for social services professionals. It is a system of services that emphasizes rehabilitation as the means for blind people to overcome the obstacles posed by this disability and to develop socially, professionally and personally.

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Self-reliance, educational services, job normalization and universal accessibility are some of the elements that comprise the ONCE service structure.

The everyday kindness of Spanish society provides the essential financial support to this institution, which Spaniards claim as their own. It is the purchase by Spaniards of the Cup贸n and other games of chance sold by the ONCE that make its existence possible. The ONCE, through its Foundation, allocates part of its proceeds to other groups for the disabled.

National Confederation of Deaf People (CNSE) http://www.cnse.es/

National Confederation of persons with organic and physical disability (COCEMFE) http://www.cocemfe.es/portal/

National Confederation of Organizations for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities (FEAPS) http://www.feaps.org/

National Confederation of persons with cerebral palsy (ASPACE) http://www.aspace.org/

National Confederation of families of deaf persons (FIAPAS) http://www.fiapas.es/FIAPAS/index.html

SWEDEN Göteborgskooperativet för Independent Living (GIL) http://www.gil.se/

Kooperativet HIL http://www.hil.se/

Marschen för tillgänglighet The March for Accessibility http://www.marschen.se/

The March for Accessibility (Marschen för tillgänglighet in Swedish) was an organization aimed at enacting a law classifying inaccessibility as discrimination of people with disabilities in Sweden. From 2003 to 2012 nine demonstrations with the same name as the organization was held annually nationwide in Sweden. Here you can take part of how the English site looked until the last demonstration 2012. If you want more information, please go to the first page in Swedish and use a translation service such as Google translate.

The March for Accessibility 2012 The March for Accessibility 2012 (the demonstration) will be held on Saturday May 26th.

Participating cities are: Boden, Borlänge, Göteborg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Jönköping, Karlskrona, Karlstad, Kristianstad, Kumla, Linköping, Malmö, Ronneby, Skellefteå, Stockholm, Strömsund, Uppsala, Varberg, Västerås, Växjö och Örnsköldsvik. (List last updated: 2012-05-25.)

1. What is the background of the march?

The background of the march lies in the American disability advocacy group ADAPT's "Free Our People March" in 2003, an event aimed at enacting the MiCASSA - an equivalent of the Swedish laws granting people with disabilities the right to attendant cares. Compared to Sweden, the US does not lack an anti-discrimination law (ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)).

2.

Why is a law that defines inaccessibility as discrimination necessary?

Theoretically, everyone agrees on a society accessible for everybody, but there is a giant

gap between intention and reality. Media and public opinion, as well as politicians and other policymakers, have to be made conscious of the seriousness of the situation in Sweden. Everyone must be able to cross a street or to visit websites, to go see a movie or eat out with his/her spouse, children, parents, friend and so on - in short: everyone must be able to live their lives just like everybody else, no matter if they have a disability or not.

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In Sweden, there is already strong legislature intended to make society accessible. The problem is that the present laws are not followed. Some laws were enacted several decades ago.

For instance, a law on making public transportation accessible was enacted 1979, but not much has happened since then. Why? Swedish legislation lacks means of sanctioning. If a public transit company doesn’t make their buses accessible with lifts (for instance for people who use wheelchairs) or loud-speaker exclamations (for instance for people with reading disabilities or visual impairments), the company won’t face any punishment whatsoever. The only effect it will have is some possible bad PR within the disability movement. According to law, inaccessibility in Sweden is not defined as discrimination. It has to be! An antidiscrimination act that defines inaccessibility as discrimination would link the inaccessibility on an individual level. Individuals are affected by the inaccessibility. Thus, it is there the means to intervene against the companies, shops, communities, ministries and so on that won’t follow the legislation has to be.

In several other western countries, laws that prohibit companies, authorities and "communities" from having inaccessible enterprises exist. Some examples are: 

USA - Americans with Disabilities Act - shortened ADA (1990)

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Australia - Disability Discrimination Act - shortened DDA (1992)

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United Kingdom - Disability Discrimination Act - shortened DDA (1995)

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South Africa - The Promotion of Equality and the Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act shortened PEPUDA or Equality Act (2000) In Sweden, an investigation about if something similar should be implemented is in

process. Since January 1st 2009, there is a general Swedish antidiscrimination act which protects from discrimination due disability, among many grounds. Still, inaccessibility is not defined as a basis for discrimination. We believe it should be a matter of course in Swedish legislation.

Tillbaka.

3. What is The March for Accessibility?

"Marschen för tillgänglighet" is Swedish and translates The March for Accessibility. It is an organization advocating the enactmentent of a law into Swedish legislation, which defines inaccessibility as discrimination of people with disabilities. While Sweden does recognize the need for attendants for people with disabilities, inaccessibility remains a serious issue in contemporary Swedish society Every year since 2003, we organize a demonstration in support of our cause in several cities throughout Sweden. The demonstration bears the same name as our organization.

Tillbaka.

4. Who support us?

More than 130 organizations and companies, representing over 1 million people (Sweden's population is 9 million), support us. Click here for a complete list of organizations and companies that support The March for Accessibility Tillbaka.

Fรถrbundet Unga Rรถrelsehindrade http://ungarorelsehindrade.se/

Swedish Association of Visually Impaired Youth http://www.ungasynskadade.se/

The Swedish National Association of the Deaf Youth http://sduf.se/

Swedish Organisation for Hard of Hearing Young People http://www.uh.se/se/

In Swedish our name is Unga Hรถrselskadade, UH. We are the national organization for children and young people who are hard of hearing. We have three areas that we work with: knowledge, meeting places and lobbying. Read more about us and our activities here!

Our vision: Accessible society where young people with hearing impairments are involved, independent and developing under equal conditions.

A great part of our work is creating meeting places for our members. We believe in the power of meeting others in the same situation, and we also think it is extremely important for hard of hearing people to have places that are accessible on their terms. We regularly arrange camps, conferences and courses.

The Swedish National Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability http://www.fub.se/

The Swedish Disability Federation http://www.hso.se/

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The Swedish National Association of the Deaf http://www.sdr.org/sveriges-dovas-riksforbund/about-sdr-in-english

SDR was founded in 1922 and is a politically and religiously independent association devoted to safeguarding the social, financial, linguistic and cultural interests of deaf people. Sign language is of central importance to all our activities, for our sense of community, our selfesteem and cultural identity. The need for sign language in all stages of life is a guiding star for all our activities.

Being a signing deaf person does not mean having a disability in the ordinary sense. We see ourselves as a linguistic minority. In a signing environment there is no handicap. A handicap arises, however, in contact with hearing people. The problems are not limited to hearing persons who cannot sign, but include a lack of interpreters, TV programs and films without captions, and information for the general public in Swedish which is hard to understand.

Language is a fundamental right for every individual. Through our language we achieve communication with other persons, can exchange thoughts and develop our consciousness.

Communication in sign language is not only a necessity for deaf people but also a bridge between deaf and hearing and a prerequisite for the active social participation of the deaf in society. Contact with people who cannot sign is conducted mainly with the help of sign language interpreters. The main obstacle for us is the lack of understanding and ignorance concerning our special culture, problems and needs. Add to this the weakened national economy, the consequences of which require us to struggle incredibly hard to even come close to experiencing the amount of culture and participation on the social, linguistic, technical and civic levels that are natural for hearing people.

The Swedish Federation of People with Mobility Impairments http://www.dhr.se/

The Swedish Association of Hard of Hearing People http://www.hrf.se/

The Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired http://www.srf.nu/

UNITED KINGDOM DISABILITY SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS http://www.special-needs-kids.co.uk/organisations.htm

Special Needs Kids has compiled this directory of charities and organizations specific to individual special needs and disabilities.

These organizations are all charitable or 'not for profit' and offer help, support and advice for parents and cares, as well as being an excellent source of information.

British Institute of Learning Disabilities http://www.bild.org.uk/

BILD is the British Institute of Learning Disabilities. We want people with learning disabilities to be valued equally, participate fully in their communities and be treated with dignity and respect. 

Our services help develop the organizations who provide services, and the people who give support.

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That way we play a part in making sure people are supported with dignity and respect and can make choices and decisions about their lives.

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We make sure BILD members get the latest news in learning disabilities - why don't you join us?

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We also campaign for proper funding for support for people with learning disabilities and their family cares, and against bad practice as witnessed at Winterbourne View.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/Pages/Home.aspx

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We raise awareness of sight problems, and how to prevent sight loss, and we campaign for better services and a more inclusive society.

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What our work cover

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We listen and work energetically with others to achieve our aims.

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Our work includes: 1) Campaigning on a range of issues from preventing sight loss through to better transport services for blind and partially sighted people.

2) Supporting others through a range of products and services.

3) Offering training, education and learning.

4) Employment and education services.

5) Promoting accessible services.

This website offers you a wealth of information on how, where and when we are here for you. And you’ll find lots of advice that will help you live independently – plus products in our online shop.

Emotional and practical support We offer emotional and practical support through our Helpline and Emotional Support Service. We also offer advice about money, eye health and how to access local services. We provide education and employment services and advice that enables people with sight loss to retain and gain jobs.

Campaigning for you We campaign to ensure proven treatments for sight-threatening conditions are available on the NHS. We also campaign to raise awareness of sight issues including how to prevent sight problems.

Improving educational opportunities We aim to improve educational opportunities for blind and partially sighted children and adults, including those with complex needs. We offer learning opportunities through our own RNIB schools and colleges. We also offer advice on other educational services and specific advice and support for education professionals.

Making services more accessible We work to make services more accessible such as transport and getting around, shopping and banks and banking to enable more people with sight loss have access to these. We also work to influence partners across the world to make using products and technology easier. 

Find out more about the services we offer.

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Attend a supporter reception

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Attend a supporter reception to learn more about our vital work and discover opportunities to get more involved.

http://www.ndcs.org.uk/

Our vision is a world without barriers for every deaf child Our mission: To remove the barriers to the achievement of deaf children throughout the world Our values: Change-focused Everything we do is targeted to bring us closer to our mission of a world without barriers for every deaf child. Whether challenging key decision makers or working collaboratively with other organizations, we will adopt whatever approach is required to achieve our mission.

Accountable As a membership organization, we are accountable for everything we do, both to our members and to the deaf children and young people we are here to serve.

Empowering We believe that with the right support, deaf children can do anything other children can do. We empower deaf children, young people and their families to make informed choices and influence decisions affecting them. This approach is carried through into everything we do.

Inclusive We aim to support all deaf children and young people, but put particular focus on those who most need our support. This includes deaf children from families in poverty, those with additional complex needs and those from a black and minority ethnic background. http://www.bda.org.uk/

The BDA's aim is to achieve equality for Deaf people. We work with local Deaf communities and campaign for local authorities to adopt our BSL Charter. We produce reports in response to Government policies and also provide training to empower Deaf people, especially in BSL teaching. We are also members of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and the European Union of the Deaf (EUD). This keeps us up-to-date with events affecting Deaf people worldwide.

We are represented at WFD and EUD events by members of the Board http://www.clapa.com/

CLAPA is the only UK-wide voluntary organization specifically helping those with, and affected by, cleft lip and palate. It is unique. CLAPA was set up in 1979 as a partnership between parents and health professionals. It provides support for new parents, and for people with the condition and their families, from infancy through to adulthood.

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CLAPA National Office is based in London with a network of branches (branches are all run by volunteers) and many other regional contacts in the United Kingdom, all committed to providing the support needed by families affected by cleft lip and/or palate.

Branches are run by people who have themselves benefited from the organization, often working in partnership with local health professionals.

Clapa's key functions are to: 

Organize local parent-to-parent support through its nation-wide network.

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Run a specialist service for parents and health professionals seeking help feeding babies with clefts.

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Develop support for children and adolescents affected by clefts at school and in social settings through such activities as confidence-building camps.

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Encourage and support research into causes and treatment of cleft lip and palate

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Represent the interests of patients and parents, influencing policy on future treatment of cleft lip and palate.

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Conduct educational seminars for health professionals and the general public.

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Raise funds in the community for equipment, literature and services.

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Publish and distribute a range of information leaflets, increasing public awareness of the condition.

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Support projects in countries where cleft treatment is limited or unavailable.

http://www.newlifecharity.co.uk/

Disabled children have been at the heart of the charity since 1991. Since that time we have become, though our work, the specialists for special children. Their needs and the needs of their families and cares, their health and their voices are all central to the work of the charity.

Thankfully more babies and children survive conditions, accidents, infections and cancers; we see more children live through these experiences and therefore widened our remit to include all children with significant disabilities. However as a result many go on to face both short term and enduring disability. Others will live with their life expectance limited, while tragically others children become terminally ill. Newlife exists to respond to all these children with care, professionalism and determination and to provide informed support to their families and cares.

Every day in the UK children become disabled, are diagnosed with life limiting conditions or become terminally ill. We now have more disabled children in the UK than ever before. These disabilities are often due to: Birth defect conditions and malformations Premature birth related conditions Accidents and injury Cancers and acquired disorders Serious infections The good news is that, thanks to medical research, technology and the skills of our healthcare and welfare professions, we now routinely save the lives of babies and children who just a few years ago would have died. That’s wonderful news and but further research is needed, not only to continue to challenge loss of life but also to challenge the lasting effects of these conditions. That’s why Newlife funds vital medical research to help understand, prevent and treat such conditions.

Without continued research we will not be able to improve child health and save children from

facing loss of ability and inevitably loss of their lives. So, we now save more lives, but sadly many of these babies and children go on to be affected by short or long term disability or illness, so tragically their lives are prematurely shortened as a result. This is when Newlife Nurses become the key support and contact point for families seeking to understand, adjust, prepare, and care for their child. The issues around children’s illness are complex, children are not ‘little adults’.

Their families are often challenged to respond to these situations so they need a service that is on their side and one they can trust. That is why Newlife Nurses man our national Helpline so families can rely on their experience and professionalism. The effects of many such disabilities can be reduced or minimized by the provision of equipment. But the provision of such equipment is often hit and miss nationally, with statutory providers failing to meet the growing need of children and families. Such equipment can: relieve pain, aid mobility, assist communication, give independence, keep a child safe or enable them to excel or learn. Yet families tell of the ‘battles’ they have to get the equipment they need, facing lengthy delays, for assessments, provision refusal and budget failings. That’s why Newlife equipment grants and loans are so important. They ‘enable’ children and families and make a major impact on their lives. Newlife also recognized the specific needs of terminally ill children, who Just Can't Wait for statutory services to respond to their needs. The 'Just Can't Wait' equipment loan service aims to deliver items from its suite of specialist equipment within 72 hours anywhere in the UK. The very special and complex needs of disabled children and their families often mean that they are overlooked and so Newlife’s campaigning acts as their voice, creating awareness about the challenges they face and the need for a fair deal. Working with decision makers at local and ministerial levels, Newlife is campaigning to ensure a better deal for disabled children, today and tomorrow. So that’s why we do what we do, because disabled children need Newlife and these children and their families remain at the heart of everything. http://www.nbcs.org.uk/

Our Movement Matters service provides training to help blind children and young people get around safely and independently. Movement Matters also teaches important life skills such as handling money and preparing food. Sighted children learn by watching others; children with vision impairment often need to be specifically taught skills and concepts they would not otherwise pick up. Movement Matters provides personalized training and support in mobility, orientation and independence skills from the early years. These are the skills that will help a blind child to do things like buy a snack, walk down the street and make new friends.

Our Movement Matters training unlocks possibilities – helping children and their families to understand that sight loss does not have to be a barrier to achieving their dreams.

We also run free workshops for parents and cares that equip families with the understanding, skills and techniques to support their child towards greater confidence and independence.

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Blind Children UK’s Movement Matters services include: 

Assessments to establish a child’s needs

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Mobility and independence skills training

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Advice and support workshops for parents

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Practical work with friends, family and professionals to support children and young people with vision impairment.

These vital services are delivered by our qualified Habilitation Specialists, who work

shoulder-to-shoulder with other organizations, including local authorities. We also work with personal budgets and, where appropriate, may provide services directly to families. http://www.galloways.org.uk/

We are a local charity based in the North West of England that supports people living with blindness or a visual impairment. Operating out of our four regional centers we provide vital help and services including: specialist equipment and advice, talking newspapers, training and support groups as well as escorted holidays and outdoor activities. Our website will be undergoing some exciting changes over the next few months so please visit our Facebook page for up to the minute events, news and information about our work.

Assist UK Assist UK leads a UK wide network of locally-situated Disabled Living Centres. Most centres include a permanent exhibition of products and equipment that provide people with opportunities to see and try products and equipment and get information and advice from professional staff about what might suit them best. www.assist-uk.org

There are over 325 advisors throughout the network who respond to an average ¼ million enquiries made each year.

Disabled Living Centers also provide a valuable source of information relating to access, design and equipment for daily living. This can be especially useful to cares, older people and healthcare workers, students and manufacturers.

The Network Assist UK is the National network for advice on independent living equipment. Currently there are 41 member centers. Assist UK is the only organization in the UK to connect clients, manufacturers, regulators and professionals.

Role Assist UK promotes and supports the development of centers to meet national quality standards for product information and advice. In addition we provide a comprehensive range of services in support of members. These include Exhibitions, Conferences, Training, and Consultancy. Members receive advance notification, priority reservations and reduced prices.

Members also receive a discount.

Membership Membership of the Assist UK network is open to voluntary and statutory organizations, individuals and the corporate sector. Contact us for further information.

Support Assist UK is supported in its work by statutory and commercial organizations. A considerable part of that work is undertaken for the Departments of Health, Social Services and Employment Services.

Our Vision: To work towards the day when products for independent living are seen as part of everyday life.

Our Mission: 

To empower all individuals with knowledge and choice on available Assistive Technology products to optimize their independence.

Association of Disabled Professionals (ADP) www.adp.org.uk

What are our aims? 

To improve the education, training, rehabilitation, and employment opportunities available to all disabled people.

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To help disabled people by encouragement and example to develop their physical and mental capacities fully;

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To help disabled people to find and retain employment commensurate with their abilities and qualifications and to participate fully in the everyday life of society;

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To improve public knowledge and acceptance of the capabilities, needs and problems of disabled people, particularly in relation to education and employment 181

Autism Independent UK www.autismuk.com

Autism Independent UK helps to increase awareness of autism to the notice of all, together with well established and newly developed approaches in the diagnosis, assessment, education and treatment.

The main goal is to improve the quality of life for persons with Autism, giving them a chance to take their rightful place within their local community where they can live, work and play.

Compass Disability Services www.compassdisability.org.uk

Compass Disability Services is an innovative, enlightened and positive organization. Its mission is: "To enable disabled people and cares to have equality of opportunity".

Compass Disability Services is a user led organization and our Board of Trustees, who are elected by our users, is comprised of at least 80% disabled people. We have adopted the Social Model of Disability as a way of working to remove barriers which exclude disabled people from equality of opportunity.

Our Values and Beliefs a.

We promote independence, choice and control

b. We support equality of opportunity for all people c.

We operate within and promote the Social Model of Disability

d. We aim to empower and enable disabled people e.

We promote equal access and inclusion to all services and facilities

f.

We adopt a partnership working approach

g.

We are a non-campaigning organization

Compass Disability Services works through consultation, representation and service provision to fulfil our mission. We work in partnership with local government, the Health Service, Social Services, other voluntary sector and charitable organizations and anyone else who can benefit from our knowledge and expertise.

The Disabilities Trust www.disabilities-trust.org.uk

Disability Alliance (DA) www.disabilityalliance.org

Disability Rights UK works to create a society where everyone with lived experience of disability or health conditions can participate equally as full citizens.

We are disabled people leading change to: 

Mobilize disabled people’s leadership and control – in our own lives, our organizations and society

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Achieve independent living in practice

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Break the link between disability and poverty

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Put disability equality and human rights into practice across society

Our Mission: We strengthen the voice of disabled people to make our rights real, as an effective national organization led by people with a wide range of impairments or health conditions.

Disability Awareness in Action www.daa.org.uk

All people are born equal in freedom and dignity" Disability Awareness in Action was set up in 1992 as a cooperative project of the international disability organizations responding to disabled people's need for appropriate information •OUR MISSION is to provide information and evidence to support disabled people in their own actions to secure their rights – at all levels: local, national, regional and international. 

Our information comes from disabled people to disabled people.

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Our information is used by disabled people and their organizations to develop and build their own self-help movement at the local and national level, to campaign for and influence social change and to understand their inalienable right to freedom and dignity.

Who we are now DAA is no longer functioning as an organization but because of our long history and the

usefulness of our information we are keeping this website going through volunteer help. A small seed of information creates a groundswell of activity.

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Our activities have included:  Monthly newsletter – the Disability Tribune. This was available until 2005 when we had to stop production due to lack of funds. We have now started an e-newsletter ‘Our Rights’ which is available both on this website and via email.  Provision of Resource and Information Kits.  Promoting and marketing the International Day of Disabled Persons from 1993.  Setting up a unique database of violations of rights against disabled individuals. This has at present recorded over 2400 cases affecting 2.4 million disabled individuals, 32.7% of whom have been tortured or received degrading treatment and 10% denied the right to life.  Provision of reports, briefing papers etc. on violations and special issues, including bioethics and disability.  Collection of evidence on examples of good practice in how to obtain rights.  Participation in research using our archive of material and links with our readers.  Provision of consultation and training on equality and human rights issues.  Management of the work of Rights for Disabled Children group- focusing on evidence and research on the status of disabled children and working with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.  Disability consultants to the European Commission and EURO & M on the Campaign for the European Year of Disabled Persons 2003.  Working with governments, UN agencies and other human rights and development groups to ensure that disabled people are included.  Consultants to Scope in their transformation of policies, services and resources to an organization to support equality and human rights for all disabled people.  Participating in the elaboration of a convention on the rights of disabled people through membership of the UK delegation.  Promoting and coordinating the UN Convention Campaign Coalition in the UK to ensure UK ratification without reservations.  Membership of Disability Lib (Listen, Include, Build) an alliance of six DPOs and Scope to build the capacity of organizations within England. www.disabilitylib.org.uk which produced the following: 

Provision of ‘Our Rights' e-newsletter

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Residential 3-day training in human rights and disability

 Stop the World we Want to Get On - a resource and training kit on disability and human rights.

Disability LIB (Listen, Include, Build) www.disabilitylib.org.uk

Disability LIB was an alliance of 7 organizations funded by the BIG lottery fund to offer capacity building support and advice to Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) in England using rights based principles and business skills, at a time of financial crisis and political opportunity.

Disability LIB came about from a piece of research that identified the need for a specific DPO capacity building project. Our report ‘Thriving or Surviving’ shows how DPO’s are disadvantaged and restricted in their development in a range of areas. These include securing and sustaining funding, the additional costs of access, commissioning & competitive tendering processes, skills retention and shortages, governance & leadership, capacity building support as well as the exclusion of DPOs from mainstream capacity-building activities.

Disabled Parents Network www.disabledparentsnetwork.org.uk

Down's Syndrome Association www.downs-syndrome.org.uk

We are the only organization in this country focusing solely on all aspects of living successfully with Down's syndrome.

Since 1970, we have grown from being a local parent

support group into a national charity with over 20,000 members, a national office in Teddington, Middlesex and offices in Northern Ireland and Wales. Despite this, the organization is run by a total staff of 36 (many of them part time). We also work closely with over 130 local support groups throughout the UK. What we do Our organization is divided into various teams, including: 

Information - run the helpline; provide info about all aspects of living with Down's syndrome including specialist advisers on benefits, education and health; advise new parents or anyone experiencing difficulties; promote and facilitate information exchange between members through various groups; advise on employment for people with Down's syndrome.

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Fundraising - responsible for raising money for the association through events, sponsorship and trusts

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Communications - give key messages to the media, public and professionals; influence policy making; responsible for external publications

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Training - provide training throughout the UK for members, professionals and cares

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Membership - responsible for all administration surrounding new members, existing members and affiliated groups.

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Dyspraxia Foundation www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

Enrych www.enrych.org.uk

Focus on Disability www.focusondisability.org.uk

HemiHelp www.hemihelp.org.uk

Leonard Cheshire Disability www.lcdisability.org

Listening Books www.listening-books.org.uk

Lymphoma Association www.lymphomas.org.uk

ME Association www.meassociation.org.uk

Mencap www.mencap.org.uk

MERU www.meru.org.uk

National Autistic Society www.nas.org.uk

Netbuddy www.netbuddy.org.uk

Queen Elizabeth's Foundation for Disabled People www.qef.org.uk

RADAR www.radar.org.uk

Rare Chromosome Disorder Support Group (Unique) www.rarechromo.org

Our Mission Statement: Our mission is to inform, support and alleviate the isolation of anyone affected by a rare chromosome disorder and to raise public awareness.

Our Aims 

To act as an international group, supporting, informing and networking with anyone affected by a rare chromosome disorders and with any interested professionals

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To publish a magazine three times each year

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To promote awareness of rare chromosome disorders

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To link families whose children have similar chromosome disorders, clinical and/or practical problems.

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To support and promote relevant research projects

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To help families participate in relevant research projects

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To centralize information, at all times observing the need for total confidentiality

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To set up local groups, both physical and virtual, throughout the world for families affected by any rare chromosome disorders so that they can give support and encouragement to each other

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To hold regional social gatherings for families in the UK

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To develop and maintain a comprehensive computerized database detailing the life-time effects of specific chromosome disorders on affected member

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To develop a series of family-friendly information guides on specific rare chromosome disorders as well as practical guides on aspects of daily living



To provide anonymized information about the effects of specific rare chromosome disorders to help clinicians counsel their patients



•To hold regular conferences and study days where families and relevant specialists can meet and be informed of the latest medical, technical and practical developments



To liaise and work in co-operation with other relevant support groups and professionals world-wide for the benefit of families and individuals affected by rare chromosome disorders



To ensure that hospitals, doctors, health authorities, genetic clinics and other professionals are aware of the group so that we may have early contact with families where required



To give presentations about rare chromosome disorders and the work of Unique to parents' groups, professionals and the general public



To represent the voice and perspectives of families affected by rare chromosome disorders by participating in professional working groups, advisory boards, committees and conferences worldwide



To rise funds to support the group’s activities and produce literature to make others more aware of our children's conditions

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REACH - Association for Children with Hand or Arm Deficiency www.reach.org.uk

Ricability www.ricability.org.uk

Sequal Trust www.thesequaltrust.org.uk

We are The Sequal Trust, a small national fundraising Charity, founded in 1968, which is committed to bridging the communication gap for disabled people of all ages throughout the UK. It is our aim to help each of our disabled members to reach their full potential through the provision of suitable communication equipment. To help people to see the person and not the disability, and to provide the means to set lively minds free, continues to be our prime objectives.

Terrence Higgins Trust Lighthouse www.tht.org.uk

United Kingdom Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) www.ukdpc.net

We were first established in 1981 as the British Council of Disabled People, to be the umbrella body for disabled people’s organizations across the United Kingdom.

We believe in, and strive for, the full inclusion of disabled people in society and the workplace. For us, inclusion is a human rights and civil liberties issue that must be effectively tackled. By working in partnership with disabled people’s organizations, the government and other bodies, we believe that equality can be achieved.

What We Do Our membership includes local, regional and national organizations. We are working with over 300 disabled people’s organizations, and are running consultation and capacity building events all over the country. These events aim to strengthen the role of disabled people’s organizations, as it is only through them that we can achieve true equality.

We also have a proactive role internationally through our own International Committee and our membership of Disabled People’s International. Please visit our Position Statements section for detailed information on our areas of work.

Our Achievements These achievements highlight some of our work which has contributed to considerable social changes: 

Creating and funding the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) in 1997, which became the leading organization giving information and support to local centers for independent living.



Influencing the development of national legislation affecting the lives of disabled people, including running a national campaign which resulted in the Community Care (Direct Payments) Act (1996). BCODP established a Research Unit at the University of Leeds. From 1981 campaigning to bring down the levels of poverty faced by disabled people.

United Response www.unitedresponse.org.uk

The values of United Response are derived from our mission and vision statements.

Our mission is to enable people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities to take control of their lives.

Our vision is a society where disabled people are equal participants and have access to the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

Core values We are committed to improving the lives of the people we support. We do this chiefly through our person-centered approach, which puts people at the centre of all our activity – whether that’s day-to-day support or advocacy on matters that affect them.

We respect and promote the rights of every person we support. As such, we campaign around issues that are important to and for them – in our own right, as well as members of the Voluntary Organizations’ Disability Group.

In line with United Response’s values and the Equality Act 2010, United Response does not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of age, sex, race, religion and belief, marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, sexual orientation or disability.

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Resolutions In view of the values United Response holds, we intend to: 

Uphold and promote our belief that all individuals have the right to be treated with dignity and that each of us has a responsibility to treat others with respect



Work together with the people we support, our colleagues and all partners and community groups to establish practices which express our values of diversity



Endeavour to ensure that our facilities, resources and services are responsive, relevant and accessible to all who wish to access them



Create and sustain environments which encourage both the people we support and our colleagues to develop to their full potential.

Vitalise www.vitalise.org.uk

Vitalise is a national charity providing short breaks and holidays (respite care) for people with physical disabilities and cares. We offer inspirational opportunities for volunteers through one of the largest, most diverse volunteer program in the UK. Voiceability www.voiceability.org

Our Values and Principles Our values are what unite us as a team of people working together to achieve our mission. They are the qualities we demonstrate when we are at work and that we look for in new colleagues.

Passionate We’re passionate about strengthening voice, championing rights and changing lives.

We’re passionate about our independence and our professionalism. And we’re passionate about our commitment to being the best at what we do.

We put the people we work with at the heart of our work, and our organization. We are patient and skilful listeners who help people’s voices get heard, who act professionally on what we’re told and know when to treat what people say with confidentiality.

Resourceful We’re about finding solutions, making things better and trying new ideas out - whether they work or not. We’re about being creative, looking at things afresh, and about doing the very best we can with the resources we have.

Champions We inspire and educate people about our work and our impact. We use what we learn to champion change in policy and practice wherever and whenever it’s needed.

Partners We believe in the value of partnerships and ensure that we make working with us a positive, constructive and enjoyable experience. We pride ourselves on being courteous, considerate, and reliable colleagues and partners to all those we work with.

Dedicated We work with integrity and we stick to our principles. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sincere, honest, open and transparent. We ensure our work and services are accessible and that we communicate what we do clearly and effectively.

Our Principles We work to some principles that affect all that we do: 1.

We will at all times preserve our independence as a charity and a social enterprise committed to championing the voice and rights of those who use our services;

2.

We will involve and include people who use our services in running our organization, and in developing and delivering the work we do;

3.

We will champion diversity in all that we do ensuring that our staff and volunteers possess the necessary skills and competences to work effectively with people from all sections of the community irrespective of their own backgrounds and experiences;

4.

We will work to the highest professional standards and even when resources are limited, we will always put quality and our ability to make an impact first;

5.

We will actively seek opportunities to work in partnership with a wide range of national and local organizations to help achieve our mission and increase our impact;

6.

We will ensure we are an outstanding organization to work for, committed to supporting one another and to developing our staff and volunteers;

7.

We will ensure that we learn from our work and from the best practice of others using the knowledge we gain to improve what we do, to test new ideas and approaches, and to achieve the greatest positive change in every community we work in;

8.

We will use our work and learning to achieve wider social change both in the areas we work in and on the national stage;

9.

We will bring expertise, learning and resources from across the country to support our local teams and their work, and to enable them to be outstanding partners to local organizations, groups and funders; and

10. We will work in ways that are sustainable and socially responsible and that will minimize our environmental impact.

The Surrey Independent Living Council http://www.surreyilc.org.uk/

Barnet Independent Living Agency http://www.bilagency.org.uk/

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Choices and Rights Disability Coalition http://www.choicesandrights.org.uk/

CIL http://www.cilbelfast.org/

Council of Disabled People. Warwickshire & Coventry http://www.cdp.org.uk/

Derbyshire Coalition for Inclusive Living (DCIL) http://www.dcil.org.uk/

Disability Action http://www.disabilityaction.org/

Disability Action in the Borough of Barnet http://www.dabb.org.uk/

Disability Cornwall http://www.cdf-net.com/

Disability Now http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/

Disability Solutions http://www.disability-solutions.net/

Greenwich Association of Disabled People's Centre for Independent Living http://www.gad.org.uk/

Herefordshire Centre of Independent Living | http://www.herefordshire-cil.com/

Hounslow Association of Disabled People http://www.disabilitynetworkhounslow.org

INDEPENDENT LIVING ALTERNATIVES http://www.ilanet.co.uk/

KCIL - Kingston Centre For Independent Living http://www.kcil.org.uk/

Leeds Centre for Integrated Living (Leeds CIL) http://www.leedscil.org.uk/

Lothian Centre for Integrated Living http://www.lothiancil.org.uk/

SOLNETWORK http://www.solnetwork.org.uk

The Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Teachers and Students [ABAPSTAS] http://www.abapstas.org.uk/

WECIL- West of England Centre for Inclusive Living http://www.wecil.co.uk/

Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, Participation

GOOD PRACTICES IN EUROPE

193

A database of researches and organizations on disability

Report prepared for N.G.O. CIVIS PLUS

By Evangelia Papasoulioti

December 2013

This report was prepared for the project “Special MVP: Mobility, Volunteerism, Participation” in the context of the Development and Cooperation-EuropeAid Program, funded by the European Commission and the government of Turkey.

N.G.O.CIVIS PLUS 28, Vasileos Georgiou Av. 11 635, Athens Tel: +30 211 012 14 41-42 Fax: +30 211 012 14 43 Email:info@civisplus.gr www.civisplus.gr ©N.G.O. CIVIS PLUS Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged NGO CIVIS PLUS WORKING PACKAGE 4

“My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don’t regret the things it interferes with. Don’t be disabled in spirit, as well as physically1.”

Stephen Hawking

In the past ten years, there have been many quality steps for the melioration of lives of people with disabilities. Laws, movements, organizations promoting their rights are only some of the many ways society has found to make the problems of those people visible.

decisions for themselves. For every European

There are many examples of people with disabilities that have made important achievements and they have contributed to the development of our science, philosophy, sports, technology and education. These examples are not exceptions. But are not the rules, either.

For all these to happen, disabled people need support and equality. Equality comes with inclusion. Inclusion comes with accessibility. And accessibility derives from infrastructure and education.

As technology advances and human rights make their way into people’s lives, what people with disability need is not only understanding but strategies that will finally lead to inclusion for all.

All disabled people should have the opportunity to live full lives independently and autonomously, to have the same opportunities in employment and education and to make

state

and

its

society,

to

enhance

their

participation in political and cultural life, to ensure their access to information, to make accessibility on the built environment, transport and volunteering, should be the main focus.

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Disability is a term which still does not have a specific definition. It is rather examined under different approaches, since it covers many situations that are not only medical, but also social and legal.

Below, we will attempt to examine all approaches in order to give an overall picture concerning the term: Medical approach 3

According to the Cambridge Dictionary -disability is an illness, injury, or condition that makes it difficult for someone to do the things that other people do: a physical/learning disability.

Social Approach According to the social model of disability, disability is seen not through the medical aspect, but through the social restrictions an impairment may cause, such as social exclusion, marginalization, negative attitudes and lack of infrastructures.

Legal Approach From a legal point of view, a disability affecting a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will or judgment (such as mental illnesses) could possibly lead to the declaration, by virtue of court decision, of their legal incapacity and/or legal disqualification, further resulting in their inability to validly make decisions on their own, enter into binding agreements or write their own will.

From the above definitions, we can see that the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;disabilityâ&#x20AC;? cannot be limited in the strict context of health or society even, but it is more of a situation with multiple factors.

4 5 The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affirms that disability occurs when society fails to accommodate the needs of the individuals.

Thus, we can say that: Disability is the result of the combination of an impairment (physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental, or one consisting of more of the above) and the social restrictions (marginalization, limitation in participation of everyday activities, negative attitude towards the disabled and legal incapacity) that individuals face because of it.

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 The World Health Organization estimated that in 2011 there were approximately one billion disabled people in the world, that is, 15% of the total population.

 There are 80 million people in Europe with disabilities.  In 2002, 38% of the disabled people aged 16-34 across Europe have an earned 6

income, compared to 64% of non-disabled people .

 According to a Eurostat research of 2001, in the European population aged 16 to 64 years, almost 15 % of women and 14 % of men report either a moderate or severe 7 disability .

 Over one third of people older than 75 of people have a disability that restricts them 8

to an extent .

 Only 5% of public websites and less than 3% of private websites in the EU are fully 9

accessible according to W3C guidelines .

 In the United Kingdom the poverty rate for disabled people in 2006 10was 23.1%

whereas for non-disabled people 17.9%, without taking into account the extra expenses associated with being disabled. With these expenses the poverty rate for people with disabilities could reach up to 47.4%.

 At the EU level, about 8% of persons aged 16 and over declare that they live with a 11

severe disability (strongly limited) .

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 Council Directive 2000/78/EC12of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation.

 Council Decision 2010/48/EC13 of 26 November of 2009 regarding the conclusion, by the European Community, of the United Nations Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities.

More Acts, Directives and Decisions of the EU Institutions supporting the matter of disabled people can be found here.

The most recent is the own-initiative report

14

on women with disabilities by Angelika

15

Werthmann , MEP from Austria that was adopted by The Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

More laws and acts of the EU and the European countries can be found at the following reports: Annotated review of European legislation which makes a reference to disability Academic Network of European Disability experts (ANED)

16

June 2009 Disability and non-discrimination law in the European Union An analysis of disability discrimination law within and beyond the employment field Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities July 2009 Guide for the Disabled Citizen (Greek only) Ministry of Interior March 2007

18

17

European

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1. DISABILITY ACTION PLAN 2004-2010 Following the European Year of People with Disabilities, European Commission decided to take action and propose an action plan that will recognize and protect the rights of people with disabilities.

19

The DAP had three main objectives :

 To implement fully the Directive 2000/78/EC on equal treatment in employment and occupation.

 To reinforce mainstreaming of disability issues in the relevant Community policies.  To improve accessibility for all.

2. COUNCIL OF EUROPE ACTION PLAN 2006-201520 In April 2006, European Council adopted an Action Plan that contains 15 key action lines: Action Line No.1: Participation in political and public life Action line No. 2: Participation in cultural life Action line No. 3: Information and communication Action line No. 4: Education Action line No. 5: Employment, vocational guidance and training Action line No. 6: The built environment Action line No. 7: Transport Action line No. 8: Community living Action line No. 9: Health care Action line No. 10: Rehabilitation Action line No. 11: Social protection Action line No. 12: Legal protection Action line No. 13: Protection against violence and abuse Action line No. 14: Research and development Action line No. 15: Awareness raising It also draws attention to disabled people in need of a high level of support and the needs of women, girls, children, aged people and migrants.

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3.

EUROPEAN DISABILITY STRATEGY 2010-202021 th

Following DAP, Europe adopted a new strategy on November 15 , 2010. The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 promotes that persons with disabilities have the right to participate fully and equally in society and economy. Denial of equal opportunities is a breach of human 22

rights. Its objectives are pursued by actions in eight priority areas : 1) Accessibility: make goods and services accessible to people with disabilities and promote the market of assistive devices.

2) Participation: ensure that people with disabilities enjoy all benefits of EU citizenship; remove barriers to equal participation in public life and leisure activities; promote the provision of quality community-based services.

3) Equality: combat discrimination based on disability and promotes equal opportunities.

4) Employment: raise significantly the share of persons with disabilities working in the open labor market.

5) Education and training: promote inclusive education and lifelong learning for students and pupils with disabilities.

6) Social protection: promote decent living conditions, combat poverty and social exclusion.

7) Health: promote equal access to health services and related facilities.

8) External action: promote the rights of people with disabilities in the EU enlargement and international development programs.

The new strategy will ensure access to EU funding, raise public awareness about disability and fulfill the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons 23

with Disabilities , which has entered into force for the European Union on January 22 2011.

nd

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Austria 24 Federal Act for long-term care benefit 1993 25 Personal Assistance at the Workplace (PAW) 2004 26 The Austrian e-Government Act 2004 Federal Disability Equality Act 2006 Belgium 27

Social Rehabilitation Act “Loi de Réhabilitation Sociale” 1963 Anti-Discrimination Law “Loi du 10 mai 2007 adaptant le Code judiciaire à la législation tendant à lutter contre les discriminations et 28 réprimant certains actes inspirés par le racisme ou la xénophobie“ 2007 Bulgaria 29 Law for Protection, Rehabilitation and Social Integration of Disabled 1995 Croatia 30 Consumer Protection Act (2012) Cyprus Law on Persons with Disabilities N.127(I) 2000, as amended by Law No. 72(I) of 2007. Germany Law on Promoting the Equality of the Disabled Czech Republic 31 The Czech Republic does not have a clear disability discrimination law Denmark Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination in the Labour market etc. (Consolidated Act No. 1349 32 of 16 December 2008 33 "Danish disability policy - Equal opportunities through dialogue" April 2002 Estonia 34 Act of 27 January 1999 on social benefits for disabled persons Social Benefits for Disabled Persons Act and State Pension Insurance Act 35 (amendments) 2012 Memorandum on principles of cooperation signed by the government and 36 representative organizations of persons with disabilities 2012 Finland 37 Social Welfare Act 710/1982 38 Disability Services Act 380/1987 39 Intellectual Disabilities 519/1977

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France 40

2005-102 Disability Act , “Loinumero 2005-102 du 11 février 2005 pour l'égalité des droitset des chances, la participation et la citoyenneté des personneshandicapées” Germany 41

Neuntes Buch des Sozialgesetzbuches - SGB IX (Book 9 of the Social Code) 42 Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz – BGG (Equal Opportunities for Disabled People Act) Greece Law n. 3304/2005 Implementation of the Principle of equal treatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation.

Hungary Act XXVI of 1998 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Guaranteeing of their Equal Opportunities.

Act XXIII of 2007 amending Act XXVI of 1998 on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Guaranteeing of their Equal Opportunities.

Ireland Disability Act 2000 Italy Law 104/1992 Law no. 68 Regulations on the right to employment for persons with disabilities, 1999 Legislative Decree no. 216, 2003 (Implementing the European Directive 2000/78/EC) Legge 43 4/2004 - Disposizioni per favorire l'accesso dei soggetti disabili agli strumenti informatici Law no. 67 Provisions for judicial protection of persons with disabilities, victims of discrimination 2006 Liechtenstein 44 Act on Equality of People with Disabilities (AEPD) 45 By-law (Verordnung) Lithuania 46 Law on Disabled Social Integration 2005 47 The National Program for Social Integration of People with Disabilities 2003-2012 Luxembourg Law of 12 September 2003 on disabled persons Malta Persons with disability (employment) Act 1969 Equal opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act 2000 Netherlands 48 Equal Treatment of Disabled and Chronically Ill People 2003

Norway 49 Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act 2009 Poland 50 Charter of Rights for Persons with Disabilities 1997 Act on Vocational and Social Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with 51 Disabilities 1997 Portugal Resolution of the Council of Ministers Concerning the Accessibility of Public 52 Administration Web Sites for Citizens with Special Needs 1999 53 Law 46/2006 54 2006 Accessibility Law (Decree-Law 163/2006 of 8 August) Romania Law n. 448/2006 with regard to the protection and promotion of handicapped 55 person Slovakia 56 Employment Service Act (5/2004) 57 Health Insurance Act (580/2004) 58 Equal Treatment Act (365/2004) Slovenia Employment and Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2004 60 Implementation of Equal Treatment Act (2004) 61 Employment Relationships Act (2002)

59

The

Spain 1982 Social Integration for Disabled People Act (Law 13/1982) 62 2003 Non Discrimination Act (Law 51/2003) 2007 Equal Opportunities Act (Law 49/2007) Royal Decree on Non Discrimination in State services (Decree 366/2007) Law 63 56/2007 on measures to promote Information Society 64 Real Decreto 1494/2007 65 Ley 34/2002 Servicios de la Sociedad de la Informacion y de Comercio Electronico Sweden Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS) 66 1994 67 Swedish National Guidelines for Public Sector Websites 2006 The 68 Discrimination Act 2009 Switzerland 69 Ordonnace sur l'élimination des inégalités frappant les personnes handicapées United Kingdom 70 Discrimination Disability Act 1995 Equality Act 2010

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From the legislation list above the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 71

Disabilities and its optional Protocol was omitted . The EU ratified the UNCPRD in 2010, despite the fact that up until then almost half of its member-states had not ratified the Convention. The last member-state to ratify the UNCPRD was Norway in June 6

th

2013, whereas Finland and

Netherlands are the only member-states today that have not yet ratified it.

Moreover, the majority of the countries have provided compensation to their disabled citizens. Franceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s legislation giving a definition to the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;disabilityâ&#x20AC;? is relatively new (2005).

Czech Republic has legislation on employment which covers the issue of discrimination, in theory, but does not have a specific act or law that will protect, compensate or ease its citizens with disabilities.

Following a closer observation of the aforementioned legislation, it is interesting to stress out a) that the majority of the laws in the list have entered into force during the last decade and b) the increasing number of countries taking into consideration internet and information accessibility.

Fifteen member-states, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom as well as Norway and Switzerland have adopted legislation in order to set the guidelines for creating and sustaining websites, to which all disabled people will have access.

Civil society has taken action during the past years, spreading the message of equality, accessibility and inclusion. Of course, with the Internet reaching globally billions of people, it was deemed by the governments deemed necessary to make all this information easily accessible to everyone. It is an intriguing thought, though, that through Internet, civil society had another means to pressure for results on the issue of discrimination against disability.

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The term “good practice” can be unexpectedly broad. For this, in this chapter the good practices included were mostly practices focusing on accessibility issues of the disabled on the aspects of education, work, services and mobility (parks/open spaces, building/closed spaces, transport, events, and tourism).

1. SELECTION CRITERIA To short out the countless practices in Europe that help one way or another the disabled, and make the present research more focused and effective, the following criteria were used: 1) The good practice should have good results. A positive impact that makes a difference.

2) The good practice should enhance the disabled persons’ accessibility.

3) The good practice should be sustainable over-time.

4) The good practice should be applied to similar situations in other regions.

5) The good practice should, if applied widely, bring meaningful and lasting change in inequality and create opportunities. *The good practice does not have to be innovative.

2. EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES a. The most accessible building, Denmark72 Accessibility can take many forms. One of the most popular, simple and obvious is accessibility in buildings.

The House of Organizations of Persons with Disabilities is the central office of Danish Disability Umbrella Organization (DPOD) and has been designed and built since 2006. In the summer of 2013, it was given to use and it is considered one of the most accessible buildings in the world. The building was designed to be fully accessible to the disabled and to have low energy consumption. The House of Disabled People’s Organizations as well as the surrounding area lend disabled people to easy and intuitive navigation. By using simple methods and clear routes that naturally lead the body on its way, it is possible to help the majority of users to navigate: signs that can be seen and touched, or corridors where light, shadow, color, and form define directions.

205

A blind person, for example, will be able to navigate using the corners in the atrium’s fivecornered shape and easily find his/her way to the office areas in the building. Had the atrium been designed in a round shape, navigating in it would seem like being in a perpetual motion machine in which the blind person would continue to walk round and round. According to the President of the DPOD, Stig Langvad, the key was to include in the process disabled people with knowledge and experience in accessibility.

b. Seatrac, Greece73 Seatrac is a sun-powered device that allows people who are paralyzed from the waist down or who have limited movement to enter the sea without help. The main idea behind this device was to limit the difficulties of a simple task such as swimming.

Created in 2008 by a Greek team of mechanics at “Mechanics Laboratory of the Department of Mechanical Engineering &Aeronautics”, from the University of Patras. Seatrac does not alter the beaches in which it is installed, leaving the place intact after the summer period. Up until now, many beaches in Greece are using this device giving people with kinetic difficulties the chance

to

swim

whenever

they

want

autonomously. Seatrac won the First Prize of the

nd

2

Applied

Competition

of

Research “Greek

&

Innovation

Innovates!”

in

th

September 17 , 2013.

c. The Egmont Højskolen, Denmark74 Egmont Højskolen School was founded in 1956 by the National Association of the Disabled in Denmark. At the beginning it was a school only for students with mobility impairments with the real integration of people with disabilities in the educational system as its main goal. Today, the school is known and unique because of its full accessibility, which has been its priority from the start. The school has a number of double and single rooms, especially designed to suit the needs of people with disabilities, modern well-equipped class rooms, excellent catering facilities, home helpers service, a lecture hall, a gym etc. According to DPOD, today, only half the students are disabled. Most of the non-disabled students are hired by the disabled to assist them in their daily tasks. Lectures are, to a large extent, differentiated to meet the individual student’s needs and abilities.

The idea of such a school (Højskolenin English means “folk high school”) was based on the principles and ideas of the Danish pastor, poet, historian, teacher and philosopher, N.F.S. Grundtvig that envisioned a different kind of school based on dialogue between teachers and students. Grundtvig influenced greatly the Danish society and national consciousness.

d. Dialogue in the Dark, Germany75 “Dialogue in the Dark” is a unique experience for people without eyesight-problems in an attempt to change the stereotypes of being different by taking people out of their familiar environment and introducing them into a world without picture.

The visitors of this event take a tour in special facilities in total dark, having as their guides blind people or people with lessened eyesight. The tour lasts for 80 minutes and the only means the visitors have to understand their environment are the rest of their senses. And of course, their blind guides.

Founder of the concept “Dialogue in the Dark” is Andreas Heinecke76 who, years ago, had to organize a rehabilitation program for a blind colleague. After that experience he thought it would be a great opportunity to create a dialogue in which the roles would be reverse and thus, the event was launched in 1988, in Frankfurt.

Since then, the event has reached 30 countries, 130 cities and 7 million visitors, often, with life changing results.

Thousands of blind guides have found employment during the events.

e. Belfast City Council as Best Employer, Ireland77 Belfast City Council won the Disability Best Practice Employer Award in September 2012, after a thorough examination of case studies in Ireland, organized by Employers For Disability NI (EFDNI).

The criteria the candidate had to meet in fullest in order to win were: 1. Strategic direction and top level commitment 2. Supporting employees with disabilities 3. Raising awareness of disability 4. Accessibility 5. Links with disability organizations Belfast City Council encouraged applications from people with disabilities for all kinds of employment, reviewed and monitored the experiences and views of all applicants and employees, took into consideration the sick days every employee had to leave and adjusted their work program accordingly, made adjustments so that the all locations would be easily accessible to all and installed large training and disability screens wherever frontline employees didn’t have access to a computer.

Finally, recognizing and supporting the contribution people with disability make in their line of work is a great motivation for them, setting a great example for employers.

207

f.

Access City Award 2013 to Berlin, Germany78

The Access City Award is given every year for the past three years to the most accessible cities in Europe.

The first Award went to Avila, Spain and the second to Salzburg, Austria. The third one of 2013 went to Berlin.

The criteria with which the applicants are evaluated are the following: 1. Scope of the actions 2. Ownership, level of commitment 3. Impact 4. Quality and sustainability of results 5. Involvement of people with disabilities and relevant partners

Every year, there are many candidate cities competing for the title of the most accessible in Europe. Even if they do not win, the process of trying to adjust and comply to their legislative and European criteria in order to be part of the contest is a great opportunity for the cities to try and lift the physical and psychological barriers of inclusion for their disabled citizens.

This year the two other finalists were Nantes in France and Stockholm in Sweden and Gdynia in Poland had a special mention for transport and related infrastructure. Bilbao in Spain had a special mention for information, communication and ICT. Pamplona in Spain had a special mention for built environment and public spaces and Tallaght in Ireland has a special mention for accessible services and facilities.

g. Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), United Kingdom79 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) is a civil rights law in the United Kingdom that imposes obligations to employers not to discriminate against people in respect with disabilities they might have when employment is concerned.

Moreover, the third part of the DDA that entered into force in 1999, places obligations to services providers in order to make adjustments that will promote the accessibility where goods, facilities, services and premises are concerned.

The characteristic that makes this law interesting is that it mentions specifically 80 th websites. A Code of Practice was published in 27 May, 2002 although, unfortunately, there are nowhere in the law guidelines to make the internet service providers comply with 81 it.

h. Therapeutic riding, The Therapeutic Riding Association of Greece (TRAG) 82 Therapeutic riding is a rehabilitation program, where the horse is the therapeutic medium; it improves the overall health and quality of life of people with physical, mental, or emotive disorders or handicaps.

The horse becomes an extension of their own body; it helps them venture into new experiences and discover unprecedented feelings: the pleasure of a ride or the thrill of a walk in the countryside, or, mainly, that precious sense of movement and personal independence. The walk of a horse is similar to the human gait; therefore, it transmits to the rider's body that same movement which legs produce in people with no disabilities.

In this way, the torso muscles of people with mobility problems are strengthened significantly; at the same time, sitting in that particular upright posture promotes good respiration.

Therapeutic riding is a unique experience for people with handicaps, who never thought that they could ride; it differs from traditional treatments of gyms, physical therapy, and hydrotherapy.

i.

Raising awareness – Luxembourg

“Info-handicap” implements trainings aiming at promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities in everyday life and at eliminating diverse kinds of barriers. The training methods include theoretical information and practical exercises to give trainees experience of the real-life situations faced by people with reduced mobility and people with cognitive and sensory disabilities. As a result, the trainees are expected to adopt inclusive behaviors in their professional activity.

In general the objective is to promote diversity awareness and to promote the approach of Design for All. For transportation staff specially:

the key objective is to facilitate and to increase the

participation of disabled people to use public transport by improving the reception that they get from staff, the quality of the journey they make and their transfer between modes.

For students specially: the key objective is to raise awareness towards the right of students with disabilities to inclusion at school.

For municipalities staff specially : to foster the right of persons with disabilities to fully participate in the activities of the municipality in which they live and to increase the participation of disabled people to use public services and infrastructures according to their needs.

Target groups: students - from primary school to university and informal training sector -; transportation staff from railway staff, bus company staff, airport staff, municipalities’ staff.

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Beneficiaries: in total the participation number to the trainings from 2007 till now is 1600 beneficiaries aged from 6 to 65 men and women. The trainings are run with the support of representatives from disability associations, all defending the rights of disabled people including mobility, cognitive, hearing and visual impairments. People with disabilities are fully involved as trainers. The trainings are a mix between theoretical information and practical exercises. Most of our trainees feel that they have gained a much better understanding of disability issues.

j.

Disability and the private sector

Equal opportunity is the underlying principle of Nokia's employment practices. The company's Code of Conduct states that “no employee or potential employee will receive less favorable treatment due to any reason whatsoever” as long as the job requirements are fulfilled.

Furthermore, the Nokia Standards for Factory Labor Conditions forbids discrimination based on “any personal attribute (such as age, gender, nationality, opinions, memberships, religion, disabilities or race)”. At Nokia, diversity is considered a key element of its business success. To measure its progress toward diversity, Nokia conducts annual surveys among its staff. In 2008, 72 per cent of the employees who participated in the survey answered that Nokia treated its employees as individuals regardless of age, race, gender or physical capabilities.

Hiring people with disabilities is a fairly recent initiative among Nokia's diversity actions.

The company is steadily integrating disabled persons into the work force at headquarters as well as its local factories.

For example, Nokia's largest global factory in Komarom, Hungary is taking the lead in recruiting people with health problems or moderate disabilities by collaborating with non‐governmental organizations (NGO) that help identify and place them. The company offers flexible work hours and accommodates people with health problems or moderate disabilities with shorter work days than others, if needed.

Products and services At Nokia, accessibility is about making its devices and services usable and accessible to the greatest number of people, including customers with disabilities. When designing mobile devices, Nokia collaborates with representatives from disability organizations, regulators and academia to make accessibility part of the mainstream product design. The company offers more than 60 features or 53 applications aimed at providing greater accessibility for people with limitations in hearing, speech, vision, mobility and cognition. For example, Nokia was the first company to develop a loopset, an accessory that looks like a headset and allows people with telecoil hearing aids use a wireless device that does not interfere with the hearing aid. More recent products include factory‐installed text‐to‐speech applications to provide feedback for users with vision loss; features which improve the interface and usability of mobile phones, such as vibrating and flashing alerts, audible battery and signal strength, adjustable fonts on high contrast color screens, voice dialing and activation; and compatibility of digital phones with assistive devices and software, such as mobile magnifiers and audible text.

k. Disability and Employment 84 An initiative launched by Ministère du Travail et de l’Emploi. AGENCE POUR LE DEVELOPPEMENT DE L’EMPLOI LUXEMBURG ADEM’s contact center acts as a Single Point of Contact for job-seekers and employers. It aims to provide callers with an immediate answer to their questions and allow ADEM counselors to have uninterrupted face-to-face meetings with their clients. The contact center is staffed exclusively by employees with either a disability or an otherwise reduced work capacity. The main aim was to guarantee fast and efficient guidance on the phone by solving a maximum of issues at the level of the contact center, allowing the counselors to concentrate on their job without being continuously interrupted by phone calls. Another aim is to provide a positive image of the agency, providing callers with a courteous and professional service during all office hours. On the other hand, this service will provide women and men with special needs or who have lost their jobs because of a disability, with an opportunity to regain employment. Considering the large number of people with special needs it is important to find or create opportunities of employment which are in line with their abilities. All trainees come from different and diverse professional background, in general with low educational profiles. Due to an accident or illness, they could no longer continue in their old career or former employment, despite the fact that all wanted to continue to work. As the work in a contact center is potentially quite stressful, we did expect a relatively high rate of employees abandoning the job. However, this expectation has not materialized as nearly all of the staff that has successfully completed the training are still active in the contact center. An ADEM-internal monitoring group assured the coaching and personal assessment throughout the training process.

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Showcasing disability, Best Practice Employers

for

Disability

NI

85

(EFDNI)

Ireland,

September 2012 A

report

promoting

disability

best

practice in Northern Ireland and dominating, a Disability Best Practice Award to local employers.

Disability in the Working Place: Company Practices

86

International Labor Organization Geneva, 2010 A report

published

by

the

Bureau

for

Employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Activities

and

Skills

and

Employability Department of ILO that describes the work of 25 companies on the issue of disability (Accor, Carrefour, Cisco, Delta Holding, Dow, Ernst & Young, Fast Retailing, Grundfos, Honda Motor, IBM, Kyobo Life Insurance, Manpower, Marks & Spencer, Microsoft, MphasiS, Nokia, Samsung, Electro, Mechanics, Sodexo, Sony, TelefĂłnica,Telenor, Telstra, Walgreens, Westpac, Wipro).

Best Practices for Including Persons with Disabilities in all aspects of Development Efforts

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United Nations April 2011 The report provides information on best practices at international, regional, subregional and national levels for including persons with disabilities in all aspects of development efforts.

The implementation of EU social inclusion and social protection strategies in European countries with reference to equality for disables people

88

Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED) May 2009 The report is based on the information submitted in national reports for the following countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Inclusive Education & Disability Good Practices from around Europe

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incluD-ed: European Network on Inclusive Education & Disability Spain, 2012 The report aims to present successful practices that have been implemented in several European cities by and for people on the field of inclusive education.

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Guide of best practices for enhancing employment Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance of Cyprus Cyprus, May 2012 A report on good practices from the public sector of UK, Ireland, Spain, Denmark and Germany.

Towards Inclusive Education.

Examples of Good practices of Inclusive education

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Inclusion Europe Belgium, 2007 The report was published with the support of the European Commission. It refers on good practices from European countries on inclusive education at the following schools: 

Cleves Primary School, United Kingdom



Sophie-Scholl-School in Gießen, Germany



Public School Padre Jerónimo, Spain



Practice Centre of Pedagogical Training School, Austria



Rehabilitation Foundation and the Educational Assistance Resource Center “Speranta”, Romania



Association “Inclusion”, Brcko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Guide of Good practices for disabled people for communication professionals

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Junta de Andalucia.Consejeria de Salud y Bienestar Social Spain, 2013 A report that aims to promote the principles of no discrimination, equality in opportunities and universal accessibility of the disabled in the media and the information systems.

10 BEST PRACTICES in employment support for people with disabilities

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European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) September, 2013 EASPD aimed at promoting the implementation of Article 27 of the UN CRPD. For this, an “EASPD Employment For All Award” was organized and in its report ten practices were awarded as best practices.

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WP2: INVESTIGATION OF THE LEVEL OF SOCIAL INCLUSION IN THE AREA BIBLIOGRAPHY UNITED NATIONS VOLUNTEERS PROGRAM(2013). “VOLUNTEERISM AND SOCIAL INCLUSION”. http://www.unv.org/fileadmin/docdb/pdf/2013/resources/Booklet_SWVR_Social_Inclusion.pdf http://www.ivr.org.uk/component/ivr/volunteering-for-all-volunteering-and-social-exclusion Nichols, Geoff, and Rita Ralston. "Social inclusion through volunteering: The legacy potential of the 2012 Olympic Games." Sociology 45.5 (2011): 900-914.

Rochester, C., Paine, A. E., & Howlett, S. (2010). “Volunteering and society in the 21st century”.

New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan Rubenstein M.. (2009). “Barriers to disabled people volunteering”. Equal Opportunities Review, (194) Scope. (n.d.). Time to get equal in volunteering: Tackling disablism [Executive summary].

Retrieved 13 July 2011 from http://www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/fil es/pdfs/Volunteering/Scope_disablism_volunteering.pdf Smith, J. D., Ellis, A., Howlett, S., & O’Brien, J. (2004). Volunteering for all? Exploring the link between vol ‘SPECIAL MOBILITY, VOLUNTEERISM AND PARTICIPATION’ THE SCIENTIFIC REPORT IN A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON MOBILITY, VOLUNTEERISM AND PARTICIPATION OF DISABLED PEOPLE

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