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Volume 9
Number 10
June 2006 - EUD Seminar Report

EUD Seminar on Multiple Discrimination, Vienna, 12-05-2006

This seminar was open to anyone interested in promoting non-discrimination.

The Multiple Discrimination seminar was made possible thanks to support from the European Community – the European Union against discrimination.

Opening Address by EUD President, Ms. Helga STEVENS

The seminar was opened by Helga STEVENS, EUD President and Member of the Flemish Parliament, who said she was happy to see so many new faces present.

Ms. STEVENS explained that in the follow-up to the last two EUD Seminars on Discrimination, which have focused on the EU Directive 2000/78/EC (Discrimination in relation to Employment), EUD had chosen to broaden and concretise the theme of discrimination this year by organising a seminar on Multiple Discrimination. Ms. STEVENS gave an overview of the programme, which included general disability topics, but also focused on specific forms of discrimination, like disability or deafness and age or race. The workshop on deafness and sexual orientation was cancelled since the presenters were unable to come and speak on this topic.

Opening Speech Ms. Karin RESETARITS MEP

Karin RESETARITS’ speech focused on the problems between majorities and minorities inside a democracy. Different individual interests are constantly clashing with each other in the European Parliament, she said.

She explained that for EU politicians it is a constant challenge to find allies through strategic and smart negotiation in order to win the majority’s acceptance for a particular request in parliament.

She gave the example of sign language which has been recognised in some European countries, thanks to the commitment of deaf activists. Ms. RESETARITS referred to the Austrian Constitution, which recognised Austrian Sign Language in September 2005. She added that on 1 st January 2006 also a federal anti-discrimination disability law was implemented in Austria.

Public interest is extremely important in the process of lawmaking. This is something that is difficult to achieve for minorities. Minority topics have a better chance of being implemented in law when their item is picked up by the media. At that moment minorities have to depend on the power of the majority.

Ms. RESETARITS admitted that minority policies will not win elections and this injustice will enable discrimination to continue taking place. She considered there to be an important role for the member states to play when it comes to democratic and political education. In addition, the EU has helped people to live in peace together and is a defender of human rights and stands up for minority rights. With these forces combined, Ms. RESETARITS expressed her confidence is being able to achieve more in the field of equality in the coming years.

She concluded by saying that she would put the recognition of Sign Languages on the agenda of the Parliamentary Intergroup for Regional and Minority Languages.

Welcome by ÖGLB President, Ms. Helene JARMER

ÖGLB (Austrian Deaf Association) President Ms. Helene JARMER welcomed all participants and said she was very happy that also a lot of Austrian hearing people are interested in Sign Language. She expressed her gratitude to the Ministry of Social Security which supports the ÖGLB. She explained that ÖGLB has been very active on the anti-discrimination front, e.g. by publishing booklets and producing films in sign language. These can be viewed on the ÖGLB website: www.oeglb.at/diskriminierung-nachrichten)

She thanked Karin RESETARITS for her opening speech and repeated that the theme of anti-discrimination is very important for deaf people and that it is very important to show the hearing world that sign language is the language of deaf people.

Mr. Johann GIBITZ Head of Cabinet Federal Ministry of Social Security, Austria

Mr. Johann GIBITZ welcomed the audience on behalf of the Federal Minister of Social Affairs Ms. Ursula HAUBNER. He said he was happy to see the EUD seminar addressing the important issue of anti-discrimination for people with disabilities. Mr. GIBITZ referred to Austria, where the legal equality of people with disabilities and the clear rejection of all forms of discrimination, has been a priority over the last few years.

He especially highlighted the Austrian law on the legal equality of people with disabilities which has been in effect since 1 st January 2006. This law came into effect in close cooperation with national associations on disability and is now receiving the highest level of recognition across the EU. The legal equality regulations, which apply to the public and private fields, as well as the labour market, constitute an effective statutory instrument promoting greater accessibility and countering direct and indirect forms of discrimination.

Mr. GIBITZ also referred to the recognition of Austrian Sign Language in the Austrian Constitution. This means that all new legislative bills will be required to take this constitutional provision into account. He clarified that this means that in many cases deaf people will be enabled to secure enhanced training, communication and better ways of going about their everyday lives.

Mr. GIBITZ added that employment is an important basis for leading a self-determined life and as a means of achieving equality. Each year around 70 million € is invested in the vocational integration of disabled people. This has led to the creation of almost 20.000 new jobs for people with disabilities.

“Steps to combating discrimination” by Mr. Dieter SCHINDLAUER, Litigation Association of NGOs against Discrimination

Dieter SCHINDLAUER started by saying that he respected EUD for its courage in taking “Multiple Discrimination” as the theme of the annual Seminar. He explained that the issue of multiple discrimination is quite new for people with disabilities.

Mr. SCHINDLAUER presented his organisation “Litigation Association of NGOs against Discrimination”, which is an Austrian umbrella organisation uniting several NGOs who deal with different grounds of discrimination (e.g. race, sexual orientation, age, gender).

An important focus of the Association is to make use of the laws against discrimination. Each of the associated NGOs keeps on following its own programme but commonly the Association tries to use the new legal mechanism which has been put in place by the EU Directives. The idea behind the Association is to combine the knowledge and efforts of all organisations in tackling discrimination.

Mr. SCHINDLAUER said there is no use in a battle between the different grounds of discrimination; the major task for all NGOs is to make the population at large aware of discrimination mechanisms.

The Association doesn’t focus specifically on multiple discrimination, but more on the multiple forms of discrimination, which is discrimination working in a similar way but on different grounds.

Mr. SCHINDLAUER stressed that not all remedies can be the same, since all target groups have different needs and different levels of networking and awareness around their own community.

The Litigation Association focuses on legal issues; they try to raise the awareness in courts of the impact and mechanism of discrimination, and try to find the means to counter this on a legal basis.

Mr. SCHINDLAUER informed the audience that the ÖGLB was one of the first members of the Litigation Association since they were quickly convinced that it was necessary to look at other forms of tackling discrimination.

From a personal point of view, Mr. SCHINDLAUER said he always became very emotional about Sign Language since he had learned to know Deaf Culture. Before, he didn’t understand anything about it and he thought Sign Language was only a basic way of dealing with language by those who were not able to speak.

Mr. SCHINDLAUER concluded that it would be a very strong political sign if all discriminated people spoke in one voice. If the discriminated against united, they might form the majority!

“Multiple Discrimination” by Ms. Janina ARSENJEVA, EDF Policy and European Parliamentary Officer

Ms. ARSENJEVA started with a general overview of what disability is and what it is not. She said that today in Europe people with disabilities are largely invisible. However, official figures estimate there are 50 million disabled people in Europe, who face environmental and communication barriers. The European Disability Forum (EDF) considers disability to be a socially constructed experience: the built environment disables with its barriers. Communication can also be an obstacle to full participation by all. This focus contrasts with the dominant medical view of disability; which mainly focuses on abnormality and on the limitations and impairment of a person’s ability to interact with society.

The social model says that society needs to be modified in order to include and accommodate the needs of all persons whether they are disabled or not. To be treated equally and not to be discriminated against are human rights issue and are not to be considered as a concession that society gives to people with disabilities. Ms. ARSENJEVA clarified that these rights include among others the right to have a family, the right to cultural expression, the right to inclusive education and the right to love.

Ms. ARSENJEVA stated that currently there is no universal definition of disability in the European Union; it is up to individual Member States themselves to come up with a definition that lies somewhere between the medical and social approach. She added that the definition varies according to the purpose of the law in every Member State, e.g. different definitions for determining people’s ability to social benefits or definitions used for the purpose of litigation. Ms. ARSENJEVA also asked to have attention given to the people who are related to people with disabilities. At this moment no European law covers their needs.

This introduction was followed by some selected examples of multiple discrimination that people with disabilities experience in their every day life. Ms. ARSENJEVA focused among others on gender, sexual orientation, children and poverty, all in relation to disability.

Ms. ARSENJEVA stressed that it is vital to recognise the specific situation of women with disabilities. More research needs to be undertaken. More awareness needs to be raised. The responsibility for doing this lies both with the feminist and disability communities.

Ms. ARSENJEVA also gave special focus to the subject of sexual orientation and disability. Disabled people who belong to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community often have to face double rejection and have to cope with attitudinal as well as physical barriers.

She continued by discussing the situation of children with disabilities. The only international instrument that recognises this is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises that a mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community. Ms. ARSENJEVA also focused on the institutionalisation of children with disabilities.

When speaking about the topic of disability and poverty, she explained that poverty can greatly increase the chance of a person becoming disabled, and a person with disabilities has a greater chance of experiencing poverty. She illustrated this by referring to inadequate food, an unhealthy living environment, lack of access to education, low-paid or dangerous jobs and less access to medical treatment, to information and resources.

Ms. ARSENJEVA continued her presentation by focusing on the positive developments and opportunities in relation to disability. Article 13 of the EC Treaty was the very first step, which resulted in the two EC Directives, the most famous of which is the Employment Directive (EU Directive 2000/78/EC). This Directive was the subject of EUD’s seminar for the past two years. EUD has also produced a DVD on this.

The EU also adopted the Disability Action Plan 2004-2010, which aims to implement the Employment Directive and to mainstream all disability issues in order to improve access for all. Priorities for the second phase (2006-2007) are employment, access to quality support and care services (de-institutionalisation) and fostering the accessibility of goods and services (ICT, built environment, transport).

In concluding, Ms. ARSENJEVA anticipated positive things from 2007, the European Year of Equal Opportunities. It will aim to enhance the representation of all groups within society and will recognise and accommodate diversity. More information on this European Year is available on http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/fundamental_rights/index_en.htm.

Ms. ARSENJEVA stressed that most of the activities of the European Year be organised at national level.

More information on EDF can be found on http://www.edf-feph.org.

QUESTIONS

Some members of the audience questioned whether it would be a good idea to define disability. Even the UN Draft Convention does not refer to a definition, which means that it is very difficult to determine who is included in the group termed people with disabilities. Where should one draw a line; are people with skin problems or with food allergies to be considered as people with disabilities?

Advice on how to set up a platform such as the Litigation Association was also asked. Mr. SCHINDLAUER answered that the Litigation Association was the only organisation of its kind in Europe. He added that it had been very difficult to overcome the competition between the different NGOs after one year of operation people had started realising that it would be better to work together. At this moment the Association consists of 8 members who cover different grounds of discrimination, but this process is still ongoing; organisations are still signing up to the Association.

Ms. Janina ARSENJEVA clarified that the role of the European Disability Forum (EDF) is not to contest the law on national level, but to make sure that new laws are better than the old ones. For that purpose EDF lobbies the European Union in order to ensure that disability is always taken into consideration when making new laws.

The inclusion of accessibility for disabled people of all projects funded through structural funds was one of the recent big successes of EDF.

Ms. ARSENJEVA continued by telling that EDF is also working on the accessibility of digital media and electronic telecommunications.

Ms. Helene JARMER gave some background knowledge on the origin of the turquoise ribbon that was handed out to all speakers at this seminar. The ribbon stands for the strength of Deaf people, the power that they have to stand up for themselves and the pride in being seen as Sign Language users. ÖGLB had granted an honorary ribbon to the Austrian Government in 2005 as recognition for their work co-operating with the Deaf Community.

Discrimination issues faced by the elderly population by Geert DECOCK, Age Platform

Mr. Geert DECOCK congratulated EUD for addressing the theme of multiple discrimination. He said EUD was courageous in showing this willingness to look beyond the specific problems of its members.

AGE Platform is a network which brings together 140 senior organisations and whose goal it is to voice the opinions of older people and to defend their interests. AGE tackles different problems like pensions and healthcare. They are also concerned with discrimination as they are part of the EC action program to combat discrimination. The main activities of the organisations are to lobby EU institutions and to spread information through expert groups, newsletters and their website.

Mr. DECOCK explained that age discrimination is one of the grounds which is included in the EU Directives. However, he stressed, legislation is just the beginning; awareness raising support for victims of discrimination is highly important.

AGE focuses on 2 major areas: employment and access to goods and services. Apart from this, AGE is also very active on the capacity building front, by working together with equality bodies and ombudsmen and focusing on case law. AGE hopes to be able to explain to its members what the impact of multiple discrimination on their area of work could be.

Mr. DECOCK gave some examples of age discrimination like mandatory retirement ages in employment, travel insurance which is not accessible to older people, negative stereotyping of older people in the media, accessibility issues in public transport.

In the last part of his presentation Mr. DECOCK talked about multiple discrimination. People have multiple identities, e.g. being a woman from an ethnic minority group. He confronted people by saying age is not defined. Age discrimination is something that everybody can experience and therefore is no longer a ‘minority issue’. He stated that multiple discrimination takes account of the complexity of discrimination and how this is experienced by victims.

Mr. DECOCK acknowledged that multiple discrimination is hard to tackle. It is difficult to find answers to all questions related to discrimination. AGE is of the opinion that raising awareness and thus improving understanding of multiple discrimination is a very important step. The European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, 2007 should be seen as an opportunity to make antidiscrimination NGOs work together. Mr. DECOCK also stressed the importance of collecting evidence and referred to the legal issues in relation to national legislation.

Mr. DECOCK concluded by referring to AGE’s website: http://www.age-platform.org in order to find out more information about the organisation and its activities.

“Deafness and Race – a perspective” by Malka BEN-DAVID, LEMDA (London Ethnic Minority Deaf Associations)

Ms. Malka BEN-DAVID introduced LEMDA, the London Ethnic Minority Deaf Associations. LEMDA is an organisation which works in the area around London in order to improve the quality of life and to increase awareness of Ethnic Deaf issues across the Capital. She compared this work with driving on a road full of obstacles. LEMDA wants to be a window to problems the members face and wants to look at the main solutions and challenges. Therefore LEMDA needs to identify international Drivers to help on this journey. Ms. BEN-DAVID stressed it was very important for LEMDA to work together with allies.

Ms. BEN-DAVID gave examples of multiple discrimination faced by deaf people of ethnic origin in the health service, employment & education, access to welfare service and social workers, police and public services, women etc.

She compared the situation of Deaf white people with the situation of Deaf Ethnic people and found there were many cases of unemployment, a lack of good role models, lack of promotion and empowerment and lack of access in general. She admitted that many people of an ethnic background are excellent manual workers, but that even then they are rejected because of their weak English skills. In the UK spoken English is often a requirement. Even if a person undergoes further training and is improving his English skills, this rejection remains because people are still not at an equal level with their peers. Compared to deaf white people, there is no empowerment movement for deaf ethnic people. They lack leadership and management skills and don’t get the opportunity to train themselves on these points.

Ms. BEN-DAVID stressed the importance of quality of life and spoke about the limited support available to Ethnic Deaf people. She said deaf white people have access to good role models in the media. Ethnic hearing people often lack access and good support, which also applies to deaf ethnic people. She explained that LEMDA had been working with key agencies in order to address these issues and challenges, like the “white deaf sector”, white hearing organisations, but also ethnic minority organisations. She stressed the importance of having role models in ethnic minority led organisations in order to allow ethnic deaf to make progress.

Ms. BEN-DAVID explained LEMDA provides information and advice and training opportunities for volunteers, but also training, workshops and peer support. They also organise a drop in service, one to one assistance, cultural events and they co-ordinate seminars.

Ms. BEN-DAVID stressed once again that the key to moving forward is to influence policy makers. Only by involving international partners in Ethnic Deaf Developments can people work together and make progress. LEMDA wants to make people aware of its existence, therefore it is very important to represent the organisation and to engage in networking. LEMDA has to be empowered in order to reduce double discrimination.

Ms. BEN-DAVID concluded her presentation by referring the audience to their website www.lemda.org.uk.

QUESTIONS

Answering on questions from the audience, Ms. BEN-DAVID clarified that in the rest of the UK there was no similar organisation to LEMDA. LEMDA has one staff member and was only funded for the M25 area around London. She added that there was some support from organisations like the British Deaf Association.

LEMDA wants to be the expert centre on ethnicity. LEMDA looks at ethnicity in the widest sense; in other words it concerns anybody coming from another country.

She added that sometimes there were conflicts between people from different ethnic minorities since London is to be considered as a real melting pot of people from different cultures but, she stressed, in order to prevent these kinds of conflicts, it is really crucial to inform people about ethnic Deaf events. She clarified that both ethnic men and women avail of the services of LEMDA.

WORKSHOP I: Deafness and Ageing

Knud SØNDERGAARD facilitated the first workshop on Deafness and Age. He asked NADs to take the floor in order to reveal good and bad experiences. Mr. SØNDERGAARD is retired himself and because of this he no longer has the right to interpreter support. He gave this as an example of a change is his situation.

Mr. SØNDERGAARD introduced Filip VERSTRAETE (Fevlado – Belgium) who had recently been to a conference in the Netherlands which dealt with the topic of elderly people and health care. Mr. VERSTRAETE informed the audience that he was called to the stand at relatively short notice and did not prepare this session. At the Dutch conference there were about 60 people, mostly professionals, of which there were seven deaf people present. He added that within Fevlado the Year 2006 was dedicated to the topic of Elderly Deaf people. Fevlado has set up a division for elderly deaf people some years ago because the Fevlado Board felt this group was often forgotten. Recently Fevlado carried out a survey on the quality of life of elderly deaf people, and this will also be the theme of the Annual World Deaf Day Conference to be held in September 2006 in Flanders.

Mr. VERSTRAETE had also attended the ENAT (European Network Accessible Tourism), which is funded by the EU and which is working on the promotion of accessible tourism in Europe. During this conference it became clear that most tourists at the present have an average age of 50 - 55. This group of elderly tourists is likely to grow in the future. Unfortunately together with ageing come visual, auditory and mobility problems and accessibility issues. It is of great importance that the tourist sector is well aware of the fact that their potential clients are growing older and are faced with accessibility issues. If the tourist sector is willingly to work on more accessible tourism, this will have economical implications. Adjustments in hotels or other tourist branches will pay off. Mr VERSTRAETE explained that within ENAT, EDF was the voice of disabled people. He asked if there was some cooperation between EUD and EDF on this matter or whether it would be a better idea to have EUD apply for direct membership of this network?

Mr. VERSTRAETE returned to the topic of Deafness and Age and stated that for Deaf people the main problem is accessibility of health care. During the congress it became clear that there are only few Deaf professionals working within the health care. It was stated that especially for Deaf persons it is vital that mental health workers have enough knowledge and background about deaf culture, sign language etc. In France they have tested in which way a deaf person is best provided information. They established three ways of giving information; a hearing doctor with interpreter, a hearing doctor who has a basic knowledge of sign language and a deaf professional who gives the information in sign language. It seemed that the best way of providing info to a deaf person was conducted by the deaf professional in sign language.

The Dutch conference also discussed the topic of homes for Deaf people. Generally it was felt that this issue should be approached individually. Some people will stay at home as long as possible whereas others would opt moving to a nursing home. It was quite clear that elderly people attach great importance to living close to a city, to a deaf club and especially to family and friends. Some countries provide special day care centres for elderly people. One of their goals is organising activities for elderly people. One of the discussions during the congress concerned whether elderly deaf people should go to the day care centres for the hearing or if there is a need to establish specific day care centres for the deaf? Other discussed topics were videotelephony, access to information, prevention of eye-sight problems which can pose great problems for elderly deaf people.

To conclude Mr. VERSTRAETE expressed the fact that a lot of important issues concerning elderly deaf people have risen and that there is a strong need for consultation on these issues on a European level. Therefore he would like to re-emphasise the question posed by the French federation to EUD during the General Assembly last year, to found a EUD division for the elderly deaf.

Mr. Asger BERGMANN (DDL – Denmark) informed the audience of research undertaken by DDL comparing the lives of deaf elderly people and hearing elderly people. The inequalities were remarkable. Hearing people tended to know much more about their rights than deaf people did. DDL has now set up a project in which a deaf worker visits eldery deaf people in their homes, upon request. This worker serves as a sort of intermediary between the elderly deaf people and the local government. Unfortunately the project will end soon, but DDL is lobbying the local government to continue this initiative.

Ms. Malka BEN-DAVID (LEMDA) acknowledged the same problem when it came to ethnic minorities. Cultural differences make it necessary to have workers who can take up this intermediary role.

Mr. Knud SØNDERGAARD referred to Gelderhorst, a home in the Netherlands for elderly deaf. He said that there are lots of different opinions amongst deaf people when it comes to living in appartements, surrounded only by other deaf people.

Ms. Liisa KAUPPINEN (FAD – Finland) informed the audience about a Finnish project which uses information technology in order to have elderly deaf people still included in the deaf community. This happens through elderly following meetings in deaf clubs from their home, social services personnel are trained to use video technology and other media.

Mr. Franc PLANINC (ZDGNS - Slovenia) said ZGDNS had also applied to the Equal programme in order to set up a similar project. The aim of the project is to have daycare activities in regional clubs in order to prevent people from being isolated.

Mr. Knud SØNDERGAARD concluded this workshop with the comment that although new media has very positive effects, it also makes more people excluded. Before all deaf people were equal; there was no access for anyone. Now you have a group of elderly people who are scared of technology, who cannot afford it or who don’t know how to use it and therefore can no longer participate in this modern society.

WORKSHOP II: Non-discrimination in Austria – a case study

Ms. Helene JARMER, Mr. Günter ROISS and Mr. Lukas HUBER from the ÖGLB made a presentation on their non-discrimination work. They explained how they got in contact with a lawyer about the best way to deal with the recognition of Sign Language and how they also got Mr. Dieter SCHINDLAUER (Litigation Association of NGOs against Discrimination) involved. ÖGLB mobilised the Austrian deaf community to come up with their own personal experiences, in their preferred language, Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS).

ÖGLB made two reports on non-discrimination, which were handed out to all Austrian MPs in order to make them aware of the problems deaf people face. ÖGLB thought it was very important to expose hearing people to Sign Language. This resulted in a project where movies in ÖGS (Austrian Sign Language) are shown in the underground.

This particular workshop was divided into two groups: one group who had very little knowledge on the concept on discrimination, and a second group who had more extended knowledge.

Ms. JARMER explained that ÖGLB has trained discrimination agents in Austria, who give presentations in clubs. They also collect and document cases of discrimination. All this information was gathered and returned to ÖGLB, who made sure that the reports were published.

ÖGLB said it was very important to have evidence that indicates that Deaf people are often discriminated against. Deaf people need to know that they do not stand alone. If society in general can be sensitised, then this will put the pressure on politicians and result in barriers being dismantled. Ms. JARMER stressed that interviews and witnesses were treated with absolute confidentiality. Much attention was also given to ensuring the protection of their privacy.

This workshop was not only theoretical but also interactive. The participants were asked to give their opinion on the cases presented.

The anti-discrimination reports with real-life stories about discrimination, can be found on www.oeglb.at/diskriminierung.

WORKSHOP III: Deafness & race

Ms. Malka BEN-DAVID from LEMDA facilitated the third workshop about Deafness & Race. She invited some of the audience on stage to discuss several questions about activities in their respective countries with regard to Deafness and Ethnicity.

Participants from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Austria shared their own national experiences. In one way or another work committees on this theme existed; the size of committees varied between 3 and 40 members and also the management of such activities was undertaken by a mixture of ethnic people and white people. Some countries have a group of minority people who became members of the local deaf club and formed a subdivision of that club or have ethnic people gathered in a student club. Other countries have set up projects with regard to educational training, and in order to train people in Deaf awareness and in the national Sign Language up to a level that they can use Sign Language interpreters later on in life.

Participants agreed that such clubs need to have time to establish themselves, but also acknowledged the importance of having some structure within these clubs so that the Government can be lobbied and know who to contact with regard to discrimination against ethnic minorities. Clubs have to evolve from open clubs for social gathering where everybody is welcome, to organised structures with board members in order to have some political influence. It was also considered important to have ethnic minority members on the boards on the national deaf associations in order to let them gain experience and expertise in political work. It is important that strong people from an ethnic background stand up and take the lead. This will have a positive influence on others. Only this will empower the ethnic community and reduce discrimination.

Helga STEVENS remarked that in Flanders there are few white deaf children attending deaf schools. The tendency is for white deaf children to be mainstreamed. This leaves a greater number of ethnic deaf children attending deaf schools and teachers are not sufficiently aware of their needs and how to deal with them.

Malka BEN-DAVID stressed there is a need to converse with ethnic people in order to open one’s own world view. Deaf people need to train themselves in improving their understanding and knowledge of ethnicity. She invited participants to attend the 2008 conference on ethnicity and said she would be very happy to see white people attending this conference.

Mr. Jeff McWHINNEY (UK) thanked LEMDA for its excellent work and said that it is essential to continue raising awareness.

Closing

Ms. Helga STEVENS closed the seminar by saying that it was extremely important to take home the information which was imparted at the EUD seminar and to share it with other deaf people.

She thanked all the presenters for their interesting presentations and said that she was happy to have seen so many questions asked and to see lots of interactivity during the workshop sessions.

Ms. STEVENS especially thanked ÖGLB for inviting EUD to Austria and for all their help in hosting this seminar.

ALL POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE ON THE EUD WEBSITE : www.eudnet.org