| Austria Österreichischer Gehörlosenbund (ÖGLB) Established: 1913 Full member of EUD since: 1995 Address: Waldgasse 13/2, 1100 Vienna, Austria Contact details: Email: info@oeglb.at Fax: (+43) 01 60 23 459 Phone: (+43) 01/60 30 853 Website link: http://www.oeglb.at
Mission statement of the organisation The ÖGLB supports and promotes the needs and possibilities of the Deaf community in Austria. Its mission is to ensure legal protection of the Deaf community's cultural and linguistic heritage, to increase the quality of Deaf education, to guarantee Deaf individuals true access to all civil rights and the ability to fully participate in society.
Details of the Board President: Helene Jarmer (D) Board Members: Gabriele Zemann - 1. Vice-President (D), Reinhard Grobbauer - 2. Vice-President (D), Lukas Huber - General-Secretary (D), Susanne Kimm - Secretary (H), Klaus Patzak - Treasurer (D), Stjepan Petrovic - Vice Treasurer (H), Harald Resch - Board Member (D)
Statistics General Population (Including hearing people): 8,000,000 Official or approximate figures of the number of Deaf people: 8,000 to 10,000 Official or approximate numbers of Deaf people who use sign language as their primary language? N/A How many people are members of the NAD? 2,500 Does your National Association of the Deaf publish any magazine or newsletters for your members? Newspaper: ÖGLZ (Österreichische Gehörlosenzeitung), weekly newsletter in ÖGS (video), Gebärdensache (quarterly magazine) Does your National Association of the Deaf have a Youth section? Yes
Status of Sign Language Is Sign Language legally recognised as part of your Government's constitution? Yes. On 1 September 2005 ÖGS was added to the Austrian Constitution (§ 8 Art. 3)
Status of Sign Language Interpreters Approximate number of qualified sign language interpreters: 80 Details of training centre/courses: There are 3 training centres:
Technology Does your country provide Video Interpreting Service? No
Deaf centre/clubs How many deaf centres/clubs? 33
Universities/Sign Language Units Are there any universities that deal with Sign Language (Deaf Studies, Linguistics, Interpreting)?
Deaf Schools Number of Deaf Schools: 6 Education method (Sign Language, Oral or other methods): Oral (with a couple of exceptions)
History of the NAD The ÖGLB (at that time called "Reichsverband der Taubstummenvereine Österreichs") was founded in August 1913 in Graz, Styria. One of its leading founding members was Heinrich Prochazka (1885-1964) who was its president between 1946-1949 and 1956-1960. He was also involved in founding the world sport's association (CISS) and co-founder of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). In 1963 he received the WFD honorary-membership in Stockholm.
Interesting Links: http://www.oegsbarrierefrei.at (centre for barrier-free service, Deaf awareness, barrier-free website service, sign language videos for companies) http://www.gebaerdenwelt.at (daily world news in Austrian Sign Language and written German) |
