| Portugal Federação Portuguesa das Associações de Surdos Established: 1993 Address: Praceta Miguel Cláudio nº 3 B, 2700-585 Amadora Contact details: Email: fpas@fpas.org.pt Fax: (+351) 21 499 83 10 Tel: (+351) 21 499 83 09 / (+351) 21 499 83 08 Website link: www.fpas.org.pt
Details of the Board President: Arlindo Oliveira (D) Board Members: Paulo Costa (D), António Rodrigues (D), Paulo Garcia (D), Barbara Crespo (D)
Details of the Staff Executive Director: Arlindo Oliveira (D) Other staff: Claudia Dias (H), Flávia Xavier (H)
Statistics General Population of your country? (Including hearing people) 10,000,000 Official or approximate figures of the number of Deaf people living in your country? 150,000 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? 11 Associations of the Deaf Does your National Association of the Deaf publish any magazine or newsletters for your members? No Does your National Association of the Deaf have Youth section? No
Status of Sign Language Is Sign Language legally recognised as part of your Government's constitution? Yes, in the Constitution of Portugal: Article 74(1)2 on education states: “In implementing the education policy, the State shall be responsible for [...] h) Protecting and developing Portuguese Sign Language as an expression of culture and an instrument for access to education and equal opportunities”.
Status of Sign Language Interpreters Approximate number of qualified sign language interpreters: 150 Technology Does your country provide Video Interpreting Service? No If not, when will it be implemented? There is no scheduled date.
Deaf centre/clubs How many deaf centres/clubs? 15
Universities/Sign Language Units Are there any Universities that deals with Sign Language? (Deaf Studies, Linguistics, Interpreting) Yes
Deaf Schools Number of Deaf Schools: 4 Education method (Sign Language, Oral or other methods): Sign Language and oral
History of the NAD The Portuguese Federation of Associations of the Deaf (FPAS) was established at the first National Congress of the Deaf on 20 June 1993, as there was pressing need for an umbrella organisation. The following associations promoted and were present at the founding of FPAS: Cultural Association of the Deaf of Amadora, Portuguese Association of the Deaf, Association of Deaf-Mute of the Council of Almada, Association of the Deaf of the West and Association of the Deaf of Braga. With the defining of the statutes, obligations of the social organs, and the objectives the Federation was officially founded. Currently FPAS has twelve affiliated Associations of the Deaf, and four further Associations, which are being evaluated for future membership. FPAS supports its affiliated members financially and represents them in meetings with Governmental or Private Agencies. In 1997 FPAS moved to its own headquarters to create structures to give efficient answers to its members, as well as to the Governmental Agencies it works with. The headquarters house the administrative services and the Board meetings. In 2000 FPAS signed a Protocol with the Department of Justice that states Portuguese Sign Language interpreter services should be provided to Deaf people in legal settings. In that same year, FPAS began - together with Portugal Telecom and other institutions - the necessary work for the creation of a relay centre to overcome the communication gap betweenDeaf and hearing people. However, this project had to be aborted due to the high costs involved and to the lack of support. At the beginning of the year 2000, FPAS affiliated itself to the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) and to the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD); thus becoming the official representative of the Portuguese Deaf Community at the world and European level. It is with this responsibility that the FPAS board has been participating in seminars, congresses and other Deaf-related events, which try to achieve better quality of life and promote equality of opportunities in the true sense of the word. At the 1. National Congress of the Deaf, carried out in Coimbra, the representatives of the Associations of the Deaf drafted a document regarding the rights and needs of Deaf people. At the 3. Congress (27/28 April 2001 in Beja), some alterations were made and presented to the Government to make them aware of the specific needs of the Deaf. Thus, on 27 April 2001, the document was approved unanimously by the delegates present and distributed to the competent organs in order to legalise it, as it forms crucial element for the defence of our rights and for the full integration of the Deaf. In response, we had several requests of meetings, namely, Dr Teresa Queiroz de Barros, Assistant to the Prime Minister Eng. António Guterres, who received us on 18 September 2001; furthermore the Home Secretary, Dr. Rui Pereira, with whom we had a meeting on 25 September 2001; His Excellency the Secretary of State of Higher Education, with whom we met on 4 October 2001; His Excellency the Health Minister, at a meeting on 10 October 2001, and His Excellency the Minister for Culture, at a meeting on 16 October 2001. FPAS also received an invitation from the Parliamentary Group Os Verdes to participate in a Parliamentary Hearing about Special Education. And it was also invited by the National Secretary for the Rehabilitation and Integration of the Persons with Disabilities to become part of the Permanent Commission of Health that had the objective of researching a National Table of the Functionality and Incapacity. In 2002, FPAS saw an increase in the requests of interpreters in the scope of the Protocol established with the Department of Justice, and the relations with the National Secretary for the Rehabilitation and Integration of the Persons with Deficiency continued. In 2003, FPAS had a meeting with the new Government to develop new routes. As it was the European Year of Persons with Disabilities, it aimed at big activities and for that we were received by the Advisor-Assistant of the Internal Administration, Dr. Pedro Clemente, by his Excellency the Minister of Health, Dr. Luís Filipe Pereira, and his Excellency the Minister of the Social Security and Labor, Dr. Bagão Félix. In February 2003, the EUD (European Union of the Deaf) chose Portugal for the EUD Board meeting, which much honoured the Federation and all its members. Step by step our objectives are being reached, and in 10 years of existence we were able to have a positive balance but at the same time knowing that a lot is still to be done. In April 2005, FPAS and the Galician Federation of the Associations of the Deaf (FAXPG, Spain) signed a document to ensure the linguistic and cultural exchange between both communities. The first event took place in Portugal, the next one was held in Galicia, Spain in 2008. In December 2005, FPAS started contacts with Brisa (Portuguese Highway Company) to promote the needs of the Deaf Community and make the company aware. These contacts culminated in a Protocol of Assistance in October 2006. It states that Brisa has to provide an SMS service to the Deaf for any highways that belong to Brisa. In September 2006, FPAS held the first Great March of the Deaf Community, with the objective raise awareness within society to the barriers which are still preventing Deaf people from using their mother tongue, Portuguese Sign Language. During 2006, FPAS created a Commission for Education with the aim of evaluating "The Education and Schooling of the Deaf in Portugal", which culminated in a document which was sent to the Assembly of the Republic, in November 2006. After seven years of struggle and commitment, FPAS finally saw its dream of having its headquarters reconstructed come true. The building was in great need of renovation. With the financial support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, as well as of the Council of Amadora, the work was done and the reconstructed Headquarters were inaugurated on the 3 March 2007. The Assistant Secretary of State and Rehabilitation, Dr. Idália Moniz, the National Secretary of SNRIPD, Dr. Luísa Portugal, and The Mayor of Amadora, Dr. Joaquim Raposo gave us the honour of being present. We were also pleased to have the presidents of affiliated Associations and representation of other entities present. In March 2007, FPAS was invited by the National Institute of Rehabilitation to cooperate in creating a Commission for Sign Language, with the objective of evaluating everything concerning, not only the language itself, but also the Deaf Community. This Commission started in May with the main aim of cooperating in the realisation of the Action Plan and Integration of Handicapped People, which was created by the Government. In September 2007, FPAS held an International Conference with the theme "Sign Language in Education" to analyse and evaluate the educational system for Deaf children and young people between Portugal, Spain, Greece and England. Since 2006, FPAS has been trying to set up an emergency SMS number (similar to 112) to give equal rights to the Deaf community. This has been done by making contact with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Health.
Last updated: 21 April 2010 |
