Swiss Central Association for the Blind
The Swiss Central Association for the Blind ( SZB for short ) is the umbrella organization of Swiss national and regional associations for the blind and visually impaired . In addition to the main office at Schützengasse 4 in St. Gallen , which it moved into in 1984 , the association maintains locations in Bern , Bellinzona , Lausanne , Lenzburg , Lucerne and Zurich . In addition to the associated members, the association has around 45 regular member organizations for the concerns of blind , visually impaired , deafblind or hearing-impaired people.
The SZB runs a specialist library and a specialist office for optical aids, develops and sells aids and advises deaf-blind and hearing-impaired people. In addition, he organizes advanced training courses for professionals, trains in the area of low vision (visual impairment) and provides information about visual impairment.
Since 1940 the SZB has been certified with the ZEWO seal of approval for the dedicated and economical use of donations . In 2006 he received the EduQua quality label of the Swiss certification process for further education institutions for his further education and training offer .
history
At the urging of the Ostschweizerisches Blindenfürsorgeverein (OBV) in St. Gallen and the Association pour le Bien des Aveugles (ABA) in Geneva, the founding event of the SZB took place on November 1st, 1903 in Girls' home for the blind on Asylstrasse in Zurich. The first president was the doctor Laurenz Paly, the first “Central Secretary” (managing director) Victor Altherr, who was also the first director of the OBV. The first general assembly of the SZB in Lausanne on September 30 and October 1, 1905, was attended by 120 people. In 1907 the SZB von Trogen moved into the premises of the OBV in St. Gallen- Heiligkreuz .
From 1924 the association expanded its work, care and counseling for the deaf- blind in Switzerland and imparted knowledge of carpet weaving , basket weaving , learning Braille and the Lorm alphabet.
In 1934 the SBZ moved into its own premises in St. Leonhardstrasse in St. Gallen. The Office de langue française opened as the first branch secretariat of the association on May 1, 1941 in Lausanne . On the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the anniversary exhibition "Seeing the blind" was shown in 1953 in the industrial and commercial museum (today St. Gallen Textile Museum ). From 1984 the association expanded its research in the area of low vision, opened specialist centers for optical aids and, with the Swiss Deaf Association, SGB-FSS, has been offering a specialized user information center since 1997 . In 2001, a new competence center was opened in Lausanne, offering advice for the deaf-blind and aids, advanced training, translation services and public relations, followed by the advice and meeting center in Lenzburg, which from 2004 has housed deaf-blind advice, blind technical and optical aids and optical aids are.
For the open-air photo exhibition “La terre vue du ciel” by Yann Arthus-Bertrand in 2004 in Geneva, the association organized the tactile part of the exhibition with tactile reliefs and explanations in Braille. In 2010, the association published the study "Living conditions of hearing-impaired and deaf-blind people in Switzerland", which it commissioned with financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation at the Intercantonal University for Curative Education in Zurich . The film "Deafblind Time - When vision and hearing become weaker" was released on the same subject.
Since 2011, the SZB courses in Low Vision, Orientation and Mobility as well as Practical Life Skills have been recognized by the Federal Office for Vocational Education and Technology as a higher professional examination, combined with the title “Specialist in the rehabilitation of visually impaired and blind people with a federal diploma”.
The association, together with the Swiss Association of the Blind (SBb) and the Swiss Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBV), is the holder of the White Cane Day in Switzerland.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ SBZ member organizations . Retrieved November 19, 2013
- ↑ Day of the White Stick . Retrieved November 19, 2013