 | |
| Founded | 1991 [1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Non-profit NGO |
| Location | |
| Website | berdo-bd |
Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation (BERDO) is a nonprofit non-governmental organization which works to empower people with disabilities through programs such as microcredit financing and education.
The executive director of BERDO, MD.Saidul Huq, called for "creating an environment where the people with disability can enjoy life with dignity" in 2005. [2] Its microcredit program is aimed at supporting people with physical disabilities and is one of its main support programs. [3] [4] It also tries to support education initiatives for people with disabilities; the organization recently partnered with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to give scholarships to people with blindness. [5] BERDO also created a "talking library" to support education initiatives for blind people so they can continue on with school despite a lack of braille textbooks; the library holds hundreds of book on cassette tape so people who are blind can listen to them. [6] To help create more access to braille texts, BERDO helped to create and test a Bengali-to-braille software translator that will help to create braille books at 20% of the cost. [7] According to BERDO, there are 2,000,000 people in Bangladesh suffering from some sort of eye disability. [3]
BERDO often attracts government ministers to its events celebrating the rights of people with disabilities in Bangladesh. [8] [9] Its 20th anniversary celebration brought a number of ministry leaders of Bangladesh to speak as guests. [8]
Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with assistance. ADLs are self-care activities that include toileting, mobility (ambulation), eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and personal device care. Assistive technology can ameliorate the effects of disabilities that limit the ability to perform ADLs. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. For example, wheelchairs provide independent mobility for those who cannot walk, while assistive eating devices can enable people who cannot feed themselves to do so. Due to assistive technology, disabled people have an opportunity of a more positive and easygoing lifestyle, with an increase in "social participation", "security and control", and a greater chance to "reduce institutional costs without significantly increasing household expenses." In schools, assistive technology can be critical in allowing students with disabilities to access the general education curriculum. Students who experience challenges writing or keyboarding, for example, can use voice recognition software instead. Assistive technologies assist people who are recovering from strokes and people who have sustained injuries that affect their daily tasks.
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.
Service and supports for people with disabilities are those government or other institutional services and supports specifically provided to enable people who have disabilities to participate in society and community life. Some such services and supports are mandated or required by law, some are assisted by technologies that have made it easier to provide the service or support while others are commercially available not only to persons with disabilities, but to everyone who might make use of them.
Christian Blind Mission (CBM) is an international Christian development organization, committed to improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities in the poorest communities of the world. It is considered one of the world's oldest and largest organizations working in this field.
Light for the World is an international disability and development NGO aiming at an inclusive society. The organisation currently supports projects in Sub-Saharan Africa — including: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, South Sudan and Uganda dedicated to the restoration of eyesight, prevention of blindness, rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, inclusive education and promotion of their human rights.
Bookshare is an online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities, such as visual impairment, severe dyslexia, and cerebral palsy. An initiative of Benetech, a social enterprise organization based in Palo Alto, California, it was founded in 2001 by Jim Fruchterman. Bookshare provides books in DAISY, EPUB, BRF, MP3, and Microsoft Word document formats. Books have been contributed by volunteers, authors, libraries, universities, and publishers. By 2010 more than half of books had been contributed by publishers and by 2020 more than 900 publishers had partnered with Bookshare, contributing to its library of more than 900,000 books.
A sighted child who is reading at a basic level should be able to understand common words and answer simple questions about the information presented. They should also have enough fluency to get through the material in a timely manner. Over the course of a child's education, these foundations are built on to teach higher levels of math, science, and comprehension skills. Children who are blind not only have the education disadvantage of not being able to see: they also miss out on the very fundamental parts of early and advanced education if not provided with the necessary tools.
The Lighthouse of Houston is a private, non-profit education and service center dedicated to assisting blind and visually impaired people in the Houston, Texas, United States metropolitan area to live independently. The Lighthouse serves approximately 9,000 people each year and is a member agency of the United Way of Greater Houston.
Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Divyanga University (JRDU), formerly Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, is a public UP state government university in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh. It was established in 2001 by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya for disabled people .Jagadguru Rambhadracharya in 2022 wishes to make this University as a UP state government, he suggested UP CM Yogi Adityanath ji to takeover this University as State Public University, in June 2023 Uttar Pradesh government accorded status of State government university by passing Law in UP State assembly i.e.The Uttar Pradesh Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Divyang State University. Act, 2023 under Department of Divyangjan under which 50 percent of Divyang students and 50 percent other students can took addmission at this University .It was the only university in the world exclusively for disabled people until the establishment of Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University at Lucknow.
Mitra Jyothi established in 1990, is a charitable trust registered under Indian Trust Act based in Bangalore. Its aims to support the visually impaired through various programs it offers. These programs include Talking Book Library, Computer Training Center, Independent Living Skills, Braille Transcription Center and Job Placement. It received State Award in 2010 from the Directorate of Disabled Welfare and Senior Citizens, Government of Karnataka for its exemplary service for persons with disabilities. Mitra Jyothi is also a member of the DAISY Forum of India (DFI). DFI is a forum of Not for profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print.
Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, founded in 1997, is a non-profit organization providing education, accommodation, food, vocational training and placement based rehabilitation. It is based in Bangalore, India with centers across India and abroad. The organization is affiliated to the World Blind Union and received Special UN Consultative Status in 2015.
Syed Sardar Ahmed Pirzada is a Pakistani journalist, radio anchor, and socio-political analyst most prominently known as the First Blind Journalist of Pakistan. He is currently Chief Editor of Monthly Akhbar-e-Urdu and also writes columns for Urdu newspapers including Daily Nawaiwaqt. He has been recognized and awarded by many NGOs and prominent personalities of Pakistan including but not limited to the Former President of Pakistan, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari.
Chakshumathi is a nongovernmental, not for profit organization based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, working for developing resources for the use of visually impaired people. It is an "Empowerment and Assistive Technology Centre for Blind". The organization, which was inaugurated in June 2011, is a member of DAISY Forum of India. The organization is currently headed by V.K. Damodaran, a former President of Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad.
Jawahar Lal Kaul is an Indian social worker and the founder of the All India Conference of the Blind, an NGO working towards the rehabilitation of the blind. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, which bestowed on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of Social Work.
The National Council for the Blind, Malaysia (NCBM) set up the Braille Press on 1 April 1998 under the Chairmanship of the late Datin Roquaiya Hanim Tun Hussein. It was officially declared open by Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the then Minister of Education, Malaysia, on 24 November 1998.
Tiffany Brar is an Indian community service worker who became blind as an infant due to oxygen toxicity. Brar is the founder of the Jyothirgamaya Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches life skills to blind people of all ages. She is a trainer, a campaigner for disability awareness and an advocate for an inclusive society.
People with disabilities in Pakistan are seen differently than in most Western countries due to cultural and religious beliefs. The lack of accurate epidemiological evidence on disabilities, insufficient resources, weak health care facilities and worker shortages are major obstacles to meeting the needs of disabled Pakistanis.
Jyothirgamaya Foundation is a nonprofit organization, based in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala which is actively involved in the empowerment of persons with visual impairment founded in 2015 by Tiffany Brar. The project started as a mobile blind school in 2012. Tiffany Brar herself, traveled through rural areas in public transport in search of blind people of all ages in rural areas in India, with the aim of bringing out of the four walls of their house, to which they are confined, and brings a new light to their eyes, which has nothing to do with their eyesight. Jyothirgamaya Foundation holds Special consultative status with United Nations.
National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (Divyangjan), Dehradun is a premier organisation under the administrative control of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. Institute is training centre for the blind, located in an area of about 43 acres on Mussoorie-Dehradun Highway. It is also engaged in production of Braille literature, aids and appliances for visually disabled people. It also undertakes research and developmental activities ensuring emergence of disability inclusive policies, programmes and practices. The institute is governed by the Management & Advisory Bodies.