VENEZUELA: Foundation for the Development of Special Education Support for Integrated Education and Recreation Services for the Blind, Persons with Impaired Vision, Persons with Physical Disabilities, and Senior Citizens, through the Production of Braille and Phonographic Reading Materials Context The Foundation for the Development of Special Education provides two complementary programs for persons with impaired vision: the Simón Bolívar Braille production facility and the Spoken Book Program. This is part of an effort to provide better educational services to disadvantaged segments of the population. Objectives and strengthen integrated education and social integration for children and adults with special education needs at the national level. It is an institution of the Venezuelan State that operates using an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach both nationally and internationally, to develop and execute socially relevant programs and projects that benefit persons with special needs. The mission of the Simón Bolívar Braille production facility is to produce, promote, and distribute Braille reading materials for: children, youths in special schools, students integrated in schools at various levels and modalities, and adults having completed school. Its product line includes school textbooks and supplemental, recreational, and informational reading materials, including public awareness and promotional materials and general-interest documents. These materials are distributed nationally and internationally to individual users and institutions. The Spoken Book provides faithful and unabridged narrations of various types of printed reading material, recorded on audiocassette, for use by the blind, readers with impaired vision or physical disabilities, and senior citizens. Pedagogical Challenges The program was established primarily for the purpose of providing mechanisms for meeting the reading and writing material needs of the country's blind and sight-impaired citizens. General Description Program agreements have been signed with national institutions for the blind and sight-impaired, permitting distribution of the materials intended for children, adults, and senior citizens throughout the country. The Simón Bolívar Braille production facility came into existence through the resolutions and recommendations of the Second National Symposium of Blind Educators, in connection with the International Year of the Disabled. It enjoyed wide acceptance and support from the Directorate for Special Education and the Foundation for the Development of Special Education (FDEE). The Foundation initiated the Simón Bolívar Braille project in 1983, with the purchase of specialized equipment and the initiation of staff training. The project crystallized in July 1986 with the start of Braille text production. Operational training and adaptation of the Heidelberg Press was carried out in Germany. A computerized transcription device was donated by the Fund for Cooperation with Ibero-America, the Latin American Union of Blind Persons, and the National Organization of Blind Persons of Spain (ONCE). Complementing the Braille production facility is the Spoken Book Program. The recorded narrations project was developed in 1986 and began production in 1988. A total of 278 titles have now been recorded. Public as well as private institutions provided support for the purchase of equipment and a recording booth. The initial production was carried out through the Educational Technology Division of the Ministry of Education with its team of radio announcers and the establishment of recording guidelines. The production phase for the audio recorded material was then carried out directly in the Foundation, which has an audio recording studio, radio announcers under contract, and cassette duplicators, all of which facilitated an increase in the production of material and in the coverage of service, in terms of volume as well as the variety of titles. As a complement to these programs, Braille reading and writing workshops are conducted for the non-blind population to help promote integration of the blind into society. Participating Individuals and Institutions The Foundation for the Development of Special Education is the main participant, conducting its activities through: • The Simón Bolívar Braille production facility, the Spoken Book Program, and the Center for Documentation and Information on Special Education • Special education personnel and services. • The public library system of the National Autonomous Library Institute. • Associations of and for the blind. • Children, youths, adults, and senior citizens. Budget and Financing The budget is allocated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. Other resources are generated by the program itself through agreements signed with other entities. Strengths • Contributes to the integration of children, youths, and adults with special needs into society. • Helps to strengthen inter-institutional relations. • Increases the coverage of service in response to demand for information within the target population. • Has established mechanisms to control and monitor the material produced and distributed to ensure its proper use. • Has established better and more effective communication with FDEE branch coordinators, department heads, and library system personnel. • Helps to strengthen social networks. Lessons Learned • The need to maintain direct contact with library system personnel to keep them informed and heighten awareness of the FDEE’s mission, vision, values, and programs, and thus consolidate activities in the various states. • The need, in coordinating this work, for greater awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities. • The importance of strengthening attention to the particularities of each region. An important step in this direction was to increase the recording of titles supported by editorial funds in each state of Venezuela. Future Challenges • To continue modernizing operations and produce the Spoken Book series on compact disc. • To increase production with greater coverage of public libraries throughout the country and in the municipios of various states. Responding to the Challenges of the Summit The program shows a true commitment by the Venezuelan State to improve both equity and quality in the education of persons with disabilities by providing for alternative methods that meet their needs. Back to Eje 1