Association of the Deaf and Hard of of Hearing Nova Gradiska

Association of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Nova Gradiska is the only organization that deals with the problems of the deaf and hard of hearing people in the town of Nova Gradiska and surrounding municipalities. The main activities of NGOs are concentrated in the area of social adjustment, education and preparation of deaf and hard of hearing people to participate in everyday community life. Other activities are related to breaking the stigma and discrimination. Problems of the deaf people it’s easier to understand if we explain that deaf person has difficulty to understand their mother language (Croatian), which connects with the problem of mastering the use of voice languages and other common means of communication. If we add the fact that a large number of deaf persons are computer illiterate, receiving information and process of integration in the social environment becomes more difficult. Deaf people can move independently and live independently to some extent, but still have a problem to understand many of the contents of the living environment, which leads to the need for certain adjustments. Due to lack of access to information a large number of Deaf people do not continue their education after completing primary school, while those who finish high school are faced with the problem of unemployment and how to exercise their rights because of ignorance and the information which are hard understandable for them.