Polski Zwiazek Niewidomych

The Polish Association of the Blind (PZN) was established in 1951. It is a nationwide self-help organisation registered in the District Court of Warsaw. The PZN is a non-profit, public-benefit organization. The Association has almost 50 000 members – adults and children – disabled due to the moderate or severe dysfunction of the eye. Depending on the time and degree of sight loss or impairment and the resulting rehabilitation needs, the members of the Polish Association of the Blind can be classified as: - blind, i.e. persons blind since birth or who lost their sight before they were 5 years old, - newly blind, i.e. persons who have lost their sight due to different accidents or disorders after they where 5 years old, - visually impaired, i.e. persons who are losing their sight due to different disorders. PZN is the member of the international organizations: World Blind Union (WBU) and European Blind Union (EBU). The main goals of the Organization are: - to help and support all those who have lost or are losing sight, - to support blind and partially sighted people to become more independent including how to execute different tasks independently, using methods that do not require sight, - to eliminate the isolation and the feeling of loneliness through the possibility of developing an active social and vocational life. Polish Association of the Blind: - offers counseling and provides: - to blind adults – information on rehabilitation, treatment, employment, finding specific devices which facilitate everyday life, information on didactic instruments, legal advice, as well as information on solving different life problems; - to parents, tutors, and specialists – information in the area of bringing up and educating blind and visually impaired children, including children with additional developmental disability; - trains teachers, rehabilitation instructors, and other specialists who work with the blind and for the welfare of the blind, as well as parents and tutors of those persons; - organises: - individual and group training courses for blind and visually impaired persons, focused on the braille alphabet, vision improvement, independent and safe movement in the streets, as well as on executing everyday tasks, touch-typing, telemarketing, and active job seeking, - specific rehabilitation stays; -provides blind and visually impaired persons with: - magazines and books in braille, large print, and electronic formats, - “talking” books including texts required for school; - develops the cultural interests of the blind by organizing concerts, exhibitions, and open-air art meetings; - helps people to become guide dog users and to care for them; - cooperates with various institutions acting for the welfare of disabled people, helping them to solve different life problems; - runs promotional campaigns informing society about the specific needs of blind and partially-sighted persons, - takes steps to amend legal provisions disadvantageous to blind people. With its network of organizational units the Polish Association of the Blind covers the whole territory of Poland. In each of the 16 regions there is a regional unit of PZN, each of which constitutes a separate legal entity. We also have almost 351 local units, which are situated in line with the national administrative division into counties and communes. Besides the regional units and local units, there are also the following institutions functioning within the Polish Association of the Blind: -Central Rehabilitation and Medical Dispensary (Warsaw) -Typhlological Institute, with its Rehabilitation Centre (Warsaw) -Homer Education and Rehabilitation Centre (Bydgoszcz) -Eden Medical and Rehabilitation Centre in Ciechocinek, Klimczok in Ustronie Morskie and Rehabilitation, Education and Nestor Recreation Centre in Muszyna -Labirynt Residential Rehabilitation Centre in Olsztyn -Social Aid Houses (Chorzów, Kielce, Olsztyn), -Vocational Therapy Workshops (Słupsk, Toruń, Włocławek), -Work