Lietuvos seimu, auginanciu kurcius ir neprigirdincius vaikus, bendrija PAGAVA

Lithuanian Association of Families with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children PAGAVA is a national parents’ organization embracing deaf and hearing parents with deaf, hard of hearing, and cochlear implanted children who use speech or sign language and attend special (deaf) or regular schools. The association has twenty years of experience in advocating and providing variety of services so they reach every deaf/HH child and their family. Purpose and objectives of Association: • Provide early, timely, and equitable access to services (universal newborn hearing screening achieved since 2014 however no early intervention and family support system; switch from child-directed toward family-directed interactions needed; transdisciplinary approach); • Provide family social and emotional support; • Promote informed choice and decision making; • Provide deaf/HH children with quality hearing-aids. • Lithuanian Association of Families with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children PAGAVA mobilizing and motivating parents to actively participate in the life and education of their deaf/hard of hearing children; organizing parent-to-parent support groups; • Collaborating with state authorities in order to find suitable solutions in solving the problems of deaf children and their families; providing proposals and calls to action for creation of overall well-being of D/HH children and their families in Lithuania; • Provides public education in order to draw attention of hearing society to the problems of deaf children and their families; • Looking for possibilities to achieve the goals of organization by using: international cooperation, national and local instruments, funds, volunteers, community resources, etc. Association PAGAVA has a long experience in implementing various social, cultural national and international projects for seeking better integration for deaf children and youth and promoting their culture. During 2014 and 2015 organization PAGAVA implemented cultural projects for youth by using the art of photography and also theater activities. Deaf and hard of hearing children was actively participating and collecting useful knowledge and experiences. Parents, siblings and specialists are also usually integrated into the project activities in order to provide the possibility to learn new things for whole family and enjoy their time together. Organization PAGAVA pays attention for deaf children, youth and their family members’ cultural life, while it helps to raise integration into society. Association has traditional events such as spectacular performance with translation into Lithuanian sign language, summer camps for children as well as families’ camps, Christmas carols concert with sign language interpretation, trips, excursions, etc. PAGAVA is always looking for the new opportunities to organize new interesting and useful activities for children, youth, their parents and specialists and is always for new partnerships.