People with speech impediments have a right to communicate: 15 years of the VERBUND Diakonie Empowerment Fund
International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December): Diakonie and VERBUND focus on the right to communication and access to Assistive Technologies. The VERBUND Empowerment Fund of Diakonie has been supporting the individual provision of people with disabilities with communication aids and counselling them on the possibilities of Assistive Technologies since 2009.
“We are delighted that VERBUND has been working with us for 15 years to establish a legal entitlement to technical communication aids,” emphasised Maria Katharina Moser, director of Diakonie, on the 15th anniversary of the cooperation.
“We have been working together with Diakonie for 15 years and never tire of restating these important demands,” said Monika Riedel, Head of Communication at VERBUND. “Children in particular need the aids to learn to speak, so the time factor is also critical here. Every day they have to wait is one day too many,” said Riedel.
Fifteen years ago, VERBUND set up the Empowerment Fund, which provides financial support for people with urgent funding needs for their communication aids. The Diakonie director stressed that the fact that a company is taking on a task of the welfare state is very important for the people concerned, but at the same time it is an indictment of the welfare state.
The process of finding the right aid remains complicated
Around 63,000 people in Austria are restricted in their ability to speak. They need technical aids, known as “Assistive Technologies”, such as eye-controlled tablets with voice output. Despite years of effort, the process of obtaining the appropriate aids remains complicated and purchasing them is often very expensive for those affected. Many different offices and agencies at the state and federal level are involved. And health insurance providers keep finding reasons not to cover the costs of communication aids, or only to cover them to a certain extent.
Katharina (13) was lucky
Kathi Panholzer is 13 years old. She was lucky. She lives in Upper Austria, her family received the necessary support, and Kathi received the necessary communication devices. This means that the young woman can raise her voice at home and at school whenever she wants. She uses her eyes to control the computer, and her speech output device lends her her computer voice. This means that Kathi, who lives with severe muscle spasms and without the ability to speak, is no longer speechless.
You can hear Kathi speaking here
Kathi and her carer Irmgard can currently be seen on large-format posters of Diakonie throughout Austria. The Diakonie campaign is supported by the advertising agency Identum - Agentur für Markencharisma and the photographic company Severin Wurnig - still & motion pictures.
15 years of the VERBUND Diakonie Empowerment Fund
- The VERBUND Diakonie Empowerment Fund is celebrating its 15th anniversary. The following have been achieved in these 15 years:
individual counselling on 9,753 occasions for people with disabilities on the topics of augmentative and alternative communication and assistive technologies, such as electronic communication devices controlled by eye gaze or mouth mouse, and speech output software - early speech therapy for 3,449 children with and without speech
- financial support for the purchase and equipping with assistive technologies, averaging 621 euros for 1,364 people with disabilities
- An essential contribution to public awareness of the right to communication for people without speech