The project Methods used in education of children with multiple disabilities plan of all schools followed the long-term plan of development and furthereducation of pedagogical staff. The main impetus for the schools involvement in the project was the requirement to acquire new knowledge in the field of special education. The main goal was to improve existing knowledge, acquire new ones and support the motivation of teachers in teaching children with multiple disabilities. The project was prepared as a two- year mobility period. 4 mobilities were planned in four different destinations (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia).The output of the project is a brochure that can be used by all teachers to implement new teaching methods and others interested in working with children with multiple disabilities. The brochure is meant for special education teachers, tutors, assistants who are workingwith children who require special educational methods regarding their prime and additional disability and for those who have no previous experience in working with students with special needs.Project was created on a basis of common and individual experiences, sharing knowledge in thes trategic partnership / school cooperation. Methods that were described were being presented to the project participants during international project meetings and in betweenthese meetings during the project. The team involved in these activities was composed of special educators, teachers, psychologists, social workers, vocational school teachers, speech therapist, interpreters, school counseling staff and other specialists. Various didactic methods have been presented. Partners selected the most useful ones for their institutions and adapted them to the individual target groups.We hope that the project will bring long-term benefits for all involved, such as the inclusion of methods in the school curriculum, but mainly increase the quality of education for children with multiple disabilities.

"“Better support – better options” (LTT) is a strategic partnership project in the school education sector. The project lasted 24 months.The major objective of the project was to develop, based on international experience, materials and tools in the field of career counselling that would be adapted to the needs of deaf and hearing impaired people. Another important goal was to exchange experience and good practices in this area.The project participants used ICT tools in the process of career counselling. They tried to adapt them to the needs of the digital generation and to increase the effectiveness of the teaching methods used. Both actions were important parts of the project. The project also focused on the current tendency to migrate between the labour markets. One of its results is the “Carry on signing” video guide. It was based on a unified scenario developed by the project partners and is available in the sign languages of the countries involved. It is a source of information for deaf people who are abroad or planning to leave their countries. The video guide consists of several clips which focus on: ways of looking for a job on foreign labour markets, preparation of a EuropassCV, types of necessary documents and additional documents when going to work abroad, hazards related to travel and stay in a foreign country, and good advice on individual travel abroad.The project partners were: Zavod za gluhe in naglušne Lublana from Slovenia, two Slovak schools: Stredna odborna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim from Bratislava and Zakladna skola pre ziakov so sluchovym postihnutim internatna Viliama Ganu from Kremnica and Specjalny Ośrodek Szkolno-Wychowawczy dla Niesłyszących im. Janusza Korczaka in Krakow, Poland as the project coordinator. What distinguishes this project is its area of impact. The partner schools are training centres which have great experience in education of children and youth with hearing impairment and other disabilities.During the project the partners took part in mobilities of staff devoted to learning / teaching and training, organized: workshops for students and staff, educational and vocational events and meetings with parents and specialists working with deaf and hearing impaired young people. They maintained contact with the graduates of the partner schools and implemented some local and regional activities which involved the promotion of the project and the dissemination of the project results during the meetings with beneficiaries. The partners also undertook international activities devoted to the promotion of the project, consultation and dissemination of the results during the meetings of the European HIPEN Network and while the international dissemination seminar in Bratislava. The actions taken have brought the results that are universal values on the education market. In addition to the video guide, which have been already mentioned, the project partners created a ""Career counselling manual"", which is aimed at the counsellors who work with the deaf and the hearing impaired. It was published in English as well as in the national languages of the countries involved. It is a vade-mecum containing proposals of individual and group activities, which can be used by specialists in the field of career counselling who work at schools, psychological and pedagogical counselling centres and other counselling institutions. The brochure contains links to materials developed in the project, including digital resources. The fact that the handbook has been published on the project partners’ websites as well as websites of other schools guarantees the availability of the results for all concerned and creates further opportunities for dissemination and extending the impact of the project.The project was limited by the time frame, but its results are expected to be a useful tool for further activities carried out during analogous meetings and events to those which took place in the project. Its innovative approach enabled adaptation of didactic materials to the capabilities of people with disabilities and it may be one of the stages of a systemic approach which would respect the needs of disadvantaged people. This is evidenced by the establishment of cooperation in this field with both academic entities in Bratislava and Krakow. The project partners agree that the actions taken do not cover all aspects and tasks that professional counselling for people with disabilities face.However, they are a reliable reference point for further research and activities that a separate project could be dedicated to."

"<< Background >>The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2006, and signed by most of the EU country establishes, in Article 27 (on work and employment), “the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others”. This means that they should enjoy the same access to employment opportunities, remuneration and labour rights as people without disabilities. Similarly, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by all United Nations Member States in December 2015, identifies people with disabilities as one of several groups of vulnerable people who must be empowered. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained in the 2030 Agenda make explicit reference to disability in several labour market-related targets and their associated indicators.So, our main priority with this project is social inclusion as our target group – d/Deaf (in the scientific literature, deaf with the capital “D”; refers to those deaf people who feel a member of a linguistic and cultural community, instead of the one with the lowercase “d”; refers to those with hearing impairment but who do not feel part of the deaf community) young job seekers - is particularly vulnerable to social exclusion.In Europe-28 there are about 500,000 deaf young people. Their career aspirations do not differ from hearing youngsters. However, the obstacles that they need to overcome so that to achieve their professional goals are much bigger. There are many tools helping young people to effectively enter the labour market. Unfortunately, all or most of the mainstream resources in this field, are not accessible to d/Deaf young: as example texts do not meet their reading requirements, videos are not subtitled or translated into Sign Language, tools and other resources are inappropriate or inaccessible, mainstream support services, career counsellors, mentors, trainers, and youth worker have little or no experience with d/Deaf people. Our project is directed to young d/Deaf people, and to youth worker who works or would wish to work with d/Deaf young people. We would also like our project to have an influence on the people from the environment of young d/Deaf people and show them that it is worth supporting Deaf person in his/her professional aspirations.<< Objectives >>MAKE IT WORK project will develop project results - tools and training materials - designed to provide access to employment regulations in an inclusive and accessible way for d/Deaf young job seekers. With the products of the project, d/Deaf young job seekers will be able to access employment information in sign language and accessible written form to use in their daily working lives. So, they will have digital resources in sign language at their fingertips which they can refer to in their own time, replay and repeat, consult without outside help - in other words, they can use the project outputs to exercise self-determination in their employment relationships and working lives. At the same time, provide training and materials for a youth worker to give them the instrument to support the social and professional inclusion of the young d/Deaf job seeker. This is empowerment.We plan to do it by:1. developing a set of tools helping and guiding young d/Deaf job seeker in the process of entering the labour market (translated into their languages).2. giving young d/Deaf job seeker information about how to define what skills and competencies they already have, and about how and where they can improve them.3. giving young d/Deaf job seeker information about which skills and competencies are mostly required at the labour market.4. giving tools and instructions to youth worker about how to empower young d/Deaf job seeker and support them on their professional inclusion.5. encouraging career counsellors to reach Deaf young people and help them to enter the labour market effectively.<< Implementation >>• Communication via project management tool and skype (at least 4 meetings per year) • Establishing and maintaining the project office. This will be the centre of project management and administration, the place of collecting all documents connected with project implementation.• Hiring project administrative staff. There will be one project manager, who will be responsible for all administrative and management issues related to project management (at the level of organization and at the level of the whole Consortium). In each partner organization, there will be one administrative officer, who will be responsible for the administrative side of the implementation of the project in their organization.• Preparation of all necessary project documents: contracts with project partners, reporting templates;• Development of a Project Management Plan (main management document containing all rules which will be followed during implementation of the project – managerial, financial, quality assurance, the definition of roles of each partner, time management), setting out duties and responsibilities of each partner organization;• Setting up a financial plan (which is a part of project management plan), clear to all partners, which points out: payment schedules, necessary financial documents, and other issues related to project finances;• Settling deadlines and milestones – establishing a pattern that helps to achieve goals on time, as well as ongoing monitoring of the implementation of these (detailed Action Plan containing division of big tasks into small ones and timelines for each small task).• Skype management meetings (1-2 representatives of each partner institution – regular review on progress within the project, ongoing evaluation, minimizing the risk of non-achieving project goals).• Project Leader: monitoring project activities, monitoring work of partner organizations, project management• Project partners: coordinating fulfilling obligations assigned to each partner in a bilateral agreement,• Costs are related to project management and administration (salaries of staff, office costs, etc.• 20 (4 per partner) half-yearly reports (both narrative and financial) • 20 (4 per partner) half-yearly quality reports • 20 (4 per partner) half-yearly dissemination reports • 20 (4 per partner) feedback questionnaires - there are completed after each TNM • 5 sustainability reports (1 per partner)• 5 final reports (1 per partner) • 3 Project Results• 5 MEs• 2 Learning Teaching Activities• 4 TPMs<< Results >>MAKE IT WORK project will have 3 mains projects results: First project result: ""Analysis and Abstract"" This first product will be a digital survey (video in sign language with subtitles), analysis and transnational report (or abstract) to ascertain attitudes and knowledge levels regarding employment regulations among young d/Deaf job seekers. Second project results: ""E-accessible Toolkit""This package will be a set of materials for young d/Deaf job seekers. These materials will contain basic information (considering the specificity of the group, which is young d/Deaf job seekers) about how to define their strong sides (what skills and competencies do they already have), how to decide where they want to work, how to look for a job (and where), how to prepare application document, how to act during the interview, basic information about what to be aware of starting a new job. We will also add information about what soft skills and competencies are nowadays mostly wanted by employers from different sectors, and where young d/Deaf job seekers can find courses helping to improve these skills. These materials will be available in the form of publication and short videos. The whole materials will be translated into the sign languages of partner countries.In the framework of this package, training involving young d/Deaf job seekers will be organized.Third project results: “Breaking the sound barrier: Supporting deaf young people with careers guidance”.This will be a set of guidelines for youth worker – about how to empower young d/Deaf job seekers for their socio-professional inclusion. This will be publication available in English and languages of partners with summarizing in sign language. In this publication, we would like to show youth worker that fruitful work with young d/Deaf job seekers people is possible (even if they do not know sign language) but should be different than with hearing young people (not necessarily harder). And at the same time, this work can be satisfying and give impressive results – if only it is done considering the specificity of young d/Deaf job seekers and respecting their needs. We want to give them practical instructions about how to reach young d/Deaf job seekers, how to work with them, how to help them to increase their chances to enter the labour market."

Based on the need to increase the quality of foreign language teaching to children, pupils and students with hearing impairment, with cochlear implants and with other related disabilities we decided to take part in the international project with other EU countries. The elementary target of this cooperation is to gain knowledge about methods and strategies of teaching the national language, sign language and English language to children, pupils and students with hearing impairment. Special emphasis is placed on the national language and sign language. We would like to increase the level of language knowledge of these persons as well as to increase their interest in the study and school attendance by improving and enriching teaching methods, making the learning process more engaging and also by implementing more attractive educational programs. Good knowledge of communication systems i.e. sign (mother tongue), national and English language (especially in the read and written form) is a very important element of forming the self-esteem as well as strengthening social integration of these people. Their ability to actively join in the society increases their value at the labour market and also the possibility to take part in the democratic life of Europe. Insufficient or low level of communication skills can lead to failure at school. It can also become an obstacle in gaining relevant qualifications. In some cases there is premature or early termination of school attendance and thus these young people are at risk of unemployment as well as social exclusion. Education and special preparation of pupils and students with hearing impairment and other related disabilities is seen as an important means of how to achieve their personal fulfilment. Both communities, the deaf and the hearing, can benefit from the functioning and inclusive educational approach, which can contribute to higher level of understanding between these two communities. Due to their active role in the society, the pupils, students and their families will benefit from the positive and complex consequence of language learning. We also hope, that this project will lead to the professional growth of all participants, their motivation for further education as well as the increase in work satisfaction. The number of 18 specialists and pedagogues with years of experience will take part in the project. These experts are authorized to pass their knowledge on the pupils, colleagues as well as partners from other countries. The project will concern mainly the following activities: implementation of digital technologies into the learning process, bilingual approach to learning (national language/English language), bilingual teaching and bilingual dictionaries (national language/sign language), the specificities of teaching migrants, immigrants and asylum seekers, the introductions of eTwinning platform, national and foreign language vocabulary learning, reading comprehension, and special teaching and reading materials for hearing impaired persons, other language or communication systems used in language learning (sign language, Cued SPeech) and integrative systems of education for hearing impaired persons and students with additional disabilities. The project will be realized in 4 meetings, where the participants will develop the teaching and learning methods, pedagogical approaches and activities via demonstrations and examples of best practice, discussion workshops and presentations. The output of the project will be publishing of international collection of the best practices. The results of the project will be clearly presented there and will be available to specialists as well as the general public. Moreover a network of support specialists will be created. These experts will specialize in the language teaching to hearing impaired persons and will cooperate and take part in improving education in the wider European context.

"Worldwide, one in every 1,000 students is deaf, in Europe-28 that represents close to 500,000 deaf people who are trying to gain access to knowledge & employment. However, this community suffers from a lack of inclusion: 80% of the deaf are illiterate & have a lot of difficulties to find a job (the employment rate is 71% for people with slight deafness, 59% with middle deafness, & only 34 % for people with deep deafness). This shows the importance of instilling a wide breadth of knowledge early on, to ensure that STUDENTS-YOUTH WITH DEAFNESS or HEARING IMPAIRMENT have as much opportunity to receive knowledge & information & to become responsible citizens.However, the dissemination of existing information adapted to the deaf audience is seriously deficient for deaf adults & dramatically non-existent for deaf students-youth. This prevents deaf people from accessing information & this is even more critical at school, where teachers are unable to use pedagogical content adapted to their deaf students.Existing material uses content too rich in text (with sentences often long & complicated to be easily understood by deaf children) & videos are containing voice-overs & subtitles. This has the effect of demotivating many deaf children in school learning. This has the effect of demotivating many deaf pupils in school learning.deAf DigitAl PlaTform (ADAPT) project aims to develop the first e-magazine adapted to deaf adolescents. We focus on pupils between 13 to 21 years old. Indeed, it is the age range when students learn how to become independent & how to advocate & the needs become crucial.With pedagogical elements that are easily understood by deaf students, we want to support teachers to nurture students' interest in school learning, to open deaf adolescents to the world, to arouse their curiosity, to develop their knowledge & to give them the means to communicate with their environment, including their family. What then allow them to improve their learning performance & to enhance their access to abstract concepts & reading potentialities.The e-magazine will be proposed in two different & complementary media:•a web site to gather all the available contents (combined with a search engine)•an enriched digital magazine with a structured & editorialized content, sent through subscription & readable offline.Information will be proposed through written texts (in English & in the national languages of the different partners) & videos using sign language (with a specific usage of the International Sign IS).We intend to use interactive potentialities of web site & e-book to propose unprecedented content for deaf adolescents (culture, educational games & activities to make by themselves), along with educational sheets than can be used by teachers & family members: •6 Thematic topics (e.g. History, Biology, Human Rights, introduction to STEAM…)•12 Educational games using 3 different game engines (e.g. Memory, MCQ video…)•36 Manual activities videos (e.g. cooking, scientific experience, creative activities, magic trick, discovering sports rules…)The ADAPT project brings together 6 complementary specialized partners; members of HIPEN (the European Network for Professionals working with People with Hearing Problems) :• ""11th May"" is one of the oldest state special education institution in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and the fourth special educational school for children with hearing and speech impairments.• Since more than 200 years, Istituto dei Sordi di Torino - IST is specializing in providing a wide range of services and activities to people who are deaf, hard of hearing or deafblind.• Liceul Tehnologic Special pentru Deficienti de Auz (Cluj-Napoca, Romania), an institute that works with about 200 deaf students, from kindergarten to high school.• Specjalny Osrodek Szkolono-Wychowawczy dla Nieslyszacych (Kraków, Poland) an institution that educates young people who are deaf & hearing impaired.• Educational Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing of Lithuania (Vilnius, Lithuania), a public educational institution providing education from pre-school to upper secondary stages for the hearing impaired students.- GAUDEM, a school which embraces special & mainstream education for deaf & hearing students for over 40 years.Deaf students between 13 to 21 are estimated at 37,000 in EU-28, 16,000 in the 6 countries of the partners (Serbia, Lithuania, Italy, Romania, Spain &Poland). During the program, we aim at gathering:•2,000 ebook subscribers•5,000 Facebook fans•300 public bodies, associations, schools, educational institutions, public libraries•15 contributors who will create new contentsADAPT is designed to function independently at the end of the project. By developing an easy-to-use platform & by providing detailed explanatory sheets explaining step by step how to create & upload autonomously new contents, we expect contributors & users to appropriate the platform& make it live."