BHAAAS and the UNSA Library donated books to the Center for Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation

Representatives of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian American Academy of Arts and Sciences (BHAAAS) and the University of Sarajevo Library visited the Center for Hearing and Speech Rehabilitation in Sarajevo and donated books. The Center’s Director, Meliha Povlakić-Hadžiefendić, thanked the donors and emphasized the importance of education for children with hearing impairments and their inclusion in the social life of BiH. “This donation of books, especially professional literature, is extremely important to us, as it will greatly help the teaching staff and students in their education,” said Povlakić-Hadžiefendić. BHAAAS President Prof. Ismar Volić shared his satisfaction that BHAAAS and the University of Sarajevo Library can help in the work of the Center's library and said that these are books from professional literature as well as fiction that students will certainly enjoy. Volić emphasized that BHAAAS is particularly interested in the topic of inclusion in higher education in BiH, which we all need to understand as well as possible to contribute to quality solutions.  Meliha Povlakić-Hadžiefendić also emphasized the importance of inclusion in education and said that children with impaired hearing encounter difficulties in their studies due to the underdevelopment of an adequate communication system. "I would like to point out a special obstacle in the implementation of educational inclusion of children with impaired hearing, which is the underdevelopment of an adequate communication system, which is a prerequisite for the acquisition of knowledge by deaf and hard-of-hearing students. For hearing-impaired children to be successfully included in the regular education system, it is necessary to fulfill certain objectives, that is, legal and organizational assumptions, as well as subjective assumptions. An important step has been taken. Inclusion is legally allowed," said Povlakić-Hadžiefendić. She also said that recently there has been a significant improvement in the attitude of the community towards the hearing impaired. The interest of the social environment in learning sign language has increased. They are given the chance to enroll in universities. There is an Office for Support of Students with Disabilities.  "This is very important. Support for deaf and hard-of-hearing students should be tailored to their needs. Hard-of-hearing students need to be provided with conditions for optimal listening, and adjustments should be made that will enable them to participate equally in classes, while deaf students need a sign language interpreter to be able to follow classes, an individualized approach, and professional assistance in learning. We hope that deaf students will be provided with adequate support and will be able to follow lectures at higher education institutions on an equal basis with their hearing peers, engage in discussions, participate in cooperative learning and group projects, and communicate with peers and student services," said Povlakić-Hadžiefendić. The Director of the University of Sarajevo Libraries, Nadina Grebović Lendo, also supported the BHAAAS initiative regarding book donations and expressed the hope that such cooperation will continue in the future. The book donation initiative was launched at the scientific conference "13. Days of BHAAAS in BiH," which took place in June of this year in Sarajevo, and donations were collected from BHAAAS members and conference participants.