DOCUMENT RESUME ED 056 453 EC 040 598 AUTHOP Dybwad Rosemary F. Ed. TITLE International Directory of Mental ation Resources. INSTITUTION President's Committee on Mental Retardation, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY National Institutes of Health (DHEW) Bethesda9 Md- PUB DATE 71 NOTE 317p. EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$13.16 DESCRIPTORS *Agencies; *Directories; *Foreign Countries; Government Role; *International Organizations; International Programs; *Mentally Handicapped; Mental Retardation; National OrganizationsResearch and Development Centers; Services ABSTRACT The directory lists and describes governmental and voluntary agencies, research, and other resources in the field of mental retardation in foreign countries. The first section, on international organizations, gives names, addresses, names of directors, and one or more paragraphs of description for the United Nations and its specialized agencies, inter-governmental agencies, international non-governmental organizations, international coordinating agencies, and regional non-governmental organizations. The second section, which constitutes the major portion of the directory, contains individual country reports for 60 countries. Each country,s section contains a general description of the country and its provisions for education and services, listings of governmental agencies with definite mental retardation responsibilities, voluntary organizations, research institutes and programs, serial and other publications, and brief descriptive notes on program areas (case finding, diagnosis and assessment, consultation to parents, education, work training and employment, medical care, residential carer financial assistance, recreation, research, personnel trainin planning), and other information for visitors interested in mental retareltion. (!W) INMFINAT:ONAL DIRECTORY OF Mental Retardation Resources The President's Committee on Mental Retardation Washington, D.C. 20201 IhTERNATIOFAL DIRECTORY OF laiTAL RETARDAJIONRESOURCES Edited by Rosemary F. Dybwad, rh. D. Research Associate Florence Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare Brandeis University 1971 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIE DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION POSITION OR POLICY. This project has been supported i- n part by professional service contract PH 43-67-1295 from the National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare. CONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION ix PART I INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 1 The United Nations and its Speciali ed Agencies Inter-Governmental Agencies International Non-Governmental Organizations International Coordinating Agencies Regional Non-Govrnuetal OganIzationu PART II INDIVIDUAL COUNTRY REPORTS 13 APPENDIX Tips for Travellers 309 Questionnaire 311 FOREWORD The development of services for the mentallyretarded in the past two decadeshas been unprecedented in history. The forces which have brought aboutthis signifi- cant change must await the careful analysis offuture historians. This rapid gro th has resulted ina great need to exchange information and knowl- eJge, not only among people ina given country, but between countries. The need to assist individuals, as wellas local, national, and international organiza- tions has generated a need to locateor identify appropriate individualsor agen- cies in various countries throughout theworld. 'As a consequence there hasdeveloped a demand foran "international directory. The responsibility for this directorywas clearly recognized by the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency and theInternational League of Societies for theMentally Handicapped. The prevaration of a document of this magnitude and complexityrequired much more than financial support. It required the dedicated efforts ofmany individuals in helping to gather appropriateinformation, assembling itinto a readily useabl_ format, and distributionto appropriate individuals and agencies. We are indebted to theNational Institute of Child Healthand Human Development for its financial assistance. However, our greatest indebtednessis to Rosemary F. Dybwad who gave so much of herself and her time in preparingthis document. Without her administrative skill, her knowledge of the peoplethroughout the world who are engaged in mental retardation programs, and her unselfishdevotion to carrying through the task- this document would not have been completed. The Directory will be consultedby many who would like to knowmore about what is going on throughout the world. It can be used by governmentagencies in obtaining valuable information to help in their planning fornew programs. More than 60 countries have contributed to the preparation of this document. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future everycountry of the world will be representedin it. If this document directly or indirectly, enablesa single country to advance its services for the mentallyretarded, then we have adhievedourlpal. Harvey A. Stevens, PastPresident, International Association forthe Scientific Study of MentalDeficiency, American Associationon Mental Deficiency, PREFACE The past twenty years have seen a tremendous growth in mentalretardation facili- ties and services. There have been very substantial: indeed revolutionary, im- provements in the contributions made by variousdisciplines to the identification, education and training, treatment, rehabilitation and care of mentallyretarded individuals as well as sweeping changes in the public atti-zie toward this dis- ability and those disabled by it. Without minimizing in any way the very significant advances made by manyprofes- sions, it can fairly be stated that the major contributing factor tothe rapid developments of the past two decades has been ti impact of the consumer, repre- sented largely by the associations for the mentally retarded which have sprung up since mid-century literally around the world. From the earliest days these parent-sponsored consumer groups recognized that in a so rapidly-developing field much was to begained from international exchange. There was early recognition that there were striking variations in the qualityof the services available and, moreover, that in this particular field someof the smaller countries were considerably farther advanced than some of the larger coun- tries with a strong economic position. One other factor needs to be mentionz- because of the long-existing prejudices toward the field of mental retardation as an area of little promise for research, therapy, education and rehabilitation, the usual media of professional communi- cation, national and international journals, congresses, textbooks and mono- graphs, paid little attention to the field and in the case of textbooks in par- ticular tended to continue to circulate outdated and irrelevant information. As a result consumer representatives,professional workers and public officials felt the need to "see for themselves," and, as a first step, made inquiries about what was going on in other countries. It was this ever-increasing volume of in- quiries directed at the various national and international organizations in the field that led to the decision to pUblish this Directory. Yvonne Posternak, Lie. Se 0 M.S., President International League of Societies for the Mentally Handicapped IN 'VDU TION This volume is the product of the collabo ative efforts of countlesspeople around the world, volunteers, professional workers, stateofficials, and laat but not least, the international public servants in the United Nationsand its Specialized Agencies. Since it is obviously impossible to list each one, theeditor wishes to express here her great indebtedness toall of them. As much as possible the Directory tries to follow a uniform outline.However, the wide range of development level from country to country made this veryproblemati- cal. For the same reason no attempt has been made to tabulateinformation and, in- deed, the editor advises against sudh attempts. While much care has been taken to clarify the use of terminology, there is no question but th t therespondents have used the same terms with wide variation in meaning. It is to be hoped that the international associations in thefield can collaborate with Lhe United Nations in efforts to gain increasing agreement onclassification schemes and terminology that are responsive to the full range of functionalneeds. The proposals for the eighth revision of W.H.O.'s international Classificationof Diseases provide an important but only partial answer. Every effort has been made to check and re-check the information and tohave a draft of each country report read by knowledgable persons in that country.However, the swiftness of the progrLss in the field quite naturally results in equallyswift and at time radical changes in the availability and organization of services. Still, it is hoped that the addresses given will at least lead the user of thia Directory to persons who are in possession of the most recent information. A major problem was to find f r every country to be listed personswith sufficient grasp of the total situation, acquainted with the voluntary aswell as the govern- mental field, in all the many program areas. Indeed, efforts over a three-year period resulted, in the case of some countries, in such limited information that no report was possible,-