An international conference on deaf-blindness took place from 18th-19th of May 2012 in Herlany. The theme topic was: “Medical, pedagogical, social and spiritual aspects of deaf-blindness”. The conference was organized under auspices of Ministry of Education of Slovak Republic. Apart from Slovakia there were speakers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany and Poland.
The first part of the meeting was dedicated to the medical part of the problem. There have been speeches carried out by different doctors who talked and analyzed the causes, classifications and effects of deaf-blindness. Attendants were informed that there are new hearing aids and also possibilities of use of stem cells for this issue.
The pedagogical part was quite different as the speakers emphasized that there is a need for new ways of communication, in order for the affected not to be utterly dependent on their surroundings. It is also necessary to educate specialized teachers and interpreters.
Our church has established school for deaf-blind children in Cervenica some 20 years ago. Both the development and experience show that the school is very important and useful to society. At the same time it is a challenge for the church to help put together proper education system with use of new information.