Informative–Publishing Activity

HUPT considers publishing as one of the base activities of its work – publishing HUPT Newsletter and, occasionally, publishing the member’s book and books highly significant for members, experts and broader public. This contributes to higher level of consciousness of persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia and of others about these persons needs, rights, opportunities and achievements. It is also a way of pointing out the everyday presence of different kinds of disability in our society.

In the same way, HUPT finds important the work of the referent Croatian web centre for persons with spinal cord injury (www.hupt.hr) with as much new information as possible, open communication with doctors and other experts by e–mail and web forums which is especially important for people with paraplegia and quadriplegia who live in smaller, remote places where they can’t meet such experts. We are also to provide open communication between HUPT’s members and all other interested people so they could exchange their thoughts, experiences and advices. Self-consciousness of persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia about realizing their legal rights, regular health checkups and education of interested people about removing barriers and other obstacles.

HUPT its articles of association and morally obliged to accomplish, according to its possibilities, at least some of universal human rights as a right on information in every form (spoken, written, and electronic). In that sense, our duty is to continue publishing HUPT Newsletter, to plan and realize projects on publishing some other editions (until now, collection of poems “Grey Tiger” was published, book “Yes, You Can!” was translated and published, same as a brochures about HUPT and two video guides about transfers and computers. Our special due is to continue with great job on encourage a consciousness about the importance of information society and pointing out on omissions in legislative regulations concerning interests of people with disability in general, with a specificity of persons with paraplegia or quadriplegia being perceived.

A need to inform persons with spinal cord injury at one side and public at the other is obvious and impossible to ignore. It has to be noted, in this context, that system institutions still do not consider persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia as a partners. Mostly, they are viewed as persons in a state of social protected needs or trough their material needs. It surely is one important aspect of care, but it is far from being the only one. Population gathered under HUPT point a lack of general rehabilitation concerning all aspects of life and socialization. Person who suffers from consequences of a spinal cord injury needs a great support in a time after the injury happened so she could join the community and take the responsibility after recovery. Certain social subjects are not willing to understand the need to connect different resources for better care of persons with disability and that is a quite a barrier to further progress.