The Bulletin
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 1 Friday 1st February 2002
Welcome Back Everyone!
The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
Inside This Issue
- PD Program 2002 - Mountbatten Morning, O&M Morning, New
VT Day, VT Day, Braille Day, Low Vision Day, JAWS Morning
- Camps Program - VCE Weekend, GDAV Holiday Camp, Report - GDAV City Limits
Camp
- Identifying Money by Touch
- Print or Braille - Some Food for Thought
- Request Articles: JVIB, On-Line
- Teaching Maths and Science to Brailling Students
- Student Results 2001
- Vision Impaired Dog
Professional Development Program 2002
Please pencil the following dates into your new diary - please
note that the Mountbatten morning has changed to Wednesday 6th February (see
below for details).
Whilst every attempt is made not to change the dates for professional development,
occasionally it does happen - so check your Bulletins for updates, programs
etc.
Professional Development Event and Date
Mountbatten Morning - Wednesday 6th February
O&M morning - Thursday14 February
New Visiting Teacher PD Day - Thursday 21 February
Visiting Teacher PD Day - Friday 22 February
Braille Day - Monday 4 March
Low Vision Day - Friday 15 March
JAWS for Beginners Morning - Wednesday 17th April
Multi-Impaired Day - Friday 3 May
Mountbatten Morning - Tuesday 14 May
Visiting Teacher Conference - Mon-Tue 27-28 May
Visiting Teacher PD Day - Friday 7 June
Mountbatten Morning - Thursday 25 July
Visiting Teacher PD Day - Monday 12 August
Integration Aide Day - Monday 26 August
O&M Morning - Tuesday 10 September
Combined Agencies Day - St Paul's School - Monday 7 October
Mountbatten Morning - Tuesday 26 November
SVRC Mini Expo - Friday 6 December
Mountbatten for Beginners - Morning of Wednesday 6th February
Trevor Boyd from Quantum Technology will again be introducing the Mountbatten Brailler to new users. Please invite class teachers, integration staff, parents and older students. Set up will be from 9.15am and the session will begin at 9.45am. There is no charge for the day (lunch will not be provided).
O&M for Class Teachers, Aides and Family Members - Morning of Thursday 14th February
Dean Johnson from Guide Dogs Association of Victoria will be
facilitating an interesting hands-on session which will assist those working
with low vision and blind students to support the work of the orientation
and mobility instructors in students' schools and homes. Come along with your
class teachers, integration staff and the student's family members. Please
wear suitable clothing for a walk outdoors. The session will begin at 9.30am.
There is no charge for the morning (lunch will not be provided).
Note: This day will be held at the Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale
Rd Donvale.
New VT Day
Please contact the SVRC if you are a new Visiting Teacher and we can arrange an information and orientation day to suit you!
Visiting Teacher PD Day - Friday 22nd February
See the program (attached), which features Professor Hector Maclean speaking about Albinism amongst other interesting topics! Please reply via fax to let us know that you are coming and feel free to invite other Visiting Teachers or school personnel to any sessions that are of interest. The cost per session is $3.00, which includes coffee/tea. The cost for the whole day, which includes lunch, is $17.50.
Braille Day - Monday 4th March
If you would like a copy of the program, please call 9841 0242.
Who: VTs, teachers, integration staff, parents supporting brailling students
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale Rd Donvale
When: Monday 4th March from 8.30am to 3.30pm
Please wear: Clothes suitable for a walk outdoors
Cost: $27.50 including GST
Please call: 9841 0242 if you require further details
Low Vision Day - Friday 15th March
If you would like a copy of the program, please call 9841 0242.
Who: VTs, teachers, integration staff, parents supporting students with low
vision
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale Rd Donvale
When: Friday 15th March from 8.30am to 3.30pm
Please wear: Clothes suitable for a walk outdoors
Cost: $27.50 including GST
Please call: 9841 0242 if you require further details
JAWS for Beginners Morning - Wednesday 17th April
This year we will be hosting a series of mornings to offer VTs
the chance to become more familiar with some of the many products for students
with vision impairments. Our first session will be with Michael Williams from
Quantum Technology and will hopefully demystify the talking software, "JAWS
for Windows".
Come along with your integration aides and senior secondary students. The
session will begin at 9.30am. There is no charge for the morning (lunch will
not be provided).
Note: This day will be held at the Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale
Rd Donvale.
Camps and Other Activities
Here are some exciting events that might interest your students. If VTs would like to participate as support staff, please call and register your interest. We always have heaps of fun!!!
Camp or Activity and Date
VCE Students' Weekend 22-24 March
Braille Games Day for Years 3-7 26 March
GDAV Primary Camp 8-11 April
RVIB Senior Camp 8-11 April
SVRC/GDAV Challenge Camp 21-25 May
Driving Camp 20-21 June
Space Camp - anyone interested??? Around 22 September
GDAV VCE Weekend - 22-24 March
Students in years 10 to 12 are invited to VCE Weekend, hosted
by GDAV.
When: 5.30pm Friday 22 March to 2.00pm Sunday 24 March
Where: Guide Dog Association of Victoria Training Centre, Chandler Hwy, Kew
Number of places: 12 - so get your application in early
Cost: Free
The activities will include:
- Discussion sessions, including exam techniques, educational issues for students
with a vision impairment
- Social activities
- Planning for future get-togethers
Contact: Dean Johnson (GDAV) 9854 4506; Deb Lewis (SVRC) 9841 0242 ASAP
GDAV Primary School Camp 8-11 April 2002
The next Guide Dog Association of Victoria Primary Camp will
be held during the Easter School holidays and is open to Primary School aged
students. The venue for the camp is the Guide Dog Association of Victoria
Training Centre in Kew. The aim of this camp will be to develop some of the
skills and knowledge required for 'living in the community'. The camp will
focus on Orientation and Mobility Skills as well as social skills.
The activities will include:
· Mobility skills - stranger danger awareness, asking for directions,
giving directions, exploring a police station.
· Social skills - self advocacy skills, stranger danger, understanding
body language, working in a group
· Fun activities - dinner at a restaurant, trip to the beach, bush
walking, sporting activities (eg goal ball, cricket, gym)
Please contact Dean Johnson on 9854 4506 to express interest in attending
this camp, by March 15th 2002. Information will then be sent to all applicants.
There are twelve places available on this camp. As with all GDAV services,
these camps are free of charge.
RVIB Senior Camp 8-11 April 2002
RVIB's first residential camp for 2002 will be for senior students and will focus on skills and knowledge in a variety of curriculum areas unique to the needs of vision impaired students. Further information is attached to the print edition of The Bulletin - please phone Deb Lewis (9841 0242) if you would like these details emailed. Contact Garry Stinchcome for further details on 9808 6422.
Report: GDAV City Limits Camp January 7-11 2002
Boy did the Melbourne CBD get a fright last week! Eleven vision
impaired children from metropolitan and regional Victoria spent five days
exploring the city. From Spring St to Spencer St and Flinders St to LaTrobe
St, no part of the city was safe from the participants of the Guide Dog Association
of Victoria's "City Limits Camp". The students shopped for their
lunch at the Queen Victoria Market; caught the ferry from Southgate to Williamstown;
planned and executed public transport routes to any destination of their choosing
and ended a hard days work with a picnic listening to the sweet sounds of
Irish music at the Melbourne Zoo. Other activities included a beach walk,
dinner at Southbank, coffee at Starbucks and preparation and cooking of meals.
Mapping, problem solving skills, team-work and money handling skills are essential
skills for adolescents considering travel in busy inner city environments.
GDAV camps provide a fun and interactive way for vision impaired children
to develop their orientation and mobility skills. The students were accompanied
by five Orientation and Mobility Instructors, an Occupational Therapist, a
Registered Nurse and other support staff on their outings.
The Guide Dog Association of Victoria runs four camps for children each year.
Two of the camps are for primary school children and two for secondary school
students. The camps are provided free of charge and all meals, activities
and accommodation are included. For further information please contact Dean
Johnson, Children's Mobility Service Coordinator, Guide Dog Association of
Victoria on 9854 4506.
Identifying Money by Touch Alone
From: Bruci Hawkins (AERNET Discussion), Tuesday, December 04,
2001 12:01 AM
About distinguishing the different sized notes: When I was in South Africa,
where they have notes of different sizes for the different denominations,
I was taught that distinguishing the different notes could be accomplished
by hand - literally. Wrapping the note around the index finger, a person would
feel where the top edge of the note reached (it would be a different place
for each individual since people's hands vary in size). 'Targets' included
creases on the fingers, edges of fingernails (eg, at the cuticle, just above
the cuticle, mid-finger). The person had to be consistent about the placement
of the note, and it was most effective when the note was folded in half (corner
to corner) and the finger slid up into the fold, but with practice, it could
be done without having to resort to any external device. I always thought
that was ONE advantage the funny-colored and -sized notes had over the American
notes!
Print or Braille - Some Food for Thought
by Jody W. Ianuzzi
Literacy has become a major issue in the United States today. So many people
have slipped through the educational system unable to read, that it has become
an embarrassment to their educators. Most of these people hid their illiteracy
from their teachers or simply dropped out of school at a young age. This situation
is being faced all across the country, but what of the one population of students
that is illiterate due to the decisions and actions of their teachers. These
students are the blind children of America.
I understand this problem first hand. I considered myself functionally illiterate.
When I was growing up as a blind child in the public school system, I didn't
have to learn braille, I could read print. I had some useable vision and with
my nose in the book, I could read my first grade primer, it was work, but
I could make out the letters. By the fourth grade the print began to get smaller,
so I had to try even harder. In the seventh grade I was assigned to remedial
reading classes because my reading speed was still at the fourth grade level.
In high school I got all my work done, it just took me four times as long
as my classmates. I loved learning and I had such great plans of learning
so much at college. I went off to college, but instead of succeeding, I fell
flat on my face! There was no way I could keep up with the work load with
the reading skills I had. A good braille reader can read from 200 to 400 words
per minute, but I was limited to the reading speed of a fourth grader. My
totally blind friends had little trouble taking notes, reading, organizing
their readers, etc. I should have done better, after all I had some vision.
The fact was I couldn't study as a sighted student, and I didn't have the
skills to study as a blind student.
I am thirty-eight years old and I am now learning braille. It isn't a difficult
task, memory is reinforced by using the signs. I love braille! I am not limited
in the time I can read, as I am in print, and I am not limited in speed as
I am in print. I find braille to be such a refreshing experience with endless
possibilities!
Reading print has always been like trying to listen to music on a distant
radio station. The music is so faint and there is so much static, it is hard
to appreciate the music itself because it is so much work to hear it. Reading
braille is more like sitting in a symphony hall. The music fills you without
even having to work at listening to it. My well meaning teachers thought they
had made the right decision for me. Oh, how I wish I had learned braille as
a child.
My story is not unique or an exception. Hundreds of blind adults feel they
missed out on a proper education. Perhaps this is because the RLF premature
babies of the 1940's and 1950's were the first generation of blind children
to attend public school and the methods of educating blind children who were
not at the residential schools had not been established. Itinerant teachers
of blind children was a brand new specialty.
There is no question that braille is the reading method for totally blind
students, but for the majority of blind students who had some useful vision,
the chosen method of reading was not clear. The belief was, and still is,
that if a child can see to any degree then they can read print and they don't
have to learn braille. There are children who can only read a few letters
at a time on an enlarged TV screen who are considered print readers. These
children will also grow up to be functionally illiterate.
Now the next generation of blind students are attending public school, but
the methods of teaching them hasn't improved over the years. Instead, some
of the misguided attitudes and ideas that were born in the infancy of this
new profession have become institutionalized as established methods, right
or wrong. When I was a student 52% of blind students were learning braille,
now only 12% of blind children are learning braille. The illiteracy is increasing!
Many school systems feel it is adequate to assign a low vision child to a
special education teacher within the school system in an attempt to avoid
the added cost of calling in a teacher trained to teach blind children. Most
special education teachers have been trained to teach emotionally disturbed,
learning disabled and retarded children. They may in fact have no training
at all in the specific skills a blind child needs to learn.
Special education teachers not familiar with the training needed to educate
blind children might feel it is adequate to simply enlarge a child's reading
material. This is a short term solution to the problem, since the student
is unable to read print in any other way. He is illiterate in every other
situation.
I was recently a speaker at a conference for itinerant teachers of blind children.
I am a judo instructor and I was speaking on the benefits of judo for blind
children. I attended a seminar on Braille or Print for Low Vision students.
I left this seminar feeling bitter, not for my own experience, for I am changing
that, but for the blind children of today. There are blind children with less
vision then I have who are only being taught print. Their teachers think they
are making the right decision for them. These children will be able to 'get
by' using their vision but they will never be able to compete with their peers.
The impression I got from listening to teachers of blind children is that
they perceive braille to be a difficult system to learn. Imagine if a music
teacher decided not to teach their students to read music because they decided
musical notation was too difficult to learn. Most itinerant teachers don't
know braille fluently. They had a quick course on braille in school, but quickly
forgot many of the signs and contractions because they weren't using braille
on a daily basis, therefore they had no way to reinforce their skills. Imagine
how much music a music student would learn to play if the music teacher couldn't
read the notes.
The opinion of the teachers of blind children is that if their blind students
are given a choice, they preferred print, because their friends were reading
print and the blind child didn't want to appear different. A low vision child
is different from his friends when they stick their nose in a book and struggle
to read. The blind child would give his peers a better image of himself as
a competent braille reader, then a poor print reader. Sighted children are
delighted to learn about braille, but they have little understanding for the
poor reader that can't keep up with them. The sooner the blind child realizes
that it is no big deal to be different, the easier their life will be. It
was the opinion of many teachers that the low vision child might not want
to learn braille, and you can't teach them what they don't want to learn.
If a sighted child didn't want to learn print, or if the music student didn't
want to learn musical notation, then imagine how much they would learn.
Without realizing it, these teachers are asking their students to choose between
the easy, acceptable right way to learn by using print or the difficult, different,
strange way of reading using braille. Braille can be special in a positive
way. Braille was a system devised by the French army to send secret messages
at night. It was later perfected for use by the blind. If the blind child
is given the feeling he is learning a secret code and something special, then
he will want to learn braille. The blind child can read in so many places
where his sighted friends can't read. Braille can be read under the covers
without the use of a flashlight. Braille can be read in a dark movie theatre,
when sighted people can't read. You can read braille books without your friends
trying to read over your shoulder. You can even read your braille book in
your desk, when your teacher doesn't know it. When teachers make braille fun
and positive the student is happy to learn it. If the teacher thinks of braille
as negative and inferior, then they will convey this to the students and it
isn't surprising the student will reject braille.
Many teachers believe a low vision child cannot learn print and braille at
the same time. The child would become too confused. These systems don't conflict
for the same space in the brain. A child can learn to use a calculator and
a touch telephone at the same time even though these keyboards are reversed,
but this isn't confusing, the child knows that one is a phone, the other a
calculator. I know a two year old who is learning English and German from
her bilingual parents. She has no difficulty learning the difference. If children
can learn all these things, then why do their teachers draw the line at learning
braille and print at the same time?
The belief of many teachers is that there are so many new high tech aids available
for blind children, they don't have to learn out-dated braille any more. But
how practical are some of these limited, expensive, bulky devices such as
a CCTV when a child has to use it in a limited special environment? These
devices will not be useful for all the information the child needs. Braille
is portable, light weight and versatile.
The slate and stylus or the brailler are simple low tech devices but if you
want to consider high tech portable equipment, the Braille 'N Speak or the
Braille Mate are excellent note taking and computer interface devices. These
aids were never mentioned. The only aids that were mentioned were visual aids.
There are many tools available for use by blind people and no one should be
relied on or excluded. Each has it's own place. Just as a carpenter needs
many tools to build a house, a blind person can use many tools to acquire
information. The Opticon is a slow devise, but it is invaluable for reading
mail, just as print has it's place for those people who can use it. Many devices
have their own use, but no one tool should be used as the chosen device for
a blind child, just as a carpenter can't be expected to build a house using
only a hammer.
Evaluating a child's reading method is usually done under ideal reading conditions
for short periods of time. It is not practical to expect optimal lighting
for reading and writing in all the environments a blind child will be in.
How long can the child read before headaches or eye strain make it impossible
to continue? Does the eye strain of reading contribute to increased eye problems?
For example, when I was growing up, we didn't realize it, but my straining
to read was inducing acute glaucoma attacks which have further decreased my
vision. Many eye conditions that cause legal blindness in children will deteriorate.
When the chances are high that a child will loose their vision later in life,
then that child should learn braille so they will be literate as an adult.
When a child learns to read it is preparing them for their future. First and
foremost a reading method should be comfortable and enjoyable to the reader.
How much would anyone be expected to read if it hurt or if it was always work.
When considering a reading method it is natural to think of the main use of
that method in reading books. There are so many other applications to reading
and writing that have to be considered in choosing the most efficient method.
Taking notes in class, doing research, labeling, recipes, filing addresses,
etc. are all examples of the way we use our reading method. For example, someone
who can read print to a limited degree, might not use print for note taking
because of the amount of time it takes to write. In this example braille would
be faster. Labeling in braille is more practical in many cases simply because
it is impossible to get physically close to the labeled items to see them.
An example of this would be a large number of canned goods on a shelf or the
back of an appliance. The blind child might not have to deal with these problems
now, but they will as adults.
Older students have to learn how to order their own books from Recordings
for the Blind, they will also have to learn how to hire and use readers for
reading and research in college. Blind students should know how to balance
their schedules to accommodate their special studying needs. These are all
necessary skills to compete in college and in life.
I told the itinerant teachers of my experience as a low vision student and
of how I was learning braille as an adult. Without thinking of the implications
of her statement, one itinerant teacher turned to me and said "If you're
learning braille, then good luck!" It is difficult enough to be a blind
student, but I wonder how much her attitude is increasing her students' difficulties
when she is supposed to be helping her students.
If a person has impaired vision, then how can they be expected to funnel all
the information in the world into inefficient eyes? It seems only obvious
that a person with one impaired sense would maximize their other senses.
When students are evaluated in school, the emphasis is on how they are progressing
in the present. The purpose of education is to prepare the student for their
future. If the teaching methods are helpful only for the present, but they
don't prepare the student for the future then the student will simply 'get
by', they will not be prosper. If this happens, they won't be limited by their
blindness, but by the skills they need to handle their blindness.
I wish that all blind children would receive the acceptable and appropriate
education that is their right. It is terrible to think that blind children
are being denied the ability to read by the teachers that are directly responsible
for their education. As part of the 'America 2000, Excellence in Education
Act' I hope that braille literacy for blind children is considered as important
as print literacy for sighted children. The choice of braille for blind children
should be the accepted norm, not a teacher's idea of a last resort. I sincerely
hope other blind children don't have to grow up and teach themselves the skills
they need later in life as I did.
JVIB - December 2001
The following articles appear in the December edition of JVIB:
· Transition to Employment and Community Life for Youths with Visual
Impairments: Current Status and Future Directions
· Psychosocial Adaption to Age-related Vision Loss: A Six-year Perspective
· ROP Revisited: A Survey of Adults with Residual Vision
· An Exploratory Study of How Travellers with Visual Impairments Modify
Travel Techniques in Winter
· Learning to Solve Word Problems in a Middle School Vision Class
· The Adjustment Processes of Adults who are Adventitiously Blind in
Taiwan
OnLine Magazine
Please request copies of the following articles from Issue
3, 2001:
· JAWS Update and Windows Calculator
· Computer Access to Art and Craft - Beyond Plain Paper
· The Teaching and Learning of Phonics: Can Computers Help?
· Cutting Down on Keystrokes
· Just a Bit Bigger Might Be Just Big Enough - BigShot
Please request copies of the following articles from Issue
4, 2001:
· JAWS 4: A Bigger Bite!
· Mathematics, Science Software and Calculators for Students with Vision
Impairments
· New Challenges for a Maths/Science Teacher
· Toccata - Braille Music Translation Software
Teaching Maths and Science to Brailling Students
Here is a summary of some ideas presented in an article in OnLine:
Issue 4 - 2001 by Kerrin Manthey, Maths/Science teacher in a regular school.
She recommends:
· spending time getting to know your student
· take an interest to learn more about braille, teaching aids or associated
technology eg unplug your mouse and learn to use your laptop with key commands
· network with others who are supporting brailling students and share
ideas, especially the student's visiting teacher, integration aide etc
· have the integration aide prepare tactual diagrams in advance, describe
the visual observations in experiments
· speak as you write on the board, spelling out loud any new or difficult
terms
· the student may produce answers to assignments or tests on computer
- these can be handed in on computer disk - teacher's comments can be indicated
by a symbol such as ~ which the student can search for using the Find and
Replace function
· tactual diagrams can be produced using puff-paint
· blu-tac can be used for plotting points on graph paper
· the keyboard shortcut for subscript is Ctrl + which is handy for
typing molecular formulae such as O2
· incorrect responses can be indicated in brailled answers with a staple
· a digital voice recorder can be used for recording homework etc
· the Accessible Graphing Calculator is a self-voicing graphing calculator
with audible output for plotted graphs - download a 30 day demo from http://viewplussoft.com
Mimios at the Right Price!!!
Many of you will recall the Mimio from the demonstration at
our term 3 professional development day in 2001 - it is a device for transferring
whatever is written or drawn on a whiteboard to a computer. The thickness
and colours of lines can be adjusted and the image can be saved, printed and
exported to standard applications.
Jeni Blake has several students successfully using Mimio to access the whiteboard
in her schools. Jeni is currently negotiating a discounted price - under $900
(with a further discount for bulk orders) for the Mimio.
If you would like to be included in her discounted price, please call on 0428
134660.
Student Results
Student's results have started trickling in:
· Jude (VT - Robert Altonen) received a mark of C for his Politics
exam and will continue in his pursuit of VCE this year
· Space Camper 1999 and 2000, Nic from Bendigo (VT - Karen Goodall)
received a TER of 92, which should get him into Astronomy at Monash - his
first choice
· Nick from Scotch College (VT - Meredith Walsh) who came and spoke
to the VTs in term 3 received a TER of 95.95
· Greg from Colac (VT Lynne Murdoch) completed his VCE and ended up
with a choice of apprenticeships in his local area in the field of catering.
He will be moving into a flat in town and attending TAFE in Geelong.
Vision Impaired Dog!
Helen Caldow found this in The Sun on 20th October 2001:
A short-sighted racing greyhound that kept running second began winning after
it was fitted with contact lenses.
The dog could not see the hare properly, so it would just follow the leading
dog and always finished second.
Eventually the dog's frustrated owner had it fitted with canine contact lenses
at a clinic in Manchester, England, and it immediately began winning!
Flier Included with The Bulletin:
Visiting Teacher PD Day
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
360 Springvale Rd Donvale
PO Box 201 Nunawading 3131
Tel (03) 9841 0242 Fax (03) 9841 0878
Venue: Statewide Vision Resource Centre360 Springvale Rd Donvale
Cost: $17.50 which includes morning and afternoon teas and lunch.
RSV: Lunch will only be provided for those who fax their reply slip by 15th
February 2002
The Program
9.00 - 9.30 Registration / Resource Time
9.30 - 10.00 TECSO Tutorials Explained Ramona Mandy, Pulse Data
10.00 - 10.30 The SCORE Program - Senior Secondary Student to Canada
10.30 - 11.00 SVRC CD-ROM and SVRC Camps Program Lyn Robinson & Deb Lewis,
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
11.00 - 11.30 Morning Tea
11.30 - 12.30 More on Teaching the Use of Magnifiers Marion Blazé,
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
12.30 - 1.30 Lunch
1.30 - 2.00 Guide Dogs Association of Victoria - Update, Dean Jones, O&M
Instructor, GDAV
2.00 - 2.20 Vision Awareness Activity - "The Code in the Mailbox",
Leanne Philp, VT, Northern Region
2.20 - 2.30 Grab a Cupper
2.30 - 3.30 Albinism - Visual Pathways and Implications for Perception, Professor
Hector Maclean, Paediatric Ophthalmologist, The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear
Hospital
RSVP (Fax to 9841 0242 - no cover sheet required) and feel free to invite other Visiting Teachers or school personnel to any sessions that are of interest. The cost per session is $3.00, which includes coffee/tea.
Name:
Yes! I am coming to the Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day on Friday
22nd February 2002. Please order lunch on my behalf.
If you have something you would like included in The Bulletin, contact:
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).