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This issue was edited by Marion Blazé, Education Officer, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
To see all the programs being offered by the Statewide Vision Resource Centre, please go to:
Please distribute widely to your schools. Make sure you target the right teachers/aides for the right days. If you (or they) need more info, contact SVRC.
February 12 and 13, 2007 were busy days at the SVRC. On Monday we welcomed all (well nearly!) our VTs to begin thinking and learning about preparing our students for the world of work. I think Annette conveyed her enthusiasm for this topic, closely followed by Geoff who gave us practical strategies to develop our students’ self-determination. The afternoon kicked off with Nick Jones (orthoptist with Vision Australia) who explained visual fields and their testing and then Larry Abel, Senior Lecturer with the College of Optometry, fascinated us with his research and observations on nystagmus (including some intriguing video footage). We then took an entertaining look at the adventures of our 2006 Space campers.
Annette’s and Geoff’s material will soon be available on our website and we will revisit these topics throughout the year. Meanwhile, take a look at the Monday group. We’ve decided to start a ‘tradition’ and take a happy snap at the first PD day each year.
We welcome four new Visiting Teachers for Vision Impaired (isn’t that exciting!) who spent an intensive day exploring the Resource Centre, finding out about eyes, vision and impairments, the expanded core curriculum and how we work. We look forward to lots of phone calls and questions to follow.
Employment opportunities will open in the area of Visiting Teacher – Vision Impairment in the coming years…How Exciting!!!
Deakin University is now offering two practicum/case study subjects, EE1700 and EE1716 as part of their Master of Education (Special Educational Needs) - Deakin Course Code: E744SP. This course is mostly online allowing flexibility for teachers to study while continuing to teach
Classroom teachers can apply for assistance through the Rural Retraining Scheme. Up to $20,000 per teacher is provided to schools for course costs and relief teaching assistance, where necessary, to cover absences for study
For further information contact: Deb Lewis Co-ordinator Statewide Vision Resource Centre deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au 9841 0242 or Leanne Nagel, Senior Visiting Teacher (EMR) van.der.nagel.leanne.n@edumail.vic.gov.au 0403 237 306
On Feb 27 and March 6, Eastern Region are running PD days for Integration Aides on ‘Managing Difficult Behaviour’. The two sessions cost $22 and they are at Mullauna College in Mitcham. Contact Marilyn McKeown for more information.
Vision Australia will be running a Braille course for people who are sighted,
for which information and an application form is attached. If you could circulate
this information to relevant people within your organisations/institutions or
schools, it would be greatly appreciated.
For further information contact Kathryn Mackay, Course Coordinator, Vision Australia
– College (Mon, Tues, Thurs). E: Kathryn.Mackay@visionaustralia.org
W: http://www.visionaustralia.org.au
Term 1 – ‘Students who are blind or vision impaired
in the early years’ – March 1
‘Students who are blind or vision impaired in the middle years’
– Feb 28
Term 3 – ‘Including students with vision impairment
in physical education programs’ July 30
‘Students who are vision impaired with additional disabilities’
– Aug 1
‘Towards the VCE or VCAL – Educational options in the senior years
for students with vision impairment’ – Aug 6
All seminars are from 8.45am to 4.30pm and cost $80.
For more information or registration forms, contact Arlene Pachero on 9808 6422.
This issue of the journal takes a look back at its own 100-year history. It also explores the factors which affect successful work experience for VI people. The latter topic is especially relevant to our discussions on Monday, Feb 12.
Every year a growing number of young people embark on a GAP year. You might have read about some of our Peggy’s adventures this year in Bulletin 1. In our discussions on Monday we were remarking that an experience like Space Camp, Score Camp or a GAP year can be life-changing and build terrific independence in our students. The GAP project involves youth from 17 to 25 taking time-out from study for a year to volunteer overseas. You can teach Tibetan refugees in India or care for orphans in South Africa. For more information go to http://www.gapactivityprojects.org.au.
Have you heard of Arts Access? Your students might need to.
This Victorian service provides special access to the arts for disabled people. You can attend anything from Melbourne Theatre Company plays, the Australian Ballet or Musical concerts on certain dates and can be provided with assistive listening, live captioning, audio description or even a ‘tactile tour’. These facilities are only provided at certain performances and must be booked. For a full listing go to http://www.artsaccess.com.au.
The MSO presents a number of free concerts at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Because they are free, Arts Access has arranged designated seating for patrons who are vision impaired. Concerts are on Feb 14, 17, 21 and 24. For more information contact Ruth Blakely at the Ease Ticketing office on 9699 8299.
With a special appearance by Dr Harry Cooper and Wags the Dog, this is sure to be a fun-filled day. It happens at Guide Dogs in Chandler Highway, Kew from 11am to 4pm on Sunday, March 4. For more information, call 9854 4444 or visit http://www.guidedogsvictoria.com.au.
These residential programs are especially for students who cannot attend the Support Skills Program which runs during term on Fridays. There is a Junior program for Years 4 to 8 running May 22 to 25 and August 28 to 31 and a senior program for Years 7 to 12, April 2 to 5 and September 25 to 28. Cost of a program is $100. For more information, contact Garry Stinchcombe on 9808 6422.
The Ausway company produce a large print edition each year of their Melway and Greater Melbourne Melway street directories. They might be just the thing for some of our low vision students, providing a little enlargement, but in full colour. They retail at $79.95 but are available to schools for $58.60.
Edited from: http://www.mediaaccess.org.au/AudioDescription/ by Deb Lewis
There is a growing number of audio described DVDs available – you’ll
be able to identify them by the wording “English for the vision impaired”,
“Audio Described for the Visually Impaired”, “Descriptive
Video”, “Audio Description” or “English descriptive
audio”.
The audio description can be switched on from a sub-menu, usually “Language”,
“Sound” or “Setup”. No special equipment is needed to
access audio description.
Tim Noonan recently reviewed the BBC’s DVD box set of “Doctor Who” Series 2 and was fairly effusive in his obvious enjoyment of a fully accessible DVD, writing:
“…To the touch, this boxed set is pretty cool. The surface of the box feels a bit like the grooves on a vinyl record, with a matte finish. The box contains two three-fold DVD holders and some printed information… (Discs weren’t individually labelled so) imagine my amazement and excitement when I selected one of the DVDs at random (well I thought it might be disc 1, but didn’t know) only to hear the disc spin up and a clear voice announce: “Doctor Who, Series Two, Disc 4. If you would like audio menus, press the enter key now.” …Once you get the hang of it, navigating the audio menus is very easy and quite straight forward. Menus wrap, and each option is spoken in a clear, recorded female voice… In conclusion this set is fabulous”.
Soundbooks have an extensive collection of audio books including many VCE titles. They are at 1292 Malvern Rd Malvern or go to http://www.soundbooks.com.au/audiovce.
There is lots on the web about the importance of posture when using a computer or sitting at a desk. This is especially critical for our VI kids. According to Dr Alan Hedge and other ergonomics researchers at Cornell University, children need to adhere to the same rules as adults if they are to avoid fatigue and possible injury. The angle formed by the back and thighs should be greater than 90°, as should the angle formed by the shoulder, elbow, and wrist and the angle formed by the hips, knees and feet. Children also have some unique needs. These points are highlighted at http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/:
In January 2009, it will be 200 years since Louis Braille was born. There has already been a celebration in Sydney, where a video artist set up a person reading Braille in a city gallery window for two weeks! (Have a look at the ‘What’s New’ section of our website for more info.) As part of our celebration of this event, we would like to collect Braille memorabilia. If you have any historic Braille-related pieces, bring them in to Resource. We will probably drum up a few other special activities next year in celebration of this event.
We are looking for students with vision impairments with enough courage to speak to our attentive audience of class teachers on March 15. This sort of thing looks great on a CV and is wonderful experience. Plus it’s the most listened to segment of the day.
Please ring and speak to Deb or Marion if you think you have a willing student.
SVRC is desperately trying to obtain accurate contact details for all of you. Please contact us with your new phone numbers and addresses, ASAP!
Thanks to Deb Lewis, Diana Hayward, Kathryn Mackay, Arlene Pachero, Lyn Robinson & Liz Chapman for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to our fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Marion Blazé (who can be emailed at marionblaze@svrc.vic.edu.au).