This issue was edited by Lyn Robinson, Vision Resource Teacher, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
Our thoughts are with the people who have been affected by the recent bushfires in Victoria. Many schools have either been destroyed by fire or are closed due to the threat of fires in their area. It is also a concern for those Visiting Teachers who travel or live in these areas. We know many of you have been directly affected and our thoughts are with you.
On the Monday after “Black Saturday” many Visiting Teachers traveled to our centre for a professional development day. Some including one of our presenters traveled from fire affected areas and were visibly upset. Some decided the night before to put important documents in the car in case they could not be able to return to their homes. It was a very brave effort indeed for those people to be at the SVRC on that day and I would like thank them for their efforts. If you need information about school closures due to the fires then go to following DEECD website: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/
1. Know where the document is saved and the name of it and plug in the usb memory stick
2. Go to the main menu
3. Press f (for file manager)
4. Press t (for translation menu)
5. Press e (for export document) - it will ask "export document from which folder?" and it will suggest a folder. If this is the wrong one press the space bar to hear other options. Then press enter.
6. Now it will ask "document name?" and suggest one. If this is the wrong one press the space bar to hear other options. Then press enter.
7. Then it says "export to which device? Press enter for file." so you press enter
8. It says "export as which file type? ASCII text file?" Press space with dots 3 and 4 to listen until you hear "Microsoft Word file" then press enter
9. Now it asks "directory name? press enter for /" (the slash means that you will be putting the file straight on the usb memory stick and not in a folder on the memory stick). Press space bar to listen to the options until you hear "Hard Disk". ("Hard disk" refers to the usb memory stick.) Press enter.
10. Now it asks "destination file name?" so you braille in a file name that you will remember. Press enter.
11. Now it says "One file exported. Translation menu." So you can just go back to the main menu and celebrate your cleverness!And if you get lost: just press h for help
A weekend workshop hosted by the Youth Disability Advocacy Service is designed to increase the capacity of young people to advocate for themselves. The course covers:
1. Improved understanding of advocacy
2. Increased awareness of advocacy strategies
3. Increased understanding of disability rights, how to make complaints and the law
4. Improved problem-solving, communication and assertiveness skills
5. Ability to apply knowledge of advocacy to a specific advocacy issue that is important to you
6. Free lunch
7. The opportunity to meet other young people
Young people with a disability living in Victoria who are aged between 12 and 25 can take this course for FREE and have their transport reimbursed up to the value of $100.
Young people from rural and regional Victoria will be supported to attend with overnight accommodation in Melbourne. Attendant support and AUSLAN interpreting will be provided during the training sessions upon request. Support that is needed outside of the training sessions will need to be arranged and funded by the participant. For more information or an application form, contact info@yacvic.org.au or call Liz on 03 9267 3799, Toll-Free 1300 727 176, or SMS 0412 814 851
Applications close Friday, 27 February 2009
When: 21-22 March 2009
Price: free
Where: Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, Level 2, 172 Flinders Street, Melbourne
This article appeared in The Age (Melbourne) Magazine, Issue 51, January 2009. It was an article which listed some of the top 100 people in Australia working in the community to make a difference in the lives of the people they represent. Here is the the section which refers to Maryanne:
"In August, Maryanne Diamond became president of the World Blind Union, and now represents the interests of 161 million blind and low-vision people on the international stage. The blind former IT systems analyst was a founding member of the Vision Australia Board, where she now works as general manager of international programs. She was also CEO of the Australian Federation of Disability Federations and the executive officer of Blind Citizens Australia for four years. Diamond, 53, will lead the World Blind Union for the next four years. “I'm very proud to have the opportunity,” she says. “It's an elite group of people who have led this organisation.”
The Renwick Centre has produced a wonderful website to celebrate the bicentenary of Louis Braille’s birth. They have produced and collected a range of resources about Braille including facts, info, videos, trivia, games and puzzles. There are links to braille events around the world and workshops. Included is a reading list about Louis Braille and the braille system. Information in this website is geared towards the general public, to provide an overview of the history of braille and an introduction to the braille code.
This site is well worth a visit at: http://www.cubicconsulting.com.au/ridbc/index.cfm?skinname=content&page=43984
If you are looking for professional development in the field of vision impairment then the following courses may be of interest to you:
Braille Courses
Braille for Educators
Braille for English Speaking Pacific Islanders
Unified English Braille (UEB) in Primary Mathematics
Secondary Mathematics and Technical Material in Unified English Braille (UEB)
Braille for Beginners: Module 1
Braille for Beginners: Module 2Vision Impairment Courses
Developmental Journal for Visually Impaired Children
Developmental Impact of Visual Impairment and Vulnerability Including the Diagnosis of Autism in the Context of Visual Impairment
Itinerant Teachers of the Vision Impaired Conference
Educational Programs for Children with Low Vision
Vision Impairment: an Ophthalmologic Perspective
Basic Orientation and Mobility Skills
Teachers Aides Supporting Children with Vision ImpairmentMultiple Disability Courses
Transdisciplinary Assessment for Young Children with Sensory and Multiple Disabilities
Getting Kids in Sync
Don't take the fun out of FUNctional: Communication Strategies as Core Curriculum for Students with Sensory & Multiple Disabilities
If you wish to register for any of these events or search for any other vision impairment related professional development please go to: http://www.ridbc.org.au/renwick/courses/continuinged_calendar.asp
The University of Adelaide has made it’s Library’s collection of classic books available to the public. The collection includes classic works of Literature, Philosophy, Science, and History. You can refer to their Frequently Asked Questions for more details.
The web books are listed alphabetically by author and by title, and chronologically, by author's date of birth. Some works are also listed by theme (subject). All of the works in the collection may also be found by searching the Library Catalogue.
Upcoming CMS programs in 2009
April 6-9 Junior program: the theme of the program will be “Make it, Map it, Move it”. The program will be based at the Guide Dog campus in Kew and will focus on developing mapping skills and spatial concepts.
June 29-July 3 Senior program: The program will be based in regional Victoria. The team is currently researching where we will hold this year’s program but in previous years we have stayed in Bright, Halls Gap and Echuca.September 21-24 Junior program: the theme of the program will be “Who, Me!” The program will be based at the Guide Dog campus in Kew and will focus on developing individual knowledge of O&M needs and skills and assisting students to understand the role they play in meeting their own mobility needs.
All programs and closing dates for applications are advertised in the CMS newsletter. The CMS newsletter is published on a quarterly basis with the next issue due at the beginning of Term 2. Please contact Lisa Brown on 9854 4467 if you would like a copy of the newsletter in your preferred format.The CMS team has 2 new staff providing O&M services to children and their families. Belinda Lock has joined Guide Dogs Victoria after graduating from the La Trobe University O&M course and Linden Woodruff returns to the CMS team after working in the GDV Acquired Brain Injury team for several years. For further information about any aspect of the Children’s Mobility Service please contact : Rachel Morgan Team Leader on 9854 4469 or rachel.m@guidedogsvictoria.com.au
Adult Mobility Service
Many of the children and young people who participate in CMS programs choose to join in with the Adult Mobility service at Guide Dogs Victoria once they turn 18 years old. The service provides O&M for young adults on an individual basis and they also run a number of group programs throughout the year.
The most recent group program was the Suzuki Night Market on Wednesday 11th February. There was a great turn out of 14 people, a mix of ladies and men. Everyone met at Flinders Street Station, where they formed groups of 3-4 people and then ventured out into the busy city to locate the Queen Victoria Market. There is always a competitive spirit at these events and Wednesday night was no different. In fact one group decided to sneak over the barriers at the market instead of going through the gate just to make it to the meeting point first! A newsletter especially for young adults called Young Adults Chat (YAC), is produced on a quarterly basis and has details about upcoming activities and events and how to get involved.For further information about the Adult Mobility programs and newsletter please contact any of the O&M instructors in the adult O&M team. Rose on 9854 4415, JR on 9854 4450 or Sophie on 9854 4456.
We have organised a new referral form for the East Melbourne Optometry & Low Vision Centre where Alan Johnston is the Optometrist & Low Vision Consultant.
Attached to this Bulletin is a referral form so that VTs can refer students to Alan Johnston's clinic. Alan is a very experienced and skilled optometrist who specialises in creative solutions for people with low vision. He does not charge children for consultations, (other than the scheduled debatable fee) although any prescribed aids will need to be purchased. Alan is very prompt at providing feedback through the SVRC of consultations with our students.
The new referral form is now available from the following link: East Melbourne Optometry & Low Vision Centre referal form.
More VCE Student News
• A Note from 2008 VCE Student, Samuel:
Just a short note to thankyou for all your help throughout my schooling. I’m sure it contributed towards me obtaining an ENTER of 90.2 (2007: Music Solo Performance on Clarinet – 35, IT Applications – 44, 2008: English – 36, Further Maths – 41, Music Group Performance – 42)! I was really thrilled to have been offered my 1st preference in Occupational Therapy at La Trobe. At this stage I will be taking a gap year in order to gain some experience in the workforce before I dive into my tertiary studies. At the moment I’m keeping busy in search of a job – bigger job in itself than I expected! Wishing you all the best for 2009, Samuel• Revised plans for Sam from Bendigo. He has accepted at place at Melbourne University to study for a Bachelor of Environments. Good Luck Sam.
• Shane appeared in the Bulletin last year courtesy of an article which appeared in the Weekly Times after he participated in the Royal Melbourne Show with prize steer “Jeff”. We received an email about how Shane finished that year so here it is:
“Just an update on Shane's year, we had speech night last night and Shane got two special awards, one for excellence in practical stock handling and the other was the Tragowal Plains Annual Science Award. Tragowal Plains was a small district school that closed a few years back and the funds they had left go towards two awards each year to year 11 students going into year 12. Shane did well in all his classes this year, getting good marks in his two VCE subjects. Last week Shane went with 6 other students and 2 teachers for a week walking around Wilson's Prom, apparently had a great time, fell over a couple of times, but I think the interaction with some different students from his year level would have been great, from Tony.
Thanks to Marion Blazé, Lea Nagel, Geoff Bowen, Deb Lewis, Annette Godfrey-Magee and Geoff Bowen, Mike Steer for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to my fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Lyn Robinson-who can be emailed at lynrobin@svrc.vic.edu.au
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