This issue was edited by Marion Blazé, Education Officer and Deb Lewis, Co-ordinator Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
On Friday, March 2 we had a very busy day at SVRC with 30 class teachers/aides and 12 VTs joining us for the day. Once we got over the traffic snarls and parking issues, we settled in for an entertaining and inspiring day. Unlike in the past few years, we had a large number of people new to Braille and very keen to learn all about it. Annette showed her sadistic streak by simulating blindness in a not-very-accommodating classroom, followed by a model presentation of how to navigate around a tactual map. Lea Nagel shared yet another ‘good news’ story about her student who has started Year 7 this year and is teaching his teachers (after much initial fear) just how competent he is! Our friends from Guide Dogs conducted a great activity which favoured the contortionists in the group! Comments from participants were very positive saying things like: best PD I’ve ever been to, well paced and informative, inspiring, great opportunity to network, fantastic, well organised, terrific staff, supportive environment, will definitely improve my teaching.
A special thank you to the long-suffering staff of the SVRC who kept us fed and organised, and to all the VTs who chipped in with appropriate hindrance or assistance in the simulation sessions. Thank you also to Dean, Sharon and Janelle from Guide Dogs and Trevor, who again showed us some technological solutions blind students.
Speaking of the lovely Guide Dogs people, I saw them again only yesterday at the Guide Dogs Open Day. Dean and Sharon were helping kids to score netball goals under blind fold and Lil was conducting an obstacle course with white cane and simulation goggles. We even spotted a student from our VT service who was demonstrating ‘Swish’. The Blazé family didn’t queue up to ask pet questions of Dr Harry Cooper, and we were sad to miss out on the Krispy Kreme donuts (they’d sold out!), but it was an entertaining (and very busy) day.
Would you like to be involved with current happenings, or give input, or make comments, to changes and events happening with Braille in Australia? Here’s one way of doing so. The state subcommittees of the Australian Braille Authority hold quarterly meetings and we would like to hear from you. In Victoria, we hold our meetings on the first Tuesday of March, June, September and December at 4.00PM in the training room at Vision Australia, 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong. We generally include a guest speaker.
Next meeting: 6th March
Speaker: Sandie Mackevicius
Topic: SPEVI conference held last January.
June Meeting: 5th June
Speaker: Dorothy Hamilton
Topic: upcoming braille music camp
If you would like further information, please contact me Allen: tel (03) 9864 9674 or email allen.egerton@visionaustralia.org.
The February 2007 issue of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB) is live online! You may access the issue (if you have your password handy) by logging in to your subscription at http://www.afb.org/jvib/jvib0102toc.asp.
This month’s articles and features include:
An update to the Unified English Braille Primer: Australian Edition has recently been posted on the Round Table Website – for those of you with password access. Most of the amendments are cosmetic but additional information has been provided in the use of the line sign & web/email addresses. The pages that have been amended are as following:
5/6; 9/10; 19/20; 97/98; 101/102; 115/116; 117/118; 123/124; 131/132; 137/138; 127/128 129/130
Ask your VT for a copy of the new pages!
The National Braille Music Camp will hold its 22nd camp at a boarding school in Mittagong NSW. Students from age 10 years up come if they are braille readers and are interested in music. At the camp there is lots of singing, lessons in braille music and a lot of fun and friendship. Everything is provided. Planes and trains are met and campers bused to Mittagong.
When: Saturday evening 30 June to Saturday morning 7 July
2007
Cost: $180 and campers pay $135 towards their air fares
Should anyone find this a problem please contact Roma Dix. There is adequate supervision and excellent blind musicians who take the singing and teaching. Be warned, once a student has come to camp they will want to come back year after year.
Contact for further details: Roma Dix, 11 Bourne Close Mittagong 2575 NSW tel (02) 4871 1086 or email romad@westnet.com.au
Dorothy’s journey down the yellow brick road will be audio described when a remastered The Wizard of Oz screens at The Regent Theatre in Melbourne next week. Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will play the score in synch with the screening and audio description of the film. Coordinated by Arts Access Victoria and thanks to sponsorship from Captioning and Subtitling International, a professional audio description script has been prepared in England and will be read at the event by local actors David Tredinnick (best known for his barman role Secret Life of Us) and Eden Thomsen. Patrons can listen to a description of the visual aspects of the film during appropriate breaks in the dialogue via a personal radio receiver.
For anyone wishing to attend and use the audio description, please contact EASE Ticket Service on (03) 9699 8497.
Performance dates are:
Ticket prices are $42.00 for EASE members and those needing audio description. Regular ticket prices are from $65-80. See http://www.artsaccess.com.au/attend and http://www.mso.com.au for more information or contact Sara McGregor tel/TTY (02) 9212 6242 or email sara.mcgregor@mediaaccess.org.au.
James Taylor, a UK teenager who has nystagmus, has created a website about Nystagmus. In it he includes information about nystagmus, research and his own experiences, for example:
At school I was called names by many people until they either got tired of me not responding or until they understood Nystagmus. One of the most common phrases I heard was 'wibbly-wobbly eyes'. I just ignored them and eventually they went away … For example at middle school I had terrible trouble with people calling me names, and there was one person who supported me through this period (Lee). He even lost friends because of it. So thanks Lee. There is always an end, and I have never experienced a bad ending. If people call you names, just ignore them and do not try to be friends with them; it won't work. You will always find someone to be your friend!
It is a chatty commentary with brief paragraphs under subheadings such as “bullying”, “exams”, “paper rounds” and “riding a bike” which would be suitable for upper primary and secondary students. There is even a discussion forum.
Go to: http://www.nystagmus.co.uk/index.htm
Stargardt’s is the juvenile form of macular degeneration and Stargardt’s Australia is a volunteer organization dedicated to increasing the awareness of this disease and investigating new methods of treatment. Their website covers detailed information about the disease as well as ideas on coping with low vision. Visit http://stargardts.au.org
Our colleague from NSW, Frances Gentle, wrote: I would like to recommend a
valuable website resource that was developed last year by my colleague at the
Renwick Centre, Dr Mike Steer, in collaboration with Dr Karen Waldron of Trinity
University, San Antonio and Dolly Bhargava (Dolly is a graduate of University
of Newcastle / Renwick). The resource is titled “Teaching students with
sensory impairments: Strategies for mainstream teachers”, and is located
at the following web address:
http://www.trinity.edu/org/sensoryimpairments/index.htm
Jim Allan from the Texas School for the Blind, has forwarded a website which allows yo to download mp3 files. Apparently, you don't need an I-pod, just go to the site, click on the link and some media player on your computer will open and play the mp3 file. http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2007/multimedia/tour1.php
Adapted from: LiveWire, November 2006
“Fusion” is a trendy looking device, weighing a little over 1
kg, yet with a 7 inch display. Fusion can be used in two ways:
1. Open the case and roll the Fusion over your reading material. Rollers underneath
the Fusion make this simple and easy to do.
2. Detach the camera unit from the Fusion case and use it like a mouse, moving
the camera over the reading material or object you wish to view. This feature
is great for reading surfaces that are not flat, like a thick telephone directory
or labelling on bottles.
Fusion has a magnification range of 6-16X and works in colour, positive and negative modes. For people who are sensitive to glare you can also choose different colour combinations such as yellow text on a blue background.
A writing mode also enables you to do simple writing tasks such as signing a cheque or filling out a crossword.
The Fusion has a battery life of three hours and can be plugged into the power supply for extended use if required.
For further details contact: Trevor Boyd at Quantum Technology on (03) 9545 4100.
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We are still 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.
Ex-student Dean featured in the Stonnington Leader in February this year. Dean began playing blind cricket at age 11 and loves it, saying “The team aspect of the sport really appealed to me”. Meanwhile Dean, who is now working full-time for the ANZ bank, organised a social match between the Victorian Blind Cricket Association and the Clayton Rotaract club to raise awareness of blind cricket and to raise funds for blind cricket and the children's charity Debra Australia.
One of Denise Probert’s students who is in year 7 recently wrote this poem.
My Appearance
This me from the ground up;
Some new white runners,
Maybe to make me an athlete
Socks with holes in them,
Too much walking without shoes
My legs,
Pale and hairy
My shorts with the small pockets,
Always leaving things behind
The pockets stuffed with my
Clip on sunnies,
My emergency mobile,
And my wallet
My shirt which is clean until tea,
Some with paint stains
A logo on the bright background
Simply to advertise the brand
My watch that beeps every hour,
Annoys those who lack tolerance
My memory stick around my neck,
A sign of nerdiness to some
My natural face with pimples,
Darn you stupid puberty
My glasses the tool to help me see,
My eyes shaking around,
Due to nystagmus
Finally my hair,
White and occasionally spiked
The most striking thing of my appearance
The colour that won’t change
The thing that makes me, me.
Would you believe, Melbourne Zoo has raised more than $250,000 for the Asian elephant exhibit just by collecting and recycling corks, and the SVRC has been a contributor. Corks are becoming a rare commodity and worth something to recycle. So when you have your Friday night tipple, save the cork and bring it in to the SVRC next time you’re in. You’ll be donating to a great cause.
The VCE Exam Timetable for 2007 is now available on the VCAA website - go to: http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/exams/timetable.html
Thanks to Josie Howse, Roma Dix, Allen Egerton, Lillian Adler, Frances Gentle, 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).