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The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
The Statewide Vision Resource Centre Professional Development program for term 1 & 2 appears below. For the complete list of activities for 2005 go to: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/pd2005.htm
All activities are open to subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, careers teachers, therapists, parents, principals, Visiting Teachers, students etc. Please remember to register: tel (03) 9841 0242, fax (03) 9841 0878 or email svrc@svrc.vic.edu.au
Date |
|
| Educational Support for Students with Low Vision – for class & subject teachers, integration teachers & aides, therapists, parents and VTs supporting students who have low vision (maximum participants: 80) | Thursday 24 March |
| ZoomText Workshop – BYO laptop 10am-12.30pm (setup 9.30am) Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology |
Thursday 28 April |
| Educational Support for VCE Students with Vision Impairments (low vision and blind students) – Years 9 to 12 – for subject & careers teachers, integration staff, therapists, parents VTs & students | Friday 29 April |
| O&M Morning for Visiting Teachers Linden Woodruff, Guide Dogs Victoria |
Wednesday 4 May |
| Educational Support for Vision Impaired Students with Additional Impairments – for class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, therapists, parents and VTs | Monday 9 May |
| BrailleNote and ScannaR Demonstration 10am-12noon Ramona Mandy, HumanWare |
Tuesday 17 May |
| Low Vision Options Workshop – BYO laptop 10am-12.30pm (setup 9.30am) Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology |
Tuesday 24 May |
| Visiting Teacher Day | Friday 3 June |
| Mountbatten Workshop (for ‘users’) –
BYO Mountbatten 10am-12.30pm (setup 9.30am) Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology |
Tuesday 14 June |
| Mimio Demonstration 10.00am to 12noon Peter Goldie, Australian Presentation Systems |
Thursday 23 June |
Guide Dogs Victoria will be running a workshop especially for Visiting Teachers which aims to further develop knowledge of the Orientation and Mobility field as well as increase understanding of the services available through Guide Dogs Victoria. Here’s an opportunity to experience different mobility aides including the long cane, the miniguide and Guide Dog travel!
For further information or to register please call Rachel Morgan on (03) 9854 4469 or email Rachel.m@guidedogs.asn.au
Apparently there will be no SCORE Camp this year – seems a great pity but perhaps it will come back bigger and even better in 2006. For Natasha’s 2004 report see below.
Article by SCORE Camper 2004 Natasha – reprinted from SPEVI News December 2004
Every year in July, the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind) holds a three-week long camp in Ontario, Canada for about 20 blind and vision-impaired students between the ages of 16 and 18. They invite international students to attend, and this year I was lucky enough to be one of two students sponsored by the RVIB (Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind) to travel to Canada to participate. This camp is called SCORE camp, which stands for Summer Computer Opportunities for Recreation and Education.
I did so much that it is difficult for me to identify a highlight from my experience. I travelled to the CN tower (the tallest in the world) Niagara falls, went water skiing, helped design and build a web site for the vision impaired at IBM headquarters in Toronto and appeared on Canadian television to launch it. I made lifelong friends and contacts in Canada and around the world, and gained valuable life experience in travelling independently.
The point of the camp was to learn web design and become computer literate, and also to enhance advocacy and mobility skills to prepare us for our future careers. I also learnt a lot about Canada and the world, what’s available to help the vision impaired and I gained team building and leadership skills. I intend to reapply so that I can go back in a couple of years and hold a leadership position as a SCORE II; a person who has attended SCORE camp in the past and who returns to play a more active role in the planning and organising of the camp activities.
The main benefit of this camp is the opportunity to meet new people and learn from them and their experiences. I would recommend this camp to anyone because it provides an opportunity for students to go overseas and gain experiences that are completely new. I had to take time off school to attend; I am in year 11 and I am taking a year 12 maths subject early along with a heavy year 11 course load, but by working ahead a little before I left, I was able to keep up with my classes. The camp has been known to run so that it coincides with the July holidays so for some students, time off school would be even less of an issue.
Hopefully many more students will apply through the RVIB next year to attend SCORE camp. Although I had a few doubts about travelling to a foreign country virtually alone, this challenge proved ultimately to be a very good experience. In the end, I had so much fun that I’d almost forgotten about home.
Source: Guide Dog Tales, autumn edition 2005
In accordance with Victorian State Laws, a blind or vision impaired person accompanied by a Guide Dog is permitted to:
For more information visit http://www.guidedogs.asn.au/access.htm or contact Christine on (03) 9854 4411.
Disability Employment Action Centre (DEAC) is a rights based organisation for people with a disability or disadvantage with programs running in areas such as employment, education and training, rehabilitation and legal advocacy services. DEAC runs ‘City Life’, a holiday program designed for 17 to 26 year olds with a disability. It is an activity-based program designed to encourage the development of friendships.
Activities planned for the next holidays include:
For more information: http://www.deac.org.au/citylife or phone (03) 9655 1137
None of us want to sit at a laptop all day – they are cramped and uncomfortable, and may cause posture problems – but this may be what we are expecting our students to do – at least they have the opportunity to hop up, have a bit of a stretch and a walk around between classes!
Rob Russell, a secondary teacher has designed a laptop workstation which allows:
He designed the workstation with teachers in mind, but they may be very useful for students with vision impairments as well. In fact, Rob is going to have a go at designing a stand with students with vision impairments in mind – we’ll have that on display soon!
You can purchase the extremely reasonably priced:
Our students may also benefit from a large stand alone computer screen, placed on the stand for easy visual access to their work.
Come in to the SVRC to try out our laptop workstation or contact Rob direct – tel (03) 9375 1488 fax (03) 9375 4419 email sales@laptopergonomics.com.au and check out the website at: http://www.laptopergonomics.com.au/
Natural Voice is a free text-to-speech program that can read any text from any document – copy the text to the computer’s clipboard (Windows XP) and it will be read using one of the two voices available. The commercial version has added features and is available for US$39.95 via their website: http://www.naturalreader.com
Download the review by Gerry Kennedy, IT Consultancy: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/NaturalVoiceIntro.doc
For a lovely overview of the text-to-speech options available, see Gerry’s article at: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/73_Kennedy.doc
Source: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/secondhandcomputers.htm
The Equipment Recycling Network Inc. offers cheap, second hand PCs to people with disabilities. A Pentium computer with sound card, CD-ROM drive, printer and licensed copy of Microsoft Windows 98 costs $270.50. They also have a Trading Post of second hand equipment on their website. Their office is open from 9am to 12 noon during term time. Contact: http://www.erni.asn.au or tel (03) 9879 5211
Green PC also provides cheap computers and components which have been recycled from the government and private sector, and refurbished. For example, a Pentium III with soundcard, USB, floppy disk and CD-ROM drive is priced at $425-$500. Contact: http://www.greenpc.com.au or tel (03) 9417 7039
AccessAudio is a newly founded group whose primary aim is to lobby authors and publishers to produce their books in CD audio format at the same time as print copies are released. Membership also has the benefit of entitling members to purchase CD audio books from their generous supporters at a discount price. AccessAudio is also producing two radio programs to be aired on the RPH network with the primary intention of informing listeners of titles available on CD. Currently membership is only available for Victorians.
Membership: $20 for the first 12 months (includes membership card) re-subscription $15
AccessAudio’s current projects are:
Other projects in the pipeline:
For further information, or to join contact: Brent Franklin (President) tel (bh) (03) 9263 2444 or 0412 704749 or Penny Stevenson (Vice-President) valkyrie4@unite.com.au
To subscribe to the email list send a blank email to: accessaudio-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Source: Telstra pamphlet
If you have a disability and are unable to use a standard telephone handset, Telstra’s Disability Equipment Program may have a product to suit your needs.
The following products are available through the Telstra Disability Equipment Program:
Products hired under Telstra’s Disability Equipment Program are provided at the same annual rental charge as a standard rental telephone handset. If you do not currently have a Telstra rental handset, a once-only provisioning fee will apply.
Telstra provides ongoing support for equipment hired through Telstra’s Disability Equipment Program.
To be eligible for equipment through the Telstra Disability Equipment Program, customers must:
Contact the Disability Enquiry Hotline on Freecall 1800 068424 or email DisabilityEnquiryHotline@team.telstra.com
Handy hint from Leanne Nagel, Senior VT – Eastern Metropolitan Region
To get accents when re-typing, select the text or select all, then go to:
Tools - Language - Set Language - French (France)
Then type away, ignoring the accents. Words that should have had accents will show up as a French spelling error by having a red underline. Right click on those words and select the spelling with the correct accents. This won’t work with the word à for example which means at because a by itself is also a word (meaning has).
You will have to type or insert these accented letters more manually. To make this easy, go to
Insert - symbol - (look in normal)
Select the symbol you need, then go to
Auto Correct
Now choose a letter combination that you wouldn’t normally type, is easy
to type and reminds you of the symbol that you are inserting:
ie: è : e\
à: a` (which is on the tilder key)
Type this combination in the Replace box. Now click OK.
Next time you type that combination, it will be replaced by the symbol you chose.
Some replacements will happen only if they are spaced from other letters. eg
to type espèce you may have to type esp e\ce then go back and backspace
the space out.
The Age VCE & Careers Expo is now in its thirteenth year. The Expo will be held on:
The Expo will be held at the Caulfield Racecourse in Station Street opposite Caulfield Station (Dandenong and Frankston lines). The venue is indoors and air conditioned with ample free parking.
At the Expo students, parents and teachers can access VCE, VCAL and career
resources and information. Over 100 organisations will be at the Expo. There
will also be more than 50 seminars on VCE subjects, study and career advice.
Admission is $6.00 per person or $4.00 per person for groups of 10 or more.
Family discounts are provided. Admission includes all seminars and a copy of
The Age.
The seminar program can be found at: http://education.theage.com.au/pdfs/Seminar%20pro%2014Feb05.pdf
Information from Renee Williamson, Tertiary Education Consultant, RVIB
Eligibility: you must be either a citizen of Australia or New Zealand, have
permanent
resident status of Australia or hold a visa which states that you are eligible
to work permanently in Australia. Applications are now open. Please visit the
Careers website at http://www.telstra.com.au/careers/graduates.htm
to obtain information about the program and to apply online or phone the Graduate
Recruitment Helpline on 1800 815774
Eligibility: you must belong to at least one of the EEO target groups (Aboriginal and Islander, person with a disability), be in the last year of a relevant degree, be an Australian citizen, not be a recipient of any other scholarship or financial reward in their final year of study. Applications are now open. Please visit the Careers website at http://www.telstra.com.au/careers/graduates.htm to obtain information about the program and to apply online or phone the Graduate Recruitment Helpline on 1800 815774
GradLink is a resource set up by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia and has lots of information and advice. Go to: http://www.gradlink.edu.au/
If you are thinking of a job in the public service, go to: http://www.graduates.vic.gov.au/ Applications for Graduate Recruitment in 2006 close on Thursday 31 March 2005.
Source: Program for Students with Disabilities, Eastern Metropolitan Region Term 2 – 2004 Newsletter
In nearly all of the 1000’s of classrooms across the state, teachers face the ever present challenge of meeting the diverse needs of their students. Within each of those classrooms it is likely that between 5% and 10% of the students will have learning needs which are “at odds” with the majority of students. These students may have an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD); a significant social emotional behavioural problem; a disability which enables the school to receive additional support from the Program for Students with Disabilities; a mild sensory impairment (visual or hearing); a borderline intellectual. The educational development and program for ALL these students is the classroom teacher’s responsibility.
To adequately meet these students’ needs the classroom teacher will find it useful to make adaptations such as changes to the following are suggestions that many classroom teachers may find helpful:
1. Modifying the classroom environment
2. Modifying the way materials are presented
3. Modifying the demands of the task
4. For students with Language Processing Problems
5. For students with Visual Processing Problems
6. Some students will have difficulty starting a task.
7. Many students have problems focusing and/or attending
This collection, edited by Rev Dr Christopher Newell and Rev Andy Calder, explores the relationship between spirituality and disability from a variety of Australian religious and spiritual viewpoints. Authors from a wide range of backgrounds – some with disabilities, some without – draw remarkable insights from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and non-religious spirituality.
Published in 2004 the soft cover can be purchased for $19.95 and the hard cover for $39.95.
For additional information including the list of contents or to order online, go to: http://www.haworthpress.com/
Melbourne author and historian Dr Judith Buckrich spent two years researching and writing ‘Lighthouse on the Boulevard: A History of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind 1866 to 2004’.
The treatment of people with disabilities has changed so dramatically since the 1870s and the book clearly illustrates this shift.
The book covers key milestones and events including the establishment of the RVIB asylum and school in 1866, the first Carols by Candlelight in 1938 and the wartime secondment of the St Kilda Road site for military purposes in 1943.
Copies of the book are available for purchase from the RVIB business unit by contacting VisEquip on (03) 9520 5588 or visequip@rvib.org.au.
Source: Article in Future Reflections by Ruby Ryles, Volume 23 Number 2
Sometimes blind and visually impaired children come to preschool or kindergarten with less than average strength in their hands and fingers. This is the age that pre-reading and reading and writing activities should formally begin for children. Even if your child is not a future tactile reader, it is wise to spend time playing with him or her to develop arm, hand, and finger strength. Below is a partial list of activities you and your child might enjoy while doing just this. As you play you will find other activities which use these muscles. The goal is for your child to do the activity independently. But above all, have fun!
Excerpt of an article in the June 2004 edition of JVIB
Most teachers of young children who are blind introduce braille contractions early in the process of teaching reading, even though there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of this practice (Ashcroft, 1960; Harley, 1969). Although contractions were not consistently used for early readers in the early 1900s, the advantages of saving space and the assumption that contracted braille increases reading speed caused a shift toward contracted braille by the 1950s. By the 1950s, the production of materials in uncontracted braille was generally eliminated, and books for early reading instruction were limited to those that used contracted braille, in contrast with the previous practice of providing reading primers in uncontracted braille or in grade 1½ braille with limited contractions (Irwin, 1955).
Whether the early use of contractions enhances reading skills has recently received attention as a result of a Canadian study by Troughton (1992), which found that a small group of blind students who learned contractions later in their school years had superior reading skills to those who learned contractions early. The debate over when to introduce contractions has been fueled by the emergence of technologies that make it possible to produce brailled materials with selected contractions and by the decreasing importance of saving space as more materials are stored electronically instead of on paper. This article presents an investigation of the reading abilities and experiences of students who were introduced to contractions from the beginning of reading instruction compared to students who learned contractions after they could read efficiently in uncontracted braille.
If you’d like to read the whole discussion, please contact us with your request!
Source: The Braille Monitor, January 2005
Life is surprisingly normal when neither of the adults in the house can see, says twelve-year-old Maria.
Some kids bring their goldfish or coin collection to school for show-and-tell. In third grade I brought my mom. Since she’s blind and I can see, my classmates wanted to know: could I steal cookies from the cookie jar without getting caught? I had to laugh. Of course I couldn’t. She could hear the jar closing. Even now I think I get away with less than other twelve-year-olds in the Baltimore suburb where we live. My mom is always listening. I swear she can even hear me rolling my eyes at her! And if I choose a low-cut T-shirt when we're shopping, she'll examine it with her hands and make me find another one.
My stepfather, Tom, is blind too. He lost his sight when he was eighteen because of juvenile diabetes, but my mom has been blind since birth. She’s never seen my face, yet she knows that my hair is long and dark, my skin is mocha, and I have her wide, almond-shaped eyes. She says she doesn’t mind that she'll never see me in a graduation cap or wedding dress because she’ll always be there listening and touching. But sometime if I have a soccer game or I'm dancing in a musical at school, she’ll admit that she’s sad she can’t see me in action.
If you’d like to read the whole article, contact us or go to: http://www.nfb.org/bm/bm05/bm0501/bm050107.htm
The pupil of an eye expands as much as 45% when a person looks at something pleasing.
Denise’s grade 3 student Corey wrote this piece of prose as part of a class activity:
boys
nice, sharing
spitting, kicking, throwing
playing, eating, laughing
reading, home work
maths, working
girls
Thanks to Helen Caldow and Bry Balaton-Chrimes for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to my fabulous proof-reader Dianne Skillern and my equally fabulous ‘postage and handlers’.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).