The Bulletin
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 7, Friday 2nd May 2003

The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).

Inside This Issue

- New Email and Webpage Addresses for SVRC
- Webpage Usage!
- Upcoming Professional Development
- Funding Assistance
- VCE Special Provision
- BrailleNote Club
- Pre-Braille Experiences for Infants and Toddlers
- Tips for Using Windows
- Guide Dogs News
- OnLine Magazine via Email
- Interesting Website: How Stuff Works
- Program for Students with Disabilities
- Newspaper Article: Equal Access
- Technology Demo
- ICanEmail
- Near Vision Test for Children and EBrailler
- Dads & Disability Workshop
- Staff News
- Hotbraille
- Literacy Conference
- Staff News
- Bulletin via Email

New Email and Webpage Addresses for the SVRC

The Statewide Vision Resource Centre has come of cyber age!!! We now have our own Domain Name!!!!! "What does this mean and why do I need to know that?", do I hear you ask? Well, it means that the address of our webpages and our email addresses have changed.

The Webpages

You will now find our websites:

The main SVRC site: www.svrc.vic.edu.au
The vision technology site: www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au

So what do you need to do now? Update your Favourites!
How do you do that? Go to your web browser eg Internet Explorer and type in our new address.
Go to Favourites - Add to Favourites.

Both addresses (the new and the old) will still work for a couple of months, after which you'll only find us at the new address!

Contacting us by Email

So our email addresses have also changed. For example, you used to contact me by emailing deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au - you'll now need to email deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au

Other staff of the Statewide Vision Resource Centre can also be contacted by changing the ending of their old 'solind' address to @svrc.vic.edu.au

You might also want to update your email Address Book - ask if you need assistance!

The SVRC Websites are Very Busy Places!!!

As noted above, the Statewide Vision Resource Centre hosts two websites with information pertaining particularly to students with vision impairments. The main website which can be found at www.svrc.vic.edu.au includes topics such as 'tips for teachers and teacher aides', 'curriculum access', 'for the tactual learner', 'VCE Special Provision', and of course each edition of The Bulletin since mid 1999. We have had over 114,000 hits to this web site in the last 12 months and a new all-time monthly high of 14,000 hits in March!!!

The Technology website, which can be found at www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au is newer and more specialised - but usage is also creeping up - 60,000 hits in the past 12 months and also a new all-time monthly high of 6,500 hits in March!!!

Professional Development

SVRC: Upcoming Professional Development

Call or email for further information!

JAWS for Windows Workshop - 20th May

Presented by: Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology

When: Tuesday 20 May 2003 from 1.00-3.30pm
Please arrive at 12.30pm if you need to install the JAWS demo software
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre 370-380 Springvale Rd, Donvale
Parking: Next door at the Donvale Sports Complex
Participants: VTs, school community members (eg teachers, aides, therapists), parents and staff from other agencies who support students with vision impairments. Students welcome!
Cost: There is no charge for the day. (Lunch will not be available)
BYO: Laptop!
RSVP: by Friday 16th May on (tel) 9841 0242 or fax (03) 9841 0878

Guide Dogs Victoria O&M Morning: Experiencing Vision Loss In The Community - Monday 26th May

The Children's Mobility Service at Guide Dogs Victoria is running an Orientation and Mobility morning on Monday 26 May. This program is designed to increase awareness of the issues that students with vision impairments experience when traveling within the community.

The participants will work in pairs, taking turns to wear simulators and follow a set route around a dynamic, suburban area. The route will involve a start point and end point using written directions, with questions to answer along the way.

The questions serve to highlight and pinpoint areas of difficulty that we would probably not even consider when working with students with a vision loss.

When: Monday 26th May 2003 from 9.30am to 1.30pm
Where: Guide Dogs Victoria and the Heidelberg area
Meet at: Guide Dogs Victoria, Chandler Hwy, Kew
Who: Integration and teaching staff, parents, Visiting Teachers
Cost: Free
For further details: contact Deb Lewis 9841 0242 or Rachel Morgan on 9854 4469
RSVP: by Thursday 22nd May 2003 to Deb or Rachel

Visiting Teacher PD Day - 13th June ***NOTE DATE CHANGE***

The program will include Maths/Science by Sherry Cunningham; Mimio in Action - a case study by Lea Nagel; VCE Special Provision; the 6-Step Approach to O&M by Rachel Morgan; and much, much, much more!

When: Tuesday 13th June
Who: Visiting Teachers - others welcome!
Cost: $20 (GST included)
RSVP: Thursday 5th June
The flier will be available shortly.

'Magic' Enlarging Software Workshop - 25th June

Presented by: Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology

When: Wednesday 25th June 2003 from 1.00-3.30pm
Please arrive at 12.30pm if you need to install the Magic demo software
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre 370-380 Springvale Rd, Donvale
Parking: Next door at the Donvale Sports Complex
Who: VTs, school community members (eg teachers, aides, therapists), parents and staff from other agencies who support students with vision impairments. Students also welcome!
Cost: There is no charge for the day (Lunch will not be available)
BYO: Laptop!
RSVP: by Friday 20th June 2003 on (tel) 9841 0242 or fax (03) 9841 0878

Funding Assistance

Source: Ramona Mandy, BrailleNote Update, April 2003

There are two new funding sources which are aimed at assisting young Australians:

Foundation for Young Australians (Youth for Youth Investments Fund)

The Foundation for Young Australians resources and supports locally based and initiated projects and supporting initiatives that integrate The Foundation's emphasis on redressing disadvantage, developing leadership and encouraging excellence. The Foundation for Young Australians seeks to continue this tradition by distributing $800,000 via its State & Territory Committees during 2003. These funds are available for initiatives that enhance youth participation or create opportunities for the development of young people aged 12-25 years. In 2003 there will be two grant rounds. The second will open on 8 July 2003 and will close on 19 August 2003. For full details visit the website at www.youngaustralians.org or call them on (03) 9670 5436.

Happy Little Vegemite Foundation

As part of Vegemite's 80th birthday celebrations, they have established the Happy Little Vegemite Foundation. The Foundation will provide up to 80 grants, each of $2,000 to not-for-profit organisations who are working in their community to create a healthy, happy, fun and safe future. For more details visit their website at www.vegemite.com.au/hlv_how_to_enter.asp or call the Foundation's information line on 1800 800 020. This grant closes on 30 May 2003.

New Resource

We have recently produced a tables grid in large print - 32pt print - please call if you would like a copy in print or on disk.

VCE Special Provision

Source: VCAA website www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/VCE/ADMIN/prov.htm

What? How? When? Who?

This year the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) has changed how provision is given to students who become ill or experience personal hardship at the time of their VCE assessments.

What is new?

Schools no longer report Consideration of Disadvantage or provide estimated grades and scores to the VCAA.
Teachers will continue to provide special arrangements to assist students, and for all school based assessments they will determine a score that takes into account each student's circumstances and report this to the VCAA as the final score.

For examinations, the VCAA will decide whether students should receive consideration for illness or personal circumstances, and if so, calculate a Derived Examination Score that can be used in place of the student's actual examination score. The Derived Examination Score will be used to calculate the final Study Score, which will be reported on the student's Statement of Results and used by VTAC to calculate the ENTER.

From 2003 there will be no * on results, no estimated grades or study scores and no estimated ENTER.

Further information - links to:

- Policy
- How it works
- How do I apply for this assistance?
- Examinations
- Who is eligible for a Derived Examination Score?
- How do I apply for a Derived Examination Score?
- How will I know if my application has been approved?
- Can I appeal if my application was refused
- What? How? When? Who? Flier

BrailleNote Club

Source: Ramona Mandy, BrailleNote Update, April 2003

Pulse Data have now made it possible for school children using a BrailleNote or VoiceNote to interact with other children who use BrailleNotes and VoiceNotes worldwide for free! By joining the BrailleNote Club you will be able to:

- email other BrailleNote and VoiceNote users to share tips and help each other use our products
- swap educational tools, e-books and favourite websites
- contribute stories, essays and poems

Anyone who joins this exclusive club, (restricted to school children), will receive a fantastic free BN Club Member's Pack, containing some great goodies. To become a BrailleNote Club member all you have to do is to fill in the form found on the following web site: www.pulsedata.com/BNClub.asp

When you join, you'll receive a newsletter that will include, among other things, details about new kids joining the club (but only those who are happy for their email addresses and interests to be passed on to others).

Pre-Braille Experiences for Infants and Toddlers

Source: Terry Connolly, Future Reflections - Winter 2001

Number Concepts and Patterns

Important number concepts and patterns include few/many; some/none; more/less; pair; zero; all; one-to?one correspondence; first/second/third; last; and counting to ten.

Play with objects in a six?muffin tin. Find and take out one or two. Encourage the child to use one hand as a placeholder and the other hand to place an object in the hole. This reinforces one-to?one correspondence when one object is put into each hole. This will help the child imitate patterns later on.

Large pegboard play is great for beginning number relationships. Let the child play creatively and later introduce number concepts. Older infants and young toddlers will enjoy positioning large pegs and blocks to create things.
Older toddlers may be ready to imitate patterns of pegs on a board or large shaped beads on a string. Create rows of tape or Velcro strips with blocks or shapes. Again, as with sorting and matching games, begin with two and increase to three or four.

Motor Skills

Important movement concepts include go; start/stop; fast/slow; push/pull; scribble; draw; trace; bend; open/close; slide; roll; hold; insert/place/put; reach; sit; squeeze; turn; and follow.

Good head control and independent sitting are important to read braille with ease. Reaching for an object based on sound or visual cues or on command is also important.

Guide the child to develop a systematic approach to searching for an object within reach to develop good skills for later exploration of pages and manipulation of books.

Fine motor skills that are important for eventual reading include grasp/release; twist/turn; rotate and examine; open/close; stack; nest, etc. Busy boxes and nesting or stacking toys are good for developing these skills.

Dexterity

Further refinement in motor skills can be encouraged by putting objects into and taking them out of containers of all sizes and by playing with manipulatives, such as finger foods in containers; shape sorters; pop beads; linking chains; large pegs; form boards and simple puzzles; and blocks.

Important skills for dexterity include pincer grasp; poke/probe objects, spreading/wriggling fingers; pointing; isolating each finger, relaxed curving of fingers; wrist flexibility; and tracking a raised line by touch.

Communication Skills

Babies are like sponges - they absorb information. Use words to name and request and eventually the baby will, too.

Guide infants and toddlers to use words to name and request, and to follow simple directions. Help them listen to a short story with objects as props and to explore tactual books and turn pages.

Tips for Windows

Changing the Size and Blink Rate of your Cursor - Windows XP

You can make your cursor fatter or thinner and blink more or less often in the following way:

Go to: Control Panel - Accessibility Options - Display - Cursor Options
Adjust the 'Blink Rate' and 'Width' to suit.

Note: on my computer, the 'Blink Rate' appears to change in all applications eg Word, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express etc. Changes to 'Width' do not take effect in Word, but does apply to Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.

Increasing Print Size in Word on your Screen (to the Max!)

To make the print size on the screen as big as possible without changing the font size on your finished document, go to View (Alt V), then Zoom (Z), Text Width (T) then OK (Enter).

Ungrouping those Icons - Windows XP

One feature that I found very ANNOYING when beginning to use Windows XP was that when I had a lot of files open (as I tend to do), instead of them appearing as little buttons on the Task Bar (the bar usually appearing at the bottom of the screen), they appeared as buttons labelled with the name of the application (eg Outlook Express) preceded by a number.

So you can't glance at the Task Bar and see exactly what is open. And to access individual files requires more Mouse action than I like to expend!!!

So. You can remove this annoying feature by going to Control Panel - Task Bar and Start Menu. Then you uncheck the Group Similar Task Bar buttons box.

All open files have their own personal button, which if there are lots open you can't read the whole name. But by holding the Mouse over each button, the name appears in a yellow box (as above)!

Well that is how I like it, anyway…

If you have any bewt ideas for simplifying or beautifying computer access, please send them along!

Guide Dogs News

Senior Program

June 30 - July 4, 2003

A 5-day 4-night program will this year be based in Echuca. The program offers students a range of Orientation and Mobility challenges in recreation opportunities in a new environment. Students can register their interest by contacting Rachel Morgan 9854 4469.

Nights Out Programs

Girls Night Out - Thursday 25 May
Boys Night Out - Thursday 12 June

These group programs are suitable for Senior students wishing to experience travel in the Melbourne CBD after hours. Each night has an Orientation and Mobility component and is designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn about travelling safely and confidently at night.

Students make their own way into the city meeting at Flinders Street Station. Guide Dogs Victoria staff provide transport home at the end of the night.

Any students interested should contact Rachel Morgan on 9854 4469.

Online Magazine - Available via Email

Source: OnLine Magazine, November 2002

The OnLine Newsletter focusing on computer software and hardward for students with vision impairments is published monthly. The newsletter is published in Acrobat format although other electronic formats are available on request.

You can receive your own copy of the OnLine Newsletter by subscribing to the OnLine listserv. Using your web browser go to http://education.qld.gov.au/listserv/subscrib.htm and select 'Adaptive Technology Services OnLine Newsletter' from the first drop down menu. After you fill in your name and email details, press the button labelled 'Subscribe to the List'. You should receive a response from the OnLine team within a day. If you have any problems subscribing, or have any questions about the OnLine Newsletter please contact us.
Email: DisabilityServicesSupportUnit@qed.qld.gov.au

Interesting Website: How Stuff Works

Source: OnLine Magazine, November 2002

This web site says it all - if you are searching for an answer or explanation on how something works such as a travel sprinkler, or how a system operates such as the digestive system or even how compressing files work, then this site may satisfy your curiosity and assist with assignment projects.

One current topic is 'SARS' (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome) - How it Works'.

Go to: www.howstuffworks.com

Program for Students with Disabilities

Source: Sofweb Website www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/wellbeing/disabil/index.htm

The Program for Students with Disabilities provides additional support in the School Global Budget to either a regular school or one of the various specialist schools for eligible students with disabilities. 2003 Booklets now available.

Documents are generally presented as a pdf document viewable via Adobe Acrobat Reader. The documents include:

Program for Students with Disabilities - Booklets
Program for Students with Disabilities: Handbook (Booklet 1)
Program for Students with Disabilities: Application Form (Booklet 2)
Program for Students with Disabilities: Program Support Group Guidelines (Booklet 3)
Program for Students with Disabilities: Principal's Checklist
Outcomes of Review of Educational Services for Students with Special Educational Needs
Commonwealth Special Education Programs

Other Links on this Page

Program Support Groups - Sample Support Material
Individual Learning Goals - Sample Record Sheet
Measuring Academic Progress Against Each KLA
Futures for Young Adults - About the Program
Futures for Young Adults - Transition

Newspaper Article: Equal Access

Source: Amanda Morgan, The Age 8th March 2003

"By 1997, radio station manager Stephen Jolley had heard enough talk of the internet and decided to get connected. The fact he is blind did not daunt him in the least. In the six years since, Jolley says his experiences online are getting better because of improvements in hardware technology, software and community awareness.
But people with disabilities - whether vision impaired, mobility impaired, speech or hearing impaired or with cognitive or dyslexic impairments - are still often left out of the browsing population equation by software and website developers who neglect to cater for the 3.6 million Australians who have a disability (about 18 per cent of the population).

Internet access for people opens up education and employment opportunities and means, like the able-bodied population, they can go online to do their banking without being charged fees, do their groceries and use government services.

Many organisations are driving customers online - banks, airlines and even universities, where lecture notes are often posted on the web. The Australian Bankers Association, recognising the shift in service, has released voluntary standards for the banking industry that aim to provide equal access for all.

For Jolley, from Melbourne, being able to surf the net means greater independence."

The article discusses accessibility of websites generally, giving specific attention to the case brought to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) in 1999 against the Olympics organisers, SOCOG regarding accessibility of their website. The article also discusses the expense of purchasing software and hardware for people with vision impairments and also those with other disabilities. To read the whole article, go to: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1046826526491.html

Vision Australia Technology Demo Day - Mt Eliza

When: 14th May 2003 from 1.00-5.00pm
Where: Vision Australia, George Vowell Centre, Cobb Rd, Mt Eliza
What: All the major technology companies will be represented and demonstration the latest in closed circuit television, video magnifiers, screen readers, screen magnifiers and assistive computer technology.
Further details or to express interest in attending: Nick on 9787 6066 or nick_jones@visionaustralia.org.au

ICanEmail

Source: RJ Cooper Demo disk available from info@rjcooper.com

This new product from RJ Cooper is designed for those with cognitive challenges, visual challenges, as well as physical challenges. It's a simple, but powerful, full-screen, talking email program. For the user, it operates in a sequential manner, where it asks one question at a time, such as "Who would you like to send this to?" or "If you'd like to speak your message, you can do that here." No reading is necessary because it talks. The email 'partner' (the recipient or sender) sends and receives mail without any special software at all! To him/her it is just like emailing with anyone else. ICanEmail can also let the user send/receive mail from other users on their system, without being connected to the Internet. ICanEmail also works with keyboard or pointing devices.

Cost: Mac US$99 / PC US$99

Near Vision Test for Children

Source: Options Australia website: www.optionsaustralia.com.au

The 'Near Vision Test for Children', developed by Gayle Lamb, can be used to assess appropriate print size for young children or older children/adults experiencing reading difficulty or delay. The tasks required of children in this test are representative of the reading tasks required of them in educational settings. Because the words used in the test are appropriate for children (ie the most commonly used words in oral and written language) and the concepts and experiences familiar to them, the examiner is able to differentiate between the child's cognitive and visual abilities. The test comprises 4 parts:

Part 1. Selected Word Reading Chart - words in isolation
Part 2. Words in Context - short stories written by children
Part 3. Word Matching Booklet
Part 4. Letter Matching Booklet

Instructions for use of NVTC, samples of print size (in points), and equivalents for M units, Snellen and logMAR scores are included.

Cost: USD$99.00 - includes postage and handling.

eBrailler - Software Brailler for Windows

eBrailler is a fun way to learn, practise, and maintain your brailling skills when you don't have access to a traditional brailler. Use the 6 special keys (home keys) on your computer keyboard as you would a traditional brailler and eBrailler will display the braille characters on your computer screen as you braille. Text translations are displayed on screen for each sign, enabling eBrailler to be used as a basic translation tool.

Options Australia's special offer: if you buy the Near Vision Test for Children by 1st May 2003, you will receive eBrailler for free.

Dads & Disability Workshop

Source: NoticeBoard, March 2003

The Association for Children with a Disability in conjunction with Parent to Parent Gippsland are conducting free workshops for fathers of children with special needs. For more information including dates and venues, contact:

Yvonne Waite (Parent to Parent Gippsland) 5135 3131
Darrell Harding (Association for Children with a Disability) 9500 1232

Student in the News!!!

Source: The Age, 5th April 2003

A recent article in The Age noted that "this year 278,500 Australian teenagers will turn 18". They featured eighteen students from an array of backgrounds including Space Camper 2001 and SCORE 2002 participant, Bernadette Lancefield, formerly on Catholic Education's Visiting Teacher Service - and supplied with braille by the Statewide Vision Resource Centre. Reporter Amanda Dunn wrote:

Bernadette Lansfield (sic) is studying arts at Monash University, majoring in psychology. When she was six, she had an operation to adjust a shunt, which cut across her optic nerve and left her totally blind. To help her with her studies, she has a 'Braille Mate' computer, the size of a handbag, which converts type to braille. She uses a cane to get around, and has some memory of what things look like from when she could see.

I love going out, shopping and to movies and all that normal sort of thing. And I like music. I'm into writing. Life after study is not yet entirely clear but I want to do something in the field of psychology.

Being 18 is a strange kind of age, leaving childhood behind and becoming an adult. It's weird, I don't know. I think it's a really good age, because I've finished school and have a lot to look forward to. It's sort of a new phase. I don't know if I feel like an adult, though. Probably getting to be, a little bit more.

I am determined to experience as much of the world as possible. I have already travelled a lot - around Canada and the United States.

I want to go overseas. I want to do a lot of travelling. And I want to try and help other people.

Report from Student Correspondent, Peggy!

I found a good email service: www.hotbraille.com

It's service for people who are blind and visually impaired, and you can talk to other hotbraille members from all around the world. You can write emails and get them transcibed into braille and send them to your friends. You don't have to be able to read braille.

There are forums, some with issues relating to blind and people with vision impairments and the rest is just relating to everyday life.

Sighted people can use this too. It's a lot of fun and easy to use.

There is a Space Camper on this service besides me. That's so good!

Conference in Canada - "Getting In Touch With Literacy"

When: 4-7 December 2003
Where: Westin Bayshore Resort and Hotel Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

For more information: cay.holbrook@ubc.ca

Staff News

- Toni Chilton, Braille Transcriber for the Statewide Vision Resource Centre, recently completed The Maths Braille Course by Correspondence - congratulations Toni!!!
- Rita Farrelly is off overseas for six weeks - yeh her! Sandra Cahill will be her replacement during that time.
- Sandra Groves, Psychologist for the Statewide Vision Resource Centre will be overseas for the first few weeks of term.
- Trish Potter's last week is this week - we wish her a very happy retirement and hope that she stays in touch! Trish's replacement, Helen Young, has already visited the Centre!

Want to Receive The Bulletin via Email?

Please email your details to deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au and you can be added to the list of recipients! You can receive The Bulletin in the body of the email or as a link to the Statewide Vision Resource Centre website.

Mary Poppins?

A student, observing the amount of STUFF that his Visiting Teacher was producing from her bag announced, "Any minute, I expect to see you pull out an umbrella and fly off into the distance!"

Finally

Thanks to Denise Probert, Lyn Robinson, Trevor Boyd, Mike Steer and Lea Nagel for contributions to this edition of The Bulletin. And thanks to Dianne Skillern for proof reading it!

If you have something you would like included in 'The Bulletin', please contact:

Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).

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