This issue of The Bulletin was edited by Deb Lewis, Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
The SVRC PD program for the rest of 2006 appears below. For the complete list of activities for 2006 and downloadable programs for all of the listed activities for the rest of the year, go to: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/pd2006.htm
All activities offered by the SVRC are open to class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, careers teachers, therapists, parents VTs, students etc. Please register: tel (03) 9841 0242, fax (03) 9841 0878 or email svrc@svrc.vic.edu.au
TRANSITIONS FROM SCHOOL TO (ADULT) POST SCHOOL LIFE FOR STUDENTS WITH VISION
IMPAIRMENTS
Monday 11 – Wednesday 13 September (3 day seminar)
Presented by Dr Karen Wolffe, M.Ed. (Special Ed.), Ph.D. Director of Professional
Development, Career Education and the CareerConnect program for the American
Foundation for the Blind.
Fee $350
BUILDING A TOTAL APPROACH TO CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR
Thursday 28 September
Presented by Professor Tim Hartshorne
Fee $150
TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION FOR CHILDREN WITH
SENSORY AND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES
Monday 9 – Friday 13 October (5 day conference)
Presented by Professor Deborah Chen, Department of Special Education, California
State University, Northridge.
Fee $550
For more information go to: www.ridbc.org.au/renwick/courses/
To enrol contact Sharon Lachmund or Tina Tasioulas: tel (02) 9872 0207, fax
(02) 9873 1614 or email Sharon.Lachmund@ridbc.org.au
/ Tina.Tasioulas@ridbc.org.au
The 2007 biennial conference “Connecting the Pathways: Sharing our Knowledge” will be hosted by the Western Australian branch of SPEVI in Perth.
To register or for further information please see the SPEVI website: www.e-bility.com/spevi/ where you'll find a registration form, call for papers etc.
Keynote speakers will be Dr Deborah Chen and Dr Sandra Rosen
Abstracts are due on 17th July!!!
Early bird registrations close on 9th October
Conference dates: 7 to 12 January 2007
At the Visiting Teachers’ Conference held in June 2006, Visiting Teachers discussed the way that they demonstrated each of the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT):
The list appears below.
Where: Heatherwood School, 370-380 Springvale Rd Donvale (enter from Manningham
DISC Parking Lot)
When: Thursday 13th July 2-6.30pm
Meet service providers for informaiton on
For more information phone: 9842 8319
Ramona Mandy kindly sent a new set of short cuts to add to our growing collection! It’s “BrailleNote Shortcuts” written by Roselle Ambubuyog and Ramona Mandy. Download the Word file from: www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/CSBrailleNote.doc.
For the complete list of “cheat sheets” go to: www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/cheatsheets.htm
Adapted from: OnLine, June 2006
Some students find it easier to read a document when the words are spaced further apart. Increasing the spacing between lines in MS Word is easy by changing the line spacing in the Paragraph configuration (go to: Format – Paragraph).
It’s not as easy to increase the spacing between each adjacent word.
You could do this manually by typing additional spaces between each word but
this would take a lot of time if you had a lot of text.
So use the Search and Replace tool!
1. Highlight the text you wish to alter (or the whole document – CTRL
+ A)
2. Go to Edit – Replace (or CTRL + H)
3. To replace single spaces with three spaces, type a single space in the Find
What box and three spaces in the Replace With box
4. Click the Replace All button (or Tab then A)
My ISA (Visiting Teacher) lent me this thing called a Clearnote to try for a few weeks to see if it helped me see things better in my classes at school. She said I had to write a report on it. This is it.
As the blurb says, ‘ClearNote is a lightweight, flexible solution designed for those who use a laptop or are simply in need of a magnification device’. It’s really a video camera on a stick and you can attach it to your laptop to look at stuff and make it bigger. It looks a bit like the beer tap my Dad has in the shed. He keeps it covered so Mum can’t see it. It (the Clearnote, not the beer tap) comes in a flash case with lots of storage compartments for notepaper, pens and the odd sandwich or Mars Bar.
Now I have two cases (one for the laptop, as well). I thought it might be nice to combine the two into one. After shoving and squeezing (and squashing my lunch) I discovered that if I am to carry both from class to class I will need a bigger case or a shopping trolley (just the thing for this nerdy year 9 student with thick glasses to feel at one with his peers). Meanwhile I will get the ISA to carry one of the cases for me. I’ll check out the surf shop and see if they have a back-pack that fits all my stuff.
Having arrived at the class looking like I’m going on a week-long holiday I set the electronic wizardry up on my desk, and the desks either side as well. I seem to take up a bit more room these days. It’s battery operated so I don’t have to plug it into a power point. The batteries usually last the day but just in case I plug it into a power point during lunch. There’s lots of ways of setting it up. I’m left handed so I like the camera to my left and hanging out away from the laptop. I can see the control buttons easily and they are well marked and lumpy so I can operate them easily. If they were bright colours it would be better still. The camera plugs easily into the base but I have to make sure the laptop is on the base first otherwise the whole thing tips over.
That happened the first time I set it up and the teacher had a stroke. Camera’s don’t bounce all that well. I then have to plug the USB connection into the laptop and then into the base of the Clearnote. The laptop end is easy but the Clearnote end is a bugger. It’s a bit like putting a ferret up a rabbit burrow while hanging onto the tail. I’ve glued mine in with an old piece of chewy. Not the ferret, the end of the connector to the camera base. It doesn’t have to come out and it’s one less thing for me to do or lose.
Now that I’m connected I’m eager to learn. Yeah. Right. It only takes a few minutes to get ready once you get the hang of it and I haven’t held up the class too much. Besides, the teacher is still figuring out who’s here and shouting at Kenny Jones ‘cause he’s chucked a wobbly. I turn the laptop on and start the software. A little picture comes up on the top left hand corner of the screen that I can enlarge to full screen when I’m ready. I can open my notes and have that on the background and type into it at the same time. One thing; if someone pulls the camera out of its socket (which is easy to do and when you have mates like mine, highly probable) the program shuts down and you have to start it up again. I reckon there should be a clip on it to lock the camera in place so dickheads like Kenny can’t tamper with it.
It’s about now that I feel like everyone is watching me. I just pretend that I’m the pilot of a space ship and I’m taking the class to Andomeda Galaxy. I like to use the keyboard controls instead of the mouse. It impresses my mates and it’s faster for someone who doesn’t see all that well. I have noticed that the image is upside down. That scared me at first but pressing ‘M’ will flip the image for me. Sic, eh! I put the teacher up side down sometimes and she looks real dorky. The class laughs but the teacher doesn’t know why. That’s cool.
So far I have used it to see what the teacher writes on the whiteboard (but it doesn’t improve her handwriting), taking snapshots of the board and selling them to my mates, looking at the charts and maps on the wall, getting a close look at the paintings in art (especially the naughty bits), and perving on Judy Smith who’s really good looking. I can zoom in and out to get things closer and there are a few things I can do to make the picture better. I like the real colour for most stuff but occasionally I use the black on white or white on black for writing. It’s good for close-up stuff as well. I can enlarge pages from my textbook (although I have most of them on CD now), read maps, write on worksheets, look at bugs and gooey stuff in science and even see the muck under my nails. Kenny put his head under it yesterday and I could see his ear wax. Gruesome. There’s a light on the camera and I tried to see his brains. The teacher says he doesn’t have any. I think she’s right. You don’t have to focus or anything: it does that automatically. (My English teacher says I should find a place to use a colon and semi-colon; so there).
I’ve been using the Clearnote for 2 weeks now and I’m getting used to it. It helps with the whiteboard and worksheets most but the other stuff is useful as well. I’m still looking for an easy way to carry all my stuff. The ISA is a hundred and ten and won’t last the week so I had better get on with it.
I wrote this because I had to but I enjoyed trying out the Clearnote. If there is anything else you want me to try, like a 20” reflector telescope or something, just sent it to me.
Nigel Kumski, Grade 9
Source: Australian BrailleNote Update, June 2006
Two e-book websites will offer free access to a third of a million volumes next month. Electronic book devotees may want to set aside some extra reading time, as two nonprofits are preparing to provide free access to 300,000 texts online. Project Gutenberg and World eBook Library plan to make a third of a million e-books available free for a month at the first World eBook Fair. Downloads will be available at the fair's Web site from July 4, the 35th anniversary of Project Gutenberg’s founding, to August 4.
The majority of the books will be contributed by the World eBook Library. It otherwise charges USD$8.95 a year for access to its database of more than 250,000 e-books, documents and articles.
But the book fair will not be the last chance for e-bookworms to devour works
ranging from “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” to “Old Indian
Legends”, not to mention dictionaries and thesauruses, without paying
for them.
The partners are on track with plans to make 1 million books available for the
annual fair’s one-month run in 2009, with more appearing in subsequent
years.
About 100,000 will be permanently available at the handful of Project Gutenberg
sites on the Internet.
The Gutenberg books, typed and scanned into computers by thousands of volunteers,
mostly are those that are no longer protected by copyright. They include fiction,
non-fiction and reference books and will soon be available for worldwide readers
in about 100 languages.
The sites for downloading are:
http://gutenberg.org
http://worldebookfair.com
Excerpt from article by Geoff Adams-Spink, BBC News website, 6 June 2006
A new device that will make internet content available to blind people without the need for computer skills is to be launched in a few months’ time. The SpeakOn gadget has been developed by Chris Mairs, a blind entrepreneur who has founded an assistive technology charity called A-Technic. The device will be able to access MP3 music files, radio stations, podcasts and website content normally available only as text, like online newspapers.
The device is being specifically designed for visually impaired people who are, in Mr Mairs' words, “technologically frail”. The SpeakOn will have a simple keypad with about 12 keys, each of which will be easily distinguishable. These would be used to navigate up, down and through lists.
Source: Online Newsletter, December 2005 by Tom Macmahon
SoundsGood.com is a new source for audio books, newspapers and broadcasts.
Buyers can purchase individual items or an annual subscription for $19.95 which
allows two downloads per month plus two free books, and some free titles are
available.
Title categories include: Biography, Business & Money, Children, Classic
Radio, Entertainment, Fiction, Humor, Mystery & Crime, Nonfiction, Parenting
& Family, Religion, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Self-Improvement and
Travel
www.soundsgood.com/
You may also enjoy a visit to the Online Books Page which lists over 25,000
free books on the Web and which, among many other digital books, contains some
which are only available for download in Australia.
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
For those into the world of MP3 and podcasting, Librivox is a site where volunteers
read public-domain books aloud with the resulting audio books being available
for free download:
http://librivox.org/
Goalball One on One is a new game from the Audio Network which costs $25 US,
21.55 Euros or 14.99 pounds. An audio demonstration is available at www.yrguk.com/disk/welcome.htm
RealPlayer must be installed so that information and the demo can be heard.
It sounds like a lot of fun, especially for those who may have played the real
game of goalball. For more information write to Bill at: bill@yrguk.com
VIPgameszone.com Games for the blind and visually impaired is a ‘… site … owned by Igor Khmelevtsov, who is blind and Alina Khmelevtsov. From our site you can download free games and demo versions of programs for blinds and visually impaired people. You can play our games without special software and hardware.’ Currently available are:
Blindgamers is a page devoted to card-type games specifically designed for
vision-impaired and blind players. Offerings include their latest, BG Hearts,
BG Cribbage, Free Cell Solitaire, Klondike Solitaire, Scorpion Solitaire and
Penguin Solitaire, with other games under development.
www.omninet.net.au/~irhumph/blindgamers.htm#LIST
Talking versions of Yahtzee, Blackjack, Solitaire and Connect 4 are also available
from a UK developer either on separate CDs (£20/US$35), as a package of
four (£60/US$105) or all on one CD (£50/US$90). They run from CD,
not requiring installation, and are self-voiced, so require no screen reader
or speech engine.
www.azabat.co.uk/
Vision Australia Presents “Movie Magic” – a day at the movies
for all
What: “Mrs Caldicott’s Cabbage War” accompanied by full audio
Where: Kooyong
When: Wednesday 23rd August 11am till 2pm
Cost: $10 which includes morning tea plus BBQ Lunch
For further information and to book seats contact Di Hayward tel (03) 8872 7000
or email Diana.Hayward@visionaustralia.org.au
Jeni Blake would like to invite Space Campers old and new to three events on the one night - Friday 14th July
Where: Eumemmerring Secondary College (Endeavour Hills Campus) Melways reference 91 A5
For more information call Jeni on 0428 134660.
Source: email from Joanna Harrison, Communication Advisor, LIFEGift – Victorian Organ Donation Service. Australian Red Cross Blood Service
The Australian Government invites all secondary school students in Years 7-12 to enter a national poetry competition to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation in Australia. Students are encouraged to write a poem - 300 words or less - about organ and tissue donation and transplantation in Australia. The poem will be used as part of ongoing promotion of organ donation across Australia and displayed nationally and the National winner will take home $2,500 for their school!
For further details, contact Joanna Harrison from LIFEGift - the Victorian
Organ Donation Service - on (03) 9349 4193 or jharrison@arcbs.redcross.org.au
or go to:
www.health.gov.au/internet/wcms/publishing.nsf/Content/health-organ-comp.htm
The ‘Poetry Institute of Australia’ are holding their second poetry competition open to unpublished poets in two sections – 12 years and under / 13 to 18 years.
Any subject or style is acceptable and there is no entry fee.
Closing date is 30th September 2006
For further information to to: www.poetryinstitute.com
Post entries to: Poetry Institute of Australia, PO Box 1545 Cleveland Qld 4163
or email poetry@dodo.com.au
Excerpt from: BCA News, June 2006
This Q&A is only a guide (last updated May 2006). BCA recommends that you contact Centrelink on the numbers contained in this Q&A document to ensure that the information has not changed.
1. What does the DSP Blind entitle a person who is blind or vision
impaired to?
Assets and Means tested free pension i.e. A persons income or assets will not
affect the pension amount. Pension amounts.
Maximum Rate Per Fortnight of Disability Support Pension (under 21, no children)
Single, under 18, at home = $277.90
Single, under 18, independent = $429.40
Single, 18-20 years, at home = $315.00
Single, 18-20 years, not at home = $429.40
Member of a Couple, under 18 years = $408.20
Member of a Couple, 18-20 years = $408.20
Maximum Rate Per Fortnight of Disability Support Pension (over 21, or under
21 with children)
Single = $488.90*
Couple = $408.20* (each)
For the latest rates call Centrelink: 13 2717
2. What are the eligibility criteria?
Federal Department of Family and Community Affairs: Guide to Social Security
Law
“1.P.210 Permanent blindness (DSP, Age)
Definition
When determining permanent blindness for the purposes of DSP or Age, the following
guidelines are applied: visual acuity (1.1.V.50) on the Snellen Scale after
correction by suitable lenses must be less than 6/60 in both eyes, or constriction
to within 10 degrees of fixation in the better eye irrespective of corrected
visual acuity, or a combination of visual defects resulting in the same degree
of visual impairment as that occurring in the above points.”
3. Are there any mandatory search for work obligations for DSP Blind
recipients under the Welfare to Work legislation introduced by the Howard Government?
Brief description of answer: NO. The DSP Blind, unlike other Disability pensions,
was not affected by the Welfare to Work changes which have attached mandatory
work participation tests to non-blind standard DSP. The 2005-2006 federal budget
[Delivered 11 May 2005] introduced considerable change to the welfare system.
These welfare to work changes included imposing participation criteria and new
eligibility rules for current and future recipients of the Disability Support
Pension (DSP). These rules include persons able to work part time (15 hours
or more) will no longer be able to get the Disability Support Pension but instead
will be moved onto Newstart Allowance. Fortunately, these rules of eligibility
and criteria were not applicable to the DSP (Blind) for both current recipients
and new applicants to the DSP (Blind) after 1 July 2006. The status of DSP (Blind)
including its means and asset test free status did not change under the budget
reforms.
Further welfare to work changes were made by the Federal Government under the
Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and
other Measures) Act 2005, which was passed in early December last year. Because
the work criteria measures that were placed on the DSP in the first instance
under the budget welfare to work reforms were not applicable to the DSP (Blind),
these modifications introduced under Amendment (Welfare to Work and other Measures)
Act 2005 will not affect current or future recipients of the DSP (Blind).
From Marion Blazé, Education Officer, Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Sharing some rare social time with some VTs recently, I was struck by the amount of joy and humour people find in doing our work. We shed tears of laughter at some of the true stories and thought we should share them with you:
The following responses were given by Visiting Teachers at their conference in June 2006 as ways that they demonstrate each of the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PoLT)
PoLT Principle 1: the learning environment is supportive and productive
PoLT Principle 2: the learning environment promotes independence, interdependence and self motivation
PoLT Principle 3: sudents’ needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests are reflected in the program
PoLT Principle 4: students are challenged and supported to develop deep levels of thinking and application
PoLT Principle 5: assessment practices are an integral part of teaching and learning
PoLT Principle 6: learning connects strongly with communities and practice beyond the classroom
Thanks to Tom Dinning, Frances Gentle, Lyn Robinson and Renee Williamson for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to my fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).