The Bulletin
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 10 Friday 21st June 2002
The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Phillip McKenna and Deb Lewis (Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
Inside This Issue
- Professional Development 2002
- Circus Skills Day
- Typequick Typing Course
- Checklist for Beginning Braille Skills
- Big Nights Out
- Radio for the Print Handicapped
- Telephone Assistance
- Resources - Teaching Blind and Low Vision Students
- Article Review: Independent Living Skills
- Visit to American Printing House for the Blind - by Janie McLeod
- Tactual Graphics
SVRC Professional Development 2002
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Term
|
PD Event
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Date
|
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2
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ZoomText Morning | Tuesday 25 June |
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3
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Mountbatten Day | Thursday 25 July |
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2
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JAWS for Beginners Morning | Monday 29 July |
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3
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Visiting Teacher PD Day | Monday 12 August |
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3
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O&M Monrning | Tuesday 10 September |
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4
|
SPEVI Combined Agencies Day | Monday 7 October |
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4
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Mountbatten Day | Tuesday 26 November |
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4
|
SVRC Mini EXPO | Friday 6 December |
Please see Bulletin 7 and 8 for programs and further information
regarding the upcoming SVRC professional development activities including:
ZoomText Morning - 25th June
Mountbatten Day - 25th July
JAWS Refresher for Beginners - 29th July
These days are open to all comers - DE&T VTs, school personnel and staff from other agencies. Please call 9841 0242 to register or if you require further information.
Circus Skills Day - Monday 5th August
Just a quick reminder for students interested in Circus Skills Day. Information was included with Bulletin 7, 2002. If you have any questions or need further information, please call 9841 0242. Activities will include double balance, stilts and aerials!
Space Camp 2002 - Assistance Required
The hard-working Jeni Blake needs some assistance for a few hours on the 13th of July. Jeni has organised a sausage sizzle on that day to raise money for Space Camp and any offers of help with this would be greatly appreciated. Call her on 0428 134660.
Typequick Typing Course
This typing program is available through the Software Rolling Fund-Victorian Government Schools and TAFEs. It costs approximately $88.00 per computer.
Checklist for Beginning Braille Skills
More information for encouraging braille literacy can be found on the SVRC website at http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/emergentbrl.html/.
- Tracks smoothly across 5-8 lines of double spaced braille
- Locates braille symbol that is different in a line of braille cells
- Locates braille symbol that is the same in line of braille cells
- Discriminates two braille cells to determine if they are different or the
same
- Matches and sorts braille symbols e.g. letters, numbers, own name
- Can reproduce a braille cell on the brailler
- Attempts to 'read' or follow braille lines when being read a story
Other fun things to do
- Learn braille yourself
- Have a braille awareness week at the school. Play braille decoding games,
learn about Louis Braille - call the SVRC for a class handout.
- Ask an experienced braille reader to the school to demonstrate and talk
about braille
Guide Dogs Victoria - Big Nights Out
From Linden Woodruff, Guide Dogs Victoria
Just to let you know of a program we are running this Thursday and to advertise the "Big Night Out". Following on from the successful "Girls Night Out" held in May, we are holding a "Boys Night Out" on Thursday 20th of June. This 4-hour program is designed to give students the skills to confidently explore and move around the city after dark in a group setting.
At the beginning of the night, the group gets together to discuss and identify places of interest in the city to explore. They are required to problem solve as a group about how to move around the city, including safe streets for walking and use of public transport. Generally, the night may involve getting to know the shopping areas in Bourke St Mall and city arcades, cinema centres, catching public transport, and dinner at a restaurant.
We are planning a "Big Night Out" on Thursday 8th of August which will be open to young men and women. If you are interested in attending and/or want to explore moving around at night individually, please contact Dean Johnson on 9854 4506.
RPH Radio for the Print Handicapped
RPH is the use of radio to assist people unable to read print. The Melbourne station has the equivalent strength of commercial AM stations and can be heard throughout Melbourne and the outlying areas on 1179AM. A copy of the program is included in the print edition of The Bulletin.
Telephone Directory Assistance
Telephone directory assistance for the vision impaired can be obtained at no cost by dialling 1223. As opposed to a fee of 25 cents if you dial the usual number which is 12455.
Useful Teaching Resources
Betty Edelstein recommends Teaching Students - Visual & Multiple Impairment published by Texas School for the Blind. This publication can be ordered from them. The address is 1100 West 45th Street Austin Texas 78756-3494. Contact person is Silas Dorn at 512-206-9121
The Oregon Project is a resource booklet which is available at the S.V.R.C. for Visiting Teachers. It contains activity and assessment material for visually impaired and blind children. A copy of the contents page is included in the print edition of The Bulletin.
Article Review by Lea Nagel
The full version of this article can be found in the JVIB, May 2002 (Volume 96, Number 5).
A Comparison of the Independent Living Skills of Primary Students with Visual Impairments and Their Sighted Peers: A Pilot Study
Sandra Lewis and Sandra A. Iselin
"Abstract: The parents of children with visual impairments and the parents of their same-age sighted peers were interviewed to determine their children's mastery of 101 daily living skills. As a whole, the children with visual impairments performed only 44% of the tasks independently, while the sighted children performed 84% of them independently."
The opening paragraph made some points that I found highly relevant to the students whom Visiting Teachers support, so I have included it in full:
"The development of independent living skills has lifelong consequences. Individuals who have competent social and daily living skills are better integrated in the community and have larger social networks (DeMario, 1990). Employers value employees who are effective communicators, get along well with others, are dependable, complete tasks, have a positive attitude, use good orientation and mobility skills, and have a wide range of independent living skills (Bina, 1991; DeMario, 1990; Rettig, 1994). The lack of skills in these areas is related to the underemployment or unemployment of adults with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision) (DeLaGarza & Erin, 1993).The acquisition of daily living skills has been identified as one of the key areas of the expanded core curriculum for students with visual impairments (Hatlen, 1996). According to Hazekamp and Huebner (1989), the following skills are included in this category: personal hygiene, dressing, care of clothing, housekeeping, food preparation, eating skills, managing money, social communication, using a telephone, written communication, time, and organization."
The authors of the study compared a group of 10 sighted children who ranged in age from 6 to 9 years, with a group of 10 children with vision impairments who were aged between 7 and 9 years, half of whom had additional impairments including developmental delay. Details are listed in the article and accompanying tables showing the discrepancies between skills mastered by children with vision impairments and their sighted peers, for example:
"The parents of four or more children with visual impairments reported that even with assistance, their children were not able to apply toothpaste, fill a bathtub with water, dry hair with a towel, use a hair dryer, use an alarm clock or watch, and apply a Band-Aid to cuts....In the area of kitchen skills, some of the most impressive differences were revealed ... All 10 sighted children, but only 1 visually impaired child (from the residential school), could independently spread with a knife, and 9 sighted children, but only 2 visually impaired children, could cut with a knife."
This article highlights the importance of teaching and developing independent living skills both in the home and in the formal educational setting.
JVIB: May 2002
The following articles appeared in the May edition of JVIB:
- Teachers of students with visual impairments: What are they
teaching?
- Literacy for students with low vision: A framework for delivering instruction
- An initial study of reading and comprehension rates for students who received
optical devices
Visit to the American Printing House for the Blind, Kentucky, USA
By Janie McLeod. May, 2002.
A blind man from Mississippi, Dempsey Sherrod, suggested the idea of a printing house for books for blind people in the US in the early 1860s. Louisville in Kentucky was selected as the site because of its central location. Private citizens donated funds for a printing press and the first printing house was set up in the basement of the Kentucky School for the Blind. The Civil War intervened and it was not until 1866 that the first book, "Fables and Tales for Children" was produced, embossed in a raised Roman letter type (as this article is printed in). This style was used until 1893 when the first braille books were produced.
Because printing books in raised letters could never be commercially successful, federal funding was sought. In 1879 "An Act to Promote the Education of the Blind" designated the American Printing House for the Blind as the official source of educational texts and aids for legally blind students- a mandate that continues to the present. On my recent long service leave I was fortunate to visit the Printing House. It has free tours twice daily so I was able to see the machinery in operation and visit the museum which is in the same building.
In 1883 the trustees bought land next to the school and the building was expanded many times to house the growing production. It is now 282,000 square feet and houses more than 300 employees. Proofreaders work in pairs to check the masters before the metal plates of braille are made . Expensive embossers which include soundproofing print the large quantities of braille pages without ruining the workers' hearing. Publication of the braille edition of the Reader's Digest began in 1928 and it is still available free of charge nationwide. Newsweek magazine is also produced regularly. The largest braille project ever undertaken was the 145 volume braille edition of the World Book Encyclopedia.
The first computerized braille translation was done in 1964 for which IBM donated a $US2 million 709 computer. By 1987 almost all braille production was completely computerized. A clam shell hand-operated press using damp paper produces text books and a rotary press is used for short life materials such as the Reader's Digest. Everything is collated by hand to protect the dots then a machine staples the cover on. It was fascinating to see the machinery they use to individually make braille book covers from cardboard.
In 1936 the production of talking books began using records.
Cassette tapes were first used in 1973 and the World Book Encyclopedia was
taped in 1981. Today over 2 million tapes are produced annually by APH and
the huge rolls of tape run off one two-sided tape in ten seconds. Professionals
such as actors are used for all reading and they work in pairs with a technical
assistant sitting in another room who advises through headphones when a passage
needs to be repeated and monitors any problems. 30 narrators are used and
there are 12 recording rooms. They are currently changing from analogue to
digital recording. The Library of Congress has a Select Committee which decides
on the books to be read and it pays the APH to produce the taped books.
Large type books began production in 1948. Vacuum forming is used to make
raised pictures after the picture is traced onto a thick foil using a heavy
duty sewing machine and plastic copies are then made from the master sheet.
Useful equipment for people with vision problems is also made on the premises. Researchers make prototypes of teaching aids such as the Tactile Diagramming Kit, used for O and M training, then do field checks to discover any problems. Only then is the product included in the catalogue for sale to the public.
There are 4 printing house in US and the APH is the largest. It contracts out to other companies if they have a backlog of orders. It is funded by private donations and some Government funds. There is a wonderful museum in the same building so don't miss reading about it in the next Bulletin!
Tactual Graphics
Information on editing graphics for the blind can be found on the following internet site http://www.stanford.edu/~spima/grb10.html
Online Sex Education Resource
Web sites that can be used as a resource for sex education for the visually impaired can be found at the SVRC website- www.svrc.vic.edu.au/. This information was recently presented at a VT PD day by Meredith Walsh.
EASE: Cheap Tickets for Circus Oz
As a member of EASE, we can access cheap tickets for Circus
Oz! The Melbourne 2002 season of "Circus Oz", at the Melbourne Town
Hall will be running until 14 July.
Ease Price Adults $27,
Children under 16 years $17
Regular price Adults $41, concession $31, Children $21
Shows are as follows: - Wednesday - Saturday 7:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays
2 pm. Matinees Wednesday 3 July & 10 July at 2 pm.
Running time: 90 minutes, no interval.
This is a substantial discount, so don't miss out. Contact EASE to make bookings
for this fantastic, exciting show.
EASE Ticket Service
Arts Access
24 Eastern Road
South Melbourne Vic 3205
Ph :03 9699 8497 TTY:03 9699 7636 Fax: 03 9699 8868
Happy Holidays to All!
We here at the Statewide Vision Resource Centre wish you a happy, safe and relaxing holiday - see you next term!
If you have something you would like included in The Bulletin, contact:
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).