The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
The SVRC PD program for the remainder of 2004 appears below. For the complete list of activities for 2004 go to: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/PD2004.html
All activities are open to subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, careers teachers, therapists, parents, VTs, students etc. Please remember to register: tel (03) 9841 0242, fax (03) 9841 0878 or email svrc@svrc.vic.edu.au
Professional Development Event |
Date |
| Workshop: Mimio 10am-12 noon | Wednesday 23 June |
| O&M Morning | Tuesday 20 July |
| Mountbatten Workshop (‘Users’) 10am-12.30pm - BYO MB | Friday 23 July |
| Window Eyes Workshop 9.30-12.30pm - BYO laptop | Monday 2 August |
| Visiting Teacher Day | Tuesday 10 August |
| JAWS Workshop 10am-12 noon - BYO laptop | Thursday 19 August |
| MAGic Workshop 10am-12 noon - BYO laptop | Tuesday 7 September |
| O&M Morning | Wednesday 20 October |
| Mountbatten Workshop (Beginners) 10am-12.30pm - BYO MB | Monday 15 November |
| Technology EXPO | Thursday 2 December |
Hot water problems not withstanding, we had another FANTASTIC day on 4th June with most of our metropolitan VTs attending. Due to staffing challenges currently in place at the SVRC, Carolyn Mentiplay kindly planned and organised the day – Thanks A KZillion for her efforts!!!
Hector Maclean and Ben Schmidt’s sessions are available on audio tape and hopefully, we’ll have a summary of these sessions at some stage.
Jeni Blake currently is making arrangements for four students to travel to Space Camp this year – the students are:
Jeni is still keen to hear from other interested students – so:
People with vision impairments and their families and friends can take the opportunity of incredibly cheap accommodation on the beautiful and exciting Mt Baw Baw, staying at the RVIB Ski Lodge…
Mount Baw Baw is 130 km (approximately 2½ to 3 hours) from Melbourne and 1,564 metres above sea level. There are 30 hectares of skiing terrain, with areas suitable for downhill skiing and snow boarding. There are five ski lifts (2 platters and 3 t-bars). For cross country enthusiasts, there are 10km of sheltered, well-marked, groomed trails with access, for experienced skiers, to the Mount Baw Baw Plateau. There are two snow play areas including the Frantic Frog Supertube park run. There is a hotel and two cafes.
The webpage has recently been updated by Gloria Ng from the Statewide Vision Resource Centre – so you can now plan your family trip to Mt Baw Baw for this ski season.
Get out your diary and go to: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/BawBaw.htm
When: Saturday 26th June 2004
Time: 9.30 am to 12 noon
Where: Albert Park Lake commencing and finishing at Swan Picnic
area
Registration: All registrations must be received in the Blind
Sports Office by Thursday 24th June 2004 at the latest - no registrations will
be accepted on the day of the event
Cost: Gold Coin (to be paid on the day) - do not send with
registration
Transport: Tram route No. 112 from Collins Street- alight at
Cnr Clarendon Street and Albert Road
Registration forms: (available from the Blind Sports Office)
should be completed and returned to Blind Sports Victoria - only registered
participants will be eligible for various spot and novelty prizes.
After completion of Walk or Run there will be a sausage sizzle – a small cost will apply – soft drinks/cordial will be provided free of charge.
Anyone requiring volunteer assistance to participate in this event please contact Blind Sports Office and we will endeavour to arrange a helper.
Enquiries and registrations: Blind Sports Office – Joan Munro on (03)
9822 8876 or Hazel Hockley on (03) 9561-6331
All proceeds from this event will go towards promoting sport for blind and vision
impaired people.
When: Saturday 26th June
Time: 2:00pm
Place: Statewide Vision Resource Centre, 370-380 Springvale
Rd Nunawading
Speaker: Geoff Bowen, psychologist for the Education Vision
Assessment Clinic
Topic: The impact on siblings of having a brother or a sister
with a vision impairment When: Saturday 23rd October
When: Saturday 23rd October
Time: 2:00pm
Place: Statewide Vision Resource Centre, 370-380 Springvale
Rd Nunawading
Speaker: Erin Shale, careers teacher at Balwyn High School
Topic: Beyond high school
Babysitters and afternoon tea will be provided.
Visiting Teachers please encourage your parents to attend, it is a wonderful opportunity for both the kids and the families to get together and just talk.
Any enquiries: Annette Godfrey-Magee 9841 0807
Guide Dogs Victoria are conducting a “Road Safety O&M morning” on Thursday 22nd of July. This program is designed to give Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students the chance to learn about road safety and road crossing skills and to build confidence with their Orientation and Mobility (O&M).
The group will be meeting at McDonalds in Brunswick at 9.30am. The address is cnr of Albion St and Holmes St (Melways ref 29 K5). This location is central to the students who have been invited to this morning. The morning will conclude with lunch at McDonalds at 1pm.
Working with an O&M instructor, each student will complete activities designed to increase their understanding of road safety and basic road crossing skills as well as general safety for travelling in the community.
If you are interested in coming please reply to Rachel Morgan by Friday 16 July 2004. Forms must be completed for each child before the program. For further enquiries or to register, please contact Rachel Morgan: tel 9854 4469, 0408 173 331 or email rachel.m@guidedogs.asn.au
Source: http://www.rbf.org.au
Each year Royal Blind Foundation Queensland sponsors a competition to encourage and recognize the literary excellence of writers who are blind or vision impaired. Winning entries demonstrating originality in short story, essay and poetry will be published on the website. The eight categories (listed below) each have a $300 first prize and $100 second prize:
Post: Royal Blind Foundation, PO Box 6091, Fairfield Gardens
Qld 4103
Email: hacc@rbf.org.au
Deliver: Royal Blind Foundation, Kent Street, Woolloongabba,
Brisbane
Magazines, newspapers, schools and other agencies who support or work with blind and vision impaired people are invited to publish details of this competition and to encourage their members to enter.
If you have any further enquiries please contact Eva-Marie Seeto: (07) 3391 9191 or email hacc@rbf.org.au
Disclaimer: Royal Blind Foundation Queensland assumes no responsibility for lost, misdirected, stolen entries, or printing errors in the final publication. All physical entries become the property of Royal Blind Foundation Queensland but will not infringe on the copyrights of the applicants. Entries will be rejected if they do not meet eligibility criteria.
Thanks for this information to our some-time correspondent, Peggy!
Audio Network is a website designed for blind and partially sighted people. It utilises audio web pages, controlled by standard keyboard navigation and needs no adaptive technology to be accessible by blind and partially sighted users. The site is free and there is no cost involved whatsoever. You will find over 50 different trivia quizzes, puzzles, and games, ranging from snakes and ladders, baseball, and an evening at the greyhound races, through to straight trivia quizzes such as Frustration, Minefield, and who wants to win a million points. There is also an extensive range of music quizzes, and a difficult maze to work your way around (avoiding the trap doors of course!). The quizzes are fun for all ages, educational, and informative.
There is also a daily selection of puzzles, ranging from crosswords to geography, through national anthems, and even a "spot the liar" competition. There are also:
Go to: www.yrguk.com
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, May 2004
The vision impaired travel passes are issued on a five-year basis. The latest five-year period expired on 30 June 2002. Currently there are over 2,000 vision impaired passes that have still not been updated since 30 June 2002. Passes dated 30 June 2002 will no longer be eligible for travel on public transport beyond 30 June 2004, and pass holders may be subject to a fine after this date. The process for renewing passes can be done in two ways:
Central Pass Office (Monday to Friday 8.30 am - 5.00 pm)
Ground Floor, Transport House
589 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Tel: (03) 9619 1159
You will need to take your expired pass and have a recent coloured passport
size photograph, no older than 3 months, or pay $6.60 for the Central Pass Office
to take the photograph in the office.
Send in your expired pass and a recent coloured passport size photograph, no
older than 3 months, and a stamp-addressed envelope. Also provide your telephone
contact details.
Post to:
Central Pass Office
151 Spencer Street
Melbourne 3000
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, May 2004
RVIB runs an Adaptive Technology Helpdesk where clients receive over the phone technical assistance with any adaptive technology related problems. Most problems are resolved during the call. If the Helpdesk is unable to solve the problem, the service will call back as soon as possible or generate a referral to an Adaptive Technology Consultant for on-site support.
Phone (03) 9520 5555 or toll free 1800 458 555 and ask for the Helpdesk or email: athelp@rvib.org.au
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, May 2004
RVIB invite all Victorian students to answer The RAVE Challenge. RAVE stands for Real Aids that are Vision Empowering. The Rave Challenge encourages students to explore the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired and design creative and innovative aids to assist them with daily activities.
Students will have the option of entering one of two divisions. Division One entrants will be required to complete the research and concept development phases and Division Two entrants will need to complete all phases of Division One as well as construct and test a prototype.
Entries will need to be submitted by 5:00pm on Friday, 20 August 2004 and winning entries will be announced at a presentation ceremony during RVIB or Sight Week in September. Go to: http://www.rvib.org.au/eventscal/rave/rave.shtml
Source: RVIB Client Newsletter & Group Programs, May 2004
Each year RVIB presents Further Education Bursary Awards to a number of students entering or continuing tertiary studies. The Bursaries are designed to assist with the costs of adaptive equipment necessary to achieve equality within the learning environment. Past bursary winners have gone on to achieve excellence in a broad range of fields and have proved that blindness and vision impairment is no barrier to success. The following students (and there are some very familiar names in the list) received Bursaries in 2004:
The information below is a correction of some information that appeared in issue 8 of The Bulletin this year:
You don’t need sight to make dinner tonight! Here it is! The list for people who want to be cooks. It doesn't matter if you are a gourmet chef or just learning to boil water, this list is perfect for you.
To join send a blank e-mail to: Cookinginthedark-subscribe@acbradio.org – this is apparently the correct email address - thanks!!!
Article by Faye Squires, DE&T Visiting Teacher – Vision Shepparton Office
Editor’s note: Faye and her husband Rod gave up their Easter fortnight term break to travel to Kiribati, a tiny island on the equator in the Pacific. There they met up with Cathy West (Visiting Teacher – Vision, New Zealand) and Michael (Orientation & Mobility instructor, New Zealand) and embarked upon an amazing personal and professional experience.
Since participating in the SPEVI international conference in Queensland, nearly 18 months ago, a professional friendship has flourished between teachers of vision impaired students based in Kiribati, New Zealand and myself in Australia. This resulted in an invitation from Kinoia Boutabi to visit the School for the Disabled in Kiribus
After much saving up, my husband, Rod and myself set off for Kiribati these last term holidays. We arrived in Tarawa on the Monday, launching straight into work.
We discovered that the school proper had categorized and then grouped the children into their respective conditions. That is, hearing, vision, intellectual and physical impairments. Each classroom housed children in one category only. There were about 80 children attending the school at one time or another although attendance of children with disabilities at school is not mandatory. I counted about 22 students in the classroom for vision impaired.
The bulk of each day we spent teaching students who were either totally blind or severely vision impaired as well as training teachers in management strategies and general know-how revolving around the daily lives of a non-sighted person. Sadly there were no teacher references on the education of students with vision impairment that we could find nor were there brailled books for pleasure or information for the students.
Over the Easter weekend, we visited two homes of students who had dropped out of the system. Both children were considered to be blind although we believed one had a small amount of vision in one eye that had not previously been detected.
As trained teachers of students with vision impairment, Cathy West and I found it difficult to come to terms with the lack of opportunity for professional training for the Kiribati teachers of the vision impaired. The significant under resourcing of teaching and learning equipment for these students was so apparent in Kiribati that it was hard to know where to start to make our visit practical and worthwhile. We were both shocked to see the few scarce resources locked away in cupboards that were neatly labelled with the name of the honoured donor. But then, of what use is all the learning material in the world without the educational philosophy and “know how” to create a stimulating learning environment for these students.
I left the school with the promise of a considerable amount of homework and feedback to flow back to the folk at the School for the Disabled in Kiribati. Progress has been made on their behalf already. Two big boxes of teaching materials, books produced by the Goulburn Valley Grammar School students in which I had brailled the stories and a donated brailler along with miscellaneous other teaching and fun items have been sent.
After our experiences on Kiribati, Cathy (Visiting Teacher) and Michael (Orientation and Mobility Instructor), both from New Zealand and myself are committed to improving the lot of the students and teachers at the School for Disabled Children now and in the future.
Note: Organizations such as the Freemasons Taskforce Groups (Shepparton) and Quantum Technology (Melbourne) have been approached and agreed to supply two “Jot-a-dots”, light and portable braillers for which I am very grateful.
On a school ski trip last year, one blind student had to take her gloves off complaining, “Because I can’t see the snow!”
Thanks to Janie McLeod, Lea Nagel and Carolyn Mentiplay for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to fabulous proof-reader Dianne Skillern.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).