Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 13, Friday 20th August 1999
Inside This Issue
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Spectronics Workshop with the President of IntelliTools at Vermont South Special School. Call Gerry on 9894 4936. | 25 August
1-2.30pm |
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Successful and Effective Physical Education Programs for Children who are Blind and Vision Impaired within Mainstream Schools presented by Betty Edelstein and Uli Pfisterer at Mt Eliza PS. See Bulletin 11 for details. | 25 August
9am – 1pm |
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Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day (flier with Bulletin 11) | 27 August |
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SPEVI Combined Agencies Network Day - St Paul’s | 4 October |
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Access Expo – Disability & Aged Care
Solutions
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton. Details next Bulletin. |
21-23 October |
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Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day | 29 November |
SPEVI Meeting Report (and a plug for J:SPEVI)
Another successful Victorian SPEVI event – Melbourne is just where it all happens! The evening, held at the Statewide Vision Resource Centre, was introduced by a glass/cupper and nibble and Gillian Gale who is encouraging us all to submit articles for the very first issue of the Journal of the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment. As the Call for Papers indicates: ‘This new journal will present essays, quantitative and qualitative research articles and analyses, conceptual papers, comprehensive reviews, case studies, policy analyses and innovative practice descriptions and evaluations on a wide variety of issues and topics related to the education of children, youth and adults in the South Pacific region who are blind or have vision impairments.’ The complete Call for Papers document is attached.
Paediatric ophthalmologist, Dr James Elder then held forth for the next hour, answering prepared questions and questions from the floor. Topics ranged from the latest information on Glaucoma to the treatment of retinal tearing and the effects of medication on vision. He had a wealth of information and is a very engaging speaker. He kindly allowed us to audio-tape his talk – and even turned the tape over when it rudely clicked at him! A copy of the tape is available on loan by calling Deb Lewis on (03) 9841 0242.
We are all encouraged to become paid up members of our professional organisation – SPEVI. It is a bargain at $60 for two years and is tax deductible! See attached for an application form.
Space Camp ‘99
The countdown continues – four weeks to our flight out.
We have been lucky to secure funding from a number of sources. First to come in was a donation from Guide Dog Association of Victoria, a provider of residential services for children with vision impairment. CEO, Brian Ritter has indicated that ‘due to the nature of the project and the excellent results achieved by these types of programs ($1000 has been allocated) to assist with this important work’. We are grateful to Guide Dog Association of Victoria for their support.
We are well on the way to selling our 20 boxes of chocolates and raising $500. So far, braille transcriber Maria Elford, has been our star seller – between her husband, children and friends, most of 10 boxes have been sold! Feel free to buy chocolates when you are next in or take a box out to your schools, friends or family.
Jeni Blake has been hard at it with Kristen and his three younger sisters, raising money through a sausage sizzles in Shannon Mall, Frankston. She tells me it is tiring work and a little breezy. They raised over $170 on the first of seven planned sizzles! If you are in the area on a Sunday, do drop in!
Young Adults Exploring Guide Dog Mobility 20 - 24 September 1999
Kaye Jones sent the following information to me recently:
Are you 15 - 21 years of age, developing Orientation & Mobility Skills and have an interest in learning more about the benefits and demands of Guide Dog mobility? Spend the week living in the Training Centre and working with a trained guide dog allocated to you for the week. This hands-on program is held during the school holidays and provides an opportunity to realistically explore the demands and rewards of Guide Dog mobility.
Julie Resigns from RVIB
I don’t usually do this type of thing in the Bulletin but I feel I must mention that the head braille transcriber of RVIB, Julie, will be leaving in the next couple of weeks. She has also resigned from the Australian Braille Authority. She writes: ‘I will miss my involvement with the ABA and the people I have met. I hope that the future changes to the braille code will bring together and strengthen the braille users throughout Australia.’ Julie is an incredibly skilled braille transcriber who has always been willing to share her knowledge. She has also taken a very active role in all things ‘braille’ including chairing meetings, minute-taking and keeping us up to date with the latest. It will all be much more difficult without her around. The staff of the Statewide Vision Resource Centre wish her all the best in the future.
Superannunation – Tax Rebate
We have heard on the grapevine that you may be able to claim 7½% of your superannuation payments for the 1998-99 tax year. Talk to your tax consultant.
Woolly Pens from Quantum
Trevor Boyd of Quantum Technologies recently sent advance notice of
an invention that he says ‘will revolutionise tactile image production’.
The Woolly Pen Kit includes a folder, two pens, two needle/threaders, 2
spare skeins of wool, 3 pre-cut shapes with a velcro tab, 3 spare velcro
tabs and
instructions. The retail price for the Woolly Pen Kit in Australia
is $49. It will be available in Australia in about 5 weeks.
‘My Favourite Thing’ – SVRC Writing Competition
Submissions to the SVRC Writing Competition must be postmarked or received electronically by 30 November 1999. See Bulletin 12 for further details or call Deb Lewis on (03) 9841 0242.
From The Internet
Brisbane Suburbs Braille Directory
From Tom Macmahon, Adaptive Technology Services on 9th August 1999 at 2.27pm
You might be interested to know of the official launch last Thursday morning of the Brisbane Suburbs Braille Directory, produced by the Department of Natural Resources in conjunction with the Tactual Mapping Committee of Queensland.
The Directory takes the form of a slim, 19 page, A3 size, screen-printed volume. The production process finally adopted involved four screen swipes per page with a special ink in order to achieve the excellent depth and clarity of Braille dots and definition of features such as suburb boundaries, river, railway networks etc. It includes a locality Key Map of the full Brisbane City Council area (175 suburbs), a key and map for each of the four quadrants (e.g. suburbs South East of the River etc.), The Northern and Southern railway networks and the Brisbane City Streets or CBD. The main suburb maps have each suburb clearly defined and labelled with a distinctive two, occasionally three, letter Braille label.
Financial support from the Brisbane City Council to cover production costs has meant that copies can be made available to braille users on request at no charge. Anyone interested should contact Mrs Leona Kitson of the Queensland Braille Writing Association and Chairperson of the Tactual Mapping Committee, at:
Braille House
507 Ipswich Rd
Annerley, 4103
Pone 3848-5257
I wonder when we can expect a directory in Melbourne?!
RVIB Southern Region
The new offices of RVIB Southern Region will be officially opened shortly. Contact details areas follows:
RVIB Southern Region Office
69-71 Atherton Road
Oakleigh
Phone: (03) 9569 7255 Fax (03) 9569 7565
Requests for Building Modifications for Students with Disabilities and Impairments for the Year 2000
Requests must be in to Ian White, in Eastern Region, by 27th August 1999 – see EMR Fax Reference 181. Check your region for local details.
SD&I Funding for 2000
A circular from John Pascoe, Director of Schools was recently sent to
all principals and schools.
Here is an excerpt:
New applications
Applications for the Program for Students with Disabilities and Impairments
are now invited for students who will be attending Department of Education
regular and specialist schools in 2000.
Each school will soon be provided with one or more folders that include
a copy of the Handbook, Application Form, Program Support Group Guidelines,
Educational Planner and the Principal's Checklist. Additional copies of
the information included in the folders can be obtained through the Internet
at the following site: http://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/welfare/disabil.htm
The contents of the folder will guide schools and parents through the processes to follow in compiling an application. The closing date is Friday, 22 October 1999.
Completed applications are to be returned to:
Assistant General Manager
Student Welfare and Support
Department of Education
GPO Box 4367
Melbourne Vic 3001
Resources for existing students on the program
Resources for all existing students on the Program for Students with
Disabilities and Impairments will be maintained for the 2000 school year
subject to any review process which may be carried out during 2000 for
some students. There is no need to re submit an application for these students.
Students transferring between schools, including between primary and secondary
schools, will have their individual resources transferred to the new school.
This includes allocations made prior to 1995 (Phase 1) and during 1995
to 1999 (Phase 2).
Author Donates Excellent Book
Author, Sandra Feldman, visited the Statewide Vision Resource Centre recently to donate her recently published book. Set in the Port Fairy area, ‘Children of the Shipwreck Coast’ features drama, friendship, history, geography and much more! Sandra said that she wanted to write an Australian book, which bridged the gap between picture story books and chapter books.
It has a table of contents, several full page colour illustrations, maps, chapters and a glossary of difficult words. It also has a surprising second book at the back. The book is available for $19.95 from Guide Dogs Association of Victoria and retail book shops. She says that ‘Children of the Shipwreck Coast’ will soon be read for Children’s Hour on RPH so that will be something to look forward to!
A call to Sandra may bring her to your eastern suburbs primary school where she talks about the whole process of production of her book – from research, writing, illustrating, self-publishing and all things in between. Call or fax her on (03) 9751 1740.
‘My Friend Jodi is Blind’
This delightful story is written from the perspective of a classmate of a blind child. This simply and clearly written story introduces issues such as orientation and mobility, sighted guide techniques, braille reading, identification of money, the way the eye works, magnification aids, eyecare and friendship. You can find the complete text and illustrations on the Lighthouse International website at http://www.lighthouse.org/jodi.htm/.
Fun Sites You Can Go To With Your Kids
Britney Spears Out Loud! - http://members.tripod.com/~bspears/main.htm
Ok I know she’s almost a has-been but here is her website. There are interviews, images, news (eg she recently hurt her knee while filming the video for ‘Sometimes’ but don’t worry! She won’t need an operation! They can fix it with physical therapy!!!), biographical notes, lyrics and the like.
The X-Files Official Site - http://www.thex-files.com/
This official site has the X-Files feel to it – dark and interesting. There are biographical notes, archives, what’s new, episode guide and a search facility that is rather fun. I looked up ‘green and goo’ and came up with the scripts from two episodes. You can also find out the answers to questions like: ‘What was the name of the poem that Mulder was reading in ‘The Field Where I Died’?
What’s Your Favourite Site? – call or email me and let me know… or get your kids to!
JVIB, July 1999
The following articles appeared in the July edition:
Maryanne Diamond, Victorian Advocacy and Information Officer, kindly sent us a copy of ‘Parent News, June 1999’ which she plans to produce termly. The newsletter contains articles including the results of the BCA survey of families with blind and vision impaired children. It appears that in response to feedback from this survey, BCA will be establishing a chat group for blind and vision impaired students and will be conducting an employment forum later in the year.
‘Parent News’ also contains two articles from blind adults. Fiona Woods, who is blind as a result of treatment for Retinoblastoma, dicusses aspects of her life including her relationship with her parents (one of whom was also blind), being admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria and having two children, one of whom also has been treated for Retinoblastoma. The second article by Helen Feris who is blind as a result of Retinopathy of Prematurity describes her progress through early intervention, school at RVIB, integration into her local school, tertiary education and work. These articles are available in print upon request.
Manyanne is interested in hearing from parents, students or interested people who would like to contrite items to this newsletter. She is interested in ‘recreation ideas, requests for ideas, information exchange or anything other readers may find interesting.’ You can send material to her at:
Blind Citizens Australia
PO Box 229
Prahran 3181
Email mdiamond@bca.org.au
Bulletin by Email
If Visiting Teachers would like to receive The Bulletin via email (in addition to their print copy) or if your schools or parents would like a copy via email only (ie not print), please call Deb Lewis on (03) 9841 0242.
And finally…
…wondering what the weather will be like in Huntsville, Alabama in September…
Deb Lewis who would love to receive your email at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au
For more information about The Bulletin contact: Deb Lewis