Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 14, Friday 27th August 1999
Inside This Issue
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SPEVI Combined Agencies Network Day - St Paul’s | 4 October |
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New Directions in Education for Students who are Blind or have a Visual Impairment - Sydney | 11-12 October |
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Access Expo – Disability & Aged Care
Solutions
Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton. Details below. |
21-23 October |
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Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day | 29 November |
Space Camp ‘99
Three weeks to go and the funding situation is still improving! We have
gratefully received sponsorship from a number of sources including:
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All is going to plan, most of the money is in and forms complete – and we are now into the ‘what will I pack?’ phase. If you or your students are planning to go next year, start fundraising now!!!
While we are away, I am happy to email our adventures to anyone who is interested – teachers and students. We will be away for the whole school holidays, so send me your home email address.
From The Internet
Medical Aids Subsidy Scheme
From: Marilyn Capelin (ADAPTECH), Wednesday, 18 August 1999 9:21
The funding for an AAC device through the Medical Aids Subsidy Scheme
has recently been increased from the former maximum of $1200 to $3000.
Looking for Pen Pals
From: Adrienne Lee Duris (AERNET), Friday, 6 August, 1999 6:02
I have two young ladies both 16, braille readers who would love to
have pen pals. If you have any students who may be interested, please email
me direct on gs14ald@panther.Gsu.EDU.
Adrienne L. Duris
Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments
DeKalb County Schools, Georgia
Seeing Eye Horses!
From: Dan Oates (Yes! The Space Camp man!) AERNET, Thursday, 12 August, 1999 11:02
This article from The Associated Press is entitled ‘Vance Couple Bet Miniature Horses Can Lead The Blind’
Mrs Burleson and her husband, Don, believe miniature horses like Twinky
show great promise in helping the blind and may, one day replace the widely
used guide dog.
Although the idea of the blind using horses to get around dangerous
situations may sound far-fetched, the Burlesons say mini-horses have many
advantages over the dogs.
While dog guides must retire after about 10 years, horses can put in
30 years of work. And with their huge eyes, the horses can see nearly 360
degrees. They don’t get fleas, and don’t shed as much as a dog. And the
horses, which are a little more than 2 feet tall, can be kept by anyone
with a small yard, where they can also graze. The idea of guide mini-horses
came to Don Burleson when a horse he was riding in New York City stopped
on its own accord at a red light. He now has four minis, and regularly
takes Twinky to Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh for demonstrations.
"Kids love her," he said. "Old people, too. Old people can’t get enough
of those mini-horses." Animal authorities were skeptical but curious when
they heard of Burleson’s experiment. Debbie Jackson, who works with the
State Division of Services for the Blind, couldn’t help but snicker a little.
"Little ... horses .... right? Well, now, that is intriguing." She said
the DSB would be interested in hosting a demonstration by Twinky. Russell
Post, head trainer for Guiding Eyes, one of the largest dog-training schools
in the world, said he would send a representative from New York to see
such a demonstration. "My receptionist told me about it, and we’ve had
some pretty bad jokes flying around." Post said. Still, Post said, guide
mini-horses hold little promise. He gave a long list of decisions guide
dogs make moment to moment, and challenges any horse to do the same.
"I’ve never known a horse that couldn’t be spooked," Post said. "And
when you’re standing in the middle of a four-lane highway, there’s a lot
of spookiness. Also, dogs can be home-trained." The seeing-eye miniature
horse wears a bag to handle their bowel movements, the Burlesons said.
It’s got a plastic lining you just swap out from time to time," Mrs.Burleson
said.
As for intelligence, Don Burleson maintains that miniature horses are smart
enough to take responsibility for people’s lives. For now, at least one blind
person said she will stick with a guide dog. "I’m a risk-taker, I really am,"
said Cathy Brack of Raleigh. She depends on her guide dog, Binky, to keep her
safe every day. "But there is a real science to this training, and I’m going
to stick with my dog."
Audio Chat Rooms Free On Audio-tips.com
From: Tom MacMahon (ADAPTECH), Thursday, 19 August 1999
Some of you have been asking me lately what happened to audio-tips.com. Here’s the answer. (Note that there is a dash between the word audio and tips.) You need a sound card and microphone, no special software, to use the following free service. The main purpose of Audio-tips.com is to create a place where the sighted and blind communities can come together to have fun while working on bridging the accessibility gap. If you have an interest in joining in this cause and are already registered at eGroups, you can come and talk to live people in several categories of interest all through audio-tips.com. If you are not registered with eGroups, come to audio-tips.com to register with eGroups. It’s free and plays an important role in our growing community. Once you are registered come back and click on the "Talk Button" to a real person link, and I’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have. I’ll be there most of the time, but if you miss me, just come back and try again later. Be sure to Bookmark audio-tips.com and return often for your Audi ramp to the Information Highway. We are utilizing the eGroups network to develop Audio Chat Communities. This is a place where disabled and non disabled come together to learn from each other and make friends. We are Teachers and Students, Mom and Dads, we are Grandparents and Grand Kids. Some of us are disabled, some of us are not. Our common bond is that we all want to either talk or listen to somebody. We need you and you need us. We can teach blind and sighted people how to use their computer to talk to their friends and family. This is better than just free long distance phone charges. We use the eGroups network to store and share files, create databases, and much more. Do you have a product or service of interest to the disabled? Now you can literally talk live to those using your product to answer questions or to those interested in what you have. Would you be interested in reading an article or book of your choice to a blind person? Would you like to read to a child with a learning disability? You don’t even need to leave your computer, it won’t take very long. All you have to do is hold down the "Ctrl" button on your keyboard and talk. We will listen! Best of all it is EASY AND FREE! We need volunteers, if you can help us please send email to volunteer@audio-tips.com. We have established a variety of eGroups and Talk Rooms. For easy navigation visit our direct links to the Talk Rooms through our site. As a blind computer user, I find there are a lot of times I could use some sighted assistance. Read the details behind the origin of Audio-Tips at our site. Contact Information: George Buys buys@audio-tips.com/.
Fun Sites You Can Go To With Your Kids
Create Your Own Homepage - http://people.enternet.com.au
To establish a personal web page you first create a HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) file to place on this or another server. There are links to some on-line tutorials and references including a beginner’s guide to HTML which may be helpful.
The Official Paul Jennings Webpage – http://people.enternet.com.au/~jennings
This is a fun website which would appeal to children. It has lots of pictures including covers from his books, which is great though downloading is a little slow. It has a ‘what’s new’ section with descriptions of his new books and when they will be available in stores. It has ‘inside information’ such as the projects he is working on at present (eg a movie script and TV series). The complete list of Paul’s books and awards can also be found. There are also a fun and activities section with a quiz, riddles and a game where you solve riddles and find objects from around Paul’s house.
Other Author Sites (Since it was Children’s Book Week recently)
John Marsden – www.ozemail.com.au/~andrewf/john.html
Mem Fox – www.va.com.au/memfox/mem/fan_club.html
Judy Blume – www.judyblume.com
RVIB Cycling Instructor Training Program
Glen Keane from RVIB, Northern Region, has invited Visiting Teachers to participate in a two day bicycling instructor training course to be held on 28-29 October. A copy of the program is available at the SVRC or you can call Glen on (03) 9457 6611.
Telstra Bill in Large Print
‘Big Print Bills’ will be available to customers from September this year upon request. Information contained in the Big Print Bill will be exactly the same as that in standard bills but the new bills will be printed on A3 size paper and delivered in A4 size envelopes. The tear-off payment section of the Big Print Bills will remain the standard size to facilitate processing of payments. Call 132200 to organise your Big Print Bill.
New Directions in Education for Students who are Blind or have a Visual Impairment
Bernadette Kappen, Director of the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia will be leading a two day program at Renwick College in Sydney on 11-12 October, 1999 entitled ‘New Directions in Education for Students who are Blind or have a Visual Impairment’. Topics include:
The full program is available at the SVRC or you could contact the Continuing Education Office at Renwick College
Private Bag 29
Parramatta, NSW 2124
Access Expo 99: Disability & Aged Care Solutions
This Expo will be held from 21 – 23 October at the Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton and will include the following Seminars:
Student Work
Marion Blazé’s student, Luke writes below about his trip to Japan.
I went to Japan for sixteen days with the Special Scout group. Matt, a rover, helped me on the trip. My first host family lived in Kyoto. They took me to some temples. They ate Sushi with us. We went to another home to stay. And we went to Tokyo and went to Disneyland. We went on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain.
Japan is different from Australia. We ate octopus in potato skin. People wear Kimonos. There are drink machines and ice-cream machines on every corner. The houses have big glass doors which open. They don’t have chairs so people eat kneeling down. The windows are triangles. At McDonald’s we had an ice-cream burger. They have a bullet train which goes very fast. Their money is called "yen". Computers in Japan are very cheap.
Adrian and me made a speech on TV about helping people with disabilities. We went to a meeting about disabilities. We met Governors and the Prince of Japan.
The best part of my trip was visiting Disneyland because I liked all the rides.
Student Art
Attached in the print edition of the Bulletin is a picture from Denise’s prep student, Jamie. He has drawn mum walking back from dropping him off at school, carrying an umbrella.
‘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. I have been asked who the award-winning judge will be. It is a surprise – just wait and see!
And finally…
I feel like I have had too many balls in the air lately and hope that not too many have fallen and bounced away…
Deb Lewis who would love to receive your email at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au
For more information about The Bulletin contact: Deb Lewis