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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 2005 appears below. For the complete list of activities including downloadable programs please go to: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/pd.htm
For a list of dates for 2006 activities, go to issue 15 of The Bulletin which can be found here: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/15%2705.html#2006
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
Who will be there?
Of course all the old favourites like Humanware, Micro Marvellous, Quantum Technology, Australian Presentation Systems (Mimio) and Viztech will be there. Plus there will be a few ‘newer’ displays from Braille Tactile Signs, Guide Dogs Victoria, Judius, and some Audio book companies.
You will be able to see (and hear) DAISY books and talking mobile phones, try out a book in eText or through a talking scanner, see some new innovations in sports equipment adapted for people with vision impairments, and pick up some brochures and ‘freebies’ from software suppliers and Telstra.
It’s a great day. Don’t let your students and their families miss this opportunity to TRY!
Aurora School is a new school created by the joining together of Princess Elizabeth Junior School for Deaf Children, the Monnington Centre and Carronbank School for Deafblind Students.
The school will be officially opened on Saturday 12th November 2005 by the Honourable Steve Bracks (Victorian Premier) at 10am.
Where: 96 Holland Road Blackburn South
There will be loads of entertainment, fun rides, plenty of food and a great picnic area.
The Disability Coordination Officer project is running a transition camp called “Stepping Out” for students with disabilities who are moving from secondary education into TAFE. Funded by OTTE, “Stepping Out” is a transition program aimed at enhancing opportunities and maximising the successful participation of people with disabilities in TAFE studies throughout Victoria. The program will be run as a four day and three night camp. It will be held in the Student Village situated on the Lilydale campus of Swinburne University of Technology. The camp is designed to focus on four main areas that will allow students to make a smoother transition into their chosen field of tertiary study.
These areas are:
The aim of the “Stepping Out” transition program is to provide students with disabilities with an enjoyable experience with other students who are entering into TAFE studies. The camp promotes valuable team and confidence building skills, to make the transition process less harrowing. It is an exciting and fun way for students to meet their peers, to discuss issues with student mentors who are currently studying at various institutions, and meet and discuss concerns with the staff who have a disability background.
Communication, team building, academic skill development and trust are an important part of the transition for students. Students will develop effective strategies for coping with mainstream TAFE requirements. These include: note taking, research and writing assignments and group work. In addition, participants will be exposed to a range of adaptive technology suitable for reading, writing and research.
Whilst the aim of the camp is to assist students in the development of effective study skills, the camp also focuses heavily on the students enjoying themselves. Students will also have the opportunity to explore their disability in an educational context and develop techniques for disclosure.
When: Jan 30th – Feb 2nd 2006
Where: Swinburne TAFE – Lilydale Campus, Student Village,
Melba Avenue.
About the accommodation: http://www.ld.swin.edu.au/village/
Applications close: Monday 12th December
For further information, forms etc please contact: Joanne Webber,
Disability Coordination Officer
Phone: (03) 9925 5269 or
Email: dco@rmit.edu.au
Where: La Porchette, Princess Highway Narre Warren
When: 7th December from 7.30pm
RSVP: by 27 November to Helen on (03) 9705 6292
Source: SPEVI News, October 2005
The next Southern Cross Games will be hosted by the Royal NZ Foundation for the Blind. Accommodation will be at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre in the suburb of Mt Wellington. The hotel overlooks a tidal lagoon with walkways, fitness trail and playground. The cost of NZ$450 includes accommodation, meals, transport, competition and social events.
When: 18 to 21 April 2006
Contact: Glynis Smith at RNZFB for further details and application:
glsmith@rnzfb.org.nz
Article by Jeni Blake (which I have to confess got buried under the usual tidal wave of paperwork somewhere in my office and really could have been published earlier in the year…)
A double celebration was had on 17th April 2005. Forty one students who had been with RVIB or SVRC to Space Camp between 1998 and 2004, their families, VTs, SVRC staff Deb and Marion and guests met to catch up with old friends and to celebrate Natasha’s 18th birthday which was on the same day! (Natasha attended Space Camp in 2002 and 2004.)
Dean Johnson represented Guide Dogs Victoria who have helped us over many years to run the program. We also had two guests and their wives from Bayside Freemasons who sponsored Matthew (2003) and Laurel (2004).
A great day was had by all and will be remembered especially because of Natasha’s birthday.
Apologies came from far away including Nic (1999 and 2000) who studying Astronomy at Mt Stromlo near Canberra.
A special message was sent from Andy Thomas to all SCI-VIS participants from Melbourne and reproduced in braille and large print for participants and included the following message:
Hello everyone,
My name is Andrew Thomas and I am a professional astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. I want to take a moment to welcome you all to your reunion as participants of the Space Camp. I am sure you all have good memories of your time in Huntsville, and I hope you have been able to keep in touch with some of the friends you made while you were there. When I was growing up in Adelaide, we did not have anything like that, and I am envious of the chance you had to go there.
As many of you may have heard, I am presently in training for my next mission, STS-114, a shuttle flight to the International Space Station that we expect to launch in May. Since that is now very close, you can all imagine how busy I am at the present time. In fact, because you have all been to Space Camp, you probably have a better appreciation for what I am doing than do most people. The mission itself is very ambitious, but also very important since it is the first flight of the Space Shuttle following the Columbia tragedy two years ago. It promises to be a great adventure.
Please accept my best wishes to you all for a wonderful get together, and have fun sharing the unique experiences you all had.
Regards
Andy Thomas
NASA Astronaut
Andy has since returned from a successful mission to the International Space Station!!! And we all had a great time at the reunion!!!
Below left: Natasha blows out her cantles; right: Katie, Maysa, Natasha, Bernie and Marion
By Tim Crowe-Mai, Editor, SPEVI News
If you feel the need to write articles about anything and everything involving children with a vision impairment we have just the place for you to publish!
By we I mean the South Australian editorial team of the SPEVI News which is published quarterly and sent around Australia and New Zealand to financial members of SPEVI. So whether you are a teacher, student or parent, if you have something written that you believe worth sharing please send it through.
Any contributions or questions about the SPEVI News can be sent to tcrowemai@rsb.org.au or to 230 Pirie Street, Adelaide SA 5000, attention Tim Crowe-Mai.
The following articles appear in the latest editions of JVIB:
Source: Circular 346/2005 - Assessment of Reading, P-2
Government primary and P-12 schools (including specialist and English language schools where applicable) are required to collect and submit to the Department, by 9 December, data on student reading at benchmark text levels. Running Records on texts are to be taken with students in Years Prep, 1 and 2. The assessment period is 14 November to 9 December. The data collection process is similar to that for 2004.
To assist schools an instruction manual will be available on the website from 10 November: https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/Schools/Circulars/2005/circular_346-2005_assessment_of_p-2_reading-eml.doc
Here are a couple of snippets on the subject of that NEW format, DAISY…
Many of Quantum Technology’s readers will be very familiar with Talking Books as available from various blindness agencies throughout Australia. While the present cassette tape system has assisted many vision impaired people for many years to keep their passion for reading alive, there is a new format for talking books called DAISY.
DAISY is a new standard for the formatting of electronic books, and it stands for Digital Accessible Information System. This new standard permits everyone, especially people who are blind, vision impaired or have another print disability experience a better way to read.
The major issue with typical audio talking books is that they do not allow the reader to move through the book easily. People can listen to the book from beginning to end, but not much more.
DAISY books allow users to navigate through the book more easily using a table of contents or by inserting bookmarks; they even remember where you read up to and reopen the book at that place next time.
There is an every growing means for reading DAISY books, including SARA and special DAISY players.
Plextalk is a DAISY player available from Quantum Technology that is specially designed for people with Low Vision to access DAISY books. Featuring a voice guide for navigating through DAISY books, and just a few easily identifiable buttons. Plextalk can play DAISY books in CD format or for the computer savvy MP3 files.
The player is also lightweight, at just over a kilo and uses either mains power of up to 5 hours battery use for when you are out and about. Available from Quantum Technology.
Other ways to DAISY include: FS Reader for PAC Mate or Desktop and Mobile Daisy for users of Mobile Speak mobile phone software.
Source: LiveWire Magazine, October 2005
Victor Reader
Maestro
PO Box 944
Baulkham Hills NSW 2153
Tel (02) 9686 2600
Fax (02) 9686 2855
http://www.humanware.com
rhath@pulsedata.com.au
3 Chesterville Rd Cheltenham 3192
Tel (03) 9585 3277
Fax (03) 9585 3977
http://www.quantech.com.au
tboyd@quantech.com.au
201 High St
Prahran 3181
Tel (03) 9520 5506
Fax (03) 9520 5585
http://www.rvib.org.au/vistech
Source: Renee Williamson, Tertiary Education Consultant, Vision Australia
Just a reminder that if you are a member of NILS library you have been invited to participate in the DAISY project. Library members have already been invited via newsletter to participate in this trial. In short the number to call to express interest, should you want to, is 1300 558 458.
Source: Netscape News, Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Blind people may soon be reading messages using the world’s first portable electronic braille.
The pocket-sized display, which can be rolled up like a newspaper, is designed to connect to mobile phones and laptops.
Researchers in Japan have produced a 16-centimetre-square prototype just one millimetre thick which weighs five grams. It incorporates 144 plastic ‘paddles’ beneath a thin rubber surface which bend upwards when an electric current is applied.
On the tip of each paddle is a sphere under a millimetre across that rises and produces a bump in the rubber. The bumps produce the braille message, which can be read the normal way by feeling with the fingertips. When the current is switched off, the paddles straighten and the bumps disappear.
Inventor Takao Someya, from the University of Tokyo, will present the device at the International Electron Devices meeting in Washington DC in December, New Scientist magazine reported.
The device could go beyond braille to allow the blind to feel images as well as words, says Someya.
Quantum Technology has announced the launch of a new website devoted solely to the Mountbatten Braille Writer and braille literacy. This site contains a world of information and resources for parents and educators, as well as stories from people who currently use the Mountbatten.
“After 20 years spent developing technology solutions for vision impaired children, I still believe one of the biggest barriers they face is a lack of expectations” stated Tim Connell, Managing Director of Quantum Technology. “We need to have higher expectations and provide more powerful tools to students just setting out on the road to literacy. Braille skills combined with technology skills will be the keys to the future for many of these children” he says.
The site contains links to research work undertaken using the Mountbatten at SET-BC in Canada and at the Texas School for the Blind, copies of papers and presentations, links to sources of curriculum materials, information that may help in fundraising and much more.
You can find the site at http://www.mountbattenbrailler.com and your stories and ideas are welcome.
Show respect
Agree with each other
Don’t ignore them
Always let them choose a game
Be nice by playing and doing things with them
Help them
Help them when they’re hurt
Play with them a lot
Be with your friends by yourselves and in a group
Don’t say no if someone asks to join in
Don’t fight them
Don’t be bossy with them
Don’t bully your friends
Don’t tease them
We had 25 entries from all over Victoria, NSW and Canberra and some included:
So (drum roll)…
We are proud to announce the winners of our competition…
The winner of the best example goes to (more drum rolling) Visiting Teacher Lillian Adler for her swift entry of a medication box. The packaging indicates in braille the brand name, product name, dosage and the phone number to ring for more information. Hers was the first example we received (with apologies to our other entrant who submitted a similar item). Lillian wins an HP printer.
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The winner of the worst example goes to (drums at full volume) Nadia Mattiazzo who entered a photograph with caption: “signage outside the BCA offices” – the braille is unusually large and widely spaced – and the word FOR is written as FOO. Nadia wins a Brooke Fox CD.
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Congratulations to both of our winners who will be receiving their prizes very soon!
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Yes, ladies and gentlemens – we need your booklists NOW – we have already received lots of requests for materials in alternative format for next year so in order to avoid disappointment make sure your requests are in the queue!
If we are producing the book in alternative format we will need a copy of the book. If it is a substantial book, we may need it for the whole year so make sure that your student buys the book or the school is happy to loan the book for the amount of time it will take to do the job!
To find the forms for requesting braille, large print, etext and audio tape please go to the Forms page of the SVRC website: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/homeVT.html#Forms
Thanks to Helen Caldow, Bronwyn Davis, Maria Elford and Mike Steer for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to my fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers for their fine work!
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).