This issue was edited by Marion Blazé, Education Officer, and Deb Lewis, Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
You are invited to the SVRC Christmas
‘Thank You’ morning tea: 11am, Wednesday, December 5
And if you have people you’d like to thank, add them to our invites list.
To see the annual program and to download programs for professional development activities, go to: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/pd2007.htm
Seventy professionals in the field of vision impairment gathered at Vision Australia School, Burwood to get the ‘good oil’ on support of our students. The day was both informative and entertaining beginning with Larry Abel with new insights from his research on nystagmus, we then heard from Kerry Fitzmaurice about her work on eccentric viewing, Kath McKay who told us about employment trends for VI people, Gill Cochrane on her PhD research and brief reports from all the agencies. In the afternoon, we went in different directions for concurrent sessions, which dealt with anything from art to brain injury, before re-grouping to hear from our Geoff. Comments from participants were very positive, with participants especially valuing the networking opportunities provided by the day. And we’ve already begun thinking about next term’s and next year’s SPEVI events … we’ll keep you posted!
Thanks from the organisers: Lil Deverill (Guide Dogs), Garry Stinchcombe (Vision Australia) and Marion Blazé (SVRC, DEECD).
This day is designed for teachers, aides and parents involved in travel training. It is an opportunity to share your ideas and experience, learn some new strategies and experience travel under low vision simulators. We will discuss travel training for children with a range of disabilities, with a particular focus on vision impairment. Training is provided by the Children’s Mobility Service from Guide Dogs Victoria.
When: Tuesday 13 November 2007, 10.00am – 3.00pm
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre, 370 Springvale Rd,
Donvale (park behind the sports centre next door)
Cost: No charge
Lunch: Bring some lunch money – we will eat out locally,
wearing low vision simulators
RSVP: Contact Deb Lewis at SVRC on 9841 0242 by Friday 9 November
What to bring: Ideas for travel training & resources which have worked well
For downloadable program click here.
‘ieDirections’ is an independent facility in Box Hill which offers programs to assist in the transition between school and tertiary for young people who are ‘disadvantaged, disengaged, with learning difficulties or with learning disabilities’. They are having two open days on October 25 & 27. Call 9890 7444 for details.
NDS is very pleased to release advance publicity about the national conference
on children and young people with disability and their families, Every Child
Matters. This inaugural event will be co-hosted with Families Australia during
National Families Week in Melbourne on 14-15 May 2008.
For further details, see the conference flyer at http://www.nds.org.au/conferences/cyf2008/flyer.pdf.
Guide Dogs Victoria in conjunction with LaTrobe University is offering a one year post-graduate course in O&M. For further information, contact:
Queensland Visiting (Itinerant) Teacher Di Porrill recently conducted a ski camp to the RVIB Ski Lodge at Mt Baw Baw. She writes: “we have returned from Mt Baw Baw and it was an amazing experience … I hope we can return and next time I would like some students from Melbourne to join us – that would make it even better.” Here’s her article (thanks Di!)
If you’re looking for a great place to stay in the snow, we know just the place for you! The Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) Ski Lodge at Mt Baw Baw! We’ve been there just the once, had a fabulous time – teachers and students alike – and we’re now working towards returning again next year.
It’s been nearly two weeks since our trip to Mt Baw Baw and the fun time we had is still fresh in everyone’s memory. Not that we need to remember as we have a truckload of photos and videos!
To make the trip work, we had to be very organised. Thanks to the excellent information we had from Sophie and Allan, everything flowed smoothly. We organised the charter bus – Jindivic Charters – to pick us up at Melbourne Airport and take us up to the mountain, stopping along the way for lunch and grocery shopping. We can’t speak highly enough of Ken from Jindivic Charters as nothing was a problem for him. He helped pack groceries, was able, due to the snow conditions, to drive us right up to the door of the Lodge and then helped us unload the trailer of the mountain of luggage and food. No mean feat I can assure you as we were four teachers with eight vision impaired students.
Thanks to good planning, we managed to have just the right amount of food with very little left over. After four fun-packed days filled with tobogganing, building snowmen, snow throwing, lots of “Survivor” games both in and out of the snow, and team competitions, Ken picked us up on Friday for the return trip to the airport. We told him to expect a call again next year.
Allan and Ros joined us for a couple of days and showed the students their
skis and snow shoes and even left them for us to try out. What great mentors
they are for our students as they enjoy all life has to offer, including cross-country
skiing!
We loved the Lodge and were very comfortable. The four bedrooms accommodated
us well, with the girls in two bedrooms on the top floor and the staff and one
male student in the other two bedrooms on the ground floor. The middle floor
houses the well-equipped kitchen and large dining/lounge room. The central heating
was very welcome, and the automatic temperature reports from the system kept
us informed as to both the inside and outside temperatures! I can assure you
it was much, much warmer inside, with the lowest outside temperature during
our stay being minus 4 degrees. The “drying room” for the wet snow
gear is a blessing and made life much easier. We were so fortunate to have snow
during our stay and this allowed us to maximise our fun in the snow. Everything
ran perfectly and we could not have asked for better conditions.
There was nothing during the week we could have made better. It was great and I hope that many others, both vision impaired units in schools and vision impaired individuals/families, are able to take advantage of having this great facility available to them. Trust us; it’s well and truly worth the effort!
Helen Caldow wanted to let you know that there is one vacancy left for this year’s Driving Camp to be held at Charlton on Thursday & Friday 6th & 7th of December, 2007. Please email Helen with any queries: caldow.helen.f@edumail.vic.gov.au.
The Richmond branch of the Glaucoma group is meeting on October 27 from 10.30 to 12.30 at Richmond Library, 415 Church St Richmond. Entry is with a gold coin donation. Associate Professor Justin O’Day will address the meeting on glaucoma and retinal health. To book, please call 03 9404 2974 or email catia@glaucoma.org.au.
When: Wednesday 17th October 2007.
Time: 1.30 - 4.00pm
Venue: 201 High Street Prahran in the Board Room
Topic: Methods for reading using alternative formats –
Renee Williamson
Bookings: are essential so please RSVP
Contact: Renee Williamson, Tertiary Education Consultant, (03)
9520 5555 if you have any further queries.
Source: AFB Update, September 2007
The National Youth Roundtable is the Australian Government’s youth consultation mechanism. It brings together young people aged 15 to 24 years. Minister for Community Services, Nigel Scullion, says the Roundtable is the first place he turns to for advice on issues that impact on youth. Roundtable members include young people from all States and Territories, metropolitan and regional areas and from various cultural backgrounds. For example, Roundtable 2007 includes 44 members – seven are from a culturally and linguistically diverse background and 12 are indigenous.
Young people aged 15 to 24 years on 1 January 2008, who are interested in the issues that affect them, are encouraged to apply for the 2008 Roundtable. Applications close on 18 October 2007.
More information: http://www.thesource.gov.au/involve/NYR/get_involved.asp
Contact Information: Margaret Verick, NDS National Office, tel 02 6283 3214 or email margaret.verick@nds.org.au
If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you should come along!
The Australian Paralympic Committee will be conducting sporting tests to help
identify future Paralympic athletes. Some of the sports that will be targeted
are athletics, cycling, swimming, wheelchair basketball and table tennis.
Where: Cardinia Life 930 Olympic Way, Pakenham (Off Princess Hwy)
Date: Sunday October 28, 2007
Time: 1:00pm until 4:30pm
For further information and for a registration form contact: Tim Matthews tel
(03) 9614 6800 or tim.matthews@paralympic.org.au
Web: http://www.paralympic.org.au
Adapted from article in LiveWire, August 2007
People with a print disability typically need information changed from one format into another. Whether you are blind, low vision or dyslexic the challenge that is shared by all is to be able to access information in a manner that suits your particular needs. And this is a challenge increasingly faced by schools, universities, government agencies and employers. How to quickly and easily convert material so that you provide equal access to all.
A wonderful resource that will help you stay in touch with developments from all around the world is http://www.AltFormat.com. AltFormat is an independent website focusing on how developments in the production of alternative format materials are transforming the education of visually impaired and dyslexic students of all ages.
Quantum Technology is now marketing a product for creating alternate format information from Dolphin Systems in the UK, called EasyConverter. EasyConverter quickly creates Large Print, MP3, DAISY and Braille versions of learning materials that can either be scanned from paper, or input from Word, PDF, html or text files.
The EasyConverter interface is a single screen from which you select the document you want to be converted, and then simply select the format you want to produce. In one step a document can be automatically converted into any one of 5 different formats. For example you may need a Digital Talking Book (Daisy format) for one student, an MP3 file that can be downloaded to an iPod for another student, or a Large Print version for a student with Low Vision.
Other Products from Dolphin include:
Source: It’s Vision Time, Issue 3 Term 3 2007
Want a simple IDEA for training low vision skills!!
What about Sudoku puzzles?
Those really build your scanning skills (as well as logic and sequencing and
who knows what else). AND, you can get them in large print. Why not put a few
into braille to build those tactile scanning skills.
Search the net for your favourite Sudoko webpage or go to: http://www.sudukopuzzles.org/sudoku-printables.html
Source: It’s Vision Time, Issue 3 Term 3 2007
Powertalk is a free program that will speak text in PowerPoints, go to http://fullmeasure.co.uk/
to download the program.
Source: It’s Vision Time, Issue 3 Term 3 2007
Big.com – is a new search engine developed to deliver search results
to users in a large, easy to read
format. Available from http://www.big.com/toolbar
as a free, downloadable toolbar for use with Internet Explorer web browsers,
Web Magnifier provides users with the ability to enlarge the text and graphics
of any HTML web page for easier reading and navigation.
The trend of decreasing font sizes in web design has made navigating the web an increasingly difficult task for many Internet users. Web Magnifier sits as a toolbar at the top of a user’s screen and contains a Big.com search box for immediate web searches as well as three buttons for the various levels of magnification – normal, big and bigger. Once a page is magnified to the desired level, Web Magnifier remembers the setting and automatically adjusts the magnification on subsequent visits to the page. Additionally, the toolbar itself can be displayed in large and standard sizes.
Big.com is a service of Perfect Market Technologies, Inc – go to: http://www.big.com
Big congratulations to some schools that have already put in requests for materials
in alternative format for next year. And amazingly, some of the books have been
completed – how’s that for super efficiency!!!
VTs please bother your schools for their book lists so we can begin production
ASAP – and thanks in advance from the team!
Helen Caldow came across this website which offers help to VCE students. Go to http://www.vcehelp.com.au/ae.
There is a gadget available which just replaces your reversing light bulb and creates an alarm (‘beep beep’) whenever you are reversing. They are available from Super Cheap Auto stores at about $20 (or $17 on special sometime). You can fit it yourself by just removing your bulb and snapping it in.
Source: AFB Update, September 2007
A new national service, Telscreen, will allow all Australians to have a free hearing check, anytime, anywhere. Developed by the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) in conjunction with Australian Hearing, Telscreen is a self check of hearing disability via the telephone and is not a replacement for a face-to-face hearing screening carried out by a qualified clinician. It should not be taken as medical advice. People can access the service by calling the tollfree number 1800 826 500 and following the prompts to start the check. For more information about Telscreen, go to http://www.hearing.com.au/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=233&languageId=1&contentId=-1.
Thanks to Kym Gribble, Renee Williamson, Helen Caldow, Denise Probert and Maria Elford for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to our fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Marion Blazé (who can be emailed at marionblaze@svrc.vic.edu.au).