The Bulletin

Statewide Vision Resource Centre

Number 16  Friday 20th October 2000

Inside This Issue

Term Professional Development 2000 Date

Wed-Fri 8-10 November: Spectronic & Zygo Conference
Monday 13 November: Vision Fatigue Focus Group 3-5pm
Monday 13 November: SPEVI Evening Discussion and Christmas Drinks 5pm
19-23 November: World Blind Union and Exhibition of Adaptive Equipment and Services at Melbourne Town Hall
Monday 4 December: SVRC Mini Expo

Great Victorian Bike Ride 2000

This year, Jeni Blake will be leading a group in the Great Victorian Bike Ride which will be held from Saturday 25th November to Sunday 3rd December, and will follow the Great Ocean Road from Macarthur (north of Portland) to Melbourne via Warrnambool, Port Campbell, Apollo Bay, Queenscliff and Bacchus Marsh. You can obtain further details by looking at your copy of Bulletin 15, 2000 or requesting the information kit from the SVRC or from Jeni Blake (0428 134 660).

E-Books a Revolution in Reading – Seriously!

Read from Your Hand-Held Screen

The following is an excerpt from The Age, Wednesday 23 August 2000 by Susannah Herbert:
‘Imagine yourself in some airport of the future with a round-the-world ticket. You plan to visit the bazaars of Marrakesh, Istanbul and Kerala, continuing to Singapore, Sydney and Las Vegas, but the haggling has started already – at the check-in desk your benighted fellow passengers are negotiating the cost of excess baggage. Your luggage, like theirs, is full of travel guides, plus a background novel linked to each country on the route, phrase books, dictionaries and maps. But the weight is the least of your anxieties: it’s less than your half-litre of duty-free.
No, your greatest worry is whether you’ve packed enough light reading: that encyclopaedia of Islamic Art? How to Win at Blackjack? There’s still time to nip back to the computer terminals outside the newsagent and download them on to your hand-held screen.
Welcome to the wonderful, weightless world of e-publishing - in which all the baggage of traditional publishing is magically transmogrified by bytes and chips. The book, that portable tool for the distribution of enlightenment and entertainment which has worn pretty well considering its age, faces its first serious rival in more than five centuries - and the panjandrums of print are finally waking up to the implications.
“In the past 12 months, my colleagues have gone from scepticism to intense professional interest,” says Andrew Rosenheim, managing director of Penguin Press. “Give the industry five or 10 years and you’ll see all bestsellers published simultaneously in electronic and traditional form.” And in 25 years? “Who knows . . . but the electronic format will probably be well ahead.”’

Whilst the author acknowledges the potential for sighted readers, the implications for people with vision impairments are astounding as indicated below!

International Braille Research Centre

The following information was discovered at www.braille.org
‘Founded in 1994, the International Braille Research Centre (USA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt charitable organization whose survival is dependent upon contributions, grants and contracts. Its mission is to encourage and promote the teaching and use of braille. To achieve this goal, research studies are being conducted to determine the best methods for teaching braille. Distinguished teachers of braille are recognized for their outstanding service to blind students.
Under contract to the International Council on English Braille, the International Braille Research Centre has conducted a definitive research study which validates the efficacy of the new Unified Braille Code. This new system establishes one English braille code in place of many separate ones. A single braille code is easier to teach, to learn and to use. The International Braille Research Centre provides expertise and guidance to both public and private entities who wish to make braille more widely available to blind persons.’

The International Electronic Braille Book Library

The International Electronic Braille Book Library is a project of the International Braille Research Centre. This collection currently contains approximately 2,000 titles; the largest collection of electronic Braille (e-Braille) books in the world. There you will find books and other writings that span the galaxy of time and centuries already formatted into braille. It’s all there, everything from the writings of Aristotle to the latest books on success and personal achievement.

Portability

For the first time blind people can now have braille-on-the-go. E-braille texts on disk are a convenient way to keep your favourite books with you at all times without having to hire a truck to transport them. If you travel a lot, or are simply cramped for space where you live or work, you will enjoy having hours of reading with you wherever you go.

Reading Books

There are two ways to read the books in this collection. You can read them on-line if you own or have access to a paperless braille display device or you can download them to read off-line either in hard-copy braille or by loading them in to devices such as braille notetakers. You can download individual parts of a book, an individual book, or an entire collection of books by a specific author simply by selecting the appropriate links on the specified pages.
These “e-braille” books are ascii text files which appear as grade II English braille on paperless braille displays and braille printers.
Books are listed by author and by title and the advice is to check back often – if your favourite book is not listed, chances are that it will be there in the future. The collection is constantly being updated by a team of volunteer translators. If you have the time and are willing to assist with translation please contact Peter Donahue for further information:
International Electronic Braille Book Library
100 Lorenz Road Apt. 1205
San Antonio, Texas 78209
Phone: (210) 826-9579
E-mail: pdonahue@texas.net

E-Books in Text Format

As you are deciding on the most appropriate format for texts for your students, please consider electronic format. Some of the benefits for students of having their novels on disk are:

Below are a couple of sites that we use to source E-texts:

Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is the brainchild of Michael Hart, who in 1971 decided that it would be a really good idea if lots of famous and important texts were freely available to everyone in the world. Now, almost thirty years later, Project Gutenberg publishes an average of one e-text every day! The goal of Project Gutenberg is to provide Public Domain e-text editions a short time after they enter the Public Domain. At present, the period before a copyrighted work enters the Public Domain is 50 years more than the life of the author. Project Gutenberg aims to make information, books and other materials available in an easily accessible format – ascii – which is readable by the majority of computers. There is a very extensive list of E-texts available and you can search by author or title. Some of these works come as zipped files but clear instructions will help you unzip them.
Go to:
http://promo.net/pg/
http://www.gutenberg.net/

Great Books List

Another comprehensive list of titles by authors such as Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Galileo can be found on the Great Books List. The Bible and The Koran can also be found there. Files on this site do not appear to be zipped files.
Go to:
http://books.mirror.org/gb.home.html/

RVIB Further Education Bursary

Current or potential students of any age can apply for an RVIB Further Education Bursary. Applicants must demonstrate a financial need for assistance, and academic merit.
Applicants must: What it is: Up to $4,500 is awarded for the purchase of adaptive equipment
Who is eligible: students who are legally blind, commencing or continuing first year tertiary studies
Contact:  Joanne Webber
Education and Careers Advisor
Tel: 9520 5555 or 1800 335 588
E-mail:  webbejo@rvib2.rvib.org.au
Applications close Friday 27th October, 2000

Results of the Braille Poetry Competition

One of our students, Melanie from Kyneton, was Highly Commended in the recent Poetry Competition conducted by RVIB as part of their Braille Week. I have not seen her poem, but include here an entry by Sadam from Carlton PS:

Braille

Ring-tap!
The braille goes.
Ring-tap!
I go.
Ring-tap!
The dots go.
Ring-tap!
Off the words go.
Ring-tap!
The braille goes.
Ring-tap!
Goes the keys.
Ring-tap!
The handle goes.
Ring-tap!
The space bar clicks.
Ring-tap!
The paper goes.
Ring-tap!
Off I go.

JVIB

The following articles appear in the August edition of JVIB: The following articles appeared in the September edition:

Book Review – ‘See It My Way’

The September 2000 edition of JVIB also includes a review of ‘See It My Way’ by Peter White, London, England, Warner Books, 1999.
‘While British talk-show host Peter White was a student at the University of Canterbury, a friend pointed out a hard truth about the way he handled his blindness. ‘While I said I wanted my blindness to be treated normally,’ White recalls, ‘I still exploited it mercilessly, both as a way of blackmailing people to be useful and as an excuse for avoiding anything I didn’t want to do.’ Looking back 30 years later, White admits that he has lived this contradiction all his life. He has struggled to be fully accepted in every sphere, striving for dignity and opportunity. Yet often he finds himself pulling out ‘the blind card’ as a means of securing some extra advantage. This inconsistency winds like a tangled thread through White’s frank, entertaining, and sometimes frustrating memoir, ‘See It My Way’. The book is the life story of a witty, inventive, and keenly observant man who has broken into a ‘high-profile’ field where few blind people before him have found a place.’

Parliament of Victoria

The SVRC has recently been sent this booklet, prepared with the intention of explaining the history and functions of the Parliament of Victoria. Information includes text, tables, flow charts, photographs, maps and a glossary. Topics include: The print is about N10 but would be produced in alternative format by request.

Goal Ball in the Paralympics

Goal ball for women and men will be played from October 23 to 29 – watch for it on Channel 2.

RVIB School Education Program

You can invite RVIB speakers who are blind or vision impaired to come to speak in school. They are prepared to talk openly with students about the challenges and achievements of people who are blind or vision impaired. All bookings for the months of October and November will receive a free RVIB ‘Learn About Braille’ teaching kit.

RVIB ‘Learn About Braille Kit’

Based on a similar Canadian kit, RVIB has produced an excellent ‘Learn About Braille Kit’, which was launched during RVIB Braille Week, recently. The kit, which may be purchased for $35.00 from VisEquip, comprises: In a letter that is included in the kit, Ramona Mandy, RVIB Adult Braille Instructor and convenor of the Australian Braille Authority, states:
‘Braille is to people who are blind or vision impaired what the printed word is to sighted people… I place a great deal of importance on the medium of braille. A person who uses a talking computer is listening not reading. They cannot picture the punctuation, spelling or sentence structure by listening to a tape… With access to appropriate standards of tuition and resources braille is not difficult to learn. Yet its value is priceless. In recent years, educators and advocacy groups worldwide have expressed concern at an apparent decline in the use of braille. These groups, which include the Australian Braille Authority and Australian Blindness Forum, suggest this has subsequently led to a decline in literacy rates for children who are blind or vision impaired. The ability to read and write at an appropriate level is a fundamental right of all individuals in a modern society. Literacy is vitally important for children or adults who are blind or vision impaired. Without it they would face enormous barriers that may severely limit opportunities in life.’
Ramona, who began learning braille at the age of 7, is featured in the Spring 2000 edition of RVIBNews – please request a copy of the article if you would like to read more about Ramona and her work.

How a Person who is Blind or Vision Impaired May Use Braille

This list is reprinted from the Spring edition of RVIBNews:

‘19 Ways to Step Back’

The American Foundation for the Blind has produced a delightful poster entitled ‘19 Ways to Step Back’ – in support of blind students becoming more independent. Some of the ideas on their poster include: The poster is displayed at the SVRC or you can obtain you own by contacting:
National Literacy Centre
100 Peachtree Street
Suite 620
Atlanta GA 30303
Email literacy@afb.net

TCalc – Talking Scientific Calculator

Horizon Educational Software have developed Tcalc for use on IBM compatible PCs and Laptops that have a CD Drive, sound card and Windows 95 or later. It features: A trial version can be downloaded from the website at www.HorizonSoftware.com.au or contact Horizon at:
PO Box 494
Ringwood 3134
Ph 9876 7869

Student News

Husein, from Mill Park SC, has again made his way into the newspaper! The article, from the local paper states: ‘Husein has made a single-handed bid to raise more money than any other Victorian student for the Very Special Kids appeal. Teacher Dale Platek said Husein’s effort of raising $210 over five days was typical of ‘this very special student’. He said Husein had blindness and deafness disabilities to overcome but this had not prevented him from cajoling his fellow student into filling the appeal mascot pink pig money box with coins.’ Many of you will remember Husein from the week he spent at the SVRC on work experience.

SVRC Writing Competition 2000 – ‘I Wish…’

The Statewide Vision Resource Centre will be conducting another writing competition this year. Students with a vision impairment are invited to enter the completion on the topic ‘I Wish…’. Writing must be accompanied by an illustration or artistic creation which relates to the written piece.
Four winners will be chosen from year levels: All entrants will receive a certificate and the winner from each of the four groups will receive $50.
The winning essays and accompanying artwork will be published in The Bulletin and on the SVRC Website.
All work will become the property of the SVRC.
Winners will be notified by mail. The decision of the judges is final.
Submissions must be postmarked or received electronically by Friday 24th November 2000. This year, the date will not be extended.

Entry Rules

The contest is open to individuals who have a vision impairment.
Entries can be submitted in print, braille/tactile or electronically.
There is no entry fee.
The written submission must be no longer than 500 words.
Each entry must include, on a separate sheet of paper, the individual’s name, address and phone number. Entries should not include personal identification within the text.
Winning entries will be selected based on the ability of the written and artistic piece to capture the attention of the judge
Entries will be judged by an award-winning writer.
Submissions will not be returned.
The closing date for entries is Friday 24th November 2000 and entries should be sent to:
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
PO Box 201
Nunawading 3131
or by e-mail to deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au

Vision Fatigue Focus Group

As discussed at the Combined Agency’s Networking Day 2.10.00 a focus group to discuss VISION FATIGUE will be held.  The final SPEVI meeting (Xmas Drinks!) for the year will be held directly after this session
Date:  Monday November 13th
Time:  3pm to 5pm
Venue:  Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Who is invited:  all interested parties including parents, students, people with low vision and teachers
The aim of the focus group will be to gather information regarding the frequency and impact of vision fatigue and to discuss the compensatory strategies.  The group will aim to develop recommendations for management.
Please complete the form below and return it to the Statewide Vision Resource Centre by Friday 3rd November if you are interested in attending.
Further information can be obtained from Gillian Gale on 9808 6422 or Yvette Higgins 9841 0807.

Name:  ____________________________________________
Please circle: parent/student/teacher/person with low vision/other
Contact phone no.  _________________________________
Email:  ________________________________________
Return to:
Yvette Higgins
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
PO Box 201, NUNAWADING 3131
Fax:  03 9841 0878

And Finally

Were you the one who left the jacket on the VT PD day last term? It is a black ‘City Girl’ size 12 leather jacket with ‘FS’ written in texta on the tag. Please call to claim it!
Regards from Deb Lewis deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au

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Web page editor Lyn Robinson. Last updated October 2000
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