The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
The following activities are coming up between now and the end of the year:
For the complete list of activities for 2005 including downloadable programs 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
This program is aimed at teenagers and young adults to help them become more aware of some of the issues they may face in social situations and even at home. Some of the topics to be covered include:
This is being presented by Tricia Clarke, a personal safety expert, in conjunction with Instructor’s from Guide Dogs Victoria’s Children’s Mobility Service.
When: Friday 18th of November 2005 from 10am – 1pm
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre, 370 – 380 Springvale
Road, Donvale
To register: Phone or email Rachel Morgan on 9854 4469 or rachel.m@guidedogs.asn.au
This is always a fantastic event for the outdoorsy types who don’t mind a bit of sweating and backside soreness!
Each morning we rise early and grab breakfast before the crowds, pack up our tents and belongings and stow them in the enormous trucks which transport them to the evening’s campsite. Then we ride – in the sun, the rain, up hills, down dales. There are fit riders and fatties. Kids on tandems and perhaps even a guide dog in a bike trailer!!!
Everyone is friendly – the roads are patrolled by volunteers – if we get weary there is the sag wagon to pick us up – and all the food is provided! Well worth the effort – phone us now to register!
When: Saturday 26 November to Sunday 4 December 2005
Where: Swan Hill – Murrabit – Cohuna – Echuca
– Heathcote – Newstead – Woodend – Whittlesea –
Heidelberg
To register: contact Jeni Blake on 0428 134660 or Deb Lewis
on 9841 0242
Back by popular demand, students are invited to come along and try some circus skills – stilts, acrobalance and aerials!!! We have arranged for experienced Westside Circus trainers to run a two-hour session at their beautiful training space in Fitzroy (accessible via the number 86 tram from the city) followed by a picnic lunch in the nearby Edinburgh Gardens. Places are limited – to secure your place you’ll need to get your forms and payments to the SVRC ASAP.
When: Monday 12th December 2005 from 10am to 2pm
Cost: $25 (plus BYO lunch)
Vision Australia will be running a camp in January in conjunction with Outward Bound. It will be staffed by Outward Bound instructors and staff from Vision Australia. The camp is limited to 12 people, 16 years and over – so be quick. The aims are as follows:
When: Thursday 12th January to Thursday 19th January
Where: Outward Bound site in Tharwa in the ACT. Campers need
to make their own way to and from the Vision Australia office in Canberra at
the beginning and end of the course.
Activities: Challenging outdoor activities in a supportive
environment – campers will sleep outdoors and will participate in activities
such as abseiling, rafting, hiking, bush cooking and rock climbing. Just like
SURVIVOR!
Cost: $150 (sponsorships available). Assistance with transport
costs may also be available in some cases.
Application forms available from: Jane Ellis (02) 9334 3282
/ 1300134 560 (toll free) or email: jellis@rbs.org.au
Perkins Online Museum: http://www.perkins.org/museum/
Includes historical information about teaching reading and writing, science
and maths, famous people, sports etc
Perkins Panda Program: http://www.perkins.org/area.php?id=25
This beginning braille literacy program has been designed for children with
vision impairments, ages birth to eight years old, and the parents, families
and professionals who support them. It is equally valuable to older children
with multiple disabilities, as well as to adults with visual impairments for
use with sighted children.
The Lantern – Perkins’ Newsletter: http://www.perkins.org/section.php?id=40#3
Includes text and pdf files of issues from 2001
Perkins Braillers – https://support.perkins.org/store_category.asp?key={B5C482E2-9C37-4F2F-99DD-DDC69BFC27E8}
Also available in jade green and slate blue! $US640
Perkins Online Store - https://support.perkins.org/store_category.asp?key={00ED16DC-DBB5-48B7-9B2C-D2088861650D}
Have a look at the extensive range of publications produced by Perkins and purchase
online.
From the website: http://sites.uws.edu.au/rdlo/disclosure/employment/plan_looking.htm
Commencing the job-searching journey can often feel like a complex and arduous procedure for all job-seekers, including job-seekers with a disability. Identifying personal career pathways, the demand for complex skill requirements, fierce competition for positions and varied or limited work experiences are just some of the issues that face people who are seeking employment.
Job-seekers with a disability also have to consider the possible or perceived impact their disability may have whilst seeking and maintaining employment. Job requirements and the fear of disability discrimination in the workplace are some of the issues that may impact on the job-searching journey for many people with a disability.
Disclosure of disability is an issue that many people with disabilities grapple with when seeking employment. Disclosure of disability should not be the focal point whilst developing a career plan and seeking employment. As with all job-seekers, the emphasis should first be on the person's skills, qualities, abilities and interests, followed by self-assessment about disability and disclosure.
The following steps, spelled out on the website, identify one process in developing career options for ALL job-seekers:
The website also explores the reasons for and against disclosing a disability, what to disclose, to whom it is disclosed etc, acknowledging that each person should make a personal choice.
The South African Post Office has joined forces with the rest of the world
to create awareness of the prevention of blindness by issuing a stamp and commemorative
envelope on 13 October 2005. Designed by Saskia van Wyk, the stamp design is
minimalist with only a coloured outer frame and white inner area. The Word “Hello”
is embossed in braille.
For more information go to: http://www.sapo.co.za/philately/blindnes.htm
The itinerant teachers of NSW have been busy designing a website called ‘V for Vision’. The site is described as ‘a community of users who share their resources’. You can add your documents or files that you think might be useful to others and view the vast array of resources that is continually being added to! Information is arranged in a number of categories including:
Go to: http://www.vforvision.com/
Source: Curriculum Close-Up 20: Focus on Early Years produced in 2005 by RNIB
During the 1990s Tina Bruce, an early years specialist, identified 12 features
of play. Vision specialist Linda Hubbard has used features to describe a ‘play
plan’ for students with vision impairments.
Here is an example which looks at play with telephones:
Feature of Play |
Definition |
Aspects to consider about children with a
vision impairment |
| Using first hand experiences | Making pretend phone calls with a real/toy phone | Children with vision impairments may depend on adults to present play stimulus. Make these readily available (within reach) and only offer them if really necessary. |
| Making up rules | Making up his own rules about how a conversation goes | The child may not have had this experience so be prepared to offer a few hints but try not to dominate the conversation. |
| Making props | Using the phone as a play prop | You may need to show the child that others are playing with props eg toy phones. Model the play yourself if necessary. |
| Choosing to play | Own choice to play this game |
You may need initially to offer a limited choice of activities to that they can make a choice but then encourage self-choice in the future. |
| Rehearsing the future | Rehearsing the way that adults behave | Make sure that the child will also sometimes rehearse how siblings or peers behave, as they can become very adult orientated. |
| Pretending | Pretending to have a conversation with an imaginary person | Some children with vision impairments find it difficult to make this imaginary step. Do not mistake it for self obsessed, self-centred conversation where the child has withdrawn into themselves. |
| Playing alone | Content with own company | Make sure they are actively engaged and not withdrawn as above and isolated or overwhelmed. |
| Playing together | If joined by another pretending to be the other end of the phone line | This can be difficult for a child with vision impairments to achieve. After the initial bringing together if required, leave alone for them to establish their own communication. Sometimes however, other children need to be reminded to speak to the child with vision impairments but this is not always effective. |
| Having a personal agenda | Deciding what they are going to do when they play | Encourage decisiveness but do not lead the way or the child will not learn to think for themselves. |
| Being deeply involved | When so deep in play that they do not want and should not get adult interference | Observe carefully to ensure that this is what is happening. Children with vision impairments (particularly those who are blind) do not always play in the same way as sighted children. |
| Trying out recent learning | Showing his skill in how to use a telephone | Children with vision impairments may need to try things many more times than sighted children in order to perfect their skills and understanding. |
| Co-ordinating ideas, feelings and relationships for free-flow play | Able to bring together in a way which makes sense for him, what he knows about telephones and what telephones are for; using his relationships with parents, peers etc as the catalyst for his play | To the casual observer, children with a visual impairment often appear to be engaged and playing happily but may in fact just be hovering on the fringes of an activity trying to understand what is going on. They may also ‘butterfly’ from one activity to the next. Be sure to carefully analyse what is happening. |
Note: you can have a fourth column labelled “comments on examples of play observed”.
Adapted from article by Katrilla Martin in Future Reflections, Summer/Fall 2005
Playing games has been proven to enhance the intellectual, interpersonal, and physical abilities of children. How then does a blind child, who may tend to shy away from playing games, develop those same abilities and what can parents do to help foster that development? The answer: Be resourceful. The world of card and board games, interactive computer games, or outdoor games does not need to be closed to blind children. Finding fun, inexpensive ways to adapt games for blind children may seem unrealistic, but truthfully most games can be adapted and made accessible at little or no cost to parents. The following article offers some guidelines to follow for making the experience of playing games an enjoyable one for blind children.
Making adaptations to card and board games involves simple, inexpensive modifications to cards, playing pieces, and game boards. Since the materials needed to adapt games in braille – Dymo tape, a slate and stylus, and/or a braille writer – may be already on hand, many parents and children opt to do the adaptations themselves. (I pause to mention that braille dice are available at the Adapt Centre – 9864 9247 and VisEquip – 9520 5588 but that most blind children have no difficulty in using regular playing dice).
Players and persons making the modifications must have a working knowledge of braille and be aware of how much space can be used without obscuring the pieces and board space of others. In other words, these adaptations should not make playing the game difficult. When adapting playing cards, the convention is to use an abbreviated two-digit system and to emboss the braille numbers and/or suits in opposite corners. For example, “7g” indicates a green seven card in UNO and “xh” is a ten of hearts in a standard deck. (Note: In braille usage, ‘x’ can be used to connote the Roman numeral ten. Also, it is not necessary to use the number sign if you teach your child that numbers come first, followed by the letter.) Doing this not only allows a young child to practice and master learning the braille alphabet and numbers, but can also be fun and informative to sighted family and friends.
However, adaptable card and board games can also be purchased from distributors including VisEquip and the Adapt Centre or online from locations that specialize in adaptive appliances and equipment. USA-based sites such as Beyond Sight at http://www.beyondsight.com/catalog.asp or Independent Living Aids Inc at http://www.independentliving.com/contact.asp have games in stock and will mail them for an additional fee. Prices will vary depending on the game and modifications. Sample prices of common games include: tactile dominoes $22-32, braille UNO cards $25, and braille monopoly $140-155.
For sources of more games, aids and devices for blind students, go to: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/braillerelated.htm
Adapted from an article by Barbara Loos in Future Reflections, Summer/Fall 2005
As I entered my college dormitory for the first time, my butterflies were soon
replaced by intrigue. Just inside the door my mother stopped dead in her tracks.
“Well, I guess we know which desk will be yours,” she announced
in a tone of both disbelief and disgust.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because this,” she said, placing my hand on something, “is
on the other one.”
“How strange,” I said, mystified. “I wonder why someone would
have a skull.”
Then there was the peculiar wooden box with a light bulb in it. What on earth was that? The right-hand end of the closet bar was sparsely hung with work shirts. There were no other outward signs of occupation. Whoever this person was, I was now looking forward to meeting her.
When we came back later to move my things in, she was there. Her name was Diane. The skull was a gift from a friend. The box with the light was for Otis, her pet boa constrictor. For my part I enjoyed getting to know Otis. He liked to wrap around my arm and lean toward lights or slither from one of my legs to the other when I was seated. It was fun sometimes to carry him around and let him reach for things.
Only one time was our relationship anything other than amicable. Diane was cleaning his home while I sat on my bed, enjoying Otis as he lounged companionably in my lap. Suddenly I noticed that he was moving purposefully to my left. As I slid my fingers gently along his body, I discovered his mission in progress. His head and upper body were already inside my brailler. Otis had entered by climbing over the keys and through the space along which the carriage moves. He had begun to intertwine himself in the inner mechanisms in such a way that pulling him out didn’t seem possible. I tried that anyway, having no other ideas. His response was a firmer grip on something in there and a resistance in his muscles that was both fascinating and unnerving.
Diane, a pretty unflappable soul, suggested that we let him come out when he decided to. When I asked how long that might take, she said that when he had gone into her skull, he had stayed only two weeks. Two weeks! I had homework to do that very night for which I needed to use the machine. I was horrified. By the time Diane reached her friend, Tim, who had graduated from boa constrictors as pets to pythons, his suggestion of pulling him out backward was absolutely out of the question. Not only was I concerned about tearing his skin, but I was also having a hard time coming up with an explanation to a repair person of just how some of the internal workings of the brailler had become bent, should that occur. I didn’t think anyone would buy, “My roommate’s snake did it.”
Only one genuinely rational option occurred to me. We needed to take the brailler apart. Removing the base had an effect on Otis similar to moving the machine around, so it was still impossible simply to pull Otis out. Fortunately, just down the hall lived my friend Judy. She generally had or could find both the tools and the ingenuity to deal with almost anything. She was initially a bit dubious about the project. Ultimately, though, the thing was just too funny for her to pass up. We soon had both Otis and my brailler restored to their proper stations, injury-free.
Although thirty-five years have passed since this event, I have never tired of telling the tale. I think that’s because, during the course of that school year, Otis managed to snake his way into my heart as well as my brailler.
Thanks to Jeni Blake, Maria Elford, Dr Jill Keeffe, Lynne Murdoch, Peggy Soo and Dr Mike Steer for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to my fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).