The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Deb Lewis (Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre).
You will notice that we have added another PD activity to our already rather full term 1. This is partly in response to the completely overwhelming response we had to last year’s Low Vision Day (120+ participants) and partly to address the particular needs of students who are in or approaching VCE level. We would encourage you to invite subject teachers, integration teachers and aides, careers teachers, therapists, parents and visiting teachers to the Educational Support for VCE Students with Vision Impairments day on Monday 23 February. The program relates to supporting students in the senior years (years 9 to 12) and will include:
Please note that senior students (years 9 to 12) are also welcome on this day!
This program is quite early in the year (week 4) – so you might need to invite participants this year and give them a reminder next year! Email deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au for a copy of the flier.
Our next meeting will be held on 13 December at 2.00 pm. Unfortunately Dr Mackey will be in England lobbying for more funding to continue his vital research into retinal dystrophies. While this is a disappointment Dr Jon Ruddle, a fellow ophthalmologist who is working with Dr Mackey, will be presenting the latest findings from their research. It promises to be an informative and stimulating afternoon. Visiting Teachers are encouraged to inform all parents of children who have ‘retinal problems’ to attend the meeting. Visiting Teachers are also most welcome, just keep in mind that this is a forum for parents and we must take second place in asking questions etc. Any inquiries contact Annette.
Space Campers onsite at the US Space and Rocket Center – (left to right) Lachlan, Nathan, Ben and Matthew. Their matching shirts were again generously donated by Blue Gum Clothing.
Ben’s letter of thanks to his sponsors:
These are some of the things that I did on my trip to America.
We left Australia at 10:30 am on Saturday 13/9/03; we had a stopover in Auckland and arrived LAX Saturday afternoon. For the next 3 days we spent our time at Disneyland. I thought Disneyland was overrated but California Adventure Land was good because it had California Screamin’, a big roller coaster with a loop.
The next day we spent at Knotts Berry farm. It was excellent. It had a roller coaster that went from 0-82 miles in 2.3 seconds and it had heaps of cool rides and the world’s biggest wooden roller coaster. The San Diego Zoo was good because we got to see pandas and it had a sky rail. But I’m not really interested in animals so it was a bit boring.
We left LA and flew into Huntsville via Dallas. I liked Huntsville because it was more rural than LA and it was not as hot as LA.
At space camp we were put into teams. My team was called Charon. We did 2 simulated missions; I was the launch/landing director. We went on 5 different simulation machines. They simulated weightlessness and tumble rolls. We had our graduation on the Thursday night. Our team won the outstanding team award.
The following day we went back to LA and then to Sea World, the whales at sea world were good. After Sea World we went home. We had 7-hour stop over in New Zealand on the way home. It was real boring. We got in to Melbourne at 8:15 on the 30/9/03.
We all had a really great time and I’d like to go back again, especially to be part of the Aviation Challenge.
From: Nick Allen, VisTech Solutions Newsletter, October 2003
The VisTech Solutions webpage is better than ever and is easy to navigate. It has lots of pictures of products that won’t bring your computer to a halt. Have a look at the on-line catalogue and check out just about all of the goodies that we can help with. Not only all of that, but it looks fantastic as well.
There is one page that will be updated very soon. This is a mammoth task and will take a little while to complete, I tend to think it will be more of an ongoing project. This page will have loads of, what we call, cheat sheets. That is documents with hot keys for different programs like, Microsoft products, Braille Note, PACMate, Mobile Accessibility, TALKS and so on. We hope you will like this page and make great use of it.
Go to: www.vistech.rvib.org.au
Source: ABA Newsletter, July 2003
Australian braille production is based on the following references:
Copies of ABA publications cost $20 each, print or braille.
For further information contact Rosalyn Bates: rosalynb@melbpc.org.au
Source: BCA News, September 2003
Working Credit is a new initiative that starts on 20 September 2003. It aims to help working-age people keep more of their income support payments when they start full-time, part-time or casual work.
Working Credit will help blind people who receive a Disability Support Pension (DSP) and also receive Rent Assistance. Currently DSP is not affected by any extra income you get, but Rent Assistance can be. Working Credit will help blind people to keep more of their Rent Assistance when they start paid work.
When you have little or no income in a fortnight, you will automatically build up working credits. You can build up to 48 working credits each fortnight, up to a maximum of 1000 over time. Then when you start work, Centrelink will automatically use your working credits to increase how much you can earn before your Rent Assistance is reduced.
David is a single blind disability support pensioner who also gets Rent Assistance. He has no extra income other than his Centrelink payment. From 20 September 2003, he will build up working credits every fortnight. If, for example, David gets a job in April 2004 he will have over 600 working credits by then. These working credits will let him earn an extra $600 before his Rent Assistance is reduced. This will help him keep more of his Rent Assistance when he first starts work.
Centrelink only needs to know how much you earn if you receive Rent Assistance. A small number of people whose earnings vary a lot and who get Rent Assistance may need to notify Centrelink of their income each fortnight. Centrelink will be in contact if this applies to you.
You can use the existing ways to contact Centrelink such as phone, fax or in person.
Centrelink is working to provide braille cards with your Customer Reference Number to help you when calling. As well as your Customer Reference Number, Centrelink can also provide you with a PIN, which means you need to spend less time on the telephone. You can get a PIN by ringing Centrelink and asking the Customer Service Officer to issue you with a PIN. From 20 September 2003 people will be able to call a priority line to report their employment income. When you call this number you can either speak to a Customer Service Officer or you may also be able to use a new voice recognition phone system. You will need a PIN if you want to report your employment income to Centrelink using this priority line.
The Centrelink Internet site is being reviewed by Vision Australia Foundation to improve its accessibility to vision impaired people. You may want to use some of the self service options available through the Internet. You can register for this through the On-line Service tab on Centrelink’s Internet site at www.centrelink.gov.au
Currently you can use this to update your Family Tax Benefit Income Estimate, and from 20 September 2003 you will be able to use it to report your employment income. Additional self-service options will be available through both the telephone and the Web over the next few months.
You do not need to do anything. You will automatically build up and use working credits. Centrelink will contact you if you need to report your income regularly.
Source: OnLine Magazine, April 2003.
Users of JAWS or other screen readers who are new to Windows XP, are likely to experience a little confusion, disorientation and frustration, unless some essential customisation has been undertaken. Many of the recommended changes involve aspects which the average sighted user may well not be concerned with or even aware of.
Below are some suggestions to address the most obvious customisations, but a more comprehensive summary of how to set up Windows XP for optimal use for JAWS users can be found in the JAWS help topics (look under ‘Using JAWS’, ‘Installing JAWS’, ‘Operating System Considerations’ and ‘Windows XP and JAWS’) or (recommended) by referring to a detailed summary available from the Freedom Scientific web site (see below). Remember, too, that if you are dealing with a networked system (most likely using XP Pro), that changes will need to be made whilst logged in and with full administrator permissions or rights, probably requiring the cooperation of your local network technician.
Note: If you would like a copy of the whole article which includes further details and reference to the Sticky Key conflict, please email your request.
Source: SPEVI News, May 2002
Article by Karen Nagel, Instructor/Consultant, Skills Training and Resource Centre, W Ross Macdonald School for Students who are Blind/Visually Impaired, Brantford, Ontario
The following statement: “Teaching this student braille and having him use a white cane will make him different and dependent” was written by an ophthalmologist in response to the recommendation given by one of our resource services staff that a student with low vision be taught the use of braille in addition to the use of print for reading. Teaching braille to students with low vision is a topic that brings about varied opinions. Many professionals and parents believe that braille should not be taught to students with any useful, residual vision. This article is an opportunity to explain the reasoning and determining factors in not ascribing to this theory.
Literacy, by definition, is the ability to read and write and to read your own writing and since the 1950’s, the literacy rates among individuals with visual impairment have decreased. As educators, our mandate is to provide our students with the opportunity of developing literacy and to provide this opportunity in the most exciting, appropriate and easiest way so they can experience success and, “the joy of reading”.
When you are successful in an activity, you tend to repeat it. Therefore, the more you read, the better you become. The more accomplished you are as a reader, the more information you gain and the better prepared you are to become a contributing member of society.
Educators have three crucial goals in mind when viewing the instruction of reading:
The decision to augment the medium of print with the medium of braille must be given an individual approach for each student. We, as a multidisciplinary team, must observe “the whole child”, academically, socially and emotionally at a functional visual level. The following factors must be given careful consideration before a decision can be formed:
As educators, we also need to keep in mind that the education and purpose of optometrists, and ophthalmologists is based on the care of the eye and the ability to “fix” or alleviate the vision problem. It is therefore understandable that for some clinical personnel the use of braille is seen as a failure rather than an enhancement for success.
Two points of view are seen in this debate - the medical view and the educational view. Each student with low vision must be regarded as an individual with unique needs. Only through collaboration and the mutual respect for differing mandates and philosophies of the educational and medical models will students with low vision have the opportunity to rise to the pinnacle of their potential for life-long learning.
Excerpt of article by Mike May, Tech-Style Newsletter, February 2003
Rarely is something so exciting that I feel like leaping up from my chair in the middle of a restaurant and shouting. (My family is grateful for that restraint.) Instead, I'll take a moment to share my excitement with those of you who can appreciate my enthusiasm.
What percentage of restaurants do you think have braille menus? One out of a thousand perhaps? It is always such a treat when one gets a braille menu, even if the prices are outdated. How nice to have the same level of access that print readers take for granted - even if it is so rarely possible.
The good news is that having to hear a menu read really helps with one’s memory development. Since there is no chance to peruse or have the entire menu reread, blind folks know to latch on to an item or two that sound interesting and ignore the rest. This sure makes for speedy food selection and keeps the memory finely tuned.
In the past 10 days, I have had the opportunity to be at 5 restaurants, none of which had braille menus, but all of which had lengthy interesting offerings. How do I know they have interesting menus? Now this gets to the exciting part. It turns out that all these restaurants have their menus on the web. I can get on the web site with my BrailleNote and download the menu to review, along with my sighted friends, at the restaurant. This is very cool.
Now, what happens when you are out with friends and pick a restaurant while driving around, or decide on somewhere at the last moment? Not a problem. I can simply use my cell phone with the BrailleNote to get on the restaurant web site right there at the table. All the big cell phone carriers are rolling out their 56k high-speed wireless data services. This 56K service really makes using the web practical versus the old-style 14.4 slow data services people had. I am really amazed that all these restaurants had their menus on their web site.
Email the SVRC if you’d like a copy of the whole article!
Source: http://www.norco.com/adams/home.htm
The Trail-A-Bike is an attachment for an ordinary adult’s bicycle which
seats children from 3 to 9 years. They consist of a back wheel, bicycle seat,
handle bars and pedals on a frame that attaches below the adult’s bicycle
seat, enabling adult and child to ride together, a bit like a tandem. There
were quite a few on the Great Victorian Bike Ride in 2003 and they proved to
be a simple way for children to participate in the event. They’d be very
suitable for children with vision impairments, too!
Recommended retail price: $219-$499
Source: Information Alternatives via the ABF Braille Literacy and Numeracy network
Information Alternatives produced braille calendars for 2004. They are an A5 size spiral bound booklet of 52 braille pages containing a wealth of helpful information. Each month is shown with its days and dates, as well as the Australian public holidays which fall within it. Each month begins on a new page. Following the calendar information is a listing of more than 40 frequently used herbs and spices. These herbs and spices are referred to by their commonly used names as well as their lesser known names. A short paragraph about each follows, giving some historic information as well as noting some of the common uses for each. Example of one of the entries:
“GINGER: (Zingiber Officinale)
Can be used to spice foods and to soothe the digestive system. Ginger is believed
to aid in relieving the symptoms of motion sickness, make a tingling bath and
a refreshing tea. The root (cracked) is used in chutney, pickles, preserves
and dried fruit. It is used ground in cakes, cookies, breads and pot roasts.”
The calendars sell for $6.50 (Australian dollars) each.
For further enquiries and also to place an order please contact: Christine Simpson, Information Alternatives: tel (03) 9889 0392 email infoalt@bigpond.net.au
This tip comes to you from Lea Nagel (and associates) – it may be a little late for this year’s exam period – but you just never know when a timing device may come in handy – timing your student’s typing or reading rate, for example:
Kay McQualter shared this one with me, with thanks to one of her clever students:
To save calculation and re-calculation of how much examination time has been
used by the student, let your mobile phone do the work!
Turn on your Stopwatch (my Nokia has this in the Clock menu) and start it at the beginning of production time. Stop it for rest breaks, don’t clear the time, then re-start the timer when production time begins again. Your phone will show you a running total of production time, ready to announce to the student as soon as they ask!
If you are worried about the phone ringing during the exam and disturbing the student, you can turn the ringer to ‘silent’.
Source: http://www.landmarkcollege.org/institute/assistive_technology/why_at.html
The Landmark College was established to support students with learning disabilities and AD/HD at the post-secondary level. The focus at the Institute is on developing educational best practice for these students with respect to teaching principles, methods and strategies that are effective in a variety of settings. Many of these principles, methods and strategies are also applicable to the vision impaired student population, including a strong emphasis on assistive technology in the classroom.
The instruction process should include:
Explicit instruction, allowing for student feedback, is vital. When introducing students to assistive technology and/or software, it is important to build in time for students to discuss their expectations and attitudes towards the software. Getting concerns and unrealistic expectations out in the open is helpful to students and the instructor/trainer. Simply being free to express concerns may relieve tension they feel about using AT.
It is helpful to ask the students:
Practice should first be designed to help students develop facility in using the software. As soon as possible, it should be applied to relevant tasks, such as assignments for classes.
Other pages on this website address the following:
We have come across a colour-coded picture of a keyboard from the net. The
colours show which finger touches each key. One VT keeps a laminated copy stored
in her laptop bag for quick reference when teaching touch-typing and finds it
very helpful. The chart would not be suitable for the majority of students as
the quality of the letters is poor. We have traced over the letters with a black
pen to improve the clarity but the contrast and size is probably still not useful
for most students.
If you would like a copy, please email Helen
Caldow or download and then re-size the picture from www.ingenuityworks.com
Source: http://sites.uws.edu.au/rdlo/disclosure/
Disclosure of disability presents a number of challenges & choices for people with a disability, particularly those participating in education and employment. Choices may include:
Employers and educators may also be challenged in relation to their role and responsibilities when a person discloses their disability.
‘Choosing Your Path. Disclosure: It’s A Personal Decision’ addresses these challenges for people with disabilities, employers and educators. The website provides substantial information about options and pathways that people with disabilities can use in disclosing their disability in post secondary education and employment environments. The website also articulates the role and responsibilities of employers and educators in relation to disclosure.
Valuable information on this website includes the following:
Source: OnLine Newsletter, Issue 7 2002
Puzzle Maker - http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/
Puzzlemaker is a puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents. Create and print customized word search, crossword and math puzzles using your word lists. The site offers links to other online activities and resources such as Brain Boosters (reasoning and problem-solving) and Clip Art.
Kids Domain - www.kidsdomain.com
Excellent site for shareware and freeware for PC or Macintosh computers. Site can be browsed by age group or subject area.
It is worth having a close look at your computer keyboard to see if there are any natty things available.
Visiting Teacher Kay McQualter recently discovered that her laptop had yet another built-in magnifier! Its presence is revealed by the blue symbol of a hand-held magnifier in a box on the left-hand end of the Space Bar. The magnifier is then engaged by pressing the Function key with the Space Bar. The whole screen is then enlarged approximately two times its original size – not enough for some students, but it might help some. The icons, the menu bars, text in a Word document etc are all enlarged.
Source: Sue Young, SPEVI Network Meeting, 7 October 2002
Need some fun things to do with your kids as we barrel along towards the festive season??? Try the web!!!
One site I found that had lots of activities and links to other sites is Kids Domain – you’ll find it at: http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/
There are heaps to print off including puzzles, recipes, Christmas music etc. You have to wade through a bit of advertising material (such is life)! Or you can send us the print copy or the link and we can produce it in large print or braille.
And if you are into ‘making and doing’, the Mother’s Home
website has lots of ideas. Go to:
http://www.mothers-home.com/activities/xmascrafts.htm
Kyle and Nathan of Mordialloc College, honed their self defence skills with the best, Lauren Burns, Olympic gold medallist, Sydney 2000. Lauren was a guest speaker to Frankston secondary school students at the Arts Centre under the Rotary Club of Frankston (Sunrise) program called Motivational Monday. Her message to all students was: Situations are neutral – it is your choice whether you act negatively or positively.
Thanks to Anne Spence, Kay McQualter, Faye Squires, Helen Caldow and Jeni Blake for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to proof-readers Lea Nagel and Dianne Skillern.
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).