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The following issue of The Bulletin was prepared by Marion Blazé, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
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
SVRC ‘Circus Skills for Kids’ – places limited
Contact Dianne Skillern on 9841 0242 ASAP – forms available via email
or fax! Monday 12 December 10am to 2pm
Vision Australia Survivor Camp (16 years+)
Contact Jane Ellis (02) 9334 3282 / 1300 134 560 (toll free) or email: jellis@rbs.org.au
Thursday 12th to Thursday 19th January 2006
Title: Education for People with impaired vision: From Antiquity to the Antipodes
ISBN: 064 645 1936
By Dr Keith Watson
In describing the path trodden by people with impaired vision, Keith Watkins presents a wealth of unique documents, reports and interviews. They provide a vivid picture of the birth and growth of special education for vision impaired students. This is a history told in the social, economic and political climate of the time, making for absorbing reading.
Cost: A$55.00 each plus postage and handling
For more information or to order, contact:
K.W. and E. Watkins
PO Box 109, Wooli, via Grafton, NSW 2462, Australia
keith.edie.watkins@bigpond.com
Tel: +61 02 6649 7883
ABN 77413928860
In the week from November 21 to 25, not only were we running a four-day program for ten vision impaired students, but we had the driving camp happening simultaneously, AND were making preparations for a bigger-than-ever Expo on the Friday. And now Deb is off on the Great Victorian Bike Ride. You certainly couldn’t say that we were winding down to Christmas!
On the following pages read all about the ‘Skill Power’ Program, Driving Camp, Expo and ideas for Christmas.
What a week we had at the resource centre!! A total of ten students took advantage of this one-off program. The staff of the Statewide Vision Resource Centre, in conjunction with the staff of the Children’s Services of Guide Dogs Victoria, offered this program in response to the needs of some students who this year suffered significant and sudden vision loss. It was also opened up to other students who have degenerating vision. The aim of the week was to ‘skill’ these students in talking computer technology, Braille, mobility and daily living. Though we don’t expect that the students would learn all this in one four-day program, we aimed to expose them to the possibilities so that they could then pursue the learning of skills, which they found useful.
One bonus outcome of the program was that all the students had great fun and many tried skills they were previously resistant to. One student who announced at the beginning of the week that she ‘didn’t need to learn braille’, was eager to learn more braille by the end of the week. Another who didn’t want her laptop computer adjusted for high contrast found by the end of the week that it was much easier working that way. I guess many students are resistant to a new skill when it is introduced to them on their own. But when they are in a group of students doing the same thing and meeting similar challenges, they are much more receptive.
The resource center is hoping to generate some very useful curriculum materials from the week’s programs (cause basically we had to write them anyway!), so WATCH THIS SPACE!
A special thanks to the Guide Dogs folk for their willingness to offer their time and energy to this program. Another special thanks to Mike of Bolinda Audio books, who very generously donated CD audio titles for these children to take home with them.
Some pictures from the programs appear below:
The driving camp was held at the Charlton Driver Education Centre on the 21st and the 22nd of November. A group of nine initially nervous and then enthusiastic senior students experienced the thrill of being behind the wheel of a “powerful” vehicle. Some even managed to stay on the correct side of the road for quite a while. One managed to flatten a white post and some went “off road.” The instructors were patient, humorous, flexible and tailored the program for individual students. A great time was had by all! Although all the students were realistic about not being able to obtain a driver’s licence, before long, they were enjoying doing hand-brake starts, angle-parks and were able to manoeuvre through a figure eight road.
“What a great day! The weather is beautiful, we’re not at school and we’re going to drive a car!”
“This is a great camp. I recommend it to others.”
“Nine is a perfect number for this camp.”
“Don’t tell anyone else, we want this same group next year.”
“Oh God! Someone has gone off road!”
“I laughed so much I couldn’t see where I was going.”
‘This has fulfilled a life-long passion of mine for driving.”
“Student A. worked out where everything was in the car, like boot, petrol cap and wipers, all while he was adjusting the seat.” (Instructor)
“I was laughing so much I couldn’t see” (Instructor)
“Great experience!”
“I’d recommend this to others because we don’t get to do this with the family car and it’s fun”
“Not something we do every day”
“We are on the right side of the road . . . but not the correct side”. (Instructor)
“That road keeps moving.”
“It does not sound like we are on the road.”
“My son is in that car!” Lyn, whose son came on the camp.
The camp has been booked for next year:
Thursday November 31st & Friday December 1st.
The organisation will be different with the VT’s responsible for collecting all the paper work and the deposit before the beginning of VCE exams. The camp will be limited to 9 – that’s three per car! I will give you plenty of warning but cut off dates will be strict.
Helen Caldow
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Losing your sight doesn’t mean losing your skills. Vision Australia College’s Assist Industrial Training will give you the confidence to undertake projects at home in the shed.
This Workshop will:
Pre-requisites
Students need to be registered clients of Vision Australia before commencing industrial training. If you are not a client of Vision Australia and have vision impairment, you may be eligible to become a Vision Australia client. Contact one of the Industrial Trainers for further details, on 9520 5555 or 1300 847 466
When: 9th December 2005
Time: 9am - 3pm
Where: Industrial Training Unit, Vision Australia College,
201 High Street, Prahran
Cost: this workshop is free of charge
For Further Information phone: 03 9520 5555 or email: college@rvib.org.au
This course has been developed for current and prospective tertiary students who are blind or vision impaired.
Where: Vision Australia, 201 High Street, Prahran
When: 23-25 January 2006
Time: 9.30am – 3.30pm
To register please contact: Renee Williamson, Tertiary Education Consultant
Phone: 9520 5555 or 1300 55 99 87
Email: renee.williamson@rvib.org.au
Registrations close 17 January 2006 and places are limited. It is recommended that you register promptly.
Information provided by Gayle Skinner, President VAPVI
VAPVI held its Annual General Meeting on November 28th. Meeting dates for 2006 have been decided upon and are as follows: February 13th, May 8th, August 14th and AGM: November 13th at 8.00pm.
The venue continues to be The Avenue Neighborhood House, corner Blackburn Road and The Avenue, Blackburn.
You can access vapvi@hotmail.com or telephone Gayle on 9431 2678 in regard to attendance at any of these meetings.
Following is the President's report, which details a busy year for VAPVI Committee.
VAPVI - Victorian Association of Parents for Children with Vision Impairment
As we head into the busy Christmas season and the end of the year 2005, we reflect on the achievements of the past twelve months. As the length of the report indicates, they have been many.
Following the focus of the President’s 2004 report and follow-up planning, communication has been at the for-front of our activities this year. One major event was our attendance at the SPEVI Conference.
After more than 18 months of planning, where we represented parents on the planning committee, our members attended the ‘South Pacific Educators of the Vision Impaired’ Conference held in Melbourne in January. We further contributed by holding a workshop where we advertised VAPVI and our journey to provide parents of VI children with a combined voice.
With communication as an important focus we used this opportunity to create links with the parent support groups that provide practical knowledge for parents whose children have specific eye conditions; Debbie Deshaye’s cataract support group and John and Judy Bowen’s Stargaat’s group to name two. It was also an opportunity for the Blind Agencies to put names to faces and to personalise conversations.
The support from the VI agencies for state and national parent support groups continues to be strong. At the conference we were readily involved in networking with parents from across Victoria, Australia, New Zealand and America. The highlight of the conference, for parents, was the formation of the steering committee for a National parent group. We have two representatives on this steering committee.
We at VAPVI should be proud that this further step in national parent representation has come about following the work done since 2000 by our Victorian Association. With the support of Susan La Venture from the American NAPVI, and input from New Zealand’s PVI and with input and representation from our Victorian Association, a national parent body is off and running.
Since the conference, we have taken up several opportunities to promote VAPVI. There has been the telephone interview for Sound-about Magazine and a radio interview on the Guide Dogs “Get Around” segment on 3RPH. We have continued to provide parents with information of the discussions and outcomes of our meetings through the variety of VI agency magazines, though access to our hotmail address and through email delivery to our database members.
Being closely linked to the development of the National parent group, AAPVI, as President of the steering committee, has provided opportunities to further our State unit. My recent attendance at the NZ PVI Conference in Auckland has given a clearer picture of how the various levels of parent support are interlinked, each having its own major focus, but interconnected for the benefit of parents and their children.
Our social get together in June of this year, provided a great opportunity for committee members to enjoy each other’s company outside of the meeting schedule. This should be an annual event.
As we continue to forward the views of parents of children with vision impairments, it is gratifying to realise that we are an important link for families and it is vital that the VAPVI committee continue its wonderful work.
Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities Inc.
Realizing the Vision for Accessible Informaiton: The Way Forward
2006 National Conference
Saturday, 20 May – Tuesday, 23 May 2006
Pacific International, Brisbane
Due date for submission of Abstracts: - Friday, 27 January 2006
Need some ideas for Chrissy presents for your students, or Chrissy crafts for those last few visits? Then make an end-of-year visit to Resource to return all the stuff you’ve no doubt borrowed and take a look at our Christmas displays.
Yes, we are already thinking about and planning for next year. If you have Year 11 students or students doing a second year in Year 12, then we need to know their subjects for Year 12. Lyn will be eternally grateful if you can get in touch with her with the following information:
Several SSO vacancies exist in the Statewide Vision Resource Centre. If you’d like to do a little ‘head-hunting’, tell your friends to use these links to get to the job details.
Go here: https://hrms.education.vic.gov.au/psp/HR8PRD/?cmd=login
Type in your user id and password (or if you are new, you'll need to create
one - follow the prompts)
Go to: employee self service
Then go to: employee home
Click on: recruiting activities home
Then: view job postings
Then on the next page do the following:
Tick: school support
And Search by: school
Type in: Heatherwood
Scroll down till you find the Search button and click on it
There should be a number of vacancies listed...
Deb Lewis (who can be emailed at deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au).