Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 19, Friday 19th November 1999
Inside This Issue
We are pleased to announced that our new website is up and running! You can
find us at http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au
(Editor's note: If you are reading this you are already here!)
Information includes:
Parking at the SVRC
Please note that visitors are not permitted to park in the driveway outside the SVRC. Heatherwood School requires clear access for delivery vehicles and ambulance at all times. If you arrive to find the SVRC car park full, please drive round to the Donvale Sports Complex next door. It is only a short walk to the SVRC. Thank you.
VT PD Day – 29th November
Remember to invite students who are interested in participating in Space Camp 2000 and their families (or anyone else who is interested!!!) to hear participants from Space Camp 1999 between 2.30 and 3.30pm.
Professional Development for 1999
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPEVI Discussion and Christmas Drinks | 23 November |
|
|
First Aid – Basic Life Support Level 1 and/or
CPR Update
St John Ambulance will conduct a one-day course at the SVRC. Details in Bulletin 15. |
25 November |
|
|
Visiting Teacher Professional Development
Day
Program attached to Bulletin 17. |
29 November |
Space Camp Questions!!!
Here are the answers to last week’s questions:
Four Australian delegates – Gillian Gale, Josie Howse, Bill Jolley and Bruce Maguire – recently attended the ICEB General Assembly meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, to participate in international discussions on the Unified Braille Code.
SPEVI will hold its final gathering for 1999 and is pleased to announce that the speaker will be none other than one of the Australian delegates, Gillian Gale, who will present her impressions of the discussions and plenty of other interesting information.
When: Tuesday 23 November 1999 – please gather at 5pm for a 5.30pm start
Where: Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale Road Nunawading
RSVP: Deb Lewis, Chris Thirkell (9561 2536) or Sandie Mackevicius (9808 6422)
‘My Favourite Thing’ – SVRC Writing Competition - Reminder
The SVRC’s writing competition on the topic ‘My Favourite Thing’ is closing soon – on Friday 26th November 1999 . Writing must be accompanied by an illustration or artistic creation which relates to the written piece. Four winners who will each receive $50 will be chosen from year levels: Prep to Year 2, Year 3 to Year 6, Year 7 to Year 9, Year 10 to Year 12.
Send or deliver entries to the Statewide Vision Resource Centre or by e-mail
to deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au
Further details are available in Bulletin 12, 1999.
Community Clubs and Organisations
The following article was submitted by Peter Rickards, Vision Australia Foundation.
Why join one?
There are many reasons why joining a local group can be a satisfying way to spend time. These include:
Start by phoning your local council and ask for information. Usually the Recreation & Leisure services will help you. They will give you names and phone numbers which need to be written down. Ask if you can have the material in other formats (eg cassette, braille). More are doing so, and if not, they may be encouraged to start this process. Alternatively, asking people you know may give you the information you require.
For information about state or national organisations, you may need to contact their office direct. For example, scouting, political, and conservation groups.
If you are not sure how well you may cope in a new club, ask if the council has a disability support officer. This person may be able to advise and support you becoming involved.
The hardest step for anyone, especially for people with a disability or vision loss, is getting up the courage and deciding to go along for the first time.
Also, another concern is, whether to tell the person on the other end of the phone about your disability, or to just go along and see how you manage, because a negative reaction can be very discouraging. If you already know someone in the club, this will help greatly, or even better if you know of a club with a vision-impaired person already involved. With clubs catering for older people, this is more likely.
Conversely someone may have been involved in a local club for some time and subsequently lost their vision. The feeling here is, often, one of embarrassment, asking for help from people who have always known you as sighted.
Some techniques & issues
Sports clubs - some of these will be more suitable than others. Team ball sports are unlikely to be suitable because most are played with a small fast-moving ball.
Service clubs – are ideal because organisations, such as Lions, Rotary, Country Women’s Association, and land care groups are in almost every town and suburb.
Social clubs – professional business (probus), church, and senior citizens clubs are very common across city and rural communities, whilst availability of other clubs will vary from place to place.
Activity focus clubs – will also vary greatly, but organisations such as Toast Masters and Rostrum are particularly good for vision-impaired people because they develop one’s public speaking and conducting meeting skills.
Organisations with a cause – involvement in these project based organisations, being on the school or church council, or help running a local sport club or scout committee can be very satisfying, as one can see the result for effort and affecting change.
Community based learning – community centres have a range of courses. Finding out about them is difficult if you can’t read the local paper. They also may not have course material in alternative formats. Other organisations, such as University of The Third Age (U3A), are located almost everywhere.
Audio Described Performances
The following performances will have Audio Descriptions provided. You are advised that when attending an audio described performance you need to arrive at the theatre at least thirty minutes before commencement time to receive equipment, be seated and hear program notes, cast lists, consumes and stage settings described.
Retinoblastoma Website
Information about retinoblastoma can be found at www.retinoblastoma.com/. This site has information including the signs and symptoms, genetics, treatment and long term effects of retinoblastoma.
Goalball Home Page
The goalball homepage can be found at http://www.thehub.com.au/~doggie/goalball.html/.
Goalball is described as a unique team sport for people with vision impairment, played by 2 teams of 3 players. All players are blind-folded to enable blind, visually impaired and sighted athletes to compete together. (Although to play in a national team the athletes must be legally blind).
The game is of 14 minutes duration (playing time) divided into 2 x 7-minute halves. The ball used weighs 1.25 kg and contains noise bells. The object of the game is to roll the ball over your opponent’s goal line using a bowling action. Action is fast and furious! The website also includes a history of goalball and the rules of the game.
The BlindRing
The BlindRing (found at http://www.viguide.com/blring1.htm) was designed to join together home pages and web sites that are either run by blind individuals or are for the blind. The ring is like a circle. One can follow the link on a BlindRing site to go to the next site in the ring. If you continue doing this, you'll eventually end up at the first page (the page that you started at). When you go to a BlindRing site, you can go to the next site in the ring, the previous site, a random site, and list all of the sites in the BlindRing among other things.
If you want to be added to this growing ring, complete the form on the website.
RVIB Introduction to Braille 2000
This 12 week course presents a systematic approach to learning braille. It caters for sighted people who have had little or no experience in using braille as well as those people who want to consolidate their grade II braille skills. The course aims to assist participants to achieve competency in Grade II braille. It does not however, provide training for the teaching of braille.
In 2000, the course will be run over twelve Tuesday evenings with breaks to coincide with term breaks. Twelve places are available, the minimum number for the course to run is 8.
The classes will be held between 6.45 and 9.15.
Participants on the course previously have included:
201 High Street, Prahran Vic 3181
Tel: 9520 5521
Fax: 9521 3685
Email: mandyra@rvib2.rvib.org.au
RVIB Library Services
Janine Smith from RVIB Library Services recently sent us the following:
RVIB Library and Information Services is a registered Victorian public library providing library and information services to over 6500 clients with print disabilities. A large collection of alternative format materials is provided for loan. Audio, braille and electronic texts are available for loan, as are talking magazines, talking newspapers and audio described videos.
The Library provides service free of charge to clients with print disabilities
living in Victoria. We also provide service to clients in South Australia,
Queensland and Tasmania on a fee for service basis with agencies in those
states.
People with print disabilities are those who cannot obtain access to information in a print form because they are blind or vision impaired; or have physical disabilities which limit their ability to hold or manipulate information in a printed form; or have perceptual or other disabilities which limit their ability to follow a line of print or which affect their concentration.
The library also provides a reference service known as PAISA - Print Alternative Information Service of Australia, which provides a telephone reference service for people with print disabilities requiring quick access to information. Qualified staff will answer reference enquiries over the phone, or provide them in the preferred format of the requester, for example braille, audio, large print or computer disk.
Answers are provided from a wide variety of sources including the Library's own reference collection, the Internet, and the State Library of Victoria's VISioN service. PAISA is a unique service in Australia, and a major breakthrough in library and information service provision to people with print disabilities. PAISA is a free service.
We also provide reference and research services to staff of the RVIB and its clients. A particular strength is the collection of reference materials relating to blindness and vision impairment.
Support is provided for students and clients in the workforce with urgent information needs via our Student and Vocational Support Service. Materials are provided to them in alternative formats. An extensive search, using a variety of national and international databases, is first undertaken to locate the materials required. If the required information is found, it is ordered on behalf of the student. If the required information is not available in a suitable format, our audio, braille, large print and disk production facilities are available to produce the material in the required format.
Our Special Transcription Service exists to meet the significant demand which exists among clients for a service which will quickly transcribe a range of brief, one-off information materials. The service is restricted to items which are no more than 30 pages long, for example equipment instructions, letters, bills, magazine or newspaper articles, pamphlets etc. Material to be recorded must be supplied by the requester. The Special Transcription Service is free. All registered Library & Information Services clients are entitled to use the service.
Applications for membership can be obtained by contacting our Reader Services department. All applications must be accompanied by verification of print disability.
Reader Services can be contacted on (03) 9521-3400 (for metropolitan Melbourne)
OR 1800 33 55 88 (outside the metropolitan area).
From The Internet
More discussion on braille reading:
From: Anna Dresner (AERNET) on Tuesday, November 02, 1999
I have read braille almost exclusively with my left hand since I was
a small child. I have noticed the reversal problem with my right hand as
well. Here’s my theory of why it happens, for what it’s worth. When you
read with your left hand, the first part of your finger to come in contact
with a letter is the right edge, the one toward the center of your body.
When you read with your right hand, it is also the right edge of the finger
that first comes in contact with the letters, but this is the edge furthest
from the center of your body. So with regard to your body, you are seeing
the letters backward.
This comment is from a discussion about teaching students braille and using technology.
From: Tom Winton, AERNET on Saturday, November 13, 1999
There are few things more frustrating to me than the argument that these students should wait to use technology until they have the "foundation in braille". The technology is not some reward, rather it’s the means to the end. Imagine if we told sighted students "Nope you can’t touch that computer until you learn that entire alphabet and all of your punctuation marks." Tell your folks it’s not an "either or" situation; rather it is a "both and". Use both technology and the paper/brailler approaches. Whatever works for the kid to learn. What I often find, unfortunately, is that many of the folks advocating to wait for months/years for the technology are really just scared of it or aren’t proficient at it themselves. And it’s okay to be scared, but it’s not an excuse for holding back a kid who can learn.
Children's Braille Book Club
Surfer Lyn found the Children’s Braille Book Club web site recently. They offer ‘a new print-braille children’s book every month for pre-school through third grade. The same children’s picture book you buy at any store is enriched with the identical text in braille embossed on transparent plastic sheets. Prices range from US$4.95 - US$15.96.
National Braille Press
88 St. Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115
Phone: (617) 266-6160
Fax: (617) 437-0456
Email: orders@nbp.org
Fun Sites You Can Go To With Your Kids
ABC On Line – http://www.abc.net.au
Heaps of stuff including Radio National, Triple J, the ABC Shop etc.
Art on the Web - Art and Craft for Special People
This page (found at http://www.bushnet.qld.edu.au/~sarah/spec_ed/spec_ed_art.html) and authored by Sarah Clutterbuck, has been designed to share art and craft projects that have been tried and tested with students with special needs. The aim of each project is for the students to learn new skills and concepts. All pictures are of work that has been produced by the students of Mareeba Special Education Unit, who have various special needs, including visual impairment, intellectual impairment and physical impairment.
Each project has a full description of concepts explored and strategies used to create individual pieces, and extension ideas. Some of the projects described include:
One of the projects described is Colour Mat. This mat is a combination of many activities done over several weeks. The activities were done in isolation and only when we were creating a display for our art show did we consider creating the mat.
Concepts
Symmetry - folding pages in halves, quarters etc. and cutting
out small shapes to see the patterns.
Colour - naming and choosing colours. Our students had to practice
matching colours, signing/saying colours and choosing specific colours.
from choices of two or three.
Choices - choosing colours from choices of two or three
Shapes - circles, squares and diamonds.
Size - comparing big and little squares.
Skills
Cutting - snipping out shapes in the symmetry exercise.
Gluing - using a variety of pastes, glues and application methods.
Painting - using sponges, brushes and various other applicators
(including dish washing brushes and rollers.)
Putting it together
We used a roll of brown wrapping paper as a base and used craft glue to attach the various squares. A good thing to do is to lay out the squares first and see if you can achieve a balance of colour and shape. After the glue had dried, black oil markers were used to outline squares.
It was good fortune and not good planning that our masterpiece could fit through our school laminator. If you intend to laminate your mat (great for wear and tear), check the width that your laminator can handle. We have the odd wrinkle in our mat, however this does not take away from the overall effect.
If you intend to use a mat such as this on a floor, check that it can be fastened down somehow as we found it slippery at first. Our solution was solved when my teaching partner used velcro tabs on the back of the mat. This works really well with a carpet.
Other Ideas
Our student enjoy jumping on the mat, so we occasionally have games where they must jump on particular colours, and occasionally shapes. We intend to make miniature versions to use as placemats for presents. If you check out our number mat, you will see how we have been inspired by this mat.
Braille/Print Protractor
This cleverly designed Braille/Print Protractor allows vision impaired users to measure angles up to 180 degrees. Bold large type numbers and braille dots mark the degrees along the half circle of the protractor. Two braille dots mark 10 degree increments, while a single braille dot marks the 5-degree increments.
An unusual feature of the Braille/Print Protractor is the ‘wand’. This is a long, flat piece which is pointed at one end and anchored on a pivot at the centre of the protractor. When the pointed end of the wand is aligned with a certain degree measurement, the corresponding angle is created by the wand and the bottom edge of the protractor. Protractor includes print and braille instructions.
Recommended ages: 10 years and up.
Braille/Print Protractor: APH Order Number 1-04115-00 – US$5.75
Blind Cricket
Blind Cricket is generally played by people who are totally blind or partially sighted with 11 players to a team. A conventional cricket bat is used with a ball made of woven nylon tubing with bottle tops for sound. The game is played on a concrete cricket pitch. All bowling and fielding is performed under-arm.
The website of the Queensland Blind Cricket Association, outlining the history and rules of the game, and including scores, photographs etc can be found at http://qbca.freeservers.com/Graphics/indexgraph.htm/.
Student Writing
The following story was written by Matthew, a grade 2 student at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Sunbury and reprinted from their newsletter of 20 October 1999. Matthew used the auditory commponent of Write Out:Loud to write this. It is reprinted without correction.
HOW A RATTLE SNAKE GOT IT’S RATTLE
Once upon a time there was a young snake, his name was Sam. When he was born he heard a rattle, he looked up and saw his father. Sam asked "Is that you rattling Dad?"
Dad said "Yes". Then the young snake started to cry "Wah wah wah". Dad said "Zip your lips young Sam". "But I want a rattle too" cried Sam. "Well listen, Dad said it’s almost Fathers Day, I might get you a rattle if you get me some snake sunglasses."
Some days later young Sam went to Snakey Shopping Centre. He thought, while I am here I will get Dad some sunglasses. He went to the snake glasses shop. After three days or so Sam had the glasses. A night before Fathers Day Sam thought a rattle would be really really good, I can scare people and do all kinds of stuff, it would be cool.
That morning the young shake woke up and shook his tail he asked himself "Is that me rattling?" He stuck up his tail and saw a rattle "cool." The little young snake slivered along the rocky ground and said to it’s Father "THANKS DAD!!"
"What do you mean Sam," said dad.
"I mean you got me a rattle"!! said Sam.
"NO!! I didn’t" said Dad.
"Then who got me a rattle?" said Sam
"I don’t know" said Dad.
Sam got his rattle as he grew up.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD
LOVE MATTHEW.
Take Care when Using Your Phone in the Car
This article, reproduced in part, appeared in the Sunday Age on 7 November 1999:
Greater use of car phones linked to road toll
Mobile phones may be responsible for the rising number of drivers dying on Australian roads, a Federal Government frontbencher has warned. The transport secretary, Mr Ron Boswell, said mobile phones were a distraction to drivers and, along with fatigue and aggressive driving, were a likely factor in the dramatic rise in road deaths. Victoria Police said there were no figures on fatalities caused by mobile phones, but confirmed their use was undoubtedly an increasing hazard on the state's roads.
It is an offence to use a hand-held phone while driving and it is also illegal to physically dial or answer a mobile phone while driving, even if it is a hands-free kit. The number of Victorians receiving the $135 on-the-spot fine has increased significantly in the past five years…
Canadian research, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, has found drivers are four times more likely to crash during a phone call - the same risk as that of low-level drink driving.
The study found hands-free phones did not offer any advantage over hand-held phones, but the RACV believes hands-free phones are the lesser of two distractions…
The RACV recommends:
Please find attached the latest order form for the Taylor Made Reading Stand which is sold, for $50 plus $10 postage and handling, from the Resource Centre.
And finally…
Hope to see you on the 29th!
Regards from Deb Lewis
Please print out Order Form
|
|
| Student Name: |
| School: |
| Address: |
| Phone: |
|
|
|
|
|
| Please send order form to:
Warren Taylor Unit 2 179 Werribee Street Werribee 3030 Please use official school order form for tax exemption. Cheques should be made payable to Warren Taylor |
|
|
| Student Name: |
| School: |
| Address: |
| Phone: |
|
|
|
|
|
| Please send order form to:
Warren Taylor Unit 2 179 Werribee Street Werribee 3030 Please use official school order form for tax exemption. Cheques should be made payable to Warren Taylor |