The Bulletin

Statewide Vision Resource Centre

Number 3  Friday 3rd March 2001

Inside This Issue

Professional Development 2001

Please call the Statewide Vision Resource Centre if you would like a copy of the program, or if you would like further information.

Camps 2001

See Bulletin 2, 2001 or the Camps, Leisure and Recreation section of our website – www.svrc.vic.edu.au or www.svrc.vic.edu.au/sapce.html for further details.

Challenge Camp – 22-25 May 2001

We have six interested customers for Challenge Camp – we need another 4 students before we can go ahead with planning. Please contact Deb Lewis with your expression of interest ASAP or the whole thing will go down the gurgler! This may be an incentive for some – with parental permission (and a bit of luck and the support of ‘Sacre Bleu Productions’), we will be filming parts of this event and putting together a brief video – which will be a great record for the kids!

Space Camp – end of term 3 2001

I have lots of potential starters for Space Camp 2001 – 11 to be precise. We are holding an information evening on Friday 23 March at 6pm for 6.30pm as we need to swing into fundraising immediately. We will order in pizza. RSVP and bring your students, their parents etc etc.

Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day – Report

The following report was prepared by participant Meredith Walsh, Visiting Teacher – Northern Region.
It is my pleasure and privilege to report on what can only be described as a day of excellence. The content was varied and relevant, pleasing the audience of visiting teachers, some stating that their needs had been met by particular presenters.
The all-important ‘networking’ took place over morning-tea and lunch. This can never be underestimated as expressed by Gill Hogan from isolated Mildura who sought tremendous value form this day. She stated the journey and personal expense was worthwhile, due to the knowledge gained on this day.
Annette Godfrey-Magee explained succinctly (including some entertainment value in her presentation) the Learning Media Assessment Kit. Those VTs with students in years 5-8 have ample knowledge to make a start.
Annie Lewis-Col, a paediatric Occupational Therapist (sister of our Deb) spoke on the somewhat complex skills required for handwriting, the extra problems encountered by vision impaired students when developing writing skills. This session particularly responded to the needs of those of us with students in the early years.
Denise Probert (VT, Northern) shared her expertise in two short sessions on Information Technology, introducing us to the organization of computer networks and the Mimio, whiteboard that interfaces with your laptop.
Variety was the essence of the day. Carolyn Mentiplay (VT Eastern) read a moving account written by one of her students and then introduced Ben Schmidt. Ben is a former student of Carolyn’s who achieved a perfect VCE score. His topic of Making the Most of VCE and his humour and relaxed manner gave all present a ‘real buzz’.
Jeni Blake gave a run-down on camps and the provisions being made. Expressions of interest for VTs willing to assist are now being accepted!
Some lively discussion was provoked by Yvette Higgins (EO SVRC) in the concluding session – issues for VTs in 2001. It was obvious that there was much to discuss!
I found it a humbling experience being among such high calibre presenters, but appreciated the opportunity to present my document ‘Sex Education for Students with Vision Impairments – A Guide for Visiting Teachers.’ This document is designed to assist in adapting programs and enhancing materials for sex education programs used in regular schools.
Congratulations and thanks go to Deb Lewis and the staff at the SVRC. The Professional Development days run by the centre are invaluable. So now I am hanging out for the next one – asking myself, after this dynamic day, ‘What will they think of next?’
Note
Annie Lewis-Col mentioned two suppliers of toys and aids for students, the contact details for which are as follows:

Braille Day – 13th March

Please: If your brailling student would like to be one of our featured student speakers – primary, secondary and post school, please call the SVRC.

Mountbatten Morning and O&M Afternoon – 14th March

Mountbatten Morning – with Trevor Boyd, Quantum Technology
The Mountbatten Users’ Discussion Group will be held in the morning of 14th March. Students are welcome and the program, for all participants, will include: PLEASE BRING A TOPIC YOU WOULD LIKE TO RESEARCH eg a class topic

Orientation and Mobility Afternoon – with Shelley Pannier, Guide Dogs of Victoria

The program is suitable for Aides and Parents who support students with vision impairments and will be as follows: Please note: participants are most welcome to attend both sessions. The cost for the morning session is $12; the cost for the afternoon session is $12; and the cost for the full day is $24. These costs are inclusive of lunch, morning and afternoon teas and GST.

Low Vision Day Program – 30th March

The Low Vision Day will be held on Friday 30th March – call if you need copies of the flier. WE are still looking for a few student speakers – primary, secondary and post school.

Using Your Computer for Maths

For your more computer literate students, using your computer for maths may be an option. See the linked article for further information. Using Your Computer For Maths.

Guide Dog Association of Victoria: April Camp 2001 – ‘DIRECTIONS’

When: 9 - 12 April 2001 Primary School Students

Program Content

Achieving safe independent travel from A to B is only part of having good orientation skills. Understanding how you travelled from A to B, particularly the directions you took, is important. This camp aims to introduce and teach an understanding of "Directions". The camp, will particularly focus on the following concepts: The mornings will be devoted to Orientation and Mobility Training and the afternoons and evenings will be recreation. The recreational activities will have an outdoor, adventure focus. Each student will be encouraged to participate in activities that are beyond their typical experiences.
Referrals close on the 30th March.
For further information please contact Shelley Pannier on 9854 4439

Braille bookstore: I Can See Books

There is a large selection of children’s books in braille aimed for ages one to ten. Books by Dr Seuss, Margaret Wise Brown and Robert Munsch can be ordered including Madeline, Curious George and Magic Tree House books. You'll find stacks of general-interest books telling the hilarious and touching stories of the Berenstain Bears, Mr. Gumpy, and the tiny town of Chewandswallow. You'll even discover such rich treasures as Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes, and over a hundred classic fairy tales. The books are mostly available in contracted or uncontracted braille and a brief description of the book is provided.
There are also books from the following categories: Visit the ‘I Can See Books’ website at www.braillebookstore.com/.

Typing Programs

We tend to recommend TTAPs for teaching typing to vision impaired students if your choice is teaching via computer program – a trial version is available at the SVRC. It has practice sessions and several games and much of it is voiced, so the student may work independently for parts of the program. It is available at many office suppliers and computer stores for around $80.
Gill Hogan from Mildura also recommends find ‘Animated Beginning Typing’ which can be downloaded from the Flix Productions website. A demo version can also be downloaded for evaluation. Go to www.flixprod.com/typing.html/.

Secretary General to DAISY Consortium: Bill Jolley

The DAISY Consortium has appointed William Jolley (formerly on Blind Citizens Australia) as Secretary General. In announcing the decision of the Board, Ingar Beckman Hirschfeldt, President of the DAISY Consortium said: “We are delighted to announce that William Jolley will be our Secretary General.  His international experience, knowledge of the technology and consumer perspective will enable him to direct the work of the Consortium in this time of expanding adoption of the worldwide standard for Digital Talking-Books.”
Mr Jolley is a qualified mathematician who has used Braille since early child-hood. His interdisciplinary background includes telecommunications network analysis, standards development in the telecommunications and disability fields, computerised Braille production and consumer advocacy. Following his appointment, Mr Jolley said: “This appointment will enable me to expand my international work for people with print disabilities.  I am looking forward to the chance to guide the DAISY Consortium in the development of standards and the implementation of services for digital talking books.  My vision is for a worldwide virtual digital talking-book library so that people with print disabilities can easily get books in their preferred format and in their preferred language.
The DAISY Consortium is a worldwide collaborative endeavour of talking-book libraries and associated organisations to develop and implement standards for the production, exchange and use of digital talking books. Talking-book libraries in some countries have commenced production using the Digital Audio-based Information System (DAISY) for distribution to library borrowers on CD.
Mr Jolley said that the great advantage of the DAISY format is that it enables the listener to understand the structure of the book and move quickly to chapters, sections, pages, etc – good for leisure readers and great for students” he said. Mr Jolley continued: “We are starting the implementation of digital talking-books in the industrialised countries where the talking-book libraries are well established. I am also keen for their benefits to be realised in developing countries, where most of the world’s 45 million blind people live, and where many of them have no access to education or to the pleasure of reading.”

Hypertext Webster Gateway

The Hypertext Webster Gateway is a link to a series of online dictionaries. You must be connected to the internet to use them but they are very powerful and quick. Type in your word. Links are provided to definitions which in turn have links to definitions. Further information obtained from the website is as follows:
This hypertext Webster interface provides a point-and-click client interface for accessing various dictionary services on the Internet. First, type the word for which you want the definition in the search window, click to select either an exact match or an approximate match, and then click on the ‘Look up definition’ button. Words in the resulting definition are hypertext linked back into the dictionary, allowing you to use your mouse to access the definition of those related (and unrelated) words.
If you misspell the word, the dictionary server may offer a list of close matches as alternatives. If you know the prefix of the word, a list of potential matches may be obtained by entering a * after the prefix, e.g., alpha*.
Other dictionaries on the Web include Roget’s Thesaurus, WordSmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus, WWWebster by Merriam-Webster Inc. dict.org and Dictionary.com.

Blind Actress Gets 'Rugrats' Role

The following (edited) appeared on the AERNET listserve on 21 February 2001:
BENICIA, Calif. (AP) - Kimi, the cowboy-booted, adventurous new toddler in the ‘Rugrats’ neighborhood, owes her warm and giggling voice to a 22-year-old actress who reads her weekly scripts in Braille. Dionne Quan, who beat out 147 other actors for the part, was born with hypoplasia – leaving her with underdeveloped optic nerves that distinguish only some colors and objects. That didn't bother the show's producers one bit. The only modification ‘Rugrats’' producers made was to adjust the microphone to avoid capturing the soft sound of her index finger as it runs over her script.
“I love this media because it's very free - there is no ageism, no racism, no sexism, only your voice,” said Charlie Adler, Rugrats’ voice director. The challenge for actors who tried out for Kimi was to create a unique voice and character, and yet fit in with a show that had already been on the air for years, said casting director Barbara Wright. “The women that create the Rugrats have wonderful characters that come from an innocent place, and Dionne likewise had the ability to perform from the same kind of innocent place,” Wright said.
“You can mix and match them with accents and do all sort of strange things,” Dionne explained, gesturing as she slid from munchkins to villains to superheroes. Kimi’s voice “just sort of came out,” she said. “Originally I made her more sweet; she is still sweet but also has more of an edge to her. She is a little bit of a tomboy,” she said. “She is fearless and she is very confident, and because of that she can get into a lot of problems,” said Dionne, who’s planning to move to Los Angeles, where the show is taped. “I think it’s so much fun to play her because she is so unlike me.”
Rugrats is based on the childish mischief of seven toddlers, all voiced by adult women. Whenever adults are around, the Rugrats act like real babies, but when they’re alone, they talk to each other in their own rather elevated vocabulary. Dionne began acting at 14 and has taped commercials, CD-ROM games and animated series. She loves the freedom of being just another voice on an audiotape. Casting directors often have no clue about her disability. (Only 650 of the more than 100,000 Screen Actors Guild members in the USA are disabled.) It was a different story when she tried musical theatre. “A lot of people were worried about me walking around the stage, which was really no problem once I learned my way around.” Community theatre also was frustrating. She found herself “either playing somebody blind, somebody Asian or somebody blind and Asian,” she remembers, laughing. Her script usually arrives the day before her weekly trip to Los Angeles. She types it into braille as her mother reads it out loud, then memorizes it on her trip south. “When I was just learning voiceover, learning to read braille really quickly and really smoothly was a challenge,” she said. “Unlike print, with braille you have to read a letter at a time – I guess with print you can see the whole word but I have to read as fast as you guys.”

Free Resource for Teaching Map Reading Skills for Low Vision Students

Helen Caldow brought in this suggestion:
Just before you throw out your recently delivered Yellow Pages Local Directory, take a look inside! The front section of our Local Directory (Inner East Region) includes 7 pages of local maps and 9 pages of alphabetically listed roads. The scale of the maps (UBD) is slightly larger than the Melway and therefore the maps are less cluttered and the print slightly larger also. The alphabetically listed street names are N8 but the contrast is good and some students may be able to manage this print with or without a magnifier. It’s a great and free teaching tool that you can add to the collection in your car boot!

New APH Products

From AERNET 7 February 2001:
American Printing House for the Blind markets a vast number of products via their online service. You’ll find them at www.aph.org

Feel 'n Peel Stickers

These multi-use tactile/visual stickers are useful for both students and adults. The bright, translucent coloured stickers are made of durable plastic. Examples of use: - Point Symbols: graphs, game boards, microwave buttons - Reward Statements: grading papers, rewarding behaviour - Faces: attendance, warnings - Alphabet: labelling folders, identifying belongings, diagrams. Recommended ages: 3 years and up.

4x6 Interpoint Slate (Slate and Stylus)

This 9-line, 21-cell slate is made of durable plastic. When you fill one side of the paper, you can flip the paper over and start writing on the other side. Pins on the corners prevent paper from shifting. Recommended ages: 6 years and up. 1-00088-00. $9.00

Quick-Draw Paper

Create instant tactile graphics that are useful for a wide variety of art, orientation & mobility, diagramming, and educational activities. Simply draw on paper surface with a water-based marker and the lines will swell instantly and become tactile. Includes 10 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 inch Quick-Draw Paper, manual in large print and Braille, and two water-based markers. Recommended ages: 4 years and up. 1-04960-00. $21.50

New Resources for the SVRC

Robyn Neilsson, Drug Educator from Southern Region kindly sent copies of recent Department of Education, Employment and Training ‘Turning the Tide’ publications. These were developed by the Drug Education Support for Schools Project which was funded by the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse and the Drug Research and Rehabilitation Fund through the Victorian Department of Health and Community Services. The aim is to provide information, strategies and advice to designated student welfare staff to enhance student welfare in regards to drug education with specific emphasis on illicit drugs. The publications include: They provide much interesting and useful information including DEET policy and procedure; lesson materials for primary and secondary school students with their relationship to the CSF; and guidelines for drug-related critical incidents in schools. Much of the ‘lesson materials’ would lend themselves to production in alternative format – take a look when you are next in the SVRC.

The Victorian Education Channel: A new Internet resource for schools

Circular 55/2001 was sent out via DEET mail and includes the following:
On Tuesday, 13 February 2001, The Minister for Education, The Hon. Mary Delahunty, MP, launched the Victorian Education Channel, a major new Internet gateway providing enhanced access to information, services and resources for students, teachers, parents and the community.
The Channel, which provides an alternative to standard Internet search engines for most educational purposes, can be accessed via VicOne and on the Internet at www.education.vic.gov.au/. It provides: The resources and services available through the Victorian Education Channel have been carefully selected and catalogued to ensure high quality information relevant to every user’s needs. They have been checked for suitability by trained staff or have been provided by authoritative institutions such as museums, galleries and education providers.

Brailling Aide Looking for Work

Debra Nicholson, who has been working with brailling students since 1994, is looking for 10-15 hours a week as a brailling aide in the eastern suburbs. Her contact number is 9753 3121.

Writing Competition – Results Coming Soon

Lots of you have been ringing about the results of the 2000 Writing Competition. I had a letter from Lyndu Jennings (Paul’s wife) recently sent the following apology: ‘Unfortunately, Paul has been unable to attend to matters in the office for the last couple of weeks, due to ill health. It is for this reason, that he has not finalised the judging of the stories that you have sent him. I anticipate that he will be working at full steam from now on, and I am sure Paul will be able to get the stories back to you within the next couple of weeks.’
We were sorry to hear that he had been unwell – and look forward to receiving the results of his musings.

Goggles – Please Return

We don’t know what happens to the goggles – but lots of VTs are waiting to borrow a set. Please check you cars, cupboards and under beds for our simulation goggles and return them ASAP!

Amnesty on Teacher References

We are sure our Teacher References don’t have little legs – but they do seem to disappear all by themselves. We have declared an Amnesty on all items out on loan and particularly our Teacher References – please return them – no questions asked! Thanks!

Student News

Staff News

And Finally…

Waiting on some large print? There has been a bit of a hold-up with the process because our good photocopier has been out of action for nearly two weeks, awaiting delivery of ‘a part’. We apologise for any inconvenience and hope that you will be understanding to Dianne, who is: Deb Lewis
Co-ordinator, Statewide Vision Resource Centre – deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au

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Web page editor Lyn Robinson. Last updated March 2001.
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