Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Number 6 Friday 28th April 2000
Inside This Issue
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Mountbatten Users’ Group | Wednesday 3 May |
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* SPEVI Evening Discussion and Dinner at SVRC (please note change of date) | Thursday 11 May* |
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TALG – Technical Aids Liaison Group
**Has been cancelled for 2000. |
Cancelled** |
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Combined Visiting Teacher Conference – Daylesford
***Please note change of date!!! |
Mon-Tue 15-16 May*** |
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Round Table Conference – Sydney | 21 – 23 May |
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Supporting Vision Impaired Students with Additional Impairments in the Classroom (Program Attached with print Bulletin or contact us for your copy) | Friday 2 June |
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Visiting Teacher PD Day (Program Attached) | Friday 9 June |
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(DEET Driving Camp – places filling fast!) | Thur-Fri 15-16 June |
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Counselling Skills for Visiting Teachers
– Geoff Bowen
2 x half days during term 3 |
TBA soon |
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Visiting Teacher PD Day | Friday 11 August |
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SPEVI Evening Discussion and Dinner | Monday 21 August |
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(Space Camp) | 23-28 September |
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Combined Agencies Networking Day – St Paul’s School | Monday 2 October |
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Mountbatten Users’ Discussion Group | Monday 23 October |
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Spectronic & Zygo Conference (see Bulletin 5) | Wed-Fri 8-10 November |
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SPEVI Evening Discussion and Christmas Drinks | Monday 13 November |
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World Blind Union and Technical Aids Display | 19-23 November |
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Visiting Teacher Professional Development Day | Monday 4 December |
Registration Form for Term 2 PD
Late in term 1, a registration form was faxed out to Visiting Teachers and Mountbatten Users to assist with planning the Professional Development days – including catering, seating etc. We asked for feedback on your planned attendance at the Mountbatten User’s Group (Wednesday 3 May) and
Visiting Teacher PD Day (Friday 9 June). If you have not let us know your plans for these days – please contact us soon. Thanks.
Changes of PD Dates
See the above PD planner for changes of dates for the Term 2 SPEVI evening, which will now be held on Thursday 11th May, and also the change in date for the Combined VT Conference mentioned in previous Bulletins. Thanks.
Low Vision Day Report
This year’s Low Vision Day was attended by over 90 participants from all around the state – and that’s an all-time record. Again we received comments that this was the best professional development activity that people had attended which is high praise, indeed. Some of the written feedback included:
Several of the sessions were audio taped and are available for purchase
on a cost recovery basis of $2.50 which includes postage. They include:
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| Low Vision Day 24th March 2000 |
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| Low Vision Day 24th March 2000 |
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Contact Deb to place your order.
Two of the students – Sinead (Year 4) and Matthew (TAFE) – provided their notes and these are reproduced on page 9-10 of this Bulletin for your reading pleasure.
News from Overseas – Women with Disabilities Seminar
The March 2000 edition of Link Magazine reports: ‘Join other women with disabilities from around the world in a cross-disability exchange of issues, ideas and strategies to:
Nominations are called from young women (aged 18-25) with diverse types of disabilities of diverse cultural backgrounds. Email exchange@miusa.org/.’
Theatre – Support for People with Vision Impairment (South Aust)
The March 2000 edition of Link Magazine notes that: ‘The State Theatre Company of South Australia), with the Royal Society for the Blind, introduced a program for people with a vision impairment to experience theatre. Each State Theatre production designates a session where theatregoers gain tactile appreciation for the show. Participants meet the cast, get a tour backstage and are able to feel the set and costumes.’ Sounds Good!
Scholarships – University of New England, NSW
The March 2000 edition of Link Magazine states that: The University of New England, Armidale is providing scholarships for students with a disability this year. The scholarships are available to Year 12 students who are Australian citizens or permanent residents and who sat for the NSW Higher School Certificate or its equivalent interstate examination in 1999. Contact Tania Willis on (02) 6773 2114 or email twillis@metz.une.edu.au/.
Leadership and Mentoring Training – Melbourne
The March 2000 edition of Link Magazine notes that: ‘Women with Disabilities Australia (WWDA) will run a national leadership and mentoring training workshop in Melbourne this year. A woman with a disability from each state and territory will be selected to attend. Applicants need to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to the work of WWDA. This may be in the form of representing WWDA on committees, working with local branches or running leadership workshops. The anticipated outcomes of the project include more women involved in the decision-making process within WWDA and development of a national database of women with a disability trained for representation work.’ To register interest contact WWDA – email wwda@ozemail.com.au/.
SVRC in the Paper
Recent articles about the Statewide Vision Resource Centre’s transcription into braille of the children’s book by Sandra Feldman, ‘Children of the Shipwreck Coast’ appeared in local newspapers including Free Press in the Dandenongs area and The Gazette in the Box Hill area on 22 March, 2000.
The Free Press article states: ‘After more than 7000 sales, Ms Feldman said a major highlight of the last three years was receiving her first copy of the 2kg braille edition from the Centre. "I went to the Guide Dog Association Open Day earlier this year, and took the first edition of the braille book," she said. "A 10-year-old, vision impaired boy, came up to me and asked to read the book, so we did and I can’t begin to tell you how that made me feel." The articles are attached to the print versions of The Bulletin.
Cheap Monocular
Helen Caldow discovered a rubber-coated 8 x 21mm Monocular in a recent Dick Smith Electronics brochure. Its optics may not be suitable for students with a vision impairment, but it may be worth a look! $30 is the current non-special price.
Radio Station Featuring Blind Musicians on the Internet
From: Penny Reeder (AERNET) on Friday, March 31, 2000
ACB-Radio (American Council for the Blind Internet Radio Station) is planning to offer music by blind musicians, both recorded and waiting-to-be-discovered, on their global internet radio station. Listeners will be able to switch among three broadcast streams – blindness news and issues; old time radio, and blind musicians – any time, day or night, anywhere in the world. Check out ACB-Radio by going to the ACB website at www.acb.org and linking to ‘ACB on the Radio’.
Voice Chat
The following information appeared in the BCA Parent News edition of April 2000 and was provided by Jonathan Mosen:
There is a new and very easy way (so long as you have a microphone) to use voice chat. Just go to www.outofsight.org.nz and choose the voice chat link, enter the name that will be displayed on the screen to identify you, press the Chat button, and you’re in a voice chat with blind people from all around the world. You just hold down the F9 key to talk. The first time you visit the page, you will automatically download a small applet, but apart from that there is no special software to launch or anything like that. The chat is proving remarkably popular, particularly in the American evenings although it would be nice to see a few people in the southern hemisphere evenings to liven it up at that time.
The World Blind Union
The following information appeared in the BCA Parent News edition of April 2000:
The World Blind Union (WBU) is the international voice of over 50-million blind and vision impaired people. It has member organisations in virtually every country of the world. These members have their own regional groups for Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific. Formed in 1984 through the union of the International Federation of the Blind and the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind, the WBU represents over a century of global co-operation on blindness issues - dating back to the first international conference on the subject in 1873 in Vienna. Fundamental to all activities, is the commitment to securing equality of opportunity and full participation in society for all blind and vision impaired people
Over 80% of blind and visually impaired people live in developing countries - often in poverty, with little access to education and support services. Members of the WBU have an extensive range of international programs in these countries, covering rehabilitation, education, training, health care and income-generation.
The WBU’s General Assembly meets every four years. Between Assemblies, its elected Officers are responsible for the direction of its international activities. The 5th General Assembly is to be held in the Melbourne Town Hall during November this year. A series of events have been planned for this time, which include:
For further details and information contact John Simpson 9899 7144 e-mail wbuga@bca.org.au/.
CD-ROM: ‘Space Transportation: Past, Present, & Future’
Produced by the NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre, this CD-ROM traces the evolution of space transportation in an entertaining and interactive environment and includes historical video footage, 3-D animation, virtual reality rocket models and interactive simulations. This CD-ROM is available for short periods and may be of interest to those contemplating Space Camp this year or in 2001.
Space Camp 2000 (a message from Dan Oates, Co-ordinator of SCI-VIS)
"It was a worthwhile educational experience. I learned more in that one
week than I thought I could handle. At first I thought I would forget most
of it, but the way it was taught, it has been easy to remember. Now I am
studying space in science class, and what I learned is keeping me one step
ahead of my classmates. For all of my life I was the only kid I knew who
had ‘bad’ eyes. At Space Camp I was able to compare stories, joke, talk and
‘see’ how others adapted to their unique disabilities. In one week I became
better friends with the kids in my group than in most of my life with other
kids my age."
Space Academy Camper, Indiana
"I think that I definitely found that not everything cool is closed to
people with visual impairments. The thing I like best was being able to spend
the week and work with other kids who also have visual impairments, as well
as learning all about the space program at the same time. This was definitely
one of the best times of my life, unquestionably."
Academy Camper, British Columbia, Canada
"Was it worthwhile? Invaluable! Educational! Extraordinary! Phenomenal! My son comments almost every day that he wishes he were still at Space Camp. We thank you for a wonderful experience." Parent of a Space Academy Student, Massachusetts
"The opportunity for my students to travel so far, and come together with
so many others with VI with a common purpose was a rare experience for students
who are integrated into their local schools and therefore generally isolated
from their VI peers. Two of my students have never mixed with other kids
with VI before, and both commented, unprompted, that this was one of the
things they most enjoyed about their week at Space Camp - to be with other
kids with the same problems, and to all work together and help each other."
Chaperone of a Space Academy Campers, Victoria, Australia
"I was never accepted anywhere like I was at space camp. Thanks for the
best time of my life!"
Space Academy Camper, New York
The above comments are from teachers, parents, and students that attended
SCI-VIS ‘99 at Space Camp located at the U. S. Space and Rocket Center in
Huntsville, AL. Students attending SCI-VIS are affected both academically
and personally. They are challenged at new levels to achieve, work together
with their peers, and learn things about themselves and that they never knew.
This sounds like a lot of hype and promises that one week would have a hard
time producing. But year after year students come to SCI-VIS and leave with
more self-esteem, life-long friends, and more options for
their future. This year SCI-VIS 2000 will be held at Space Camp in Huntsville,
AL, September 23-28. Last year 192 blind and visually impaired students from
32 U. S. states and Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Israel joined
together for the best space science and aviation
experience on earth. If you are interested in attending SCI-VIS 2000 visit
our web site at http://www.tsbvi.edu/spacehome.htm
and check us out. Forms are available to be downloaded from this site with
additional information concerning the SCI-VIS experience. Spaces for programs
can be reserved by calling or emailing Dan Oates at scivis@raven-villages.net. Please
give name, state, and program for which you are considering.
Parents and teachers from all over the world make the decision every year to send their children to SCI-VIS. The comments above tell you their thoughts upon the return of their children. This year more students will be attending SCI-VIS. Will yours be next?
Please note: A Space Camp for blind and visually impaired adults will be held the weekend of Sept. 29, 30 and Oct. 1, 2000 Email Dan Oates for details.
Newspapers on the Web
No Kidding – there are hundreds of Australian newspapers available on line!!!! And you can find links to large numbers of them at ‘OnlineNewspapers’. Here are the first 10 in the alphabetical list so you can get an idea of the breadth of the selection:
Freebooks Online
The Adobe website has a number of free books online for you to download – go to www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/webbuy/freebooks.html. The list of books available includes many out-of-copyright titles such as:
National Volunteer Week
Last week was National Volunteer Week and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank our cast of unpaid workers for their time, effort and commitment. SVRC volunteers are involved in a range of activities from tape copying to typing and editing; from braille proof reading to reading books on to tape. Some of this work takes place at the SVRC and some in the volunteers’ own homes. Ngaire and Greg are university students helping out in their spare time; Elaine is a former high school Maths/Science teacher whose expertise is invaluable with braille production; Margaret is a former teacher-librarian who helps us keep up to date with our taping; June (Sue’s mum) is almost part of the furniture around here; Cathy who lives locally and comes in every week; Amy, our latest volunteer, is excellent on the computer; and Weenie has recently arrived from Singapore and hopes to find paid work soon. We are grateful for their contribution of support to vision impaired students across Victoria.
Staff News
Hope your holidays were excellent – seems like the extra few days made all the difference!!!! Have a great term 2 – look forward to seeing you!
Regards from a somewhat refreshed Deb Lewis who can be contacted at:
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Support Group Meeting/Activity
This group is expanding to include children who have any form of progressive vision loss. It is a wonderful group of creative and interesting children and parents. I urge all Visiting Teachers to ensure those parents of children whose sight loss is progressive to be aware of the existence and value of this group.
The next meeting/activity is on Sunday May 7th at Werribee Park Mansion at 12:30. BYO picnic lunch.
For further details contact John and Judy Bowen on 9842 5103, Leigh Heaven on 9890 8103 or Annette Godfrey-Magee on 9841 0807.
This is the first of several meetings organised for this year so if parents can’t make this appointment there will be other opportunities throughout the year.
Annette Godfrey-Magee.
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Speakers’ Notes from the Low Vision PD Day – 24 March 2000
Senead (Year 4)
My name is Sinead and I am 9 years old. My vision problem is called aniridia. This means that the coloured part of my eyes called the iris does not work properly and lets in too much light. I also have low vision and nystagmus.
Aids:
My name is Mathew Gay. I am now attending TAFE and can begin to reflect on my Secondary School years. Through my experiences I believe that I can identify with the needs of other students with a visual disability.
The support provided by my visiting teachers was invaluable but the everyday support from the teaching staff was vital to help me feel equal and comfortable in the classroom. The hectic years of VCE are a time when efforts of others are most appreciated as students push the limits of their capabilities to achieve success.
Some of the support areas include:
With an ability to read all information in the classroom I was able to work effectively and participate in class discussions.
Teachers should be made aware that visually impaired students require extra time when reading material and completing exercises which should be taken into account when preparing class content.
With my transition to Tertiary study now completed, I can say that people adapt to the varying needs of students extremely well. I have been provided with similar support at TAFE to that at Secondary School including photocopying, which has made the transition comfortable and very enjoyable.
Finally, I believe it is important for teachers to listen and respond to
the special needs of the visually impaired, regularly checking that students
are coping with the work load.
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Visiting Teacher
PD Day Statewide Vision Resource Centre 360 Springvale Rd. Donvale PO Box 201 Nunawading 3131 Tel (03) 9841 0242 Fax (03) 9841 0878 |
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| Venue | Statewide Vision Resource
Centre
360 Springvale Rd Donvale |
| Cost | $15.00 which includes morning
and afternoon teas and lunch.
Payment in advance would be appreciated. |
| RSVP | In order to assist with planning the day, please call to let us know that you will be attending. |
| 9.00 – 9.30 | Registration and Resource Time |
| 9.30 – 11.00 | Depression and the Learner
Geoff Bowen – Guidance Officer, SVRC |
| 11.00 – 11.30 | Morning Tea |
| 11.30 – 12.00 | Hearing Impairment
Ivor Edwards – Visiting Teacher (HI) Eastern Region |
| 12.00 – 12.20 | Report on Active Learning Conference (Lilli
Neilssen)
Annette Godfrey-Magee – Education Officer, SVRC |
| 12.20 – 12.40 | Support to Vision Impaired Students in
India
Faye Squires – Visiting Teacher, Goulburn North Eastern |
| 12.40 – 1.40 | Lunch
Featuring fabulous culinary delights from the kitchen of Heatherwood School |
| 1.40 – 2.00 | Supporting Integration in a Special School
Setting
Maree Littlepage – Manager of Education Services, RVIB Sue Matthews – Transition Program, RVIB |
| 2.00 – 2.15 | Grab a Cupper |
| 2.15 – 3.00 | The Latest in Technology for Students with
Vision Impairment – Featuring CCTVs
Trevor Boyd – Marketing Manager, Quantum Technology |
| 3.00 – 3.30 | Report from Staff of the SVRC |
S.P.E.V.I.
South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment
Dinner Meeting - Thursday 11th May
A Case Study
Guest Panel including -
Where - Statewide Vision Resource Centre
Melway Ref: 48 F4
R.S.V.P. - (to assist with catering!!) by Tuesday 9th May to a S.P.E.V.I. Counsellor
Sandie Mackevicius (RVIB) mackesa@burwood.rvib.org.au phone: 9888-7880
Chris Thirkell (Carronbank) thirkell.christine.c@edumail.vic.gov.au phone: 9561-2536