Physical Education and Sport Classes - Some Considerations:

•  Even when the vision impaired student cannot participate fully, there is a social advantage in knowing about rules, equipment, terminology and team spirit of the popular team sports.
• Always give clear directions when describing an activity eg. the bat is on the floor to your right.
• Be aware that many vision impaired children have difficulties on bright sunny days. It may take some time for their vision to adjust when traveling between bright and dim environments.
•  Don’t stand with a light source or window behind you when addressing the student.
•  Read aloud when you are writing on the board and spell new words.
•  Ask the vision impaired student to hand out materials and equipment. This will give her an opportunity to see who is in the class.
•  Because the vision impaired student cannot see your smile of encouragement, be sure to offer verbal encouragement when she does well.
•  Ensure that the student is well oriented to the area in which she is expected to move.
•  Secure the student’s attention by using a whistle and or calling her name.
•  Choose balls and other equipment that have good contrast for the student with low vision.
• A ball with a bell will assist participation for blind students.
• If the layout of the playground, oval or gymnasium is altered, point out these changes to your vision impaired student.
• Your vision impaired student may know the school environment very well but on excursions she may be less confident in her mobility skills and may need assistance from classmates or an adult.
• Include the vision impaired student in all class experiences - displays, jokes, visitors etc.
• Swap ‘buddies’ if the situation is unpleasant for either student - they might become good friends another time.
• Don’t avoid ‘blind’ and ‘seeing’ words - blind people do ‘watch’ TV and go to ‘see’ a friend.
• If you are concerned about a blind or vision impaired student participating in a game, think carefully through the issues and the skills required. Often there is a simple solution which will allow inclusion. Utilise the following approach to problem-solving.

• Baseball/ soccer: The activity uses large, open space and the playing object can escape. Decrease the playing area by using predictable boundaries. Use auditory devices on bases, beep balls and spotters. To find out more about Beep Ball Baseball visit the   Beep Ball Baseball web site.

• Relays: There is an uneven number of vision impaired students and the activity requires that evenly matched teams compete Blindfold an equal number of sighted students who have volunteered to play blindfolded OR determine evenly matched teams yourself as opposed to student captains selecting teams.

• Some eye conditions can be aggravated by strenuous physical activity and contact sports. Teachers should check with parents and the Visiting Teacher for specific information.

• Running Tether - shoe laces make great tethers when running. Flat shoe laces tied in a loop so that there is just enough room for the guide and runner’s hand. This provides control to the guide and makes arm-swing timing much easier. There is also less risk of injury to both the guide and runner when using a short tether

• Events utilizing a target - use an auditory signal behind or under the target such as a radio, hand clapping, a bell with a string.

• To delineate the playing area - use brightly coloured mats or tape.

•  PMP and Other Skill-Based Activities - use contrasting surfaces and equipment eg contrasting mat under a balance beam.

• Catching activities - use a bean bag instead of a ball OR bounce pass instead of tossing the ball.

• Virginia Reel and Chase/Catch Games - where partners separate and locate each other again, use an auditory signal such as a clap or whistle to assist location.

• Throwing Events - a block of wood held in the ground with tent pegs acts as a good toe board. The rest of the students in the class will also find this useful.

• The activity area has limited boundaries - use carpet or rubber runners as markers.

• Volleyball and other activities utilizing a net - decrease the playing area AND/OR modify the body position from upright and running to a safe position such as a crawl, walk or crab walk AND/OR require players to play in pairs.

• Field Hockey and Soccer where one player is required to protect the goal - reduce the area of the goal AND/OR use a larger, softer ball AND/OR divide the goal area between two goalies.

• Trampolining - mark the centre of the trampoline with a bell attached to a small piece of thread.

• Correction Swimming Goggles - take the goggles and prescription to your local optometrist who will be able to supply correction swimming goggles.

• use a buddy systems, peer tutoring, and teacher aides to assist in learning and participating in movement patterns, motor skills and sports activities;

• Can the student be better prepared for the activity? eg practice performing the skill prior to its introduction to the class.

• Tunnel Ball 2 or 3 teams - human version. On the whistle the leader crawls through legs of team members. As a player ‘disappears’ down the tunnel the next player starts to go through the tunnel.

• Human Chain. Same as above only students twist in and out of team members as they move down the line.

Challenge Camp

Usually held in Term 2 each year.

Where: Delhuntie Park (Gippsland)
When: Tuesday 22 May to Friday 25 May
Transport: Train to and from Spencer Street to Moe; shuttle in VT car to and from Delhuntie Park
Activities: Leadership, team-building and adventure activities which will make your hair stand on end!!!
Accommodation: 2 self-contained cabins
Students: grade 4 to year 9 (but we are flexible!)
Cost: $180
RSVP: Please contact Deb Lewis to register
Phone: 9841 0242
Email: deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au
Challenge Camp 2001 Newsletter

Guide Dogs Association of Victoria

• The Guide Dogs Association of Victoria conducts personal growth through adventure camps during January each year. It is open to school aged students from all over Australia. Contact Guide Dogs on (03) 9854 4444.

• This is an integrated program for disabled and non-disabled children and teenagers 8 to 20 years old. The program offers one weekend camp, one school holiday camp and 2 single-day outings during the year.
• Camps are held at various locations throughout Victoria, including Phillip Island, Sovereign Hill and Wilson’s Promontory. Tents are used in summer with residential campsites in winter.
• Activities on the camp include swimming, canoeing, fishing, horse riding, abseiling, ball games plus much more.
• Contact: Pam Kappelides (Program Manager) on (03) 9871 1500.

• The New Vision Camp, conducted by the Christian Services for the Blind and Vision Impaired, is held annually during the holidays at the end of term 1. Vision impaired students from 9 - 17 years of age are eligible to attend this five-day camp at Camp Howqua, Howqua River Road, via Mansfield. Each vision impaired student is paired with a Trained Youth Counsellor from the local Seventh Day Adventist School. The cost is around $30.00 and there are 25 places available. Activities include water sports, canoeing, horse riding, nature walks, concert, go-karts, indoor and outdoor games. Contact: Cveta Bakof (03) 9878 9166.

• Noah’s Ark runs weekend and holiday camps for students with disabilities and their families throughout the year.
• Contact: Scott Wood (Recreation Officer) on (03) 9529 1466.

• Outward Bound Australia is an organisation which offers outdoor education programs for students, including groups of vision impaired and blind students. The programs involve camping, hiking, rafting, abseiling, caving and canoeing in wilderness settings. If your students are considering studying Outdoor Education as one of their VCE subjects or are interested in taking part in adventure-based activities, contact the staff at Outward Bound on (03) 9873 1031.

• The RVIB Residential Training Courses are designed with integrated vision impaired students in mind. As part of the program, individual and group instruction is provided in areas including physical skills development and physical education.
• The RVIB Support Skills (Friday) Program also offers participants to develop physical educational skills. Contact Garry Stinchcombe on (03) 9808 6422 for information on both these programs.

SCI-VIS will be held this year in Huntsville, Alabama from Sept. 22-27, 2001.
Program cost, applications, etc. are all on the Space Camp website.  A large group of students is expected this year.  We estimate over 200 students will be in attendance.  At this time three students from the Czech Republic are planning to attend in addition to Australia, Canada, Mexico, Israel, Saudi Arabia and last year's new team from Ireland.
Scholarships may be available pending grant approval from the Delta Gamma Foundation.  Applications for scholarships are also on the website at:  http://www.tsbvi.edu/space/scholoarship-form.htm  Scholarship funding is rarely funded 100% so all applicants should be prepared to pay at least 50% of the tuition cost.
SCI-VIS is one of the largest gatherings of academic blind and visually impaired children in the world.  Plan on being a part of a great week.
Questions?  Please visit the website first and then if you still need more information contact:
Dan Oates, SCI-VIS Coordinator
P. O. Box 1034
Romney, WV 26757
or
Deb Lewis
Statewide Vision Resource Centre
P.O. Box. 201 Nunawading 3131

Other Articles About Space Camp
Space Camp - 1999
Space Camp Photo Gallery
Space Camp: Report 2001
Maroondah Secondary College-An Outer Space Experience: Space Camp 2001
 

Tour Mates

• Tour Mates provide escorted holidays throughout Australia for people with disabilities. Tours of ten to twenty two days are available throughout the year and are reasonably priced. Contact Tour Mates on (03) 9431 2732.

• The Tandem Bike Riding Club is a self-help group which encourages vision impaired bike riding enthusiasts to get together and share information about forthcoming events. Contact Alan Bates on (03) 9522 5222 (BH) or (03) 9523 7869 (AH).
• There are a small number of tandem bikes for hire from the Vision Australia Foundation. Contact the Kooyong Centre on (03) 9822 1111 or the Kelaston Centre in Ballarat on (03) 5339 5101
• Students on DE&T and RVIB Visiting Teacher Services have participated in the

Great Victorian Bike Ride for a number of years now along with students from 60 or more schools. The ride takes place at the end of  November each year. Contact: Jennifer McInnes at Bicycle Victoria on (03) 9328 3000.

• This competition team sport is played by men and women at centres in Hawthorn, Brunswick, Lilydale and Ballarat. Contact Rob Crestani for the Melbourne-based competitions on (03) 9675 5854 or Ballarat on (03) 5339 1191.

• Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) has trained voluntary guides who are available to guide groups of vision impaired people at the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens. The tours are free and for visitors using the classrooms, there is a hands-on experience of skins, mounted animals and live animals housed at the zoo school. Entry into the zoo for vision impaired people is at a discounted rate and their carers are admitted at no charge.
• Tours need to be booked in advance through the FOTZ administrative office. Call

(03) 9285 9300.

• Riding for the Disabled is offered by 35 groups throughout Victoria. Contact the State Administrator on (03) 9372 2125.
• Instruction on how to ride and groom horses is also available from the following centres:
• Sherbrooke Equestrian Centre - Wellington Road Clemantis 3782. Contact Anne Middleton on (03) 5968 4893.
• Uncle Nev’s Trail Rides - Wallan-Whittlesea Road Whittlesea 3757.

Phone: (03) 5783 1310.

• National Athletics Championships is conducted annually and is organised by the Victorian Blind Sports Association which can be contacted on (03) 9822 8876.

• The Outward Bound Adventure Program brings together able bodied and disabled people for white water rafting trips, rock climbing and bush survival courses. Contact the co-ordinator on (03) 9873 1031.

• Peter Rickards of the Recreation and Leisure Services of the Vision Australia Foundation is the contact person for a huge range of sports and leisure activities. Peter can be reached at the Vision Australia Foundation on (03) 9822 1111 for further details on the activities below:
• Indoor Tennis - term 2 and 4.
• Indoor Soccer - term 1 and 3.
• Swish - currently Tuesday evenings at Kooyong, but the Association plans to establish a group at the Centre in Essendon soon.
• Martial Arts eg Kung Fu (Frankston area).
• Goal Ball - which is now a Championship Event.
• Sailing - weekends at Albert Park. Information is also available about the World Blind Sailing Championships which is held in different parts of the world each year.
• Tandem Cycling - now an Olympic sport.
• Triathlon- - also an Olympic sport.
• Skiing days - cross country at Lake Mountain and downhill at Falls Creek.
• Kangaroo Hoppit - a cross country ski carnival at Falls Creek.
• Swimming in the local community.
• Golf in the local community.
• Wrestling in the local community.
• Disabled Water Ski-ing Association - is also looking for new competitors.

• This group for vision impaired people and their families meets about once a month for camps, picnics, weekends away, musical nights, cards/games nights, discussions etc.
• Contact Jenny Hyland on (03) 9733 4453 or Don Maciulaitis on (03) 9791 3541.

• The Southern Cross Games are held bi-annually in different cities in Australia and the Pacific. They are open to students who are over the age of 9 years attending a regular school or special setting. The sight classification requirements are Category A - ‘totally blind’ and Category B - ‘vision impaired’ (1/60 - 6/36). Participants can enter in either ‘Championship’ or ‘Achiever’ events. Swimming and Track and Field events are included in the program which is held over five days. In 1998, the Southern Cross Games will be held in Hobart from March 15 to 19 and students will be billeted with local families during this time. Applications must be in by Friday 17 October this year. Forms and further information are available at the Resource Centre on (03) 9841 0242 or phone/fax David Gordon on (03) 6261 3089 or 0419 535105.
• Southern Cross Games for the Blind by VT Janie McLeod and her student Yeliz

• Swish is played at the Vision Australia Foundation’s Essendon Centre - contact Bev Gillies on (03) 9306 5278; or the Kooyong Centre - contact Neil Gillies on (03) 9306 3915.

• Cricket is played by visually impaired people each Saturday afternoon from October to March, at the Vision Australia Foundation's Kooyong Centre, between 1.00 pm and 5.00 pm. Six teams play regular competition, and practice sessions are held during the week. New players are always welcome. A national carnival is held every two years, for which scorers and umpires are required. Contact: Murray Stewart on (03) 87919747.

• The Victorian Blind Sports Association is the state parent sporting association currently representing the following sports: track and field, swimming, tandem cycling, goal ball, power lifting, golf, lawn and indoor bowls, sailing show skiing, indoor tennis, cricket and ten pin (skittles). The VBSA was established to develop competitive and recreational sporting opportunities for blind and vision impaired people. Contact: Nancy Kimmenade on (03) 9822 8876.

• Uli Pfisterer has been a specialist Physical Education Teacher at RVIB Education Centre for many tears. He has worked with children with a wide range of vision impairments and with children who also have additional impairments. He has lectured extensively to teachers in integrated settings both in Victoria and other states. He is available to consult and demonstrate Physical Education adaptations. This may be on a local or regional level and may be organised by contacting: Sandie Mackevicius (Professional Development Co-ordinator) at the RVIB Education Centre 333 Burwood Highway, Burwood 3125 Phone (03) 9808 6422
• Peter Rickards at the Vision Australia Foundation has many years expereience with the Blind Sports Associaion of Australia and may be able to  reccomend people willing to speak about their involvement in different sports. Contact: Phone (03) 9822 1111

• ‘Peers’ describes the teaching of physical education and recreational skills to blind and vision impaired students. Contact RVIB on (03) 9808 6422.
• ‘Ten Pin - The Game for All’ describes equipment, rules and hints. Purchase price is $20 plus $3 p&h from Braille and Talking Book Library (03) 9867 6022.
• ‘I like Leisure Too’ covers a wide range of issues dealing with leisure education for people with disabilities. It was produced with health and welfare personnel, volunteers, families and people with disabilities in mind. Contact the Vision Australia Foundation on (03) 9822 1111.
• ‘Victorian Blind Sports Association Promotional Video’ produced to create awareness of the different sports that can be and are freely available to vision impaired people. Purchase price is approximately $10 from the Victorian Blind Sports Association on (03) 9822 8876.

Prices were correct at the time of printing. Please contact distributors prior to purchase.

Vision Australia Foundation-Adapt Centre
Supplies many products including balls with bells. Here are a few of the items available:

• double bell/direction finder basketball set (a beeper unit is attached to the bar between the rim and the backboard) - $58.00
•  audible soccer ball - $42.00
•  swish bat and ball $10.00
• Contact Lois or Julie on (03) 9822 1111

• MaxiAids is an American company from whom you can mail-order your requests. Please contact MaxiAids for the cost in Australian dollars and freight charges.  A large assortment of balls with bells and beepers including the following are available:
• basketball with bell and directional beeper - $US34.95
• football or soccerball with bell - $US19.95 each
• beeping foam ball - $US32.95
• mini beeper which can be attached to any surface with velcro or tape - $US22.95
• Contact: PO Box 3209 Farmington NY 11735 Ph 516 752 0521; Fax 516 752 0689

• high contrast, brightly coloured play balls in a range of sizes - $2.60 to $3.40
• high contrast, brightly coloured balls 50 - 100 cm - $14.50 to $59.90
• bean bag ball - $14.10
• T-ball set - $37.60
• Contact: PO Box 208 Nunawading 3131 Ph (03) 9872 4633; Fax (03) 9872 5341

References

Vision Australia Foundation
The Vision Australia Foundation produce a number of publications which appears to be free to those working with the vision impaired. It can be obtained by phoning Peter Rickards at the Vision Australia Foundation (03) 9822 1111

The Ultimate Handbook - Recreation and sport for people who are blind or vision impaired.Covering a wide variety of recreational activities, the handbook encourages people with vision loss and other disabilities to preserve their quality of life.The book is available in print, large print, audio and braille formats for only $27.50. Additional copies are $22 each or $18, if ordering 20 copies or more.Condensed audio and print versions of the book are available in Italian, Greek, Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic and Chinese at $27.50, including a copy of the full English version. Additional copies of non-English versions are $5 each.Phone (03) 9864 9237 for more information.

Victorian Blind Sports Association - a pamphlet outlining the range of sporting activities available to vision impaired people - copy attached

Holidays, Travel & Accommodation Information for People with Disabilities - a comprehensive booklet with an array of information for holiday-makers.

Popular Activities and Games for Blind, Visually Impaired and Disabled People - This book by Peter Rickards outlines over 50 games and activities which are suitable for one or more people with a vision impairment or other disabilities, and encourages participation as a family or within community groups. The equipment needed, rules, hints and diagrams are clearly laid out in a large print format. Purchase price is $12.95 (print) or $6.00 (cassette).

• Games for All of Us: Activities for Blind and Sighted Children in Integrated Settings. Written by Uli Pfisterer, this book suggests a range of games and activities suitable for use in integrated settings. Each activity is defined by the aims, numbers of participants, equipment needed, description of game and considerations. The games have been trialed extensively with children who are blind or vision impaired and teachers could extend many of these ideas in response to students’ abilities.

• Swimming for Children with Vision Impairments, Uli Pfisterer outlines the considerations necessary prior to swimming commencing, for example orientation and mobility, acoustics, teaching methods etc.Teaching aids which can enhance instruction are included. The cost is $4.00. These books are available through RVIB Equipment Resource Centre557 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004 Phone (03) 9522 5222   Fax (03) 9510 4735.

• Looking into PE. The aim of the booklet, produced by Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), is to encourage the inclusion blind and partially sighted children into physical education classes. It provides guidelines for all those involved in any sports, leisure or outdoor pursuits which visually impaired children may participate in. The publication offers basic visual awareness training such as advice on adapting equipment, the need for extra planning and spending time familiarising the visually impaired student with their surroundings, and giving clear verbal descriptions and explanations. Safety issues are discussed and guidelines are set out for individual activities such as athletics, dance, games, gymnastics and swimming. There is also a section on including visually impaired children with additional disabilities.Priced at £3.50 "Looking Into PE" is available from RNIB Customer Services PO Box 173, Peterborough, PE2 6WS. Telephone 0345-023 153.

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