CFN: 15925
AUGUST 2017
This Newsletter comes to you from the Hand Over Hand Club. The club is a selfdetermining group of people with both hearing and vision loss. It is an important part of the DeafBlind Association of NSW and is assisted by Vision Australia formerly Royal Blind Society of NSW. The club provides interesting outings, information and social interaction for its members. The newsletter is produced in Braille, Large Print, Regular size print, as a word doc, on CD and can be sent by e-mail.
Put yourself on the mailing list by ringing Janne Bidenko 029456 2372Voice OR send a fax to DBA FAX: 02 9744 0171 Fax anytime OR e-mail to .
Our website address is: http://www.dbansw.org.au
We meet on the last Saturday of each month except December.
We welcome all articles from members.
Articles, inquiries, comments and general correspondence may be sent to:
The Deafblind Association (NSW)
P.O. Box 1295
Strathfield NSW 2135
This month’s articles:
- TENPIN BOWLING 29TH July 2017 – Janne Bidenko
- JANNE’S CORNER
- AUGUST BIRTHDAYS – Happy birthday to all!
- CONGRATULATIONS TO SVEN TOPP - From DBA(NSW)
- IEEE WORLD HAPTICS 2017- INTERVIEW WITH SVEN TOPP
- SELF-ADVOCACY VISITS HIRE-UP - Irene McMinn
- DBA(NSW) ADVERISEMENT:
- SONAR BAND FOR VISION IMPAIRED by Grace Shallow
- VISION AUSTRALIA FURTHER EDUCATION BURSARY APPLICATIONS OPEN AUGUST 1ST!
- TOP END TOUR by Mark Hoarau
- TROY CASSAR-DALEY MESSAGE – JANETTA SIMPSON
- QUESTIONNAIRE by Jannetta S
- VISIT TO CALMSLEY FARM – 26TH August 2017
TENPIN BOWLING 29TH July 2017 – Janne Bidenko
A good day was had at Lidcombe Tenpin Bowling on Saturday 29th July, we had an enthusiastic group of Mark Hoarau, Joe Habib, Brett McCreath, Donald Snowfoot, Leanne Brims, Leonie Hely, Gaie Barrett, Felicity Douglas, Ian Perabo, Wayne Bushell and David Dickinson from Newcastle and Jade Engelhardt from Cromer, with their support. We also had Kieran and Larissa Niklaus join the group, so it was all very competitive.
Thank you to our volunteers, Andrew, Lucy, Mick, Brendan, Branko, Kamal, Daisy and 2 new volunteers Will Tapp and Saar?, we had good support for all.
We decided to try the food court in the adjoining shopping centre for lunch, instead of sharing the pizzas available at Lidcombe Bowling, I would like to hear from participants if they thought this was better or if they wish to revert to pizza in future. There were of course the usual coffees before the bowling started
Results of Bowling were:
David 124, Gaie 105, Joe 103, Leonie 102, Larissa 96, Kieran 90, Donald 86, Brett 80, Ian 78, Felicity 70, Wayne 64 and Leanne 57.
JANNE’S CORNER
It started out as a busy month, with moving our office to North Strathfield, but also I took time out to visit my daughter in Rockhampton from 11th to 17th. It was also her little foster son, Graham’s 3rd birthday, it was lovely celebrating with them and also to be involved with the Rockhampton River Festival on the day before I returned. This is their annual BIG day, and it is so beautiful beside the lovely Fitzroy River.
I accompanied the Self-Advocacy Group to a meeting with Sarah Peddie-McGuirk, Hireup Support Agency on 19th July, at their office in French’s Forest. This went well and our members would like to follow up with them, but discussions will need to take place further to make their website accessible to screen readers.
Unfortunately, I ended up with ‘Flu after this so it put me out of action for a week or two. We needed to reorganize some meetings with this and the delay in the office, getting everything moved and set up.
It has been a struggle to finish getting the technology all connected up, firstly with Telstra, then delay in getting printer across and it not working when it did arrive. Also there is a problem with the embosser, which we fervently hope will be fixed this week.
A good time was had at Tenpin Bowling on 29th July, it is always a favourite and becomes very competitive.
Wednesday 9th August we held the quarterly Deafblind Forum Consultative Meeting, this was chaired by Carla from Able Aust., minutes taken by Gail Box, and representatives, David McGuiggan from Deaf Society, Steve Ripley DB Services, Trish Wetton Forsight and Janne DBA, with DB representatives Carleeta and Irene present, as well as the 6 interpreters needed. This was followed on Friday 11th by the DBA Board meeting in the morning and Craft in the afternoon. Then followed on Sat. 12th with a Bunnings BBQ at North Parramatta, where $653 was raised plus $172.60 in donations. Further Bunnings for the year are Ashfield -7/10/17 and Lidcombe – 4/11 and 9/12/17. These are both larger fundraisers than North Parramatta, and we are kept very busy, so extra volunteers are always welcome.
Everyone appears to be getting used to the new office and finding their way around. We have had the services of Rebecca Dunkley and Cheryle (trainee) from Guide Dogs for O&M training of members, which has helped a lot.
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS – Happy birthday to all!
August 8 David Dickinson
11 Dalcy Brawand
15 Jayne Savill
16 Theresa Liu
21 Penny Nielsen
26 Andy Pickup
31 Betty McMinn
CONGRATULATIONS TO SVEN TOPP - From DBA(NSW)
On your success at the IEEE WORLD HAPTICS 2017- June 6-9, 2017 in Fürstenfeldbruck (Munich), Germany.
The Top Finalists for Best Demonstration out of 77 entries at the: "Tactile stimulation of the entire hand were - Basil Duvernoy, Vincent Hayward and Sven Topp". What great recognition, to be named one of the top!
Best wishes for your future studies and achievements, Sven.
IEEE WORLD HAPTICS 2017- INTERVIEW WITH SVEN TOPP
June 6-9, 2017 | Fürstenfeldbruck (Munich), Germany
Interview with Sven Topp
Sven Topp is one of the most fascinating and inspiring participants of World Haptics Conference this year. Despite his disability, he is able to attend the conference and present his work in the demo session. Sven is deafblind. As a result of meningitis, he lost his vision at age 10 leaving him with only 5% of peripheral vision in his right eye and no vision in his left eye. Then at age 13, his hearing deteriorated very rapidly. He does perceive some low frequencies, but that is more a matter of feeling rather than hearing. Sven travelled to Munich from Australia, together with three interpreters that translate for him using haptic sign language.
Why did you choose for a career in Haptics?
Sven: I am interested in computer science and technology. My computer science degree had a very broad range of courses combining many different areas including psychology, industrial design, human computer interfaces, robotics and hardware design/programming. But my interest for tactile communications is mainly the result of my disability. Haptic sign language is my method for everyday communication. I basically live through haptics.
How do you communicate with your interpreters?
Sven: We communicate through a haptically unique series of symbols, that includes slides and taps. Each individual symbol represents either a letter, a word or a whole phrase. For example, we have symbols for the words “haptics”, “meningitis” and “important”. But a tap on the fingertip means (depending on which finger) one of the letters “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”. The haptic language is based on the Auslan sign language and used by other deafblind individuals. But since my vocabulary involves a lot of technical terms, we had to expand the language to be able to communicate all the technical information. My interpreters keep adding words, so our haptic language is constantly evolving.
What are you currently working on?
Sven: Together with Vincent Hayward, we work on a device that emulates tactile communication. The way my interpreters communicate is physically straining for me, and has resulted in a bad shoulder. We created a more ergonomic device, that I hold in a similar way as a mouse. With this device, an actuator talks underneath my hand and puts a lot less strain on my shoulder. This system works with a keyboard entry that directly translates into a pattern on the hand. The great benefit here is that there is no learning curve, since the haptic language is identical to what I am already using with my interpreters. Hopefully in the future this same principle will work with speech recognition.
Do you have hobbies/interests outside of haptics?
Sven: I like reading, computer animation and 3D modelling and playing chess. I learned to play chess before I became deafblind and still enjoy that game. I also used to do Taekwondo and got a red belt.
What are your future goals?
Sven: Now, when an interpreter gives input, it’s not like typing or Braille. It’s not monotonous. Our haptic communication has expressions, emphases, emotions, and rhythm information of speech. I want to add that to the device. By varying the length of taps and the strength of vibrations, I can enable it to talk to me with emotional content.
Interview by Jasper van de Lagemaat
SELF-ADVOCACY VISITS HIRE-UP - Irene McMinn
On Wednesday 19th July the Self-Advocacy group went on a visit to Hire-up. Hireup is an organisation that connects people with disability with Support Workers. They run an online Web-Site were people wanting to work with people with disability can advertise their skills and the days they want to work. People with disability can then go to the Web-site and search for a suitable Support person with the skills that they need.
When we arrived we met up with Sarah Peddie-McGuirk, who runs Hire-up she explained how the system works and some success stories of people who had used Hire-up to engage their support workers. When the person with disability finds a support worker to suit them, they then can negotiate hours and wages with them, according to the time here is also a difference with evening and weekend fees.
We were all very interested in what Sarah had to say and we talked about what Deafblind people need in a support worker. Carleeta was especially interested in the idea of using the Web-Site to search for support workers she has since tried to access the Web-site but it is not Braille friendly.
Janne has agreed to contact Sarah to discuss making the Web-Site more accessible to Deafblind people.
DBA(NSW) ADVERTISEMENT:
Part-time Development Coordinator approx.18hrs per week - Deafblind Association (NSW) Inc.
Applications closing: Monday 4th September 2017.
DBA(NSW)Inc is seeking an experienced Development Coordinator (SACS Gr.4/5)
This is an exciting role for the right person, offering growth in the disability/deafblind area and the opportunity to develop into the future.
Responsibilities:
· Assisting Deafblind Association (NSW) to transition into the generation of NDIS
· Maintaining required records
· Developing ongoing consultations with appropriate organisations
· Coordinating information and resources to ensure the needs of Deafblind people are met
· Ensuring organisations are proficient in these specific needs
· Coordinating consultations between community groups to expand capacity of Deafblind people within appropriate organisations
Requirements:
· Strong commitment to the rights of people with disability
· Strong motivation with high-level strategic and analytical skills
· Excellent communication and advocacy skills
· Knowledge of Auslan communication an advantage
Please contact Janne Bidenko
SONAR BAND FOR VISION IMPAIRED by Grace Shallow | Monday 7 August 2017 - Sent by Peter Tarrant
This sonar band uses vibrations to help blind people navigate with ease
Sonar - it's not just for bats and submarines!
Fernando Albertorio finds a sense of independence in running, and revealed in the sensation when he participated in a 5K in Boston earlier this year.
The race, however, was more than a test of his endurance. It was a case study for the effectiveness of a sonar sensor band by Sunu, a company Albertorio co-founded with two others.
The Sunu Band helps anyone living with impaired vision, like Albertorio, navigate by emitting a high-frequency ultrasound wave that bounces off nearby objects. To alert the wearer of obstacles, the band vibrates, and the stronger the vibration, the closer the object is. Wearers can also point their band-bearing wrist towards an area they want to sense, and the band will vibrate accordingly.
Despite helping Albertorio complete a race and even a hike, the band is meant for daily use and assistance. It's also connected to an iPhone app via Bluetooth that lets the user control feedback intensity and check its battery life, which lasts about four hours total.
The band can also be switched between an indoor and outdoor mode. When on indoor mode, the band examines your surroundings within an eight-foot range and looks for opening and thresholds. The band has a longer range of 13 feet on outdoor mode and detects obstacles above the knees and up to head level.
Sunu tested its product with organisations such as the National Federation of the Blind and Perkins School for the Blind.
There are other products, such as the BuzzClip, that use similar technologies to help the blind navigate. Microsoft also recently released Seeing AI, an app for people who are visually impaired. It records what is happening with the smartphone's camera and relays it to the user with artificial intelligence-created speech.
The Sunu band is currently being offered for a discounted price of $US250, and deliveries begin in August.
Vision Australia are excited to announce that Vision Australia Further Education Bursary Applications will open on August 1st, 2017. Each year, Vision Australia awards Further Education Bursaries to a select number of students who are blind or have low vision. Applications close on October 31st.
The bursaries provide adaptive technology to help the students fully participate and succeed in their chosen studies. Assistive technology can eliminate barriers to education and enhance access to information. It enables students to read course material, conduct research and improve their student life.
The bursary website is www.visionaustralia.org/bursary
The website lists the eligibility and selection criteria. The bursary application and instructions will be available on this website on August 1st.
If you have any questions regarding the bursary, please contact Yadigar Atici at
, or on 03 8378 1220.
Alternately, you can contact
Sincerely,
Belinda Wilson
>
Vocational Consultant
Victoria Client Services, Radio and Seeing Eye Dogs Australia
346 Macaulay Rd (cnr Stubbs St) Kensington VIC 3031
T: 03 8378 1223 I: 344 223 www.visionaustralia.org
TOP END TOUR by Mark Hoarau