Published by

Blind Citizens Australia

ABN 90-006-985-226

Edited by

Lynne Davis

------------------------------------

Our mission is to achieve equity and equality by our empowerment, by promoting positive community attitudes, and by striving for high quality and accessible services which meet our needs.

COPYRIGHT: Reproduction of articles appearing in Blind Citizens News is permitted, provided Blind Citizens News and the author(s) are acknowledged.

Large Print ISSN 1441-449X Braille ISSN 1441-5658

Cassette ISSN 1441-564X

Blind Citizens News is distributed in Large Print, Braille and Audio. Electronic copies in text format are available from our Web page, on Disk or by Email. To change your format please contact Blind Citizens Australia.

• SoundAbout Audio Magazines

• Blind Citizens Australia Annual Report

• Project and Research Reports

Accessible E-Commerce in Australia

Community Development for Blind Women

Everybody’s Business

• Horizons Radio Program

(see Tune in and Keep up to Date, in this issue)

IN THIS ISSUE

I have received advice from the Queensland Braille Writing Association that they have recently begun transcribing Blind Citizens News into Moon format. The December 2001 Moon issue is in three volumes, each of around sixty pages. If there is any reader who would prefer to read the News in Moon rather than their current format, please contact BCA’s national office and we will pass on this information to the Queensland Braille Writing Association.

Enjoy your reading!

I am writing to express my pleasure with, and support for, the latest issues of Blind Citizens News, especially the readers' letters. It has been wonderful and encouraging to hear such heartfelt and well articulated debates. I say encouraging because it is a sign of a thriving movement when individuals think deeply about the issues affecting their lives and have a forum to express their conclusions. The ability to accept different views, even when they are critical of mainstream views, is also a sign of a thriving movement. Unity and strength, after all, do not have to lead to blandness. My congratulations also to the reader of the audio version of the News, who gives the letters the expression they require. It has been good, as a "young" listener, to hear opinions that I may not necessarily agree with, but that relate to issues that are important to me and which are well thought out and expressed. I hope that such debate continues to be fostered and encouraged.

Thank you again.

I am responding to Amanda Tink’s article [December 2001] in which she wrote about her experience at the Resolutions Session at last year’s Convention.

I agree with Amanda that it is difficult to participate in a Resolutions Session without a copy of the resolutions in front of you. However, many of the resolutions that are presented at Convention actually arise from discussions at Convention sessions. This leaves very little time to produce them in alternative formats.

It was BCA’s intention to have copies of Resolutions for all members in various formats in time for the Resolutions Session, however for the above reason we could not produce copies of Resolutions in time. We will endeavour in future to produce copies of resolutions for our members, time permitting.

Since the last edition of Blind Citizens News, much has happened and the year ahead promises to be a busy and exciting one.

Sadly, I note the recent death of Phyllis Gration. Phyllis, with her then husband Harold, founded the Lady Nell Seeing Eye Dog Organisation and for many years was its Chief Executive. Phyllis had a long history of advocacy and action on behalf of blind people and was a founding member of our organisation and one of its early leaders. On behalf of Blind Citizens Australia, I extend our condolences to her family.

We are pleased to acknowledge the recognition of three blind people, David Blyth, Maurice Gleeson and Robyn Bree in this year's Australia Day honours list.

David Blyth has been made an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to blind and vision impaired people nationally and internationally, in particular as a leading advocate for access of blind and vision impaired people to education, training and services.

David has a rich history of participation and leadership among the blind and in particular in our own organisation. As founding President of Blind Citizens Australia, David shared with others and realised the vision of a national organisation of blind Australians speaking for themselves and working together to change what it means to be blind. As an administrator and board member in service provision agencies, David worked strongly for the recognition of the idea that the views of blind people should shape the services they receive.

As President of the World Blind Union, the international organisation representing blind people, David demonstrated leadership and statesmanship, guiding that organisation through one of its most productive periods.

David has been a colleague, mentor and most of all a friend to many of us. We congratulate David, his wife, Jessie, and their children.

Maurice Gleeson has been awarded the Medal in the Order of Australia for his services to the social and physical welfare of people with disabilities, particularly people with a vision impairment. Maurice lives in Melbourne and works as a social welfare worker with Vision Australia Foundation. He represented Australia with distinction at Paralympic and other sporting competitions. Maurice has, by his example as a participant and his work as a leader in blind sports organisations, promoted the participation of blind people in recreational and sporting activities. We congratulate Maurice on his achievements and this award.

Robyn Bree from Queensland has been awarded a Medal in the General Division for service to people with visual impairments through the Royal Blind Society and the Friends of the Royal Blind Society.

We also congratulate Jan Miller on the award of "Hobart Citizen of the Year", given in recognition of her service to 7RPH. Jan, in addition to her work for Radio for the Print Handicapped at the local and national level, has been an active member of Blind Citizens Australia and was formerly a member of our Council.

I am pleased to welcome Tony Clarke as a member of the Board of Blind Citizens Australia. Tony lives in Melbourne, is married, has two young children and works for Vision Australia Foundation in the areas of government relations and information access. We welcome Tony and look forward to his companionship and contribution as a Board member.

The National Policy and Development Council met in Melbourne on 25 and 26 November, 2001. The Council has identified its priority areas of activity for the coming year and has established working groups to deal with them as follows:

• transport and environmental access, chaired by Peter Johnson;
• libraries, chaired by Lynne Davis;
• education, chaired by Karen Knight; and
• membership and development, chaired by Lyn Eagers.

Reports on the activities of these working groups will be featured in future editions of the News.

The Council continues to seek to use the Disability Discrimination Act strategically. One year ago, Blind Citizens Australia commenced its approach of lodging strategic complaints in relation to the accessibility of ATMs. These complaints are progressing, with the banks responding with varying degrees of co-operation. Work is advanced on an industry standard for accessible ATMs and the National Australia Bank is trialing an accessible ATM at the RVIB site at 201 High Street, Prahran.

The Council decided to lodge strategic complaints in relation to public documents, such as those relating to taxation and the Census, not being available in accessible formats. Kym Hand, an NPDC member from South Australia, will lead this work.

The Board has established a Working Group to examine our Constitution and develop proposals for amendment to be put to this year's Annual General Meeting. Keith Hayes is leading this group which also includes John Simpson, myself and Maryanne Diamond. The current Constitution was adopted in 1999 and has only been in place for a short time. Accordingly, this review will be a tidying up exercise and not a substantial rewrite. The Working Group welcomes ideas from members. These should be sent to Maryanne Diamond at the Office by 30 March 2002.

One of the most exciting developments for Blind Citizens Australia this year is the opening of a staffed office in Sydney. Sharon Chalmers has been appointed as our NSW/ACT Project Officer, and we welcome Sharon to our staff. Initially, the office will operate two days per week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The telephone number is 02-9744-9844. A Co-ordinating Committee of members has been set up to oversee the work. This Committee is led by Lynne Davis and includes representatives from the NSW and ACT Branches, plus the NPDC representative from NSW and two Board nominees. The current Committee members are Pat Downie, Bill McKennariey, Jessica Richards, Joana Novo, Donna Willson and Michael Johnston.

The bca-l discussion list is an excellent way for BCA members to raise issues and discuss matters relating to our organisation and to blindness generally. While issues such as inaccessible products and services should be raised by postings to this list, bca-l should not be seen as the only contact point with the organisation. Our office staff and Board members are working on many issues at the one time. They subscribe to the list but can't always get to an issue which pops up on the list as quickly as they would like. Accordingly, if you have put a post on the list suggesting that a matter requires our attention, it might be useful to follow up with a phone call to our staff so that the issue can be discussed and the appropriate response made.

Recently we received the sad news that Martin Stewart, who will be known to many of our members, was seriously injured in a transport accident. Martin fell between the platform and a train at one of Melbourne's busiest suburban stations. He has lost his right arm and part of his right leg and sustained other serious injuries. Martin has been a strong campaigner for an accessible environment. He is a young man with a very young family and has ahead of him a long road of recovery and rehabilitation.

The RVIB has organised an appeal to assist Martin and his family. Donations can be made by cheque payable to the RVIB. The envelope must be marked "Martin Stewart Appeal" and addressed to:

Julie Robson,
RVIB,
557 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004.

When I consider the question of "what are the issues around travelling as a blind person?", I find the answer contains many "It depends" type statements. The impact of vision impairment on travelling will depend, amongst other things, on the traveller's level of vision impairment, how far afield the traveller goes (overseas has its effects not experienced in interstate travel, for example), the skills of travelling companions, and the skills and knowledge of the vision impaired person. Obviously, a person's personality traits and preferences are also going to contribute to the travelling experience for the vision impaired person.

In the following paragraphs, I would like to outline some of my own experiences and observations of travelling as a blind person. I am writing from the perspective of someone who is totally blind but has lost sight gradually over 25 years. Therefore, I have a good recollection of colours, images and such things as the visual effects of sunlight in certain situations. I have well developed orientation and mobility skills, using a guide dog as my primary mobility aid. However, I readily use sighted guide technique when appropriate.

I have travelled fairly extensively, both interstate and overseas, for education, work and leisure purposes. However, I would like to focus this discussion on some of my experiences of travelling overseas for holidays. It is in these settings that I felt the greatest impact of my blindness on me as a traveller. In particular, my visits to Sri Lanka and France revealed some very interesting things.

One of the things that I found necessary for successful travel was good teamwork in the process of sighted guiding. My partner, John, is usually my sighted guide when we're overseas. Good verbal and physical communication between guide and guided are essential. We found that we had to develop quite an extensive vocabulary to accommodate the wide variety of steps that we encountered in Sri Lanka. When climbing Sigiria, a huge rock with an ancient palace atop it, there were 1200 steps up, each carved from the rock. Each had a different combination of width, depth, height and surface from the next. Understanding from John how and where I had to place my foot next, made the climb easier, though I was still pooped on reaching the top.

I think it’s important to recognise that sighted guide work is demanding on the concentration of both parties. Therefore, I would sometimes offer to John to wait somewhere whilst he went to look at something, buy something or just have a walk around without me hanging off his elbow. John also catered for me when I was tiring by allowing for a greater margin of error when navigating through a busy environment.

I also discovered that sometimes, when you are focused on doing something with one hand, the other hand has a mind of its own. For instance, several times, I would be hitching up my socks, or adjusting my shoulder bag, with my left hand, and unbeknownst to me, but to the discomfort of my guide, my right hand would be tightening on John's arm. Even overhearing a conversation about clinging to a bridge by the fingertips caused me to be shaken off his arm with a plea to be more gentle. The moral of the story: the right hand should always know what the left hand is doing and what the mind is thinking.

Something of note in Sri Lanka was how much of a curiosity I was to some people. Blind people on the streets or in public places were not a common sight. So, as a blind person, I attracted a lot of open stares. On top of that, people expressed to us much puzzlement about how I could be a westerner and still be blind. There seemed to be very little understanding that not all eye conditions are curable. Some people had seen their neighbours benefit from glasses or cataract operations and encouraged me to investigate possible medical treatments. I would thank them for their concern and explain how my eyesight was not repairable.

I did not need to deal with these issues of awareness when in France. Instead, the challenge was to keep up with a busy tour itinerary and to survive with the minuscule amount of French that I had learned. Here is where my Braillenote came in extremely handy. I had been emailed the itinerary and lecture notes in an electronic form, so I was able to use my notetaker to read and search for information. Similarly, I could access my flight information by bringing it up in the wordprocessor. I had completed a five week, intensive, French for Travellers course prior to departing Australia. The text for that course was also given to me electronically, meaning that I could look up French phrases when needed, not after the event. Having that small amount of French and ready access to a Braille phrase book created a sense of equality for us. I could contribute in some way to our getting around more easily.

France is a place of many different public toilets. They range from a hole in the ground over which you squat, being sure to place your feet in the right spots first, to the totally automated experience, where the flush is activated simply through a light sensor and the water tap comes on as you step out of the cubicle. Many French toilets have a different cubicle area for men and women but with a common area for washing your hands. This made it easy for John to show me where hand dryers and the like were located. However, I became skilled in asking the whereabouts of the important things in times when John could not accompany me into the toilets. I'd either find a fellow English speaker or struggle with my French and then ask: "Where is the flusher, the toilet paper, the sink and the drier?" Feeling around for these things can be unpleasant at best and, at worst, embarrassing.

Vision impaired people do not have a better ability to hear, taste, smell or touch, than their sighted peers, but rather, they tend to use their capacity for these things to a greater degree. Even then, people who are blind or vision impaired will vary in what faculties they have chosen to maximise for taking in information. I like to use all my senses to give me the optimum enjoyment of a new place. For this reason, I have very fond memories of Paris as I found that city to be a sumptuous feast for the senses. Just walking through the streets, I would pass or be passed by bodies bearing wonderful perfumes and colognes. Flower shops and street corner rose vendors added to the overall delicious scents to be breathed in whilst on the move. The fine food and wine meant that my taste buds knew they were on holidays. As I bustled down the narrow streets along with everyone else, I would feel the brush of a soft scarf or coat. The sounds of music coming from cafes or buskers added nicely to the stimulation.

Vision, though, is by far the dominant sense for most people, and accordingly, most tourist activities revolve around seeing, watching and viewing what a place has to offer. I don't find this an impediment, providing I am with someone who can describe well what is being seen. A good description is not necessarily a detailed one. I think the vision impaired person needs to give guidance to their describer as to what constitutes a balanced description for them.

However, some places that we visited had model replicas of the real thing being admired. I always liked to feel them to get a better idea of shape, size, etc. For example, when visiting a chateau in France, the gift shop had a wooden model of the chateau. This particular chateau was unusual in that it spanned a river. By feeling a wooden miniature replica of the chateau, I was able to grasp the features of the bridge which supported the real chateau.

When in museums or galleries, I like to enquire at the front desk as to what works I may be able to touch. I find most staff at these places are very obliging and will point out what I can feel and will explain why I can't touch other things. I, in return, make sure I have clean hands, remove any rings and bracelets, and am very careful when feeling, what are at times, very valuable items.

There is a lot to be said for prearranging tours with galleries and museums. Some places offer specialised tours for vision impaired people, providing they have prior notice. I found it really useful to contact the Rodin museum to enquire about how they could assist my visit. I learnt that they had a tour guide who could show me the best way to touch the sculptures in order to get the best sense of the artist's intentions. Feeling an object is one thing, but being shown where to start and how to move your fingers and palms gives a greater sense of the overall movement and shape that is conveyed in the artwork.

One of the disadvantages of travelling as a blind person in an unfamiliar environment is that you can't easily go and do your own thing. It also means that sighted companions are restricted in how long they can be away, doing their own thing. For example, it would have been nice in France if John could have spent a day pursuing his own interests such as visiting Roman ruins alone without feeling he had left me with nothing to do. Similarly, it would have been good if I could have spent hours exploring the clothing shops independently. I wouldn't put him through the boredom by asking him to help me do that. Consequently on longer trips, we find we have fewer times apart from each other than we would have at home.

This doesn't result in conflict but it does mean that there is a certain degree of compromise that I don't think a sighted couple would need to make.

There is a lot more of Australia and the rest of the globe that I would like to see. Time and money will determine where and when I might next visit. My blindness, though, only shapes how I travel. I don't feel less motivated to go to some places because I can't see. However, an organised tour that gives lectures about visited sites, and opportunities to walk around venues, is better than sitting on a coach that whizzes past sites to the sounds of oohs and ahs from other passengers. Being adventurous, organised and adaptable are also ingredients for reducing those little inconveniences of having a vision impairment and improve the success of your travelling.

In September last year my friend, Diana Braun, and I went overseas for three glorious weeks. For so many people who go overseas frequently this is probably an event of little or no importance. But, for me, it was a first time experience and one that, I believe, I will remember for the rest of my life (or at least until dementia sets in).

My holiday experience started long before the plane took off from Adelaide. Deciding where to go, which company to go with, how long to stay, where to stay, what books to take, how much money to take, what clothes to take, etc, AND how to pay for it were all part of the excitement of planning. But even so, I could not believe that it was going to happen, that I would really be visiting a country that for so many years I had dreamed about exploring. I can only compare it with waiting to give birth to your first baby - you know what is going to happen, you know that it WILL happen, but you do not ever imagine that it is really going to happen!

We chose to join a 15 day tour of Ireland organised through Odyssey Travel. This is a travel club for people who are over 50 years of age, based at the University of Wollongong, NSW. The tour appealed to Diana and me because it was historically based, fully guided and had no extra charge for single accommodation.

When we approached Odyssey Travel we discovered that we were the first blind people they had ever had on one of their tours. After consultation with the Tour Leader, we were asked to write a letter stating that we would be willing to carry our own luggage and asking us to state what special requirements we would have. The latter created quite a problem for me. I could not conceive that I was going overseas, so how could I say what help I might need!

The tour was wonderful. Ireland is delightful, the Irish people are so lovely and I had an unforgettable 15 days there. We did encounter a few hiccups but they were far outweighed by the pluses. Because I travelled from Adelaide and Diana from Sydney, we had difficulty meeting up with each other at Changi Airport in Sngapore. I know that I was very relieved when I finally met up with Diana just as we boarded the flight for Heathrow. I had been picturing myself travelling alone to Ireland, whereas Diana did at least know that I had arrived but was unable to get to me.

Odyssey Travel had misunderstood (or assumed) that we would want to have share accommodation despite our requests for single rooms being clearly entered on our registration forms. After the first night (when we did share) the Tour Leader realised that single accommodation would be preferable and it was organised for us for the rest of the tour.

The Tour Leader (and his wife) and most of the other people on the tour were very helpful. Only one or two were less helpful (is this not true of life in general!). Our bus driver deserves special mention. He was fun, helpful and organised several extra attractions for our enjoyment (including a jaunting car ride, visit to Connemara Marble and a shopping tour guide at the Blarney Woollen Mill.)

After we left Dublin, we spent a week in London. Our hotel was interesting. The manager orientated us to our rooms. This is the first time this has ever happened to me but he ‘plonked’ me down on the toilet to ensure that I knew exactly where it was! I think that he had given his staff strict instructions that we were to be helped at all times. We literally could not move outside our rooms without a staff member coming up to help. Near the end of our week he came back on duty, asked how we were going, and then must have told his staff to leave us alone as we could manage on our own. After that, no-one came near us.

Before we left Australia Diana contacted a chauffeur driven car service for us to use when required in London. This was a brilliant move on her part. John Edgar was worth his weight in gold and, once we got used to each other, we had a marvellous time together. He organised (on his own initiative) extra touches; for example we had some spare time one day so he took us for a ride on the Tube (underground railway) which we both felt would be just too difficult to attempt by ourselves. On our one free day in London, John organised a day in Portsmouth and Winchester, giving us an unexpected extra glimpse of history and a feel for the English countryside. Both Diana and I would highly recommend him and his service. Please contact either of us for his details.

I found orientation in London extremely easy. I left my guide dog at home and used a long cane. In Ireland we did not spend a lot of time by ourselves. However, after the first day in London when I did frequently get lost, it was easy. I can only assume that in a previous existence I must have lived there. With my lack of cooking skills, I wonder if I was the person who started the fire in Pudding Lane!

It was wonderful, never to be forgotten, and I only wish I had the money to go again.

I write in the hope that my experience may help others and also that with effort, consultation and time, the situation may be improved for a guide dog travelling to the UK.

Nowadays, the UK has a "pets passport scheme" whereby animals can travel from Australia with specified vaccination and veterinarian requirements and papers, incurring no period of quarantine on arrival. This new scheme encouraged me to spend a time living and working based in the UK and to take my guide dog along as I would be travelling alone.

My dog had a rabies vaccination six months prior to the intended travel date followed by a blood test to prove its effectiveness and an international microchip. My vet, who is an Australian Quarantine Inspection Service accredited vet, told me how guide dogs were now being permitted to travel with some international carriers in the cabin of the aircraft and guide dog staff have also encountered dogs travelling in this way on long-haul flights such as from Sydney to Los Angeles. When I went to book with my travel agent, Qantas (the only specified carrier of animals to the UK), was happy for my dog to travel in the cabin.

I was elated but, as I proceeded to check the pre-flight vet requirements, I quickly found out that Heathrow Airport in London has a different story. The next scenario was that the dog must travel from Perth to London in a sealed crate in the cabin of the aircraft. I protested that this seemed ridiculous and unworkable as the seal on the crate was not to be broken once put on in Perth by the AQIS final check vet. After several correspondences through the British High Commission in Canberra, the final decree came back that the guide dog must travel in a sealed crate from Perth to London in the cargo section, at the cost to me of two thousand seven hundred dollars. This was a bit of a shock, as the cost of having my dog in the cabin with me would have been just vet costs of about six hundred dollars.

I would like to think that someone might be able to negotiate a change for guide dog travel from Australia (a country without disease concerns for Britain). The UK concern seems to be that the dog may encountered a diseased animal in the one hour transit in Singapore (the only permitted stopover). My argument that the dog if under the handling of its owner in a transit lounge would have minimal chance of this happening fell on deaf ears. I also know that Singapore has an enclosed garden in the transit area used by staff and smokers, where I had planned to toilet my dog before the next leg of the flight. I feel that Britain has more chance of a diseased animal crossing the English channel via a boat or the tunnel than a risk coming from Australia.

My feeling is that Australian guide dog needs are being overlooked and the result is a trauma and big cost which could be avoided. I hope BCA will see an avenue for consultation on this issue with the UK authorities. I believe that the British Home Secretary is a guide dog user...

I went to East Timor, which we now call Timor Lorosa'e, in February/March 2001 to work as a volunteer with the Ryder Cheshire Foundation. They were establishing a convalescent home at Tibar, 15 kilometres from Dili, for patients from the Dili hospital.

I am not exactly an expert on the topic of disability services in Timor, except that we had the distinct impression there weren’t any. So I thought I would say a little about the people with disabilities living at Tibar. When the Ryder Cheshire Foundation (RCF) acquired the complex there were a number of old and not so old residents living there and, as these people had nowhere else to go, RCF agreed to their staying on as permanent residents. Between them they had a variety of disabilities, including three people with vision impairments. One of these was K. She was about forty and appeared to have a little residual vision. She spent her days obsessively cleaning her room and sitting in the communal front room beside the radio. She would leave the radio on so she could hear it in her room, which meant you could probably hear it in Dili and this caused friction with the other residents. But this was all she did. She had never had any orientation or training in the use of a cane apparently, so she rarely went outside the house. I used to worry about her. It seemed such a boring life and she was obviously frustrated. However there appeared to be no-one available to consult about appropriate assistance.

M was quite elderly. He had mobility problems as well as vision loss. However one of the volunteers, a retired doctor, thought he might have had cataracts which could possibly be removed. He had been booked in for an eye examination but I had the impression that the ophthalmologist was available only about once per month and he had not been seen by the time I left. He also rarely went out but I was told that on one occasion he went to church and the villagers grabbed the end of his walking stick and towed him along by it. That was his mobility. I hope that something may have come of the eye examination, because M was a sad case. He had more or less given up on life in general, hibernating in his room and refusing to wash, to the great irritation of the staff.

The third person was A. We called him ‘chicken man’. He encouraged several chickens to roost in his room at night to keep him company. The smell was horrendous, apparently, when the first volunteers came up. By my time his room had been cleaned out, but he still encouraged the odd chicken and kept a bag of rice in his room to feed them. When he was not talking to his chickens, he was whistling in the neighbourhood dogs, enticing them with scraps from his plate. Just before I left, our manager told him it was the chickens or us and that if he did not keep them outside he would have to find new accommodation. I can’t wait for the next volunteer to return home to find out the end of this saga.

We also had some residents with very restricted mobility and a woman who appeared to have a severe psychiatric disability, but whose story no one knew. Enquiries about psychiatric services drew a complete blank. The manager complained bitterly that people in the health service were talking about establishing sophisticated surgical practices at the hospital, while there was a total lack of the most basic support services.

There were problems with language. Some volunteers in the health field speak neither Tetum nor Indonesian and information gets garbled between them and local people whose English is minimal. Also, some expatriate health workers have no concept of Aged Care and Disability Services Standards in Australia and are therefore not able to model best practice abroad. There seems to be a case for some training in this area before they go overseas. A vague desire to ‘do good’ is not sufficient for a successful placement.

I understand that some Australian blindness agencies are now looking at the possibility of establishing service and consumer groups in Timor Lorosa'e. This initiative is long overdue, but will need to be done with extreme care and will I fear be a long and probably tiresome process. With regard to disability rights, the concepts are simply not there and there will be a need to develop basic support services that will give people some independence. Only then will they be able to think about greater control of their lives. And Australian agencies will need to work through local organisations. Whatever develops the local people must control it, or it will not work.

In the meantime, given the absence of services the people of whom I speak are probably better off at Tibar than they would be elsewhere. At least they have a stable home in a pleasant environment. So I will give a little promo for the Ryder Cheshire Foundation. It is entirely staffed by volunteers and 97% of every dollar raised goes direct to support its homes. One of its main ways of raising funds is its ‘sponsor a resident’ or ‘sponsor a bed’ schemes. I have further information if anyone is interested.

Like all of us things in life had been very difficult. I had cared for Mum, as well as working. After her death my doctor advised me that I must go for a holiday. It was some time - and nagging from him - before I felt able to take this step. Just before the holiday was to occur I was involved in a train accident which meant that I had to wait for over a year before it all happened.

On 21st November, 1998, I finally found myself on the holiday which had been planned in late 1996. The destination was South Molle Island. I felt confident at the time of planning this trip that I would enjoy the holiday by myself. The night before I left Sydney I began to have second thoughts.

The first day was difficult. Arrangements had been made for me to go and feed the fish in the morning and birds in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the person who was to make sure I went with everybody else forgot to get me. Luckily for me a staff member had a deaf cousin. She was aware that somebody needed to take some initiative and decided to invite me to White Haven Beach the next day, which was her day off. Oh how wonderful. The experience was magic. The beach itself was covered with sand which felt nice and crunchy. The water was cool. I even tried snorkelling. I would never be able to say this was a great success, but it was fun. Janelle, the friendly staff member, also spoke to other staff members and assured them that I was human. Things then really began to happen.

I found myself visiting the various sports areas and trying diving, boom netting, para-sailing, jet skiing, riding the biscuit - to do this two people are needed. The fellow tourist who volunteered to join me wished she had done more with me. As well as these activities I did the usual things like swimming and even took part in an aqua-aerobics class.

My willingness to take part in everything even if I thought my attempts might not help the water polo team win won me many ‘friends’ as well as becoming the person who was told "You must be Pat, I heard all about you".

My holiday lasted two weeks. Many people only stayed on the Island for a few days. I took part in the Island version of ‘Red Faces’, a type of talent quest. The first week I rewrote the words to the Happy Wanderer. I won second prize. The second week I wrote a Christmas poem and won first prize.

My love of bushwalking was able to be catered for. With staff members and others I explored the surrounding area of the island, went for a sunset cruise, went sailing, and enjoyed the nightly theme activities. A big highlight was the day I went sky diving. My ‘partner in crime’, Janelle, had always wanted to do this. Another person gave her the opportunity to do it. The video we had taken has been enjoyed by many. The expressions on our faces certainly tell a story.

The staff at South Molle awarded me various certificates and free cocktails, as well as small momentoes. I thanked the management for allowing Janelle to be so helpful to me. The comment was made that they, the staff, had never met anybody like me.

At the beginning of the holiday my confidence level had reached zero. At the end it had been considerably raised. I realise that not all blind people would want to do this kind of activity on their own. It is not the first time I have planned and holidayed by myself, however it is certainly the most memorable. I have plans to do more unaccompanied holidays. Who knows, perhaps I might inspire others to try.

In case you are wondering if I slept, the answer is yes.

Where's the light switch?

How does this kettle work?

Is there a power point beside the bed?

How do I get an outside line on this phone?

This was the scene each evening as we travelled north to the Atherton Tablelands last year.

To avoid the temptation of travelling for too long the first day I pre-booked a cabin at Clearview, about 5 hours drive from home. For the rest of the trip our plan was to travel for 5 - 6 hours each day with stops for lunch & smoko and find accommodation around 4pm. I find being a passenger tends to get boring when you can't see clearly & even after 20 years together my husband still says "Look - over there!". I find good music with regular stops at places of interest is necessary to counteract the tedium of long distance travel.

Having a limited budget we stay at caravan park cabins but for personal security I prefer self contained facilities which are of course more expensive. We tried to find cabins around $45 - $50 per night. Some cabins were very well equipped, others lacked even basics such as pillows & tea-towels.

One day we were late finding a cabin. We opted for a cabin in a rather upmarket van park & agreed it was worth paying a little extra being so late. The cabin looked very nice from the outside but once inside we found it did not have any bedding, any cooking facilities nor TV or radio. I thought I'd made a mistake reading the RACQ accommodation guide but when I checked it I found this facility advertised as 4 star standard & provided all facilities. By the time we realised our predicament the office was closed & the manager did not live on site.

We went out for tea & used our own linen, etc. On returning the key prior to departing I mentioned the lack of facilities to the receptionist - a look of sourpuss came over her face. "You must be mistaken - maybe you couldn't find things because you can't see" was her response. I told her my husband couldn't find anything either! It turned out that thieves had stripped the unit sometime during the previous day - we got our money back.

I found orientating myself to new surroundings every night rather stressful when combined with a day's travel. I'm very lucky my husband likes to cook and understands my limitations. We decided to alleviate the stress while on the Tablelands by getting a cabin for a week and doing day trips from that point. We found a suitable cabin in a pretty caravan park at Atherton and had a very pleasant week there. The manager provided a desk lamp for over the stove to make cooking easier and took me for a walk around the park to orientate me. This park carries the international symbol of disability but when I asked to inspect their accessible facilities it soon became apparent they did not comply with the Australian Standards. I was given the usual spiel that 'people with disabilities travel with a carer …'

The Atherton Tablelands is famous for its waterfalls, lakes & craters but definitely not for its disability access. With a patient and experienced sighted guide you can visit and enjoy these attractions; it is easier if you are reasonably fit. Good walking shoes and comfortable clothing is a must. Planning your day so that you have plenty of time to travel at your own pace is essential.

The breathtaking scenery and the sounds of the waterfalls and bush make all the climbing steps and scrambling over rocks worthwhile. I only wish I had a sense of smell to enjoy all the wonderful smells people tell me are around. I must admit I didn't go right to the bottom of a couple of waterfalls - getting down didn't look too bad but getting back was too much of a challenge for me!

Mareeba, a town on the Tablelands, has hazard tactile ground surface indicators at its two pedestrian crossings in the main street & directional indicators that lead to the Commonwealth & Westpac banks (one each side of the street). I checked the ATMs - they didn't talk! This was the only time I found TGSIs, but I didn't do much walking around the coastal towns.

After this trip I have decided that seeing I can't afford 5 star resorts for my holidays a caravan is the only way to go. Set up a caravan to suit my needs and thus avoid the stress of unfamiliar surroundings and inadequate equipment. My husband agrees as he reckons this way he'd get a comfortable bed every night - some commercial beds are definitely 1 star only.

I have a wonderful array of photographs on my computer and I occasionally set up a slide show to revisit all the places we enjoyed so much on our holiday.

1981 was the International Year of the Disabled Person, and I was working for the Department of Tourism in New South Wales, with secondment to the Australian Tourist Commission. During that year, there were some large steps forward in travel for people with disabilities. The desire of blind and vision impaired people to travel began to be recognised. The most frequently asked question from the tourism industry was "Why would a blind or vision impaired person even want to travel without the scenic experience?"

How has it changed in 20 years? The power of being out there as a blind person, using facilities, showing the general public how each person can enjoy, manage, and participate in most aspects of travel and tourism. Travel Magazine - commonly known as 'Travel Mag' - came along at about that time, a nine-year interesting journey for me. This tape magazine was not only for blind and vision impaired people - readers were numerous amongst the tourism industry and those who received the cassette played it in their cars ... and the magazine got a special merit mention in the tourism awards three years in a row.

Some of my favourite memories of travelling with blind and vision impaired people are about the destinations which our small groups went to with prior preparation such as Braille and tactile maps, audio cassettes, and meeting people who could share their stories and be with our groups. On Norfolk Island there were fish fries, Marie the historian, and the author Colleen McCulloch. In England there were special days at Coventry Cathedral, the National Motor Museum, and Lincoln Cathedral; in America, Disneyland with all its excitement. We went into the crater at Hilo, Hawaii before it became active again, to the Expo in Brisbane, across Canada with the Rockies and the French Connections in Ottawa, Quebec, Montreal. At home, we went all the way around Tasmania, and to Binna Burra Lodge in Southern Queensland, exploring the very first sensory trail there. We went to New Zealand, with many and varied funny times together.

Travel enables wider experiences of places, people, sounds, tastes, smells and getting a different perspective on living. It also takes us for a while out of our 'comfort zones'. May it always be "Happy Travelling". What a wonderful part of my life story it has been.

I agree with Amanda Tink’s sentiments regarding BCA Convention Resolutions [December 2001]. However, before I elaborate on this theme, let me take issue with some of Amanda’s references to the oldies and their high profile at Convention.

I was delighted to have my name grouped with people like David Blyth, Graeme Innes, Michael Simpson and Bill Jolley. I was somewhat concerned however to read that Michael, Bill and Graeme were grouped under the heading of old or older. While David and myself fit into this category the other three are in the prime of life, having been contributors to the blindness field since their teens and early twenties. I can think of more comfortable words to use in reference to people approaching their seventies, and the one I have used for over twenty years is ‘seniors’. This word acknowledges the valuable position older persons hold in our society due to their lifelong experiences and, in many cases, their continuing contribution to the welfare and development of their interest groups. My final comment on this issue is that without this wealth of experience in private and public arenas, we would have little background on which to develop opinions that may forever affect the lives of those for whom we speak.

Having said that, let me now speak briefly about my attitude towards the resolution process and time allotted for discussion at Convention. I attended my first BCA, then NFBCA, Convention in Canberra where I was privileged to hear the most erudite discussion, within the context of resolutions, between Hugh Jeffrey and Graeme Innes. The subject was the use of the word disability to replace handicap when referring to people with impairments. Regardless of one’s feelings about the issue, it was a great pleasure to listen to opposing points of view presented by two practised speakers.

At the time, I worked as a project officer for ACROD. My vision was deteriorating rapidly and like many others in this situation, I feared for the future. Attending the Convention, listening to Hugh, Graeme, David Blyth, and Bill Jolley (who was President at the time), as well as women like Joan Ledermann and Dolly Lee, I knew that with role models like these fabulous individuals, I too could survive and prosper.

In the ensuing years, members of BCA expressed some dissatisfaction with what was regarded by many as the most boring part of the Convention, the resolutions. After much consideration, the time allowed for discussion on resolutions was limited. I was disappointed to see this happening and voiced my opinion as a member of the then BCA Council. However, as our organisation is responsive to the needs of the majority of members we could only accede to their request.

Do we want to return to former days and use the resolutions process as the means to discuss issues, identify, prioritise and direct the work of the staff, Board of Directors and National Policy and Development Council? Then we, as members, must take the lion’s share of responsibility. To ensure that resolutions presented reflect the needs expressed by all people who are blind, we must be committed to attending Branch meetings, keeping in touch with our peers through all the means available to us and putting ourselves forward as members of the networks developed through BCA. While personal issues will often be the catalysts in developing the direction and policy of our National organisation, they must be viewed, processed and presented in the context of how they affect members as a whole.

I again agree with Amanda that resolutions, including those presented at the Convention, must be available in a format of people’s choice. Of course, it is up to members attending the convention to be responsible and to ask staff from the National Office to provide them with all necessary information.

Discussion of resolutions can be informative, at times amusing, and most of all the lifeblood of our unique society. Thank you, Amanda, for bringing this interesting subject out into the open so that we can all express a point of view.

Finally, I would like to congratulate the National Office staff and the convention organising committee for developing a program covering a wide range of important issues and attracting so many new and, dare I say it, youthful participants.

When we meet people in our travels, it can often serve to form strong links between people of countries which are geographically a long way from each other. Such international bridge building is not just the realm of older adults or the seasoned traveller.

I would like to congratulate BCA's Young Blind Citizens branch on the success of a recent venture in which I had a little involvement. During the World Blind Union General Assembly held in Melbourne in November 2000, some members of YBC were introduced to the delegates from Seychelles, a large group of islands off the east coast of Africa. Through this meeting, YBC members learned that there were very few resources for blind children in the Seychelles, including educational equipment. YBC resolved to help address this issue by raising enough money to purchase a Perkins Brailler to donate to the Seychelles school for blind children, known as the "School for the Exceptional Child". Part of their creative fund raising methods included holding a trivia night, which I hear was a lot of fun and very successful.

As I was travelling to the Seychelles, I contacted the YBC President and offered to take the Perkins over with me. I was taken up on my offer and so I had the privilege of presenting the Perkins to the school on behalf of the YBC branch.

The Seychelles Union of the Blind, a newly created advocacy group with mostly blind members, organised for there to be television, radio and press involvement during the presentation. The school was extremely appreciative of YBC's gesture. I hope that all BCA members are proud of and inspired by the actions of our younger membership.

Greetings from the team at Pulse Data Australia.

We have our head office at Baulkham Hills, in the north west of Sydney. Anthony Kirk & Ron Hathaway operate from here, while in Brisbane Les Wilcox is our Consultant & in Melbourne, Ramona Mandy is our BrailleNote Promotions Officer.

Our product range includes speech synthesisers and screen reading software, the SmartView range of video magnifiers, and the now famous BrailleNote & VoiceNote portable notetakers for the blind.

We recently brought you news about our 3 offices in the USA (trading as Pulse Data Inc., HumanWare & Accessability Inc.). Since then we have recruited Mike May - who may be well known to some members as the ex Manager of Arkenstone & more recently the Sendero Group.

The U.S. Department of Education National Institute for Disability Rehabilitation Research has awarded US$450,000 per year for five years for Wayfinding research and development to a team led by Sendero. The goal of this project is to create a GPS core platform around which other way-finding technologies will be tested and incorporated.

Sendero introduced the first commercially available accessible GPS product in March 2000 and has now teamed up with Pulse Data International and HumanWare to add GPS capabilities to the BrailleNote and VoiceNote PDA units.

Since the release of the first BrailleNote model in 2000, the BrailleNote family (incorporating the BrailleNote with Braille input keys, the BrailleNote with qwerty keyboard & the VoiceNote with either Braille or qwerty input) has received tremendous worldwide acclaim and recognition. These models truly meet the needs of people who are blind, so you can imagine how excited we are to be linked to this new technology & to have BrailleNote chosen as the vehicle to bring it into this industry.

The BrailleNote family represents a giant leap forward for personal notetakers, offering global accessibility and connectivity never before available. In the following paragraphs, Ramona elaborates on just some of the powerful features found in our note takers.

Who to Travel With?

Travel, in all its shapes and sizes, is part of many people’s lives. Vision impaired people are no exception. Some people travel interstate or overseas regularly on business. Some people travel across town on weekends to visit family or friends. Then there is the best travel, holiday making, near or far from home. There are a lot of things that can be done to maximise the ease and enjoyment of our travel. Finding the perfect partner for the trip is a good start.

An ideal travelling companion will:

Be reliable;

Have an excellent memory;

Have the ability to wake you up and get you to the bus or plane on time;

Keep track of your schedules and itineraries;

Carry your books and notes for you;

Assist you to jot down the phone number (or should that be email address) of that charming person you were just chatting up (I mean ‘to’), without cramping your style; and

Not fall asleep on your shoulder during long journeys.

The BrailleNote note takers from Pulse Data possess all these qualities. I recently travelled to France with mine and found it of enormous help. Not only was I able to retrieve flight and hotel information through the word processor, but I was able to jot down recommendations made to me about where to visit, where to eat and the like, as well as keep notes about my travels. Being able to quickly access the text of my French for Travellers Course pulled me out of some tricky situations.

One very exciting aspect of bringing my BrailleNote with me on tour, was that I could access my email from any telephone line and thus stay in touch with friends, make arrangements around my visits and accommodation etc., and keep up to date through accessing email discussion lists to which I subscribe.

The Book Reader in the BrailleNote means that carrying reading material for the long plane ride or for whiling away the hours in the country retreat, need no longer be cumbersome. Simply down load an electronic book or four from the internet, transfer it to the BrailleNote, and you can have hours of pleasurable reading - either spoken or in Braille, stored in a unit half the size of one Braille volume.

The planner lets you schedule appointments and set reminder alarms associated with those appointments. Therefore, you can also use it as an alarm clock.

Even creating a document in a Microsoft Word format for your sighted peers to read can be done sitting on the train into town. Weighing around 1 Kilo and having a battery life of 25-30 hours, the BrailleNote truly has advantages over a laptop computer when doing tasks on the move.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss further the marvellous capabilities of the BrailleNote products. You may know of others who could benefit from using a BrailleNote. I would be delighted to give you or them a demonstration of the units. I may be contacted on the following details:

Ramona Mandy

Tel: 03 9686 2601

Mob: 0404 834 924

Blind Citizens Australia regularly receives calls from members who are having problems producing identification to open bank accounts as they do not have enough identification to meet the 100 point scheme.

It can be difficult to satisfy the 100 points scheme without having a Drivers Licence, however it is certainly achievable if you know the point value of different types of ID that are available.

Listed below are the different types of identification and their point value which should help members trying to attain the 100 points. BCA also has an ID Card which is worth 25 points and is available to all blind and vision impaired members. The ID Card costs $20 and application forms are available from the National Office by calling 1800 033 660.

There is no one document that on its own will satisfy the 100 point scheme.

Name of signatory from:

• Birth Certificate

• Citizenship Certificate

• International travel documents such as a current passport (or an expired passport which has not been cancelled and was current within the preceding 2 years)

Name of signatory verified from the following, (but only where they contain a photograph or signature that can be matched to the signatory):

• An identification card for a Public Service employee

• An identification card issued by the Commonwealth or a State or Territory Government as evidence of the signatory’s entitlement to financial benefit

• An identification card issued by a tertiary educational institution

Name and Address of signatory verified from:

• A mortgage or other instrument of security held by another financial body

• Land Titles Office records

• A current employer, or an employer within last 2 years

• A rating Authority (eg: land rates)

Identification such as credit cards, Medicare card, Telstra/Optus account, council rates notice etc: are worth 25 points each, however, points scored from one particular source can only be counted once. For example: if a MasterCard and VisaCard are issued from the same bank they can only be counted once.

To keep up with all the news from the BCA Women's Branch, check the bca-l and vip-l email lists, and listen for regular updates on your SoundAbout audio magazine.

"Touching the World"

Friday 12 - Monday 15 July 2002

DeafBlind Association (NSW)

PO Box 1295,

STRATHFIELD NSW 2135

Fax (02) 9334 3200

Cost:

People who are deafblind and support persons $150

Professionals $250

Other interested people $200

Registration forms will be forwarded on request. A late fee of $30 will be added to all registrations received after 30th March 2002.

Members of Blind Citizens Australia and generous members of the public have, for many years, partly funded the work of BCA through donations and lotteries. In recent times a number of friends and Members have also shown their support by leaving a bequest or legacy from their estate in a Will.

This kind of support is vital for our ongoing work and we encourage all Members and friends to ensure that BCA will be here to work for blind and vision impaired Australians in the future. BCA's advocacy to ensure that services and facilities do not discriminate against our Members and other blind people has proved to be of enormous benefit to all blind Australians and we need to make sure that our work continues.

You can help by making a bequest in your Will. Please include Blind Citizens Australia in your Will by using the following wording:

"I give to Blind Citizens Australia the sum of (include sum both in words and figures) free from all duties or other taxes, whether State or Federal."

Blind Citizens News accepts material in the following categories:

• Information about new services, facilities or events of wide interest among blind and vision impaired people is accepted for inclusion within the news content.

• Announcements, for sale notices and other advertisements from individuals and small non-profit organisations may be included in a "Notice Board" section, provided that they do not exceed 25 words and are targeted to a national readership. A charge of $20 will apply for each notice.

• Advertising on behalf of government, commercial or community organisations that is considered to be relevant to the general readership will be included under the heading "Advertisements". Advertisers must provide a copy suitable for inclusion in all formats of the publication and the following rates will apply

Full page (320 words large print) $375

Half page (150 words large print) $200

Quarter page (70 words large print) $105

For greatest impact, why not consider sponsorship of an entire issue of Blind Citizens News? For $800 you will obtain:

• a credit of up to 25 words on the front cover;

• 2 print pages for the sponsor’s message (equivalent space in other formats).

Blind Citizens News is published four times a year and is now read by more than 3000 people with a direct interest or involvement in the services and facilities available to Australia’s blind and vision impaired population. We circulate 800 large print, 1000 audio, 200 Braille and 50 electronic (computer disk and email) copies to members, libraries, service agencies, government departments and equipment suppliers throughout Australia. Blind Citizens News also appears in full on the internet website of Blind Citizens Australia.

For the latest information from Blind Citizens Australia tune in to Horizons on your RPH station, on a Community Station near you, or over the Internet. Horizons is broadcast regularly on RPH stations. It is also becoming available on Community Stations, but you may need to contact your local station to ask it to receive Horizons over the Community Radio Satellite.

Canberra

1RPH 1125 kHz

11.15 am Tuesday; repeated 8.00 pm Tuesday and 9.30am Saturday

Sydney

2RPH 1224 kHz

3.00 pm Wednesday; repeated 8.15 pm Saturday

Melbourne

3RPH 1179 kHz

8.30 pm Wednesday; repeated 6.30 pm Sunday

Brisbane

4RPH 1296 kHz

6.05 pm Monday; repeated 7.00 am Friday

Adelaide

5RPH 1197 kHz

9.15 pm Wednesday, repeated 6.00 pm Friday

Perth

6RPH 990 kHz

10.30 am Friday;

repeated 9.45 pm Saturday

Hobart

7RPH 864 kHz

1.30pm Friday; repeated 5.15pm Saturday

Mildura

3MPH 107.5 MHz

8.30 pm Wednesday, repeated 6.30 pm Sunday

Bendigo

3BPH 88.7 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday; repeated 6.30pm Sunday

Shepparton

3SPH 100.1 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday; repeated 6.30pm Sunday

Albury-Wodonga

101.7 Mhz (FM)

8.30pm Wednesday; repeated 6.30pm Sunday