Australian Association For Parents of Vision Impaired

AAPVI National - Contacts

AAPVI President - Gayle Skinner

Welcome, to parents and friends of those with vision impairments. I am the parent of an adventurous young woman – my eldest daughter – who is legally blind. Our journey has been interesting and educational as we guide and support her to become a skilled and capable citizen.

It has always been of great benefit to me to compare ideas and experiences with parents of children of similar ages to mine, even more crucial when those parents understand the issues of having a child with different needs from the norm.

I can’t underestimate the importance of a support group such as AAPVI.

I have been President of the Victorian parent group VAPVI from 2002 – 2006, and President of AAPVI since its inception in 2005. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you to benefit our children with vision impairments.

AAPVI Secretary: Pam Hyden

I am a single parent with two beautiful children.

Sam is 17 years old and was diagnosed with Retinablastoma at 17 months. Both eyes were enucleated by the time he was 27 months. Today he is a busy man who is doing Year 11. My other job is Student Support Coordinator at Bendigo Senior Secondary College in central Victoria.

There my role is supporting students with medically diagnosed disabilities to gain knowledge and skills as part of their educational process. Students with physical disabilities tend to do their VCE and go onto further studies. Students with Intellectual Disabilities tend to undertake the VCAL Program in order to achieve competency based skills in preparation for the workforce. I also teach VCE Foods.

I am involved in AAPVI because I do not want the isolation that I experienced to happen to other families. Technology allows us to communicate widely, and there is a wealth of information to be gleaned from those families who have gone before us.

I do not believe in ‘reinventing the wheel’, so encourage all families to join and support AAPVI and share our knowledge to support others.