AAPVI Victoria
Mary Hodson: Victorian representative of AAPVI.
 Hello, I am the Victorian representative of AAPVI and the mother of a 16 year old vision impaired son, Samuel as well as two daughters aged 19 and 15. Samuel has been partially sighted since birth due to a combination of factors. The most significant of these is nystagmus, a small but uncontrollable to and fro wobble of the eyes. This has caused most of his visual deficit.
I vividly remember the day, when Samuel was only 5 months old, that an Ophthalmologist indicated in a gentle but very sombre manner, that he believed Samuel had some significant problems that required more investigations. Michael, my husband and I were devastated. Combined with the sadness that we experienced was an overwhelming sense of isolation.
We were unaware that an agency such as RVIB (now Vision Australia), might have been able to provide education and support to both us and Samuel. Our boy was partially sighted (not blind!). We literally had no contact with any other family who had a vision impaired child. The Victorian Association of Parents for children with Vision Impairment (VAPVI) and AAPVI did not exist and despite the fact that we were obtaining various services for Samuel within the mainstream health system, there were simply no processes in place to ensure that we were informed of the role and services provided by government and other support services for the vision impaired.
It was only once Samuel commenced at the local government primary school, and received Education Department Visiting Teacher assistance, that we began to establish an understanding of and utilise services for the vision impaired. Over the years, Samuel has been fortunate enough to experience support from the wonderful staff working at various agencies. He has attended numerous Guide Dog Victoria (GDV) camps throughout school holidays that have taken him to the Grampians, Echuca and Sydney. The main reason we feel confident about his trips to Melbourne CBD is because GDV helped him to develop his orientation and mobility skills during several expeditions in and around the city. Samuel, from grade 4 till the end of year 10, regularly attended the Support Skill Program run twice a term by Vision Australia (the old RVIB), at their school in Burwood. This required him to miss his mainstream school for the day to join with other vision impaired students in an educative and structured program designed for their specific needs: drama, music, computer skills, library and communication skills, sport and art. Additionally, the staff at State-wide Vision Resource Centre (a branch of the Department of Education) have not only been invaluable, more recently, in providing him with alternate format material for school (audio, large print and Word documents for JAWS), but have always been hugely supportive of running education programs for students and parents alike. Through the contact that Samuel had with these agencies we were able to meet other parents in similar circumstances, and it was a relief to finally be able to network with other parents.
Based on our experience and that conveyed to us by others, however, I believe that many inequities exist in the services provided. Often the services are simply not available or poorly resourced, as is the case for example, for children in country areas. In addition, shortfalls in planning can also reflect a lack of standardised expectations of the fundamental goals our vision impaired children can be expected to aspire to and ultimately reach, throughout the many facets of their schooling and life education. Given this, how can we hope to provide our children with the best chance of reaching their potential?
In summing up, I have been a member VAPVI, the Victorian Association of Parents of the Vision Impaired, since it’s beginning in the late 1990’s, and AAPVI since its inception in 2005. I strongly believe that the future of AAPVI is bright. Its formation is an important step in facilitating communication between parents of the vision impaired in a way that has not been possible in the past. I passionately believe that we can be a source of information, support and inspiration for each other. Importantly through AAPVI, I also believe that we have the potential to be proactive in voicing what needs to transpire in order for the creation of a more complete, integrated and holistic service for our children. Their voices are not loud enough to be heard, whereas we as a group, can advocate on their behalf in aiming for a more comprehensive and equitable service. As an AAPVI member, our lives and those of our children shall be enriched and rewarded.
I look forward to meeting and sharing experience with AAPVI members as opportunities arise in the future. |
