News Archive

2010

Committees have been formed to research the viability of an Information Centre run by Aid For the Blind.  The proposed centre would have resources to assist with information on all aspects of a Vision Impaired persons life.  Education, employment assistance, accommodation and technology are some of the areas information is in demand by the Vision Impaired community. A tentative date of September this year is suggested to begin operation if the committee finds the project is viable.

2009

November - Six New Units ready for the Vision Impaired
Tim Nicholls, Member for Clayfield & Opposition Treasurer will officially open the new units on Tuesday November 17, 3pm.

       

March 2009-Construction of six new units at Wilkins Street Fairfield is well underway, expected completion in June.

2008 October

2008 September
Centre to help vision impaired (as published in City South News 25 Sept 2008)

Plans for a special education centre for vision impaired children were put on paper last week. Aid For the Blind spread the word about its ambitious project by hosting a meeting with representatives from state and university education, technology and government, both federal and state.
Aid For the Blind Vice President Mike Parr said the aim of Vision Impaired Persons Education Resource (VIPER) was to allow children to reach their full potential.
He said the centre of excellence would be for children from early education to 18, who would attend the centre one day a week.
The estimated cost to establish VIPER was $1million and an annual cost of $650,000.
Aid For the Blind research has shown there is currently little hope of employment for school graduates.
Guest speaker Tim Connell, CEO of Quantum Technology, told the meeting about 62% of adults who were blind and vision impaired were unemployed. "Of those that are employed about 75% use Braille and technology as part of their jobs." Quantum technology manufactures modern Braille equipment and Mr Connell said there was a need for innovation and investment in 21st century devices.
Education Queensland vision impairment advisor Chris Gilbert said of the 1200 vision impaired pupils in SEQ, only 50 use Braille.
Mr Parr said Aid For the Blind's education committee would fine tune the VIPER ideas before submitting them to Premier Anna Bligh's office and lobbying government.

Education Project

Although the past focus of Aid For the Blind has been predominantly on supporting adults, particularly in relation to their accommodation needs, we recognise that enabling people who have a vision impairment to fulfill their potential requires concerted efforts and appropriate support from many angles, from a very young age.

With this in mind, Aid For the Blind is developing a new program to be known as VIPER (Vision ImPaired Education Resource). The VIPER concept recognises that for most V.I. children the combined development of Braille and computer skills from a very young age is critical.

Aid For the Blind believes that access to learning opportunities to develop optimal literacy skills is a basic right for any young child. For V.I. children, fulfilling this right is dependent upon the availability of educational support and technology, including access to technology within homes, schools, tertiary institutions, workplaces, libraries etc. These are the types of issues that the VIPER program is seeking to contribute to.

2008 February

• Aid For the Blind is planning to construct six new units on the adjacent block of land at 57 Wilkins Street West, Fairfield. The house on street frontage is heritage listed and we are enthusiastically engaged in maintaining this heritage and painting and refurbishing the interior of the house. It will be available for tenancy also.
  At the rear of the house will be the new construction and, as we have a waiting list this accommodation is urgently needed. We hope to be able to offer a place where vision impaired and totally blind persons can gain their independence for living alone, maybe continue their studies with the help of a new computer studio we would like to install, and just have a very nice place to live.
  
  The Board has commenced a fund raising effort to raise the money for the construction, a target of $1,000,000. We will prepare and submit submissions to suitable organisations, engage the local newspaper for publicity and use the internet free charity sites for both promotion and donations, and work through contacts and members to be better known in the community.

2007 February

• Accommodation extension proposal
• In order to establish a website for community organisation 'Aid for the Blind', Griffith University undertook consultation and research to determine the needs of the organisation as well as the needs of their clients.

  Through various activities including workshops, seminars, interviews and research, the collective understanding of web accessibility issues was improved, assisting in the development of a website suitable for vision impaired and blind clients as well as the general public.

  While the internet is everywhere, a website can be almost static in terms of promoting organisational presence or identity, and associated marketing activities can supplement the website. In a collaborative project with Queensland College of Arts, second and third year Design students were invited to create a new logo and a new name for Aid for the Blind. A competition was held and the winning entries from each category were combined to create a new identity and brand:  Sixth Sense - Independence for the Blind.

  Currently a transitional phase is underway which will see the introduction of the new name and logo, with opportunity for public feedback in the online discussion groups. For enquiries please contact us.

• New Research to help blind and vision impaired.

  A new Griffith University research project aims to develop better education mechanisms for blind and vision impaired people.

  Find out more about this research at Griffith News (new window).

2006 December

• Launch of the Aid for the Blind website