This Newsletter Comes to You from the Hand Over Hand Club. the Club Is a Selfdetermining
CFN: 15925
OCTOBER 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:
- HOH VISIT TO HYDE PARK BARRACKS - 30th September
- HOH DAY OUTING TO HYDE PARK BARRACKS MUSEUM AND BAKEHOUSE RESTAURANT IN SYDNEY- Saturday 30th September 2017, Leonie Hely
- JANNE’S CORNER
- OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS
- VOLUNTEER AND SUPPORT WORKER TRAINING – Steve Ripley and Janne Bidenko - 11th November 2017 - 10am-4pm
- YOUR NDIS PLAN
- NDIS - PRINTING YOUR NDIS PLAN IN ALTERNATE ACCESSIBLE FORMATS
- SELF ADVOCACY VISITS CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
- FOR SALE – Irene McMinn
- ABLE AUSTRALIA - RECREATION PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 2018
- MY JOURNEY – Lisa Chen
- THANK YOU JANETTA - Tony Hirst
- 27-29 OCTOBER HAND-OVER-HAND OUTING – Janetta Simpson
HOH VISIT TO HYDE PARK BARRACKS - 30th September
We had a successful visit on our September HOH Outing to the Hyde Park Barracks Museum which is a brick building and compound designed by convict architect Francis Greenway between 1818 and 1819; originally built at the head of Macquarie Street to house convict men and boys. It is situated opposite the Northern corner of Hyde Park in Macquarie St.
Participants enjoyed all the tactile exhibits where they could put on convict clothes, have leg irons on, be whipped (with soft cord) on the whipping frame, feel what had been eaten by convicts, feel miniature replicas of the barracks, and also of convict quarters etc. Some inspected the actual quarters with their very small beds and hammocks, which would have been most uncomfortable.
Those participating were Brett, Colin, Donald, Felicity, Antionette, Gaie, Branko, Ian, Mick, Irene, Ada, Joe, Daisy, Leanne, Lucy, Leonie, Andrew, Lisa, Young Joo, Wayne, Kamal, Gail, Janne, Sharon Dennis (new participant) and Guide dog Tulip, also Leo & Matthew Zhou, our young volunteers who were on school holidays so came along to help.
HOH DAY OUTING TO HYDE PARK BARRACKS MUSEUM AND BAKEHOUSE RESTAURANT IN SYDNEY- Saturday 30th September 2017, Leonie Hely.
Really enjoyed explore to see those building was 1818 and 3 level, lot of fun to dress up clothes, lot of display in ground floor, 2nd floor for all women rooms with beds was very thin mattress, pillow and blanket but not really very conformable hurt my back OUCH (LOL) and 3rd floor for all men rooms, OMG lot of bananas (hammocks) swing with rope each side stand wood poles without pillow and blanket, when hop on it but really very difficult to get off very hard grrr (LOL).
We all had really joyful lot of fun afterward, went to opposite BakeHouse Restaurant for lunch nice different foods so delicious.:-
JANNE’S CORNER
Well we are into October and I hope all the participants for camp at the end of the month are getting excited! We are looking forward to some great activities being put on by Sport & Rec, plus more, that Janetta has organised as well.
The month has flown past and we have received a number of applications for the position of DBA(NSW) ILC Coordinator, so we will be starting interviews asap, and 2 weeks ago Steve Ripley started employment with us 1 day per week. DBA is moving ahead, and I hope that this is the beginning of bigger things for DBA and better support and interaction for all Deafblind people.
September started out quite slowly, on the 5th I accompanied Irene McMinn to a Transport meeting about the planned Cherrybrook Train Station, this will be a big step forward to transport in her area. On the 11th the Self-Advocacy Group, of Carleeta, Irene and Mark, visited the Australian Catholic University where their talk to education students was very well received and there has been a request to follow this up with other students next year.
On 13th September we held our Advocacy Meeting, which also doubled as an ILC Focus meeting. Participants filled in surveys of what they want for their future and ideas of how this can be achieved. Discussion followed. Following a cataract operation on 18th I was grounded for most of that week but was able to be back in the office for a combined ILC Focus meeting, on Friday 22nd, with David Murray from Deafblind Australia, the National organisation had been given some ILC money by AFDO (Aust. Fed of Disability Organisations) to visit all states in Australia, and NSW as the only state with Deafblind ILC funding, this combined endeavour was the way to start this course of action.
The following Monday, 25th was a meeting at Deaf Society of the Deafblind “Lets Connect” members here in NSW, this is an Australia wide connection of Deafblind representatives to discuss issues affecting Deafblind people. There was to have been a presentation given by Heather Lawson from Melbourne, but unfortunately because of Airport Tower problems she did not arrive in Sydney until early evening, so this talk had to be postponed till next meeting. However, Heather was able to join a small group of the participants for dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant, and at least catch up with some.
Wednesday 27th was a long day, covering much information from the Transport Department and lots of input about deafblindness from Irene and me. They do appear to be listening to people with disability and hopefully that listening will transfer into better travel conditions for all.
The month ended up with our Hand-over-Hand outing to Hyde Park Barracks on the 30th. Everyone appeared to enjoy the tactile aspect of exhibits, some donning convict clothes, some placed in leg irons and others ‘whipped’ on the whipping frame. All in very good fun.
OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS
This is a big month for our birthdayites, I hope everyone will enjoy their birthdays and do something they enjoy. Our camp comes immediately after a group of birthdays so hopefully we can still keep celebrating then.
October 4 Monique Potter
14 Michael Plowman
15 Hannen Abdulla
11 Tony Zhou
17 Eileen Westwood
17 Yvonne Marot
22 Gaie Barrett
22 Nell Bennett
24 Felicity Douglas
28 Trish Wetton
31 Wayne Bushell
VOLUNTEER AND SUPPORT WORKER TRAINING – Steve Ripley and Janne Bidenko - 11th November 2017 - 10am-4pm
Deafblind Association (NSW) will be holding our next Volunteer Training on 11th November, we would like to include Support Workers in this as we will be concentrating on all aspects of deafblindness including those that are different from deafness. So please come along and enjoy the company and information. We will have floor interpreters.
This is a free of cost training, with lunch and morning and afternoon teas provided. The venue is not yet decided but will be either at North Strathfield or Enfield.
Please email Janne at or phone/sms on 0432 570 210 to book, we will need numbers for catering, as well as we would like to answer any questions you may have.
P.S. Some people may have been advised that the training would take place on 14th October, but we have had to cancel this so please be advised of the change.
YOUR NDIS PLAN
Some general information that may be of relevance to you to think about and discuss with your Planner.
1. Because of the complexity of the planning for people who are DeafBlind and because of the communication requirements, people who are DeafBlind can request that a Planner be appointed to conduct the planning with you. If you require an interpreter to be present, ask the Planner to ensure this requirement is raised as an Alert for all NDIS interactions.
2. If a DeafBlind participant uses Tactile signing, explain that tactile interpreters must be changed every 15 minutes in formal interpreting situations, as set down by the WH&S standard from NAATI and ASLIAA. Therefore funding needs to be higher for this interpreting requirement.
3. If you use normal interpreting or Visual Frame interpreting supports, make sure your Planner is aware that, if the appointment is going to be longer than 1 hour, either 2 interpreters are appointed or the sole interpreter has a break every 50 minutes. Also ensure they are aware that the first 2 hours have to be paid for with every separate appointment that you book, using your Plan, even if the actual appointment is for less than 2 hours.
4. When you meet with your Planner, ask them to verify if the information regarding your disability has been entered correctly – the Primary disability should indicate that the Primary disability is DeafBlindness. If the Primary disability says Deafness or Vision Impairment only and the Secondary Disability indicates either Deafness or Blindness, ask them to correct this so the Primary disability is DeafBlindness. Making sure this is correct will ensure the disability is accurate and helps ensure the correct level of funding in the plan build.
5. Funds for interpreting at private Medical appointments and for basic general interpreting requirements are included in your plan when it is built. At your planning meeting, let your planner know if you have any chronic illnesses or issues that requires you to use an interpreter more frequently, or if you have a course or activity where you require the presence of an interpreter. Discuss this with your Planner.
Be aware that:
* all Government department interpreters (for Local, State and Federal issues) are to be booked and paid for by the department concerned.
* All interpreting requirements relating to any Police, Court and Criminal Justice System matter is covered and paid for by the Police or Courts involved.
* All education interpreting requirements are to be booked and paid for by the Education department, or TAFE or the university concerned or by the private college concerned.
* Any interaction with a business, where you have made prior arrangements to meet and where an interpreter would be reasonably required, it is the responsibility of that business to provide the interpreter under the Disability Discrimination Act.
6. If a Deafblind participant requires support workers who also know how to sign, raise this with your Planner as a specialized requirement to take into consideration when calculating funding supports.
7. You may be asked questions that relate to your ability or difficulty in performing tasks, so address them correctly.
8. You may be asked a question – do you have difficulty in accessing work or school – this should be responded with some thought. This talks about your ability/difficulty in accessing the general community, not just the deaf or deafblind community.
9. You may also be asked – do you have difficulty making friends or socializing with others – this refers to socializing with the general community, not just the deaf or deafblind community.Your response should reflect the difficulty you have in accessing the general community.
10. You may like to raise the question with your Planner about having Support Co-ordination in your plan. This is a higher level of Support and may be relevant for inclusion based on the difficulty of communication, difficulty in understanding how to use your plan, a need for someone to attend to organizing the support staff for you and also to assist you in monitoring your experiences with your support staff.
11. Ensure the Planner and NDIS has the right way to contact you in the system – is it by email, SMS, large print mail, Grade 1 or 2 Braille and so on.
12. And finally, when you receive your NDIS plan, check it for errors and check the amount of funding you have been given. If you are not happy with your plan and you feel it has not fully considered your needs, you have the right to request a Review of the plan. When NDIS conduct a Plan Review, they will look at all the supports included and may vary those supports up or down. You can submit this request verbally, in writing, by email. Make sure you outline the reasons why you are not happy with the plan and include the relevant facts. – this makes it easier for the Planner who is Reviewing your plan to understand what your issue is.
NDIS - PRINTING YOUR NDIS PLAN IN ALTERNATE ACCESSIBLE FORMATS
INTRODUCTION:
This fact sheet will help you obtain a copy of your NDIS plan in an alternate accessible format. Alternate Accessible Formats The NDIA is seeking to improve the way we engage with you and provide information to you. We have listened to your feedback and have set up a process with Vision Australia to print your NDIS plan in alternate accessible formats when requested by you.