Blog Post; September 2023

Graduate Diploma in O&M at UNSW

Know someone who may be interested in a career in O&M? Enrolments for the 2024 intake of the Graduate Diploma of Orientation and Mobility are now open. Please refer to the information on this flyer or read more at the UNSW website.  Admissions close 15 October 2023.

 

Notice of OMAA AGM 2023 – Wed 8th November

We, the OMAA Executive, are calling all members and stakeholders to invest in Orientation and Mobility to profile and work together to raise awareness and knowledge about our profession.  The OMAA Executive requests members to consider contacting the Committee Chairs or info@omaaustralasia.com to become involved in projects such as advocacy to NDIS; review of our website; FAQ sheet review and so on. OMAA IS its members.

I invite you to attend the Annual General Meeting to show solidarity for O&M:

  • Wednesday 8th November 2023
  • Western Australia: 10:00am – 11:00am AWST
  • Northern Territory: 11:30am – 12:30pm ACST
  • Queensland: 12:00pm – 1:00pm AEST
  • South Australia: 12:30pm – 1:30pm ACDT
  • NSW/ ACT/ Vic/ Tas: 1:00pm – 2:00pm AEDT
  • New Zealand: 3:00pm – 4:00pm NZDT

Event time zone converter

An AGM package of documents and Zoom invitation will be sent to all current members shortly.

Regards,

Kay Daly

OMAA President

 

Upcoming Conferences 

VISCON 2023, 19-20 October 2023, Macquarie University, Sydney.

Presented by NextSense Institute, this conference for vision education and service specialists will be held at their new location at Macquarie University. Read the conference program here. If you are unable to attend the conference, you can purchase a Digital Access ticket which will give you access to conference recordings. For more information and registration, visit the NextSense website.

 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Are you hosting or attending an upcoming CPD event? Would you like to be able to earn points towards ACVREP recertification at the same time? Click here to find out how you can register your event.

 

Job Vacancies

Have you looked at the Job Vacancies page on the OMAA website recently? You’ll find position vacancies listed for various agencies and locations across Australasia so remember to check it out.

 

Technology news

SoundScape returns! Thanks to the Scottish Tech Army, SoundScape has returned to the App Store in its original form.

Many of you will recall that Microsoft discontinued SoundScape and removed it from the App Store last year. However, they did make the code freely available for developers to use. Since then, we’ve seen some clones, but this one is identical. Simply search the App Store for SoundScape or tap this link from your iPhone.

Important: Anyone who downloaded the original SoundScape from Microsoft may still have it on their iPhone. Microsoft ended support for this app on 30 June, 2023. It will continue to work offline, but we do not recommend using this version. We suggest removing the original to avoid confusion.

If you’re interested in the background (and love a good nerdy AT podcast), check out this episode of the Double Tap podcast: Exclusive: SoundScape is Back (Double Tap podcast)

Thanks to Ben Moxey, Access and Technology Advisor at Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, for the above news item.

 

Research Invitation

Parents of children with low vision or blindness were recently invited to participate in a survey about their playground experience. The Accessible Playground Research Group is now extending their invitation to all practitioners who support children with low vision or blindness to have their say and share their experiences.  If you would like to participate in this important study, please use the following link to complete the survey: Enabling Accessible and Inclusive Playgrounds

 

Other News

  • Vision 2020 Australia has launched a new Mental Wellbeing Resources Guide which compiles services and supports that are available to people who are blind or have low vision. It includes a list of resources for both crisis and voluntary support, as well as resources from organisations associated with eye care service delivery, low vision rehabilitation and mainstream mental health services. You can access the Mental Wellbeing Resource Guide here.
  • Nominations are now open for the Blind Australian of the Year Awards which actively promote the contribution that people who live with low vision and blindness make to Australian society through the business, government, corporate, health, education and community sectors. Nominations close 1st October 2023. Click here for more information and to nominate.

 

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