Blog Post; January 2022

Communities of Practice Meeting – COMS

If becoming a Certified O&M Specialist (COMS) is one of your 2022 goals, you can listen to the full recording of the OMAA Community of Practice meeting about COMS and the certification process, held in November 2021. Thanks to all who shared their knowledge!

 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

Upcoming Conferences and CPD opportunities:

• International O&M Online Symposium: 26-28 January, 2022. Read more at the IOMOS website.
• Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities virtual conference: 16-17 May 2022. The theme for the conference is ‘Inclusion and Access to Information in Our Changing World’. Read more about the conference here.
• 11th National Deafblind Conference, 30 June – 1 July 2022. This is the first national Australian deafblind conference in six years!  For more information, click here.

If you’re looking for other CPD opportunities, remember to check the OMAA website for suggestions.

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 regularly.

 

Webinars

In case you missed the Save Sight Institute’s 9th Annual Community Information Event  in 2021, you can now check out the recordings on the Save Sight YouTube channel. The event featured some wonderful presentations, including the keynote speech by ABC Disability Affairs Reporter Nas Campanella, a webinar by three returning Paralympians from Tokyo 2020, as well as sessions ranging from Braille music to technology and education.  

 

Research

There are currently two Australian-based research studies aimed at helping Australian children who have blindness or low vision prepare for future employment, one seeking students aged 5-12 years old and their parents, and another seeking students aged 15-20 years old and their parents.

If you would like to learn more about these studies, or know someone interested in participating, please contact:

• Ms Natalie Kaine, Student Researcher and PhD Candidate, University of Sydney nkai0726@uni.sydney.edu.au
• Dr Anne Honey, Chief Investigator, University of Sydney anne.honey@sydney.edu.au

 

Access and Technology news

• GoodMaps Outdoors is a fully accessible turn-by-turn GPS app for iPhone. It has all the outdoor navigation features you expect plus unique offerings you cannot get anywhere else. Read GoodMaps Outdoors’ AppleVis App Directory entry for more information.
• Read about the accessibility features built into Apple Watch. 
• Seeing AI app update (Version 4.2): In exciting news, the Currency channel can now finally recognise Australian dollars and New Zealand dollars!

 

Other news

• The Blind Australian of the Year award was recently announced. Nominees included Nas Campanella and Arkan Yousef. The 2022 winner was Dr Paul Harpur, a leading international and comparative disability rights legal academic.  Find out more at the Blind Australian of the Year website.
• Blind Citizens Australia (BCA) CEO Emma Bennison has resigned and will finish up in the role in January 2022.  Read on to learn more about Emma’s many achievements as CEO of BCA.
• Two teenage siblings with Lebers Congenital Amaurosis have had their vision loss halted and their eyesight improved, after revolutionary therapy was performed.
• New research has found cutting wait times for cataract surgery to three months could significantly reduce the number of avoidable falls.
• The latest update on the Roadmap to Close the Gap for Vision highlights that outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have improved significantly, but shortfalls and equity gaps remain.
• Very concerning rates of youth-onset type 2 diabetes reported in northern Australia.
• An interesting article outlining how a ‘visual prosthesis’ implanted directly into the brain has allowed a blind woman to perceive shapes and letters.

 

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