Blog Post; September 2022

Supervisors required for University of NSW O&M Students

The Graduate Diploma of O&M program at UNSW needs additional supervisors to guide students through their practical placement.  For the remainder of 2022 and throughout 2023 UNSW are seeking supervisors across Australia.  Regardless of if you have supervised many O&M students before or never supervised a student, this experience can be an excellent development opportunity as well as being a great way to support our profession.  COMS O&M’s can also gain ACVREP CEU points.  O&M’s who work for an organisation (with organisational support) and those who work as independent O&M’s can supervise students.  If you are interested, please contact Matthew at matthew.g.walker@unsw.edu.au

 

Upcoming Conferences 

  • OMAA Symposium, 30 September 2022, 10am – 6pm (AEDT). OMAA is pleased to announce the program for the 2022 Online Symposium is now available!  Check out the speaker and presentation lineup here. The Symposium will be hosted by NextSense Institute and the event will be online using the Zoom platform. To register please visit the OMAA Symposium 2022 registration page on the NextSense website.
    • Aren’t available on 30 September? Digital Access tickets are now available to purchase for OMAA members and non-members. This ticket provides access to the presentation recordings 7-10 days after the live event, and the recordings will be available for viewing until 1 December 2022. Registrants of this ticket type will still be eligible to receive the 6 PD hours towards COMS re-certification with ACVREP.
  • SPEVI Online Conference, 18 – 20 January 2023. Further details including registration information can be located on the SPEVI website.
  • International Online O&M Symposium, 25-27 January 2023 (EST). Further details can be found on the IOMOS website.
  • 2023 International Guide Dog Federation Conference, 27-30 April 2023 , Fairmont Hotel, Vancouver, Canada. Registrations are now open to IGDF organisations for the IGDF Conference. Please visit IGDF 2023 Conference Registration for further information and to book. A special Early Bird discount rate is available for bookings made before 1st November 2022.

 

Conference Recordings

  • If you missed the recent CVI: Collaboration for Change Conference, you can register to access the recordings for USD $199, and 8 hours of CPD points. Register to access the recordings here.  For key takeaways from this conference, read here.

 

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

If you’re looking for CPD opportunities, remember to check the OMAA website for suggestions where you’ll find many great course and conference options listed for your convenience.

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.

 

Queensland COMS Testing Facility Open

The Queensland COMS testing facility is now open at Queensford College in Brisbane. The centre is available for ACVREP / Kryterion tests every Friday. Read more about COMS applications here.

 

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.

 

Research

  • Vision 2020 Australia has established a working group to investigate the current state of availability and accessibility of mental wellbeing resources and referral pathways for people living with vision loss and blindness in Australia. If you are interested in joining this group please email policy@vision2020australia.org.au
  • Monash University is conducting research on improving accessibility of human movement education such as Dance, Sports and Martial Arts for individuals who are blind or have low vision.  They wish to understand your expertise in human movement, how you convey such human movement education to students who are blind or have low vision, and any challenges you have encountered in your teaching journey. If interested, you are invited to respond to a brief survey.
    If you live in or visit Melbourne you will also be invited to a second stage of the research.
    If you are also interested in learning human movement and you are blind or have low vision, you can contribute to another survey.
  • Researchers in England have found the way in which a diagnosis of vision impairment is delivered (including words and tone used by clinicians) can have a lasting impact on how a diagnosis is experienced and how well the patient is able to come to terms with their vision impairment. The research also found that patients felt they were not provided with sufficient support systems at the time of diagnosis which often resulted in them feeling lost and unsupported.  Read more here.
  • An Australian-first study by The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital has revealed the most dangerous sports related to emergency eye trauma.

 

Technology

 

Podcasts

 

Other news

  • Blind Australian of the Year Award – Nominations for this year’s Blind Australian of the Year Award close on 25 September 2022. The award is designed to celebrate the achievements of Australians who are blind or have low vision. There is also an award for an “employer of choice”, celebrating a business or workplace which exemplifies accessibility and inclusion. Find out more about making a nomination here.
  • World Sight Day, 13 October 2022. Vision 2020 has put together a number of resources to support people to participate in the #LoveYourEyes campaign for World Sight Day. See the Vision 2020 website for more info.
  • WhiteStickFest, 15 October 2022.  WhiteStickFest is an online collaboration of blind and low vision music artists from across the globe, aiming to promote and celebrate White Cane Day. Read more about WhiteStickFest 2022 here. WhiteStickFest will broadcast on 15 October 2022, find out more at the WhiteStickFest Facebook page.
  • Watch this wonderful short film about a young boy with Usher Syndrome which was produced to raise awareness of conditions causing deafblindness. The film has been shortlisted for the Focus on Ability Film Festival.  To view all finalists in this category, visit the Focus on Ability website.
  • Australian Government funding has helped Vanuatu eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, making it the first Pacific island nation to do so, according to the World Health Organization. You can read more here.

 

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