Building Positive Impact Together
Every dollar you raise helps achieve a positive impact for people living with blindness and low vision to live their lives with the independence they seek. That in turn promotes real social inclusion.
Emotional support and groups for social inclusion
Occupational therapists for independence
Mobility specialists to staf safe and get around
Orthoptists to asses functional vision and make recomendations
Education and employment support to achieve aspirations
Aids and equipment from our shop to improve daily living
Technology and training to stay connected
Early intervention, children's and adolescent's specialised services
Seeing Eye Dogs for independence
Audio books and library for leisure and learning
Helpful information and advice for clients and families
My Aged Care and NDIS experts to maximise funding
The Year in Numbers
25,580
People who are blind or have low vision were supported
190,139
Hours of recreation support was provided
22,398
Hours of orientation and mobility support was provided
12,176
people accessed library services who are blind or have low vision
76,719
Print pages were converted into accessible formats
693,010
Books, magazines, newspapers and podcasts were circulated
3,397
Audio hours were produced from 70,000 pages of printed materials
135
Live performances were audio described
In 2017-18 you and thousands of like-minded fundraisers helped make this possible.
We couldn’t support as many people as we do without your most generous support. So many people have been helped in so many ways.
Highlights from 2017-18
Making a match for Daniel
Travelling and shopping independently used to be major task for Daniel Keogh, until he was matched with his first Seeing Eye Dog.
"I travel interstate for work. Let me tell you, there is no feeling like not being restricted to your hotel room at night. With an Seeing Eye Dog and a GPS, you can go anywhere, even if you've never been there before," Daniel said.
Together with Seeing Eye Dog Varden, Daniel has been able to navigate new places, including ones he used to avoid, like shopping centres.
"Shopping centres were a big no from me. I know people who navigate through them every day with a cane, but it just wasn't for me.
"It's the daily things like shopping that you don't think about or that you take for granted that I have found to be much easier with Varden."
Daniel Keogh and Seeing Eye Dog Varden
Setting the Hardmans up for success
Ocular albinism might affect Jack (10) and his twin brothers Noah and Thomas (8), but that's not stopping any of them from achieving education goals.
When Jack was diagnosed at eight weeks of age, the news shocked Dave and Sonya but there were two main things that helped them to move past the confusion about what ocular albinism would mean for the three boys - connecting with a support network of parents of children with ocular albinism and being directed to Vision Australia.
"The support from Vision Australia has been everything, things like speech therapy and occupational therapy have made a huge difference. Even just the advice about what the boys would be able to do has made a huge difference."
Currently, all three boys are in primary school and are receiving support from Vision Australia around assistive technology to support their learning, which the family is thankful for.
"At school, theu can't see the blackboard and they have problems reading text unless it's really magnified and obviously that's a big thing when it comes to education," Sonya said.
"Things like magnifiers and other technology have made a big difference for the boys!"
Grant + Robert = Employment
Since late 2017 Grant Uther has worked at Australia Post in a customer service role following a successful career in computer maintenance.
Grant Uthe using ZoomText at his workstation at Australia Post.
"I came to Vision Australia looking for some assistance around what adaptive technology was available to support me but I decided I actually wanted a bit of achange and to learn some new skills," Grant said. Vision Australia employment consultant Robert Raiteri worked with Grant to identify jobs that suited his skills and interests, supported him to prepare a resume, and conducted practice interviews.
While he's now settle at Australia Post, big hurdle was finding an employer who was ready to give Grant an opportunity.
"Most employers generally want to help, but sometimes they can't understand how someone who is blink might be able to complete a job," said Robert.
"We work to educate employers and co-workers about including people who are blink or have low vision and carry out workplace assessments to identify equipment that clients may require."
Together, Vision Australia and Australia Post have provided Grant with an adapted workstation with a monitor arm and screen magnification software to allow him to perform his daily tasks like any other employee.
Grant's supervisor at Australia Post, Shakira said Grant slipped easily into the team.
"Everything has been great, Grant's integrated like anyone else. It's been a really good experience and something different for me as well," Shakira said.
"There's nothing his low vision has stopped him completing in his role here."
When vision loss starts to impact daily life, it’s time to call Vision Australia. We are vision loss experts and work with people of all ages to maximise their remaining vision. With your support we help people achieve independence, stay safe and increase their ability to participate in everyday life.
