Productivity Commission

There is a commission currently open that is looking into Productivity. the basic concept is to see about people with disabilities in the workplace and in positions of employment. Recently at the National Deafblind Conference it was estimated that approximately 43 billion is lost each year due to hearing impairment alone.

The Australian Deafblind Council is in the process of organising and refining a report for the productivity Commission. As President I will be attending one of the hearings that will be held in Sydney to present our case. I was also present at the inquiry into the Commonwealth, State, Territory Disability Agreement so I have a little experience.

In a recent press release the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) has expressed its support for this upcoming report.

Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope we can achieve something positive from this commission, not just for Deafblind people for the disability setor in general.

I need some Volunteers

As some of you may already know I am working on research as part of my degree at UNSW. The main aim of this research is to look at a portable way for Deafblind individuals to communicate in the general community. This will not be an easy project ut I am hoping to come out with a prototype at the end of things that will simply fit in your pocket and opena new world of communication for the Deafblind Community.

As part of this process I need to interview approximately 5 Deafblind individuals about what theyw ould like in such a device and questions to that extent.

If you would be interested in assisting by partaking in the survey then please contact me or leave a comment.

Date for the Diary

Every year one week is June is set aside as Deafblind Awareness Week. This particular week is recognised Internationally (although sometimes it varies between countries). A lot of Deafblind individuals use this week to celebrate Deafblindness but for advocates it is usually a tough time of trying to target people who require information about the disability. Community Awareness is still a very big issue within this sector.

This year Deafblind Awareness Week is 21st - 27th June. Put this weeka side in your diary folks and make sure you are ready to rumble for the "cause".

Updating the Deafblindness page

I have been doing a little work on updating the page titled "Deafblindness". I am hoping this will become something of a Wiki about Deafblindness. At this stage it is only a brief introduction but at least it's a start. If you have any comments or feel various questions are important o be answered then please email me and I can look at adding or modifying things on this page.
email me

Are We Employable?

There are a number of Deafblind individuals heading towards the employment sector. Some are nearly completed University degrees while others may have specialty expereince that provides them with unique talents suitable for various jobs. The question of employment raises eyebrows of expectations from the Deafblind community but it is often met with inredulity from the general public. I believe it should not come as any particular shock that Deafblind individuals would like to be part of the workforce and have something genuinely unique to offer the general public in their input.

I don't have a formal solution at this stage but I would like to offer Deafblind invidiauls a starting point for employment prospects and seeking work. They should give you an idea of your rights as someone with disabilities entering the employment sector.

The following are links to partinent pages on disability employment :
Centrelink Disability Emplyment Assistance
Auslan Factsheet - Planning for people who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Also worth looking into are awards offered to companies in regards to disability employment. A number of companies pride themselves in their equal opportunity employment programs and they may be worth contacting. Even if at first they do not seem of particular interest to your chosen work area. It is always important to build employment Networks of your own.

Looking on the Bright Side

I have been in contact with anumber of people regardin the issue of Mental Health expressed in my last post. As yet i have only had one response but it is a positive one.

Robert has kindly said that he is happy to counsel Deafblind individuals and has had some experience in this area. He is also an accredited interpreter therefore you can miss out on the usual requirement of accessing services via an interpreter and talk directly to him.

You can contact him via his website.

Alternatively you can contact any counselling service and as long as they are a qualified Psychologist you may have access to that service by utilising an interrpeter booked via the National Auslan Booking Service. Although these people may not specialise in Deafblind issues they should be able to help on a general level.

If you are not aware, under Medicare you are entitled to 10 visits a year with a Health Care Plan. Talk to your local General Practitioner for further details.

It's all a bit Depressing

Despite being very buoyed by the energy present at our recent National Deafblindness Conference there was one very striking peice of information that was quite depressing. That is the state of the Mental Health of people who are Deafblind.

A recent study has shown approximately 90% of people with Deafblindness suffer Depression. That is a much higher rate than in the general public and is quite an alarming figure.

To this end I will be attempting to contact some Psychological professionals and counselling agencies to look at the possibilities of enhancing their awareness of Deafblind issues and attempting to reach out to Deafblind individuals. It is such an isolating challenge in life that I feel services and support are often only being distributed to the few who can stand up for themselves or have the courage to step forward.

Deafness Sector Summit

The National Deafness Sector Summit was held on the 23rd and 24th April at the Grace Hotel, Darling Harbour, Sydney. I was invited to present on Deafblindness and attended the summit. I came away with mixed messages but in general I feel a positive outcome has been achieved.

The Hon. Shorten gave a keynote as did Deafness Forum ambassador John Howard. I couldn't help feeling that neither said much of particular interest to the Deafblind community. I did manage to meet with Bill Shorten briefly following his keynote and he expressed interest in attending our own conference (that never materialised).

I spent much of the first day at the workshop on Human Rights which I feel has offered and provided me with new ideas on how to present and promote our cause. Combined with my "Understand of Human Rights" course at University and involvement with the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities it offers a good foundation from which to work from.

On the second day I presented on Deafblindness making a number of what I felt were important points. Isolation, various incidences of Deafblindness, support needs and premature placement in aged homes were among the major issues to be raised. Although preparing a formal speech I ended up converting to an informal presentation style and invoked the audiences involvement. This has worked well and my speech was well received.

One particular point of interest was that of Aobriginal Australians and I will be endeavouring to make some connections in this area with the Aboriginal Disability Network. The other main thing I came away with was the newfound interest to work together to make solutions that suit not just the Deaf, but those with a Vision Impairment as well. I beleive this will become a very powerful alliance.

Welcome to the ADBC Blog

The Australian Deafblind Council (ADBC) in conjunction with Able Australia has just completed running the National Deafblind Conference in Melbourne from 27th - 30th April. During the conference there were many intriguing speeches and workshops. One in particular was presented about the Deafblind Link, a technology room for Deafblind people hosted in Victoria, Australia. In particular the comments about accessing and using current media to further struck me as interesting.

So I would like to welcome you all the Deafblind Australian. A blog about Deafblindness in Australia and an opportunity to provide a link between the committee of the ADBC and its members. A way of opening up doors and allowing for further input from community members and committee alike. Hopefully this medium will be accessible and offer more transparency of the actual Council and a direct route to the general public.

I beleive that transparency and allowing the members of the Deafblind sector more equal and accessible input into the running of an organisation that is supposed to represent them is important for the coming months. Deafblindness in Australia is moving forward and standing on the verge of some large leaps as opposed to the baby steps we have had to take in the past.

A brief introduction to ADBC
The Australian Deafblind council is a National committee that advocates for and on behalf of Deafblind Issues on a National scale. It is a voluntary organisation that comprises a variety of representatives including 3 Deafblind Individuals, a Professional, a Parent, Secretary and Public Officer. Generally we attempt to ensure a decent distribution of representation from each state and territory.

The ADBC works with State, National and International organisations

For more information about the Australian Deafblind COuncil and Deafblindness in general please see our website.