Some of Our Parts

Dear friends,

We are so proud to share with you that I CAN Network has turned one year old! We have YOU to thank for all your support helping us spread the ‘I CAN’ attitude and promote the fruits of AWEtism.

In a little over a fortnight we run our first-ever I CAN Teens Camp (17-19 October, Doxa Youth Camp, Malmsbury) in partnership with Doxa Youth Foundation and UN Youth Australia. This camp is all about connecting 15-18-year-olds with Asperger’s or high-functioning Autism and giving them opportunities to have fun, make new friends and build their social confidence.

The camp will be run by a team of mentors from I CAN Network who are either young adults on the Autism Spectrum or who work with/ are family to a teenager on the Spectrum. All mentors have Working With Children Checks, have been trained in duty of care and several have been trained in first aid. We will have a registered psychologist available for all participants during the entire camp.

This camp is the perfect opportunity for any Aspie or high-functioning teens out there who want to share their interests, talents and quirks from being on the Autism Spectrum and also empower themselves with the ‘I CAN’ attitude.

Here’s a snapshot of what teenagers will get up to on the I CAN Camp (flyer also attached):

• Games, fun and making new friends
• Team building activities
• Outdoor activities
• Expressing ‘I CAN’ workshop – show what an ‘I CAN’ belief means to you through writing, drawing, music, performance and construction
• ‘Dress to Obsess’ – dress up on Saturday night in your favourite obsession
• ‘I CAN’ talks from speakers including Chris Varney (I CAN Founder) and Tim Chan (19-year-old I CAN Advocate)

This camp will be an awesome experience for Aspie or high-functioning teens. We only have 10 spots left so get in quick! We cannot take any more registrations after Friday 10 October.

We have a simple two-step process to register:

1. Register your interest here and one of our Camp Organisers will give you a call

2. After the call, you can send in the attached registration form and pay the $100 camp fee via http://www.trybooking.com/99628. Note the password is TeensCamp (no space between ‘Teens’ and ‘Camp’)

Your booking will be confirmed once you have returned the registration form electronically and provided a copy of the receipt of payment. Please retain a hard copy of the registration form for the participant to bring to the camp.

For more detail on what’s happening with the Teens Camp, check out this video made by Penny (All Round I CAN Guru) and see the attached info sheet. If you’ve got any queries, please contact Jackie Chanzi (Camp Organiser) on 0403-067-533.

To give you some inspiration, see our #AWEtismRethink video made at our I CAN Camp in April. This is what participant Daniel Giles had to say:

‘The I Can Camp gave people on the Autism Spectrum an opportunity to learn about their strengths and realise that Autism can be used as a strength. The camp also enabled people on the Autism Spectrum to enable others to say ‘I Can’ to life’s opportunities, all from the horse’s mouth!’

Thanks for your support!

I CAN’s Core Enabler’s

Hope every one is enjoying their holiday break! It’s that time of the week for disability related news from around the world.

• Any American Horror Show fans out there? What do you think about the title of this season?
• October is Silent Morning Tea month!
• Young people in Canberra are skilling up in hospitality thanks to a new program!
• Kanye’s disability problem
• A “very accessible and sweet story about disability and coming out“
• Art on the outside
• FRINGE FESTIVAL – QUIPPINGS!

It’s break time! Hope you have some fun/relaxing plans for your mid semester break!

• Access all areas at the Melbourne Fringe Festival
• The annual recipients of the Sync Leadership Training have been announced.
• Disability simulation and “disability for a day”
• Shaky hands and spoons don’t always go so well… until now!
• Have you seen The Dreamhouse? It’s an ABC iView series on independent living.

Vision Australia are looking for people who are passionate about education to participate in a telephone-based focus group in October.

Vision Australia are seeking feedback and suggestions from our community to help finalise Vision Australia’s policy on education for people who are blind or have low vision. We want to hear from educators, parents, people who are studying, people who support students, and people with an interest in access to education.

Please see below for the teleconference dates and times:

• Monday 27 October from 2.00pm – 3.15pm
• Tuesday 28 October from 10.00am – 11.15am
• Tuesday 28 October from 7.00pm – 8.15pm

For more information, see the Vision Australia website.

RSVP’s are essential. Please email Cassandra Strakosch on ClientConsultation@visionaustralia.org or call 1300 84 74 66 by Monday 20 October, 2014.

The Vision Australia Further Education Bursary 2015 is now open for Applications. In 2015, Vision Australia will award Further Education Bursaries to a select number of students who are blind or have low vision. These Bursaries provide assistive technology, laptops, magnification, audio or Braille devices tailored to the individual student’s needs.

Eligibility Criteria

Students of any age can apply for a Vision Australia Further Education Bursary.

Applicants must:

• Be or become, a client of Vision Australia
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• Be living or moving to Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study at an institution in Victoria, ACT, NSW, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study in at least Certificate IV or higher accredited courses including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (not a Foundation or Enabling course) at the start of the year or be already enrolled in such a course (preference may be given to those in the early stages of a course).

Each year a Victorian Bursary recipient selected by our committee to have best met these criteria will also receive the Fairhall Memorial Scholarship of $150.

The closing date for applicants is 31 October 2014.

See the Vision Australia website for more.

It’s that Friday feeling again! Here are some disability-related news links to take you into the weekend;

• Have you been keeping an eye on the Scottish Referendum? The Guardian provides an insight on how people with disabilities will be voting today.
• Seen any films made by people with disabilities lately? Here’s a list from Superfest in San Francisco.
• Meet Simon Minty from the Abnormally Funny People.
• Check out the Disability Visibility Project aimed at recording disability history.
• Stella Young on Melbourne’s coffee, cobblestones and more.
• A tale of mental illness from the inside – Elyn Saks’s TEDx talk.
• Did you catch the 2014 National Disability Forum?
• What DON’T you say to a person with a disability?
• Oh hi, Miss Idaho!

Have you ever had a lecturer or tutor who went that extra mile to ensure you were accommodated for in class? The MSA Teaching Awards are now open, and include a new category for Inclusive Teaching.

Make your vote count here!

GOOD NEWS! There are now new access parking bays  in C2 at Clayton. Please note that  the signs are not up yet, but its very clear by the markings on the ground.

Also good to know – people who require access parking will not be booked for parking in yellow bays provided the disability permit is properly displayed. If you are having difficulties finding a close access car park contact Monash security.

Happy Friday every body! Looks like the sun is starting to come out for a fabulous and sun-shiny weekend.

• Two recent articles look at how technology is working to further enhance the mobility of visually impaired and partially sighted people.
• The dangers of “miracle” stories in the media.
• Accessible Tourism has to be Customer, not Compliance Focused
• How will you be celebrating the International Day of People with Disabilities?
• Speak your mind about mental health!
• Did you catch Insight’s episode on Disability and Jobs? You can watch it on SBS on Demand now!

Weekend time!

In this interesting clip, Scope media asks prominent people from the disability community what is the social model of disability, and why is it important to them.

You can watch their other video series on Scope’s YouTube channel, which include Ending the Awkward and Scope Stories.