Some of Our Parts

The Disability Liaison Unit (DLU) offers the option of a Student Emergency Response Plan to assist students registered with the DLU with the safe management of their condition. The plan is designed to address the impacts of a student’s medical or mental health condition in an emergency situation where a response is required, and to ensure that appropriate contact is made with people listed on the plan.

Students who require emergency planning, or who would benefit from this plan are encouraged to download and print a copy of the Student Emergency Response Plan and ask their doctor or health professional to complete it on their behalf before returning it to us.

Please contact the DLU on 03 9905 5704 for more information.

Here’s this week’s round up of disability news from around the internet.

• Fashion photographer reframes disability
• A beautiful way to read comics with your hands
• Consider yourself a wordsmith? Arts Hub wants you!
• Confessions of an Epileptic Shopaholic
• It’s Festival Season in West Yorkshire!
• Some everyday enabling tips

Happy weekending!

Take care of yourselves during exams.

The Banyule City Council will be holding an Inclusive Arts Forum, next week on the 20th June from 10am-2pm.

Featured forums include:

• Marketing and promotion

• Industry mentor options

• Pathways and training

• Finance and administration

• Art law

• Presentations from local artists

• Hands-on workshops

To register contact Colleen Burke on 9457 9930 colleen.burke@banyule.vic.gov.au or Sherridan Bourne on 9457 9940 sherridan.bourne@banyule.vic.gov.au

The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission is conducting research into the experiences of people with disabilities in Victoria when they report crimes against the person. The project aims to:

• identify the nature and extent of crimes against people with disabilities in Victoria
• understand what barriers people with disabilities face when reporting crime and gaining redress
• work with Victoria Police and other authorities to break down these barriers and provide better services to people with disabilities.

They are keen to hear from people with any type of disability, including mental health disabilities. Carers, family members, social workers, service providers and police are also encouraged to participate. Find out more here.

Each Friday, we’ll be posting the disability news from around the world here on the Some of Our Parts blog.

Here’s a sample from this week’s news reel:

• Accessibility gets a new look in New York!
• Is this the end of Asperger’s?
  
• What is this ‘stimming’?
  
• Geelong ramps up for the NDIS.
• “I am still valuable. I can still shine and I will go on” – Samona Naomi Williams
  
• Just in case you can’t make it to Pennsylvania this weekend, check out what bodies can do here!
• How do you sign ‘one beer, please’?
• Check out Richard Bailey’s beautiful portraits at the Photographic Museum of Humanity.

Have a wonderful weekend, every one!

And good luck with exams!

CALLING YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN 12 AND 25 WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES…

DO YOU WANT TO BE ON THE RADIO? HAVE YOU GOT THINGS TO SAY?

WANT TO TALK ABOUT ISSUES THAT MATTER TO YOU AND OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE? –

• Employment?
• The National Disability Insurance Scheme?
• Disability and sexuality?
• Getting a good education?
• Finding somewhere to live?
• Disability and cultural identity?
• Discrimination and rights?
• Being newly arrived to Australia with a disability?

……BE INVOLVED IN A NEW DISABILITY ADVOCACY RADIO SHOW ON SYN FM!

YDAS has teamed up with youth radio station Syn Media (http://syn.org.au/) to run a new disability advocacy focused radio show in the second half of this year.

There will be broadcasting training for participants and then a chance for the new team of broadcasters to be on air in a brand new show from July to December 2013

For more information please see the attached flyer and word doc.

If you have any questions, please contact Bec from YDAS on 9267 3712 or email ydasprojects@yacvic.org.au.

To be involved, please RSVP by June 28^th 2013.

*Have an issue that you know you and other young people are passionate about, but that doesn’t have a ‘disability focus?’ Contact us, we would love to talk about how you might be involved.*

If someone chose to confide in you about their suicidal thoughts, could you help?

Would you feel prepared to have a conversation?

Do have knowledge of the services available?

No? You’re not the only one- safeTALK training is for you!

SafeTALK is an internationally recognised program to increase suicide alertness, and help you become active in preventing suicide.

Most people with thoughts of suicide invite help, either directly or indirectly. This program helps you identify and work with these opportunities. SafeTALK stresses safety while challenging beliefs that inhibit open talk about suicide.

The training runs for 3.5 hours and you will learn how to:

• notice and respond to situations where thoughts of suicide may be present
• provide practical help by using the TALK steps (Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep safe)
• act quickly to connect the person with someone trained in suicide intervention
• contribute to building a safer community.

Date: Thursday 19 September

Time: 9:30am – 1:00pm

Campus: Clayton

BOOK HERE

Over 300 staff and students have attended this session since the beginning of last year, and the feedback is glowing!

“Very good introduction to raising awareness to engage in assisting someone who may have thought of suicide”

“Openness of information was good I think having different scenarios was good to show different contexts in dealing with suicidal thoughts including cultural diversity”

“It is okay to ask the question – even to a complete stranger”

More mental health programs for consideration;

Mental Health First Aid Training,

Mindfulness for Academic Success

SMART – Motivation, stress and time management

Mood Surfing

On May 9, we invite you to participate in Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of the day is to get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities.

While the target audience of GAAD is primarily the design, development, usability and related communities, the event is open to anybody who may be interested in the topic of making technology accessible and usable by persons with disabilities.

We’ve got presentations from:

Dey Alexander – Making Accessibility Accessible
Kim Chatterjee
Adam Kendall & Chris McLay – Good design is accessible
iOS Accessibility Demo – Vision Australia

We’ve secured RMIT’s building 80 (The Swanston Academic Building) located at 445 Swanston Street as a venue, which not only looks cool but should also be sufficiently accessible.

Venue details:

The Cinema
Swanston Academic Building
Bld 80, level 1, room 2
Swanston Street

RMIT City campus map: http://www.rmit.edu.au/maps/city
Swanston Academic Building info: http://www.rmit.edu.au/bus/sab

Please confirm your attendance by RSVP’ing Yes via this page

Stepping into… is a paid internship program specifically designed for students with disability, who want to get paid, hands-on work experience in an industry that is relevant to their degree and chosen field of study.

This winter, some of the members of the Australian Network on Disability (AND) are offering paid internships through the Stepping into program. Internships are currently offered in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth and across disciplines of Law, Accounting, Finance, Commerce, Human Resources, Policy, Engineering, Architecture & Design, IT, Communications and Marketing .

Some of the participating organisations include:

• ANZ Bank
• Crown Solicitor’s Office (at the NSW department of Justice & Attorney General)
• Henry Davis York Lawyers
• Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC)
• NSW Ombudsman
• Reserve Bank of Australia
• Sydney Opera House
• Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA)
• NSW Department of Education & Communities
• Dept of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research, and Tertiary Education
• Dept of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
• Stockland

APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW and CLOSE on Monday, April 29, by 5pm

To find out more about the opportunities, see the full list of internships and how to apply, visit AND’s website.

• Look under “Apply for Stepping into… Winter 2013”
• You can find out more about “Stepping into…” under “Information for Students”
• You can download application form under “Apply for Stepping into… Winter 2013”

Here we have another exciting event planned for Diversity and Inclusion Week.

Dr Cagatay Goncu and Professor Kim Marriott demonstrate their new device ‘GraVVITAS’, which works on an iPad, and uses vibration and sounds to guide the visually impaired users around a diagram.

It is designed to enable the user to build a picture of the entire graphic in their mind.

Dr Cagatay Goncu and Professor Kim Marriott, along with Associate Professor John Hurst of the Faculty of Information Technology recently received an Honourable Mention in the 2012 Touch of Genius awards, organised by the National Braille Press (NBP) in the US for their submission of the Graphics Viewer using Vibration, Interactive Touch, Audio and Speech (GraVVITAS).

Presenters

Dr Cagatay Goncu, Research Fellow, Faculty of Information Technology

Professor Kim Marriott, Faculty of Information Technology

Register here, as places may be limited.