'Representing the Deafblind Community in Victoria'

Posts from the ‘deafblind awareness week’ category

11th National Deafblind Conference – DBV group presentation

DBV were proud to present at the 11th National Deafblind Conference on 1st July. Five DBV members gave the closing presentation for the conference: “How Deafblind people run our own organisation”.

Jasper Cleland, Trudy Ryall and Michelle Stevens presented in Perth, and Alex Sar and Heather Lawson presented from Melbourne via a live video link. A video of the presentation is below; it is Auslan/English interpreted with live captions. Corrections for a few small captioning errors will follow.

Thank you to the amazing team of interpreters and commguides – all their names are listed below the speaker notes. Without them we would not have been able to make this presentation!

Abstract: Have you ever wondered how a group of Deafblind people can run a meeting? Hold community events? How would they access funding? What can they do without support, and what supports are needed? Since it was founded by three Deafblind people in 2007, Deafblind Victoria has become a flourishing community group with 45 members, a permanent office space and 8 staff. It remains grass-roots; all members and the entire committee of management are Deafblind, as are most of the paid staff. DBV runs a weekly drop-in program, monthly peer support events, a volunteer program, Deafblind Awareness training, and develops and shares information and resources. The physical space at DBV has been designed by Deafblind people, with communication and mobility needs in mind. In this presentation, members will share learnings, challenges and experiences in building and sustaining their unique self-advocacy group, including practises of peer mentoring and the development of Deafblind language and culture.

CLICK FOR SPEAKER NOTES

Deafblind Awareness month 2022

This year for Deafblind Awareness month there were a number of activities at DBV:

At the event on June 15, there was a presentation by DBV’s Alex Sar about his experience coming to our group, building his skills and confidence, and joining the management committee. Claire Fraser from Able Australia ran an art activity with DBV’s Robert Lokmer taking photos. Claire will join the artwork made with others from around the country and display it at the Deafblind conference in Perth at the end of the month.

The highlight of the event was celebrating with SEDB, a Deafblind community group in South India who joined us via a video call from Bangalore. There were lots of questions from each group to the other, and we really felt like we had found kindred spirits in another part of the world.

Issues such as a shortage of interpreters were common to both groups. At DBV we felt sorry for the interpreters in Bangalore who were working simultaneously with two deafblind people, using (one-handed) tactile sign language, and continuing without a break! They were very interested in our interpreting tables and want to know how they can make their own. We look forward to staying in touch and collaborating in future.

Click for photos and videos

Deafblind Awareness Week 2021 report

What a great week! There were six different activities for DBAW 2021. On June 23, we celebrated with an event at Ross House. It was attended by 15 Deafblind people and a number of supporters, including representatives from the Tree Project and Melbourne City Library. DBV members spent the morning decorating trees and poles in Flinders Lane with colourful yarn bombing creations alongside a window display outside Ross House. The yarn bombing was made mostly by DBV members, who set up a craft group with a grant from the Tye Recreation Fund. Crocheted and knitted squares were also donated, including a number from the Country Women’s association Boroondara. Thank you!

We held an exhibition in the pedestrian underpass, Campbell Arcade, that connects Flinders Street station to Flinders Lane. The exhibition, titled “Deafblind Awareness: a tactile imagination“, features photographic portraits by Jessica Leane and showcases achievements of Deafblind people, including arts and crafts, tactile Auslan and interpreting tables, braille and parenting. The exhibition was up for the whole month of July.

DBV also gave a workshop to Auslan students from Melbourne Polytechnic, with DBV members Heather Lawson, Alison Rawson and Alex Sar presenting. We raised funds by selling Deafblind awareness t-shirts that will be worn and seen in the community, and we had a special week of video posts from DBV members on our Facebook page all week, showing the diversity of our community.

A big thank you to all the wonderful DBV members and volunteers who made it happen.

What’s on in Deafblind Awareness Week 2021

Deafblind Awareness Week is held each year around Helen Keller’s birthday (June 27). This year the dates are June 21 to June 27. DBV has planned a number of activities to celebrate.

DBV craft group members showing their crocheted squares
  1. Yarn bombing. DBV members have been meeting every fortnight to crochet, knit and make pom poms for a tactile art project that symbolises the coming together of the Deafblind community. From 23 June in Flinders Lane, outside from the DBV office, two trees and other objects will be wrapped with the colorful creations made by the group. This is part of an international event to raise Deafblind Awareness.

  2. An exhibition of photo portraits of Deafblind Victorians from June 27 to Aug 3, at the Capsule art space in Cambell Arcade, the pedestrian underpass that connects Flinders Street station and Degraves st. The photographer is Jessica Leane, and subjects include Gina Pontelandolfo, Joe Monteleone, Paola Avila, Heather Lawson and Trudy Ryall. The photos show something that each individual has achieved.

  3. A celebration for DBV members on Wed 23 June at Ross House. RSVP is essential due to Covid restrictions – limits apply. Members will enjoy pizza, cake, a tour of the yarn bombing installation and a preview of the photo exhibition.

  4. A Deafblind World workshop for Auslan students at Melbourne Polytechnic will take place on Monday 21 June.

  5. Videos from members posted on the DBV Facebook page throughout the week to promote visibility and show the diversity of the wonderful Deafblind people in our community.

  6. Deafblind awareness T-shirt fundraiser – click here for a video in Auslan with a voiceover and transcript