'Representing the Deafblind Community in Victoria'

Posts tagged ‘NDIA’

Meeting the NDIA boss

On 4th May 2023, representatives from self-advocacy groups met with Rebecca Falkingham, the CEO of the NDIA. The NDIA is the government agency that runs the NDIS. The meeting was organised by the Victorian Self-Advocacy Network (VSAN). The representative from DBV was Trudy Ryall.

Trudy said “I represented on behalf of Deafblind Victoria and presented about the barriers the deafblind people face. And a great need of increasing the funding for advocacy groups.”

Great work Trudy! We hope that this meeting will help the NDIA understand how important it is to fund the work of groups like Deafblind Victoria where people with disabilities represent ourselves and our communities.

The photos show Trudy and Rebecca standing together smiling, and a group picture with self advocates, including DBV’s Andrew Howard with Trudy, interpreters and support.

NDIA awareness training workshop

On Tuesday 3rd August, Deafblind Australia (DBA) and Deafblind Victoria ran a Deafblind awareness workshop for NDIS workers in metro Melbourne.

The workshop was delivered online from Ross House due to Covid-19 restrictions. This was the first time that DBV held a workshop for NDIA staff online. Four Deafblind presenters presented information about the Deafblind community, culture, language, barriers and technology.

Image descriptions:

1. Heather sitting with a tactile Auslan interpreter. Attendees and interpreters stand nearby. Another interpreter stands by Heather’s shoulder using haptic interpreting

2. Joe presenting in Auslan with Heather sitting nearby with a tactile interpreter.

3. Alex presenting with an Auslan interpreter standing by his left side. Michelle is sitting nearby with a tactile Auslan interpreter

4. Michelle seated at a tactile interpreting table demonstrating her Braille display to access her smartphone.

We hope this training will improve the experience that Deafblind Victorians have with the NDIS.

We wish to thank Deafblind Australia for working with DBV for this workshop.

We would also like to thank the four Deafblind presenters – Heather Lawson, Joe Monteleone, Alex Sar, and Michelle Stevens – along with the interpreters and commguides.

Thank you everyone for making this a successful day!

‘Deafblind Victoria is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Go to www.dss.gov.au for more information.’  

Deafblind World workshop, NDIA ILC branch, Geelong

The first Deafblind World workshop for 2020 was on Tuesday 10th March. The DBV team were proud to make our first trip to Geelong by mini bus along with commguides. Three Deafblind members ran a special workshop to the ILC Branch of the NDIA in Geelong. The ILC team run part of the NDIS, so it was a great opportunity to raise Deafblind awareness in the NDIS. There were 30 participants who attended. As usual we ran activities for the participants to do wearing pinhole goggles, blindfolds and earplugs. We shared stories and information about our Deafblind life, Deafblind technology, support from interpreters and commguides, DBV’s peer support program and how Deafblind persons can succeed in their lives. We received so many questions from the participants. They could see how interpreters work together with Deafblind presenters in a workshop, including tactile sign. Feedback was very positive. Participants found the activities confronting as they tried to communicate and move around without vision or hearing, and they learned a lot about deafblindness and what it feels like to be Deafblind. Here are three comments from evaluations:

  • It was very powerful. Keep it up!
  • Understanding the challenges from people with lived experience is much more rewarding for me, and makes me appreciate how I can make a difference better.
  • I learnt about inspiration, resilience, courage and hope.
Left: blindfolded workshop participants communicating; right: DBV presenters with Daniel Leighton (NDIA)