People have been dressing up their white canes as part of a social media campaign. The event was organised as part of International White Cane Day, with celebrations this year focusing on assistive technology. Using the hashtag #MyCaneMyWay, clients posted photographs of themselves with their canes. Cooper Chilcott kicked the campaign off with a photograph…
Elizabeth Barnes the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at VisAbility, has been settling into her new role. Elizabeth has extensive experience in the not-for-profit health and disability sector and trained as a therapist. She moves to us from leading primary health care provider 360 Health and Community, which offers free and low-cost therapy and care.…
If you’re passionate about sport, it’s only natural that you’ll want to share your enthusiasm with others. David Martin is such an ardent fan of blind cricket, that he’s going the extra mile by offering one-on-one free cricketing lessons. David’s aim? To establish a blind cricket group in Karratha. His tuition is open to all,…
VisAbility has created ‘How I Learn’ – a free tool to help young people with disabilities to advocate for their learning needs. It will empower them to have greater control over how they’re taught. The ‘How I Learn’ website means students with disabilities can document their learning and accessibility needs in one place. The new…
The Tanami route from Halls Creek to Broome is one of the most well-known outback tracks, because it snakes from Alice Springs to Halls Creek in the Kimberley. This is the setting for a soon-to-be released children’s book about a teddy bear who’s blind. The journey is somewhat of an arduous trip across 1,000 km…
It may look odd – a dog kitted out in an overall having his paws painted by a ten-year old girl, but it’s just one of many activities a child can enjoy during a session of Dog-Assisted Therapy. Tahnee Neesham has Asperger’s. She’s just finishing six sessions of Dog-Assisted Therapy at VisAbility and her mum…
We’ve held our first ever ‘Test Drive a Guide Dog’ workshop in Western Australia, for youngsters who may be considering a Guide Dog when they’re a bit older. Seven teenagers aged between 14 and 18 took part in the event held at VisAbility over the school holidays and all of them had some form of…
Last year we asked our staff three questions: What do others feel when they are with you? What do they learn from you? How do they grow and transform through spending time with you? The reason – to find out where our staff beliefs and sense of purpose lie. We wanted to give staff the…
The statistics don’t make comfortable reading. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three times more likely than non-Indigenous people to be blind or have low vision. They also wait much longer for cataract surgery, up to 63% longer. But now a planned initiative aims to reverse that trend and to help people experiencing vision…
VisAbility is committed in the support we offer to older Australians, ensuring our clients live the best possible life. Six years ago, the Australian Government introduced My Aged Care which was targeted to assist individuals aged 65 and over and those aged 50 or over from Torres Strait or Indigenous backgrounds. The aim of the…