0:15

Good evening and welcome to Focal Point here

0:17

on Vice Australia Radio 1197

0:20

and Adelaide online at VA radio.

0:23

Org via radio G2 in Adelaide

0:25

via Radio Digital, in Darwin, through

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the TuneIn radio app or through the Community

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Radio Plus app. Look for Vision

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Australia, Radio Adelaide or your favourite

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podcast or streaming service. Peter

0:37

Greco, on behalf of Philip Van appear saying

0:39

hello and thank you for joining us and a big

0:41

hello and thank you for joining us. To Wendy McDougall

0:44

listening in. Coming up very shortly,

0:46

we'll speak to Charlotte Bradshaw from

0:48

an organisation called Rhema

0:50

who are looking for people to take part

0:52

in research and maybe

0:55

some medical trials, very safe medical trials.

0:57

And one of the things they're looking for is for

0:59

people to help out with dry eye

1:02

and much, much more. We'll chat

1:04

to Charlotte very shortly. Will then be joined

1:06

by Darren Solly talking about

1:08

golf, a big event in Adelaide last week for

1:10

blind golfers. Darren did very well.

1:12

We'll find out more about that. Lucy

1:14

Moreton will join us, who's teaching music,

1:17

and we'll find out about what took

1:19

Lucy on that particular career path.

1:21

And Becca Swanson will join us, the

1:23

manager for deafblind services at

1:25

Able Australia. They've had their recent

1:28

camp. How'd it go? It was

1:30

held on Phillip Island. We'll find out

1:32

very, very soon. If you're listening

1:34

through 1190 7 a.m. redline

1:36

at 8:00. For your listening pleasure.

1:38

Lizzie and Sam are here for studio

1:40

one. I wonder if they'll volunteer to

1:42

tell us what's on their program tonight.

1:45

Sam and Lizzie here from Studio One.

1:47

Join us after Focal Point.

1:49

It's National Volunteers Week, and

1:51

we catch up with some of the volunteers that come

1:53

in every day to put together our programs.

1:56

Plus, we chat to a retired

1:58

radio announcer who now reads the

2:01

death notices for Vision Australia Radio.

2:03

Join us at eight.

2:06

Well, medical research is such an important thing.

2:08

Maybe some concerning numbers regarding

2:10

the amount of ozone that maybe aren't

2:12

getting involved as much as perhaps we could be.

2:14

Let's find out a bit more about it and speak to Charlotte

2:17

Bradshaw, who's the founder and CEO

2:19

for everybody. Charlotte, good to meet

2:21

you. Thank you for your time.

2:22

Thanks for having me.

2:23

Peter. Tell us a bit about this research then.

2:25

Actually on Monday was the International

2:28

Medical Research Day. So, uh, I

2:30

guess appropriate this kind of research comes out

2:32

now. Absolutely.

2:33

Right there. So the research that we conducted

2:35

was really to get people's perceptions

2:38

on the barriers to participating

2:40

in clinical research. And what we found

2:42

were some key insights, including

2:44

that travel and commitment

2:46

to clinical research was one of

2:48

or two of the biggest challenges.

2:51

But I guess at the end of the day, one of the

2:53

big things here is that people just aren't

2:55

aware or have the the information

2:57

at hand of what a clinical trial is and

3:00

where they can get involved was.

3:01

The safety of some of the trials

3:03

that concern as.

3:04

Well? Yeah, definitely. People have mentioned

3:06

that they're unsure around the

3:08

risks or the benefits for clinical research,

3:11

and I think that plays a part in education

3:13

and raising awareness, particularly

3:15

in the GP and pharmacy

3:18

settings, because that's what the

3:20

research showed, that people really trust their

3:22

health care providers when they want to learn

3:24

about clinical research as a care option,

3:26

which is.

3:27

A bit about how it sort of works. Then

3:29

you talked about pharmacists and GP, so

3:32

what sort of role can they play, or how

3:34

can we interact with our local pharmacists

3:36

or GP to kind of take part

3:38

of this research? What's the kind of tie up there?

3:41

Yeah, so.

3:41

What we saw last month, we launched some

3:43

pilots in New South Wales, and we're

3:45

rolling that out nationally, where we provided

3:48

trial information to GPS

3:50

and pharmacists so that they could share

3:52

that with their patients or their, um,

3:54

their clients. And that's really important

3:57

because we found that people actually did

3:59

want to hear about that information. And

4:01

not only did they receive it well,

4:03

but they actually went on to register for clinical

4:05

trials in their community. So really

4:07

important from a process perspective,

4:10

that people are opening that conversation

4:12

with their GP or their pharmacist.

4:14

And they can also go online of

4:16

Remo lists, all the active trials

4:18

that we have right around the country. And

4:20

there are other websites that are available

4:23

to do that kind of research.

4:24

Might people be surprised as to how much research,

4:27

or more importantly, how much research

4:29

opportunities are out there?

4:30

I think so, you know, you don't have to

4:32

be in a hospital setting to take part

4:35

in clinical research. In fact, everyday

4:37

folk like you or I can participate

4:39

in research. I'm on a trial now for women's

4:41

health. There are so many opportunities.

4:44

In fact, in Melbourne particularly,

4:46

we're looking for people that have shingles

4:48

symptoms. Um, there is a study that's

4:50

being run out of a GP practice

4:52

in Melbourne for people, and we know

4:54

that shingles at the moment is increasing

4:56

in the case numbers. Or it could be something

4:58

like dry eye. We've we've got studies

5:01

that are running around the country for people with dry

5:03

eye disease. Celiac disease

5:05

is another one um sleep disturbances.

5:08

So it just goes to show that there's so many options

5:10

out there. You don't have to be in a hospital

5:13

or particularly unwell.

5:14

So how does it work? For example, in the dry

5:16

eye example that you gave,

5:18

do I have to have dry eye to take part or

5:21

because I think sometimes in the research you

5:23

look for the, um, you know, those people who

5:25

are kind of going to benefit from the research

5:27

and those that are kind of part of the other

5:29

population that haven't got it. And I guess

5:32

you sort of see if there's any, uh, bad side

5:34

effects and that sort of thing.

5:35

You're absolutely right, Peter. There are two kind of

5:37

main categories that you could be a

5:39

healthy volunteer, which means that you're

5:41

in general good health and you're interested

5:43

in, in really contributing to advance medical

5:46

research. And those kinds of trials

5:48

are run again all over the

5:50

all over the country. And then there

5:52

are trials that are a little bit more, um,

5:55

advanced in terms of, you know, they've

5:57

been trialled before. They're now looking

5:59

at maybe the different dose level

6:01

or they're comparing it to an existing,

6:03

uh, medicine that's on the market. And

6:05

those are typically for people that have been diagnosed

6:08

with a condition such as dry eye

6:10

or celiac disease.

6:12

We're pulling the threads together really well here.

6:14

Charlotte, we had the International Day for research in

6:16

this week is National Volunteer Week.

6:18

So we're calling kind of killing two birds

6:20

with one stone. So

6:23

um, what about in terms of you

6:25

talked about travel and time. So I guess,

6:27

you know, everyone's busy these days, aren't we?

6:29

And, you know, if we've got a sort of, um, you

6:31

know, travel to far, that kind of is a bit of a

6:33

disincentive. So, so they were the some of the things

6:36

that were coming up as far as people maybe

6:38

not, um, you know, availing themselves

6:40

of these opportunities.

6:41

Yeah, it's definitely one because like you say,

6:43

people are busy. They've got their own commitments,

6:45

whether it's work or personal life, family

6:48

life, um, holidays planned.

6:50

You know, there's lots of things that could potentially impact

6:52

a clinical trial schedule. But

6:55

what we encourage people to do is

6:57

actually learn about the study commitments

6:59

up front, talk to the people that

7:01

are conducting the research. Ask

7:03

them about, you know, where do I park? How

7:05

many visits do I need to attend? Can any

7:07

of them be done on zoom or via

7:09

phone? Can I go in and drop

7:11

a blood sample off at my local GP instead

7:14

of going into a major city?

7:16

There's lots of ways to engage

7:18

and find this information out, and

7:20

a lot of those visits are remunerated

7:23

for time and inconvenience. So

7:25

again, it's worth checking and talking to the

7:27

clinical research team about what's involved.

7:30

You're doing a bit of mind reading there. I was going to

7:32

ask you about, uh, you know, if there's any remuneration

7:34

or any offset of the costs and that sort of thing.

7:37

There absolutely is. It just depends on

7:39

the trial. And it's important to

7:41

note that for any particular

7:43

study to be conducted in Australia or

7:45

New Zealand and around the world, there are

7:47

rigorous regulatory,

7:49

ethical and safety requirements.

7:52

So for any kind of remuneration,

7:54

people can't be coerced to

7:56

participate.

7:57

Okay.

7:59

But we do want to make sure that people

8:01

aren't out of pocket either, especially if

8:03

they have to, you know, hop in the car for half an hour

8:05

or buy a meal. You know, these things

8:07

are generally remunerated.

8:09

Just getting back to your safety point. So I guess we

8:11

should make it pretty clear that, I

8:13

mean, this isn't some kind of, uh, mad

8:16

professor with an idea about something

8:18

that might work. I mean, these are very well

8:20

regulated, very well governed. Corporate

8:22

governance is very much, uh, a higher priority

8:25

when these things are taking place. I mean, that's not,

8:27

as I say, some sort of, uh, uh, harebrained

8:29

idea that someone's got that I wonder if this works.

8:32

Exactly right, Peter. And look, I think Hollywood's

8:34

done an amazing job of what clinical research

8:36

isn't, so I wouldn't recommend

8:39

using that as a guide.

8:41

Um, like I said before, there's every single

8:43

trial that's conducted needs to be

8:46

put through an independent ethics

8:48

committee. And that committee will have scientists,

8:51

lawyers, consumer health advocates,

8:53

you know, a really good cross-section of society.

8:55

And they'll look at everything, you know, what's the

8:57

commitment? What are the potential risks or

9:00

benefits? What's the science behind

9:02

that clinical trial? So all

9:04

of that's done before that trial can actually

9:06

open and invite people to participate.

9:08

Now I've not.

9:09

Ever taken part in a trial, not that I can think

9:11

of at the moment, but it must be a pretty cool

9:13

feeling if you do, and you know, some

9:15

time down the track, you get some results

9:17

back as to how successful it was or

9:20

the role that you play to kind

9:22

of make this, uh, the research happen because

9:24

I guess, you know, any medication that we

9:26

might take from from a GP

9:28

or a pharmacist or a specialist for that matter,

9:30

you know, has gone through this sort of, uh, trial

9:33

phase. So, you know, these things just

9:35

don't happen.

9:36

You're exactly right there, Peter. And the way

9:38

I kind of describe it is any time

9:40

you take medicine and there's usually a pamphlet

9:42

inside that, that box of

9:44

medicine, that's really all

9:46

the data that's come from all these different clinical

9:48

trials. So it's really important

9:51

that when we do take medicines, we

9:53

understand that, you know, there's been decades

9:55

and and so many people and,

9:57

you know, effort and resource and, and

10:00

capital to go into getting these new

10:02

medicines into the hands of people that need

10:04

it. It's so important. And we do see

10:07

and hear from from people that have registered

10:09

with us about why they decided

10:11

to participate in research, whether they'd been impacted

10:14

directly by some kind of condition

10:16

or disease, or whether they had a family

10:18

member that was impacted by

10:20

a certain condition or disease. Um, they

10:22

really want to give back and help

10:24

future generations.

10:25

He touched on that earlier about the healthy volunteers.

10:28

So if we've got a condition, if we've got

10:30

dry eye, can we kind of say to our GP

10:32

or our pharmacist, look, you know, I've put up with

10:34

this for a while or what I've tried doesn't seem

10:36

to be working. Is there something out

10:39

there in terms of a trial that I can take part

10:41

in? Can we kind of be a little bit, uh, proactive

10:43

in that area?

10:44

Exactly.

10:45

Right. And I think this is really the call

10:47

out to everyone to have those

10:49

conversations and open up the discussion

10:51

with their trusted GP's. Um,

10:53

and from a reamer's perspective, we're

10:56

providing that trial information to GPS

10:58

so that they can be empowered and

11:00

be on the front foot for those conversations with

11:02

their patients.

11:03

Now, again, you touched on it earlier. You've kind of launched

11:05

a new model in recent times.

11:07

Yeah.

11:07

That's right. So we've got a referral network called

11:09

Every Path. And this is really to bridge that

11:12

gap between clinical practice

11:14

and clinical research. So really important

11:16

that we're able to provide that trial

11:18

opportunity into the hands of the GP

11:20

so that they can have those conversations

11:22

with their patients. And we've seen

11:25

that this is the way where people can

11:27

trust their GP, understand

11:29

what the trial involves, and then actually go on

11:31

to potentially participate as opposed

11:33

to, you know, not even knowing

11:35

about research in your local community.

11:38

I'm thinking that you might have a

11:40

family member or a loved one that

11:42

might have a condition that you'd like to take

11:44

part as a healthy volunteer, that that sort of

11:46

thing, again, could be a very empowering

11:49

thing and a, you know, a great way

11:51

to kind of give back to the community.

11:52

It absolutely.

11:53

Is. And I think understanding how

11:56

a clinical trial works, you know, you get some

11:58

really good insight from being a participant

12:00

and a volunteer and the healthy volunteer

12:02

studies. Again, they're run all over the.

12:04

A tree very accessible.

12:07

There's lots happening in Melbourne. Melbourne.

12:09

Such a hotbed for clinical

12:12

research and biotechnology. So definitely

12:14

encourage listeners to jump online

12:16

and do some research around clinical trials.

12:19

I mean, Australia's got such a wonderful record

12:21

in the area of medical research too, hasn't it? I mean,

12:23

we often speak to people from the

12:25

centre for Eye Research, for example,

12:27

and many other organisations. The

12:30

universities are highly valued

12:32

and highly reputable as far as

12:34

the research that Australia does. So,

12:36

um, you know, kind of the researchers are doing

12:38

their bit, I guess you're calling on the, uh, the members

12:41

of the community to kind of come to the party as well.

12:43

Exactly.

12:44

You know, we've got such a great landscape for

12:46

fantastic research, like you say,

12:48

really credible institutions.

12:50

Um, we've got such a good regulatory

12:52

environment as well. And we do

12:55

see biotechnology companies from overseas

12:57

coming to Australia because of the

12:59

time and the cost saving and the great

13:01

regulations that they can they can get for

13:03

their quality trial. Um, but yes,

13:05

we need more people to be part of it

13:07

and to make sure that it's it's not

13:09

a taboo thing. You know, we we all know the

13:11

importance of donating blood and where

13:13

to go and why we should do it. It's

13:16

really now about how do we have those same

13:18

conversations about clinical trials?

13:20

Well, give people a chance to grab something to record

13:22

or, uh, take down some details to

13:24

find out more. But, uh, you talked

13:26

about international, uh, research. I

13:28

guess there's a lot of collaboration between different

13:30

countries as well. So that kind of. That's

13:32

right. Not necessarily duplicated, but I mean,

13:34

it's kind of, uh, more streamlined in terms

13:36

of getting the best bang for your buck, if I can put it

13:38

that way. Yeah.

13:39

That's right. And from a participant perspective,

13:42

you know, we're we're often involved in trials

13:44

that have thousands, if not tens of thousands

13:46

of participants. So from a

13:48

perspective of being part of something

13:50

and contributing, you know, you're one of so

13:52

many people right around the world

13:54

that are contributing to advanced medical research,

13:57

which is really exciting.

13:58

All right.

13:58

Well, if it was New Year's Eve or New Year's Day,

14:00

I'd say maybe we can make a resolution to,

14:03

uh, perhaps get involved or at least find out more

14:05

about it, because you never know, there might be something that,

14:07

uh, you know, really strikes a chord with us,

14:09

but, uh, even though it isn't, uh, isn't

14:11

New Year's Day, it's an international day for,

14:14

um, uh, International day for

14:16

Medical Research. Uh, how can we find out more? Where's

14:18

a good starting point? Charlotte.

14:19

So, Peter, any listener can head

14:21

to our website, which is avma. Com.au

14:25

and they can scroll through all of the actively

14:27

recruiting trials that are now running,

14:29

particularly in Melbourne. We do have that shingles

14:31

study, which is really important research,

14:34

as well as dry eye studies coming

14:36

up and many others. So I definitely

14:38

encourage everyone to jump online and

14:40

take a look and see what they think.

14:42

You want to.

14:42

Spell Ifremer for us.

14:43

I absolutely can it's ever

14:46

eye Emma.

14:48

All right. I'd like to ask you where that all came

14:50

from, but we're out of time, so maybe another time.

14:52

Charlotte, great to talk to you and congratulations on the initiative.

14:55

And, um, well, you know, the

14:57

next bit of research that, uh, you take part

14:59

in could make a lot of difference to a lot of people in

15:01

the future.

15:02

Thanks so much.

15:02

For having me on.

15:03

Peter. That's, uh.

15:04

Charlotte Bradshaw, the founder and CEO for

15:06

Abreva. Everymac.com

15:09

you or that information up in our Facebook

15:11

page. So, uh, maybe something to consider

15:13

very, very strongly. Well,

15:18

a big event, a couple of big events. In fact,

15:20

in Adelaide last week when it comes to blind

15:22

golf. Let's speak to someone who's

15:25

in very, very good form. Darren

15:27

Solly, great to catch up again and

15:29

congratulations.

15:30

Yeah thanks, Pat. It's been about 12 months,

15:32

so it's. Yeah. It's good to catch up with you too.

15:34

How'd it.

15:35

Go? Obviously you're hitting it pretty well.

15:37

Yeah. Look, I got pretty lucky.

15:39

Conditions probably favoured me. We had

15:41

a bit of wind, especially towards the end of

15:43

the week. And I don't have a hugely

15:45

high ball flight, which makes a difference.

15:47

And some of our better players

15:49

probably didn't play as well as they normally would,

15:52

so I was able to take

15:54

advantage of that. But I'm not getting carried

15:56

away, mate. There are plenty of golfers in blind golf

15:58

that are way better than me. No, you're.

15:59

Being very modest. So, uh, congratulations

16:02

on your modesty as well as your performance.

16:04

What about the week, then? There were

16:06

a couple of different tournaments during the week.

16:08

Yeah. There was. So the first two days

16:10

was the Beyond Blindness, uh, South

16:12

Australian Blind Golf Open. That was Monday,

16:14

Tuesday. And then we had a

16:16

national event which was the Blind Golf Australia

16:18

Classic. And that was Thursday and Friday.

16:21

Now we're beyond blindness. A big shout out to them.

16:23

They've been supporting blind golf here for quite

16:25

some time.

16:26

Yeah they have. Look they've been fantastic.

16:28

I mean I've only been involved with the sport

16:30

for about three years now. I've certainly been involved

16:33

every year that I have been in South

16:35

Australia. They do a great job

16:37

and they certainly, uh, do a lot for

16:39

our members as well as people from outside

16:41

blind golf, obviously. Uh, so

16:43

we're very grateful for their support.

16:45

And we spoke to Rachel from Beyond Blindness

16:47

last week, and she was looking forward to coming down

16:49

and presenting the trophy on,

16:51

uh, the final night. I'm assuming

16:53

all that took place.

16:54

Yes, it did, she. I got to meet Rachel. She

16:56

was lovely. Um, first

16:59

I I've met her. Normally, the person that comes

17:01

is a guy that I used to have a fair

17:03

bit to do with her guide dogs up in Queensland,

17:05

but he has moved on and got to meet

17:07

Rachel for the first time. She was lovely. And yes,

17:10

she presented the trophy so it's great.

17:11

Yeah. Jason hand-to-hand, who was spoken to also in

17:13

the past. That was great. Tell us a bit more about

17:15

the event then Thursday. Friday. It's a national

17:18

event. I think South Australia has hosted them

17:20

for a while as well, haven't we?

17:21

Yeah, pretty much. So what we try

17:23

and do is rotate the national events,

17:26

uh, around the country to give,

17:28

uh, people more of an opportunity

17:30

to travel under boost numbers. South

17:32

Australia is certainly has hosted

17:34

many events nationally in

17:36

the past. In fact, I think from memory,

17:39

the first time I spoke to you was back in

17:41

2021. I'm going to take a punt

17:43

after the national Australian South

17:46

Championship. So yeah, they've they've do

17:48

well. The course at,

17:50

uh, Westward Ho Golf Club sets up

17:52

well for us. Um, and

17:54

coincidentally this year they certainly turned

17:56

on the weather and was fantastic. The weather couldn't have

17:58

been much better, to be honest.

18:00

Well, it's going to mention that germ, because we

18:02

have had some incredible weather in Adelaide

18:04

over the last few weeks. Very, very, uh, mild

18:07

and beautiful. Sunny days, a bit low

18:09

as far as rainfall goes, in fact non-existent

18:11

as far as rainfall goes. Was that an issue

18:13

as far as the course went?

18:14

No. Look, I had heard that we've

18:17

had several people tell us about how

18:19

little rain you guys have had down there.

18:21

The course itself was in immaculate

18:23

condition. It's a real credit to,

18:26

uh, the ground staff and the greenkeepers

18:28

there. Considering the fact you've had so

18:30

little rain, you wouldn't have known it to play

18:32

on the course. It really was. And again, it's it's

18:35

Adelaide's most popular and

18:37

most, uh, frequented public

18:39

course. So that obviously puts pressure on it

18:41

as well. But again, you wouldn't have known

18:43

it. They do an outstanding job.

18:45

We certainly golf has been very much in the news in

18:47

Adelaide over the last month or so. The golf

18:49

being played here as well. So it's

18:51

great when, uh people are blind or low vision, you

18:53

get kind of, uh, take part in the sport as well.

18:55

And as I've often mentioned on the program,

18:57

you know, if you've played golf once and then lost your sight

19:00

for whatever reason, you can be part of it. Or

19:02

if you've never played but wanted to play,

19:04

even though you might have a blindness or low vision,

19:06

you can still be part of the sport.

19:07

Uh, look. Absolutely. And I think I've said to

19:10

you before that and people

19:12

sort of laugh and I say this, but golf

19:14

is a great sport for visually impaired

19:16

people. And the reason for that is,

19:18

well, there's a couple of reasons, but one is obviously

19:21

the ball is stationary when you hit it, which makes

19:23

a huge difference. Secondly,

19:25

you can play it right through our live

19:27

like our youngest member is

19:30

16 years old and our oldest

19:32

is 90 now. Wow. So

19:35

there's and then we've got obviously all ages

19:37

in between. And the other thing is with the world handicap

19:40

system that's now in play, you

19:42

don't you're not just playing against other visually

19:44

impaired people. You can actually go to your local

19:46

course and play in competitions

19:48

against sighted people and play and

19:50

compete on a relatively even playing field,

19:52

and there's not too many sports that offer that

19:55

opportunity. And I think that's really important

19:57

rather than just playing with visually impaired people,

19:59

which is fantastic. And I love it, obviously,

20:02

but the opportunity is there to play, and a lot

20:04

of our members take advantage of that and

20:06

play local competitions all around the country.

20:08

And it seems like, uh, a lot of sports

20:11

in uh, particular, uh, have

20:13

become much more sort of accepting

20:15

and like the umbrella bodies have become

20:17

much more. Inclusive as far as people

20:19

with any disability goes, which obviously

20:21

helps them because more people play their sport. But

20:23

that's kind of, um, you know, maybe a bit

20:25

of a movement over the last 20 or 30 years

20:27

that seems to be really taking hold. Yeah,

20:29

I'd.

20:30

Agree with that. Also, like, I

20:32

can really respect from golf's point of view,

20:34

but I was recently down to the Golf

20:36

Australia offices in Melbourne and with

20:38

uh, started working

20:41

together very closely. That's been fantastic

20:43

for us. And we actually launched

20:46

a YouTube channel while we're in Adelaide,

20:48

which unfortunately I have to front because no one

20:50

else is dumb enough to do it. Uh,

20:53

and so we're looking at promoting

20:55

blind golf across Australia and internationally,

20:57

which is the whole reason for the for the YouTube

21:00

channel. And we've also, uh, going

21:02

to be releasing a podcast starting

21:04

at the Australian Open, which is in July

21:06

on the Gold Coast.

21:07

Oh, terrific. Well, that's been a big

21:09

event too, on the Gold Coast. We've spoken to

21:11

you and others that have played there and, um, that's

21:14

been, uh, a very successful move, hasn't

21:16

it?

21:16

It has, uh, this is the first

21:18

year ever that the go

21:21

Anywhere in Queensland has hosted the Australian

21:23

Open. So we're looking forward

21:25

to a very strong

21:27

field showing for that event. And

21:29

again in the lead up we'll be doing a lot

21:32

with filming on

21:34

on a crash course at the moment, learning

21:36

how to edit and all sorts of

21:38

stuff. It's, uh, for someone

21:40

who's not technologically very smart.

21:42

It's certainly a challenge for me

21:44

and the people around me. But we yeah, we

21:47

we've certainly making

21:49

the Gold Coast this year

21:51

the focus of the Australian Open. But again,

21:53

that that event actually rotates

21:56

yearly. Um, and we'd

21:58

love to be in a situation where in the future,

22:00

there's no reason why it won't come to Adelaide

22:03

at some point as well. So, um,

22:05

it gives every state an opportunity

22:07

to be a part of that.

22:09

And we have sponsorship through ISPs

22:12

Handa for that event specifically,

22:14

which also helps with costs. As you

22:16

can imagine, it's not super cheap to to

22:18

travel around. So anything that happens with that

22:20

is is greatly appreciated.

22:22

I generally Australia wide the sport's going okay

22:25

or maybe not okay.

22:26

Yeah it is actually we uh,

22:28

we have announced, uh, some new

22:30

strategies to add

22:32

new partnerships that are well on their way will

22:34

work. As I said, we've certainly

22:37

upped our our support

22:39

from Golf Australia and

22:41

also Empower Golf, which are

22:43

another disability golf organization,

22:46

are coming on board to help us out.

22:48

We are the first

22:50

two days of the Queensland event, which

22:52

is the Queensland Open for the first time in

22:54

the world, is my understanding.

22:57

Uh, we're offering and all

22:59

abilities and blind golf event

23:01

in one event and it's and it's

23:03

attracting Edgar which is the European

23:05

Golf Disability Association world ranking

23:08

point. So that's never been done. We

23:10

reached out through Golf Australia who have been

23:12

instrumental in helping us do that. So

23:14

that's a pathway moving

23:17

forward for us. And we believe it's a great

23:19

opportunity. It still gives the blind golfers a chance

23:21

to play their own standalone event,

23:23

but it allows all abilities golfers

23:26

in as well to play in an event. So basically

23:28

the blinded blind golfers get two opportunities

23:30

to win an event, and it just breaks

23:32

down some of those barriers that have always existed

23:35

between other disabilities and

23:37

and visually impaired golfers. So it's

23:39

an exciting time. Well, I know we're.

23:40

Talking about golf, but, uh, cricket has done a similar

23:43

sort of thing with their national cricket inclusion

23:45

councils. They have their three categories,

23:47

all being played at the same city or

23:49

the same town every year, which,

23:52

uh, you know, there's a little bit of intermingling and the

23:54

sport is the cricket and, and. Yeah, okay. The

23:56

different categories in terms of, uh,

23:58

disabilities, but similarly with golf,

24:00

I mean, golf was a sport and okay, there's all

24:02

abilities and people are blind or low

24:04

vision, but you're playing the one sport,

24:07

albeit maybe just a little bit differently to each other.

24:09

Well, correct. And the thing is, I think

24:11

one of the big concerns for, for our

24:13

players traditionally has always been,

24:15

well, how can we possibly compete

24:17

with some of the other all abilities players? And

24:20

that's a fair argument. Like we do

24:22

not to downplay any other disability

24:24

because they all have their their challenges. There's

24:26

no doubt about that. But certainly for visually impaired

24:29

golfers, it is a fairly unique

24:31

challenge. Um, and what we're trying to

24:33

do by doing this is to to

24:35

allow our players to still play

24:37

in the standalone events, because that's super important

24:39

for us. We we don't want to lose our identity

24:42

at any stage, but also

24:44

promote the sport as a whole.

24:46

And I think the more we do

24:48

that, blind golf becomes

24:50

a much stronger product. And

24:53

and certainly it gives us

24:55

more ability to go to golf courses

24:57

and say to them, hey, can you host us? Because

24:59

we've got, you know, more players playing?

25:02

Yeah, yeah. Uh, it does make a

25:04

difference. And we're certainly looking forward to

25:06

seeing how that plays out in,

25:08

uh, July.

25:09

What about internationally? There are much news happening

25:11

there.

25:12

Yeah, there's.

25:12

Uh, a fierce competition

25:14

happening in our Order of Merit at the minute because

25:17

our. Well, traditionally it's been the

25:19

first eight, but, um, India

25:21

had joined Line Golf for the

25:23

first time through the PGA, which

25:25

is fantastic. We were hoping

25:27

to have some India players in Adelaide actually, but

25:29

unfortunately we ran out of time to get their

25:32

visas done. There was some red tape

25:34

that we just couldn't get past, so we're

25:36

hoping that moving forward

25:38

that they'll be able to come across

25:40

to some of our other events in Europe, joined

25:43

the International Blind Golf Association

25:45

umbrella ranks. And

25:47

um, from our point of view locally,

25:50

the World Championships next year

25:52

are in, I'm going to say

25:54

Vancouver with not a lot of

25:56

confidence. So I stand to be corrected

25:58

there. But it's definitely in Canada. And

26:01

so there's some hot competition

26:03

on our Order of Merit at the moment, uh,

26:05

to make sure that those people

26:08

qualify for that event.

26:10

Terrific.

26:11

Darren. If people were to find out more. What's

26:13

your YouTube channel and have you got a name

26:15

for the podcast at this stage?

26:17

No, the podcast, uh, name

26:19

hasn't come up yet. It'll be something around

26:21

Blind Golf Australia. Well, it's not,

26:23

even though I'm fronting it and

26:26

I am driving it. This

26:28

isn't an individual, uh,

26:30

podcast and YouTube channel, like, a lot

26:32

of podcasts and YouTube channels are.

26:34

And, you know, I totally get that.

26:36

But for us, it's to promote

26:38

the sport. And that's the only reason I'm doing

26:41

it. And certainly PGA

26:43

have been on board with that. We started

26:45

with some interviews, which can be found on our

26:47

Facebook page and the Blind Golf Australia Facebook

26:49

page. The YouTube

26:51

channel is just blind. Golf Australia

26:53

won the number one. And

26:55

yeah, so you'll get to see some of the interviews

26:58

that we did. We use Adelaide

27:00

as a bit of a test just to see how

27:02

people felt about it, get some feedback.

27:04

And the feedback was, I have to say,

27:06

better than what I was expecting. So,

27:09

uh, we are going to go ahead. We've actually

27:11

booked in to play a round. So the general

27:13

manager of Emerald Lakes Golf Club on the Gold

27:15

Coast, where the Australian and Open

27:18

is being held, is booked in

27:20

for a round of golf with me, where we're going to play nine

27:22

holes and Phil. But he's going to wear blackout

27:24

glasses, so.

27:25

Okay.

27:26

Well looking at things a bit differently.

27:29

Yeah. In information session

27:31

for sure. And and informative

27:33

about the sport for both new players,

27:35

caddies and potential sponsors obviously.

27:38

But we also want it to be a little bit entertaining as

27:40

well. A lot of, uh, podcasts

27:43

and YouTube channels can be very

27:45

dry, which is great, but we want

27:47

something a little bit that still gets our message

27:49

across, but will actually be

27:51

entertaining for people that don't have anything to do

27:53

with blind golf, but they just tuning in because

27:56

they think, well, this is a bit of a laugh and a bit of

27:58

fun. And it's, you know, it's a good watch.

28:00

And hopefully from that we start getting more

28:02

and more people involved, you know.

28:04

So that could lead to what are the dates for the event

28:06

in July in Queensland.

28:07

So the dates for the July the Queensland

28:10

Blind Golf Open at the All Abilities

28:12

Open, which is obviously the two events

28:14

in one, will be the 29th and 30th

28:16

of July. There'll be a rest

28:18

day on the Wednesday because I'll people like me

28:20

need to soak them up. And

28:23

then the Australian Open, which is an exclusive

28:25

and uh, the ISPs, Australian Open,

28:27

Handa, Australian Open I should say is the Thursday

28:30

and Friday and that will be just our players.

28:32

That's a standalone event and always will

28:34

be. We our national events

28:36

predominantly will always be standalone

28:38

events. We're looking at some of the state

28:41

events to become joint events

28:43

while still playing our own, uh,

28:45

standalone event in with that. And we're

28:47

doing that in WA as well this year. And that's

28:50

the event after that. So we're

28:52

getting there. I'm sure there'll be hiccups

28:54

along the way. And, you know, we will we'll

28:56

probably have to adjust stuff from time to time until

28:58

we get it exactly right, but at least we're heading

29:00

in the right direction.

29:01

Good to catch up.

29:02

Darren, mate. Absolutely pleasure, Pete. Any time

29:04

at.

29:04

All, we talk about blind golf.

29:06

Uh, check him out on Facebook and YouTube, and we'll

29:08

put some details up in our Facebook page as well.

29:12

You're listening to Focal.

29:13

Point on.

29:13

Vision Australia Radio 1190 7

29:16

a.m., PA radio, digital and

29:18

online at VA radio dot org.

29:23

Let's meet Lucy Mortimer, who's a

29:25

music teacher. Let's find out a bit about

29:27

how Lucy has got to this particular

29:29

point in her life. Lucy, lovely to meet you.

29:31

Thanks so much for your time.

29:32

Thanks for having me.

29:34

When did you.

29:34

Decide to be a music teacher?

29:36

Well, it was something I. I

29:38

loved music when I was very young.

29:40

I really enjoyed my lessons. I

29:42

really had a passion for the piano. So

29:45

on and off throughout school, my school

29:47

years. I guess I did change

29:49

my mind a few times, but then when I left

29:51

school I thought, yeah, this is it. This is what what I'd

29:53

like to do. So and

29:56

a.

29:56

Role model.

29:57

Or was there someone that you kind of knew

29:59

had gone that path?

30:00

Not really, I guess.

30:02

Um, I really looked up to my music teacher,

30:05

my piano teacher, when I was very young. She was

30:07

very talented, very dedicated,

30:10

and she really instilled

30:12

in all of us students a love for

30:14

music. Some some kids

30:17

hated it, but that's all good. But

30:20

I was one of the ones who loved it and

30:22

there were other musicians at school

30:24

who were very, very talented,

30:27

very accomplished. So I

30:29

guess they were my role models.

30:30

When you say.

30:31

School, which school was that? In the early.

30:32

Days.

30:33

So my primary school education was at Townsend

30:35

School, what has now become

30:38

Saas-fee. And then I, they

30:40

integrated me into mainstream school.

30:43

Um, so I did my teenage years

30:46

in Campbelltown High School. Yeah.

30:48

Well, you talked about your early music teacher.

30:50

That would be someone that particularly many of our

30:52

older listeners may well know.

30:54

Yeah, definitely. Lydia Jackson.

30:56

Yeah. You knew her, too.

30:57

Hey, I did know her very well. I

31:00

you know, I think she was very encouraging.

31:02

I probably didn't have much musical talent, but she was

31:04

very, very encouraging nevertheless. So

31:07

yeah, I'll always remember Libby for that.

31:09

Um, Lydia for that, I should say. Tell

31:11

us about, um, the high school

31:14

then and what that was like because, you know,

31:16

uh, Townsend School is pretty small, small

31:18

classes, small number of students, and you go to

31:20

a big school. What was that? Uh, sort

31:22

of transition period.

31:23

Like? It was.

31:24

Good. I have to say.

31:26

There was a lot of adjusting. It's very,

31:28

very different, like you said. But it's

31:31

brilliant. It's it was absolutely brilliant for

31:33

my development, for my growth as

31:35

a person, for my

31:37

maturity. I was the only

31:40

student with a vision impairment or

31:42

totally blind at the school.

31:44

So there were a few challenges,

31:46

but I made friends easily. People

31:49

were kind. Kids were kids were

31:51

kind. Teachers were very supportive.

31:53

My classroom teachers were great. So

31:56

yeah, it was just time. But everybody

31:58

has. Everyone has to adjust

32:00

regardless of whether you've

32:02

got a vision impairment or not. High school

32:05

is just a whole new game.

32:07

From primary to Charles.

32:08

You went to Campbelltown or Charles Campbell,

32:10

this, this, this was before they had their,

32:12

uh, vision impaired unit there.

32:14

Oh yeah.

32:14

Way before. So there was nobody else there

32:16

that was vision impaired. I was the only

32:19

I was the only student there. So

32:21

they were integrating students into at

32:24

Dover High School at the time. But it

32:26

was quite far away from home. And my

32:28

parents were really wanting me

32:30

to go to a school close to home.

32:33

Um, so that's where Campbelltown High

32:35

School came in.

32:36

And what about, uh, from there going

32:38

to uni? I guess, in a way, the transition

32:40

from Townsend to high school

32:42

and then from high school to uni was a little bit easier

32:45

because, you know, you've gone from a, a little

32:47

pond into a bigger pond, into an even bigger pond.

32:49

Yeah.

32:49

Yeah. Well, that's that's completely different.

32:52

I think high school was the main

32:54

that was the, the hardest

32:56

part of it, because there

32:59

were I was surrounded by other students who

33:01

could see there were there were a

33:03

lot of I mean, the teenage years are difficult

33:05

for anyone to navigate regardless

33:08

of our situation. So

33:10

once I found my way there, once I found

33:12

my feet, I was fine. So anywhere

33:14

I went after high school was not a problem

33:17

because high school was the hugest.

33:20

So I'm not I'm not doing very

33:22

well tonight.

33:24

Big day. Uh, that's all good.

33:25

That's the biggest transition.

33:27

Yeah, I.

33:28

Think we can all. We know exactly what you're saying.

33:30

So, um, what was, uh,

33:33

was music something that you kind

33:35

of majored in and then teaching, or. How

33:37

did that kind of work?

33:38

Yes.

33:39

Yeah, I majored, um, that

33:41

was my principal subject. Um,

33:43

and then I always wanted

33:46

to teach, and I must say, now I'm thinking

33:48

about it. When you ask me who my role model was,

33:50

I find myself as a teacher

33:53

going, um, going back to a lot

33:55

of Lydia's strategies. And

33:57

I understand fully, like, completely her methods

33:59

now that she used with little

34:01

children because I use those methods too.

34:04

I use a lot of her ideas,

34:06

and I wish she was around, actually,

34:08

because I'd love to be able to tell her

34:10

how much she did inspire me. I didn't

34:12

really appreciate that until

34:14

later in life.

34:16

I want to come back to that, uh, inspiring

34:18

or being a good role model before

34:20

we wrap up, but what about. Through union.

34:23

Then I guess it's, you know, not easy,

34:25

but you can get to uni. Okay, then it's

34:27

kind of getting their opportunity at employment.

34:29

That can sometimes be challenging for a person who

34:31

might be blind or have low vision.

34:33

Yeah, exactly. So I

34:35

taught from home to start with.

34:37

Even when I was studying music, I

34:39

still I had a handful of students

34:42

and then that grew. And then

34:44

some years down the track, I

34:46

actually I look back now, I think, my goodness,

34:49

how did I do this? I presented

34:51

myself, I

34:53

just presented myself at

34:55

a high school, it's Charles Campbell, and

34:57

that was the closest school to my home.

34:59

So I presented there and

35:02

just handed in some references.

35:05

Well, actually, they didn't even ask to see my

35:07

references. I had them there and they said, oh,

35:09

we've got students here that you teach. That's good

35:11

enough for us. So you can start now.

35:13

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was

35:15

pretty cool. And then and

35:17

then it grew from there.

35:19

So the, the sort of teaching

35:21

at home I guess is one thing again. But then

35:23

to sort of teach in a conventional classroom

35:25

is different from that.

35:27

Yeah.

35:27

Well, I'm not a classroom teacher.

35:30

I've got a I don't think that they allow

35:32

classroom teachers, um,

35:34

with who are totally blind.

35:36

I teach one on one or

35:39

in little pairs. So as

35:41

so I'm not actually a classroom teacher.

35:43

I'm a private music teacher working

35:45

within the school system. I was

35:47

happy for a little while, but then

35:49

they eliminated that role.

35:51

And I'm just a private

35:54

school. Uh, what am I say, private

35:56

teacher working within the school system?

35:58

So what about.

35:59

That, then? Because you're not just teaching students who are

36:01

blind or have low vision though. No, no, no kids

36:03

with sight.

36:03

Yes, most of my students

36:05

read print, so I

36:08

learned to read the print system of music because I

36:10

grew up with Braille and

36:12

I learned to read the print system of music

36:15

when I was in my late teens. And

36:17

I must say, the print is

36:20

much more logical than what Braille

36:22

is. So I looked at the

36:24

the music statement. Oh cool, this

36:26

is so easy. As the notes

36:28

go up, you go up the ladder. As the notes go down, go

36:30

down the ladder. This is great. So

36:33

when I'm teaching students, I'm

36:35

always translating in my head

36:37

from print to braille and the

36:39

other way from Braille to print. So

36:42

and I imagine reading

36:44

the, the score, the music score

36:46

as if I was one of the students doing it, so

36:48

I can understand where they're coming

36:50

from, what problems that I

36:52

can anticipate, and

36:54

what problems the students are having,

36:57

whether their fingers are sitting correctly. There's a lot

36:59

of tricks you learn with the trade. But

37:01

yeah, that's that's virtually it. I just

37:03

put myself where my student is.

37:05

And I think that's what makes any teacher

37:07

a good teacher is to put yourself in your student's

37:10

shoes. Often I can tell

37:12

when my students are going to have problems even before

37:15

they have them. What the problem is.

37:17

Yeah, that's very impressive.

37:19

Just a trick of the trade that we all do that.

37:21

Uh, yeah. A life of

37:23

experience, though, probably teaches you that as well.

37:26

Yeah. What about Lucy? Now, I'm

37:28

sure most of the students are perfect and

37:30

they never do the wrong thing, but yeah,

37:32

occasionally, I'm sure you must get someone who wants

37:34

to play up a little bit. How do you handle that?

37:36

They all want to play up a little bit. Well,

37:40

I remember when I was a kid, I played

37:42

up too. So I've got

37:45

my own coming back to me, haven't I? But

37:47

then I have. I have a boy, I have a son

37:49

at home and he's 17

37:52

now, but I, I know little

37:54

boys and there's little boys who always want

37:56

to play up and play games and, you know,

37:59

try and get one over me. But

38:02

like I said, my my son was a

38:04

little once too. So I'm,

38:06

I've got the mum thing on my side.

38:08

I know what, what they, what they get up

38:10

to. But I love teaching little boys. They're very

38:12

cute.

38:13

Haha.

38:14

Do you, um, do you find that, you know,

38:16

they might try something on once or twice and

38:18

then they think, oh, I'm not going to get get away with this with.

38:20

Uh, yeah, with.

38:21

Lucy and.

38:22

Yeah, yeah.

38:23

That that sort of.

38:23

Ceases.

38:24

Yeah, definitely. Absolutely. They pretend

38:26

that they are the student and then I know or

38:28

or they pretend they're not here and then. Well, I can

38:30

hear you breathing. So maybe that's

38:32

a dead giveaway, right.

38:36

That's amazing. Oh they play.

38:37

With one finger. They go, that was five on

38:39

there. Yeah. Well let's make it. Let's play it smooth. And

38:41

they can't do it. So that's a

38:43

dead giveaway too because they do try that

38:45

that trick a lot. Let's play with one

38:47

finger and see if we can get away with it.

38:50

Yeah.

38:50

And you're a wake up to all of it.

38:52

Yeah. You have to. Well, I've been teaching

38:54

a long, long time, so I guess I

38:56

guess that helps for sure.

38:58

And what about Braille music then? Because

39:00

I know that for many years they've had the

39:02

Braille music camp, but actually we lost, um,

39:04

a lovely lady. I don't know if you know Dorothy

39:06

Hamilton OAM who passed away last week.

39:09

Oh did she.

39:10

Yeah.

39:11

Yeah I was thinking about her the other

39:13

day. Oh that's sad 1997

39:15

Lucy.

39:16

So obviously teaching music

39:18

must give you a long life.

39:22

I agree.

39:23

But but bro.

39:24

Music if you got some thoughts about that, how important

39:27

that is. Because we often hear about bro literacy. What

39:29

about bro.

39:29

Music?

39:30

Oh, definitely. Uh, I mean,

39:32

if you can read music, you can

39:34

navigate your way through any

39:37

piece and regardless of whether

39:39

they can see or they can't or or

39:41

not see, I really try to

39:43

teach from the printed page. Not

39:45

everyone takes to it, but that's okay.

39:48

But I always try to

39:50

teach from the the printed or the braille

39:52

page because that

39:54

gives you the skills to

39:56

learn anything you want independently.

39:59

Far, far beyond the lesson

40:02

time. So I do think,

40:04

I mean, it's very time

40:06

consuming to learn braille, to learn

40:08

a piece by Braille. And I do understand

40:11

the frustration. And and especially

40:14

if you've got perfect pitch or

40:16

your ear is good, it's like, oh, let's just listen

40:18

to it and pick it up by listening to it because it's so,

40:20

so much quicker. But it

40:22

would be it's so advantageous

40:24

to build up the braille music reading

40:27

skills, because there are

40:29

some pieces where the the

40:31

harmonies are complex, and there's no way

40:33

if you do not have perfect pitch, there is no way

40:36

that you can play exactly what's

40:38

going on. So learning

40:40

from the Braille music is definitely

40:43

I would definitely advocate for that.

40:45

And in my situation where I'm

40:47

teaching lots of students

40:49

who can see and there's

40:52

a lot of different arrangements, like sometimes

40:54

simplified arrangements or different arrangements

40:56

from what I know of pieces,

40:58

I need to know exactly what's on the printed page.

41:00

So it's so that if there's a problem

41:03

then with their playing or,

41:05

you know, they come up against some sort of challenge,

41:07

then I can help them. But

41:10

if I don't have the music in Braille,

41:12

I could have a different arrangement

41:14

from what they're playing. So it's for

41:16

me, it's imperative. I had

41:18

a student, um, five years

41:21

ago. She did year 12 and she

41:23

did the Bohemian Rhapsody as

41:25

a huge piano arrangement. It's

41:27

massive. And I

41:30

that was a real challenge for me, because

41:32

I could sit at the piano and work out my own

41:34

arrangement for for Bohemian Rhapsody,

41:36

where we have the melody and all

41:39

the other parts going on. But it wasn't

41:41

exactly what was on the printed page,

41:43

so I had to get the music brailled so

41:45

I could learn note for note what she was

41:48

going to learn. Yeah, Lucy.

41:49

When we were chatting earlier, you were telling me,

41:52

um, a rather interesting little sidelight,

41:54

I guess, to when you had your child.

41:57

Do you want to share that with us and how important,

41:59

you know, maybe to have had someone to

42:02

have kind of, um, uh, been a role

42:04

model might have been for you?

42:05

Well, I didn't really

42:07

have. I had a couple of friends

42:09

that I had occasional contact

42:12

with who had children,

42:14

but I remember I always

42:17

wanted to have I always wanted to have

42:19

my own family be married and have my

42:21

own family. So if I if we

42:23

have the time, I do want to say

42:26

whether it's parents with children

42:28

who can't see or

42:30

if it's young, young girls, or

42:32

I should say young girls and boys, I won't,

42:34

um, discriminate here. It's

42:37

absolutely imperative.

42:39

It's so important to develop

42:41

skills, living skills,

42:43

so independent living skills,

42:45

and to know how to manage a home,

42:48

how to cook, how to clean. Because

42:50

I must say, my parents were very

42:52

good in that aspect. My mum made

42:54

me stand on a on a stool

42:57

and dry dishes when I was three years old.

42:59

I remember that, yes. Yeah, so

43:02

I had to always do household chores. So

43:04

my point is with parents,

43:06

if you have children, you know your

43:08

little ones can't see, have

43:10

them do household chores as soon

43:12

as as soon as they're possibly able

43:14

to encourage them, because my mum was very

43:17

good that way. And by the time

43:19

that I was married, I, I

43:21

could cook and

43:23

competently and I could clean

43:25

my own home and wash clothes. I still do it.

43:27

I manage my own home now. Um,

43:30

so all those skills are just

43:32

so important for everyday life,

43:35

and I'm so glad that,

43:37

I mean, I was ironing clothes when

43:39

I was eight, I was ironing little hankerchiefs.

43:41

And if you develop

43:43

those skills at a young age, then

43:46

it's too early for fear to

43:48

set in. So it's something that

43:50

I really, I can't say strongly

43:52

enough. It's so important for

43:54

young children to develop those

43:57

those home skills, home

43:59

living skills. Anyway,

44:01

my point was when I had,

44:03

um, I knew that I wanted to have my

44:05

own family. So eventually

44:07

I did, um, and I did have my baby,

44:10

and I looked after him at home

44:12

in the daytime on my own because my husband

44:14

worked full time. But just

44:16

a few things. I had a couple of friends who had

44:18

babies and they said

44:21

to me to make. Ensure that

44:23

your home is that you know where

44:25

everything is, what possible dangers

44:28

are around so that we can

44:30

so that you can work around them. And so

44:32

I eliminated dangers. We put child,

44:35

put child proof locks

44:37

on all our cupboards, regardless of where

44:39

they were. Lots of anything dangerous

44:42

was way up high out of reach because kids

44:44

are always into little cupboards and things.

44:46

Babies are. And I do

44:48

think that your instinct

44:50

as a mum kicks in when you when

44:53

when you have a little baby no one likes.

44:55

No one knows your baby like

44:57

you do. So there

45:00

were things. There were times where I could

45:02

hear him getting into trouble. And

45:04

a cue is that whenever

45:06

they go really, really quiet, something's up.

45:09

If I could hear, if I could hear

45:11

him quietly playing cards, that was

45:13

cool. But if I could hear nothing at all,

45:15

that was an indication he's into something he

45:17

shouldn't be. And I just had

45:19

my home. Um, just

45:21

set up so that there was nothing in the way,

45:23

no dangers inside or outside

45:26

that could present themselves.

45:28

So I knew where everything was.

45:30

I had the the front

45:32

door lock, the screen door open, but it

45:34

was locked. And the lock, the key was up

45:36

high way out of his reach. And

45:39

yeah. So there was no way that he could wander outside

45:41

or into the street or anything like that.

45:43

So a lot of things you learn as

45:45

you go. But there was one thing

45:48

that, um, that my husband said to me

45:50

once, which I thought was a really good

45:52

thing for a rainy day. Good saying for

45:54

a rainy day when when you're having one

45:56

of those days. I remember

45:58

I was feeding, um, because that's

46:00

a challenge actually getting once

46:03

you start feeding babies solids

46:05

and getting it to their mouths without making an

46:07

absolute mess of everything, um, especially

46:10

if the kid doesn't want to cooperate with you. At

46:14

one time, I was having one of those days, and he

46:16

came home and he said to me, it doesn't matter. So

46:18

if it's a bit more messy, who cares?

46:20

Yeah. He said, remember the poem

46:22

God, give me, God, give me the strength

46:25

to change what I can

46:27

to the Cyrillic. Oh, that's right, the strength

46:29

to change what I can. The serenity

46:32

to accept what I can't,

46:34

and the wisdom to know the difference.

46:36

And I think that's a really cool thing

46:39

called saying to have in life, because

46:41

there are some things you've got to accept, okay?

46:43

It's going to take a bit of time. We've got to

46:45

get there a different way, maybe,

46:47

you know, and all those that

46:50

sort of angle or sometimes

46:52

just be patient because

46:54

things will work out and if

46:56

it doesn't, it's okay. We all have

46:58

we all have good days. We all have bad days. We all

47:00

have problems, regardless of whether you can

47:02

see or not. You know things can happen at

47:04

any time. Yeah.

47:05

Lucy, thank you for speaking to us.

47:07

You're welcome. Thank you.

47:08

Lucy Moldova teacher. And also

47:11

some wonderful life lessons we can all take

47:13

something from.

47:17

Likely. You remember a few weeks ago we

47:19

caught up.

47:20

With Beck Swanson, who's the manager for

47:22

deafblind services in Australia. She

47:24

was inviting people to a deaf blind camp.

47:26

The camp has come and gone. Let's find out

47:29

how it went. And welcome back. I welcome

47:31

back, back to the program. How are.

47:33

You? Back?

47:33

I'm good. Peter, how are you doing?

47:35

I'm pretty good.

47:36

I appreciate you speaking to us because you haven't been all that

47:38

well. So great of you to have, um, given

47:40

up your time for us. How did the camp go?

47:42

Ah, like, from my perspective, it was great.

47:44

It was very smooth. Every. We

47:46

had 34 deaf, blind people

47:48

across Australia come, which is

47:51

fantastic and no major incidences.

47:53

And people were happy. And that's great

47:55

on my side. Yeah.

47:56

Tick tick tick all round. Now from

47:58

memory, it was going to be held at Phillip Island. It was going

48:01

to be at Phillip Island.

48:01

Yeah, it was at Phillip Island Adventure Resort.

48:04

It's great location, very accessible.

48:06

And I have to say, everyone told me how good the food

48:08

was. So that's to them that the food

48:10

was great.

48:11

Well, these are all important things, little

48:13

things, but they are big things in a sense.

48:15

Absolutely. Everyone loves a good meal, especially when

48:17

they go on holidays.

48:18

Yeah, that's right.

48:19

And not having to worry about the dishes etc.

48:21

makes it even more, uh, enjoyable.

48:24

Well, tell us a bit about some of the activities and

48:26

kind of some of the things that came out of it.

48:28

Yeah, sure. So I guess, um, I'll go with what

48:30

the deafblind participants told me was

48:32

their favourite activities. Um, so

48:34

definitely the favourite thing they had was

48:36

the connection and socialization, the

48:38

so isolated. But just to be with people,

48:41

you know who I like them in their community

48:43

and also being supported by

48:46

communication guides and volunteers

48:48

and students from Melbourne Polytechnic

48:50

who actually understand everything and

48:52

they don't have to re-explain their needs all the

48:54

time, really was a huge,

48:56

you know, a great few days for them just to release

48:59

that and just get to be. So that was

49:01

the number one thing. They loved

49:03

the disco. We had a disco night,

49:06

a rock and roll dress up, you

49:08

know, event on the Tuesday night.

49:10

So we had a DJ there. We

49:12

also had an Auslan interpreter

49:14

come, who is also a dance

49:16

teacher and taught everyone some rock and roll moves.

49:19

And then we, which was very cool.

49:21

And then we also had, um,

49:24

another um, company come. I don't

49:26

know if you've seen them, but those sensory vests that

49:28

are connected to the Bluetooth on the.

49:29

Oh yes. We've heard about those.

49:31

Yeah, yeah. So we had 12 of them. So everyone

49:33

was giving their go with a deep like with a vest

49:36

on. Sorry. And having a bit of a dance.

49:38

So that was definitely a great night.

49:40

And people loved it. And the costumes

49:42

were great. People talked about.

49:44

What inspired that.

49:45

What what inspired that a bit more because we haven't

49:47

spoken about it, but not everyone hears everything.

49:49

So for those that might be where it's a bit about

49:51

how they work, because I guess it gives a great,

49:53

uh, appreciation of the music, doesn't

49:55

it? Or sense of the music.

49:56

Absolutely. So from what I understand, it's

49:59

a vest that is connected to the Bluetooth

50:01

on the computer, obviously. And when the

50:03

sounds and the beats, you know, go boom,

50:05

boom, boom, that's what people

50:08

feel through the vests. And

50:10

yeah, so they can feel the rhythm, I guess, of the

50:12

music, um, and dance to that if

50:14

they can't hear it. Um, and there were also

50:16

so there were vests, but there were also wristbands as

50:18

well, so they could feel it on their breasts if they

50:21

didn't want to have too much sensory going

50:23

on in their body, they could just do the wristbands

50:25

as well.

50:25

It's incredible how much technology can

50:28

kind of contribute in ways that, you know, us

50:30

mere mortals might not think of.

50:31

Definitely me, me, me as a mere mortal

50:34

as well, with no real tech understanding

50:36

of how it works. I gave it a go. It was

50:38

excellent, and I also was on like someone

50:40

else had the vest on and I put my back to

50:42

their best and I could also feel the

50:45

music, which was pretty cool.

50:46

And I mean, you touched on that social interaction.

50:48

I mean, that is so important. And you touched

50:50

on the isolation, which again, is something

50:53

that, um, many of us kind of got a bit

50:55

of an idea about during Covid. But,

50:57

you know, in everyday life, we kind of don't

50:59

appreciate how much that social

51:02

connection, that interaction is. And for

51:04

someone who's deaf, blind, they kind of, you know, they

51:06

kind of, um, find that challenging,

51:08

uh, at the best of times.

51:10

Yeah. You're completely right, Peter. And I guess also

51:12

in Covid, we weren't allowed to touch

51:14

anyone and were not allowed to do that. But

51:17

obviously Deaf Blind World is tactile,

51:19

so having to be removed from their

51:21

only sense of real, not

51:24

only but one of their major senses

51:26

was also quite difficult. So no

51:28

one got Covid at camp two, which was great. I was very

51:30

happy about that one.

51:31

That's a real plus. I'm

51:33

very.

51:33

Happy about that.

51:34

One.

51:34

And of course, you've got the situation where, you know, masks

51:37

were very much, uh, mandatory

51:39

for a lot of the time. And again, you know, people that might lip

51:41

read were, um, you know, sort of, uh, uh,

51:44

cancelling out again.

51:45

Well, sort of there was legislation that

51:47

said that you didn't have to have a mask on.

51:49

Yeah, if you needed to communicate. So we

51:51

just went with whoever needed lip reading

51:54

or used mouth patterns. We just didn't

51:56

wear them based on the legislation, so

51:58

didn't want to put our people we support at

52:00

more isolation.

52:03

Good point.

52:03

What about some of the more, uh, shall we say,

52:05

adventurous activities? I think you hinted at? There

52:08

might be some coming up when we spoke, uh, previewing

52:10

the camp. Yeah, well.

52:11

They were more adventurous than me. So people

52:13

loved the big swing, like,

52:15

you know, like a flying fox with. A flying fox

52:18

and a big swing. So they were very

52:20

popular and people absolutely loved

52:22

them. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do the canoeing

52:24

because, you know, it was raining and

52:27

the water wasn't safe. And a little bit, I don't know,

52:29

must have had too much bacteria. So

52:31

we missed out on that. That's all right,

52:33

I guess. Not one of the risky activities, but

52:35

something that they really enjoyed is they went and did a

52:37

wine tasting at a winery

52:39

in the in Phillip Island and

52:41

learnt, you know, the different scents and smells

52:43

and tastes of wine. So

52:46

that was pretty popular as well. People love that.

52:48

I guess, again, it's maybe an opportunity that,

52:50

uh, we're not with something like this that

52:52

might not present itself or, you know, you'd have

52:54

to go seeking it out rather than it be presented to

52:56

you in a camp situation.

52:58

Yeah, absolutely. We like like the deafblind

53:00

community told me just what I followed.

53:03

It's an adult camp for adults,

53:05

and that's part of it. What we all want

53:07

to do when we go on holidays, have a glass

53:09

of wine or have good food

53:12

and enjoy the, you know, the local area.

53:14

And that's what we wanted to do.

53:15

What happens after a camp like this? I guess there's

53:17

well, there's probably connections that get rekindled

53:19

from previous, uh, catch ups

53:21

and also, um, new connections

53:24

and new friendships get made.

53:25

Absolutely.

53:26

So I think people hadn't seen each other along for

53:28

a long time because of all over

53:30

the country anyway. But then flights

53:32

are expensive to get around, and they're more expensive

53:35

now after Covid for some reason.

53:37

And then some people have access to emails

53:39

and some don't. Communication can be quite tricky.

53:42

So they loved catching up with people they hadn't seen

53:44

for years and years. Some people

53:46

had been on camp 15 times before, which

53:49

I thought was incredibly impressive, but

53:51

there were another four people

53:53

who had never met a deaf blind person

53:55

before or not connected to anyone

53:57

in their community before. So that was really,

54:00

you know, a light bulb moment for them as well to really

54:02

connect with, like

54:04

versus like, which was great. So I know

54:06

that there's holidays planned

54:08

between them, you know, to

54:10

just, I don't know, build their

54:12

relationships stronger.

54:14

Brilliant.

54:15

Becky, you touched on some of the kind of,

54:17

uh, support that was in place. So with volunteer

54:19

success, you want to kind of expand a bit on that?

54:21

Yeah.

54:21

So there was support workers or we call them communication

54:23

guides because they were all about communication.

54:26

So people had a choice if they wanted to

54:28

bring their preferred communication

54:30

guide. And that gets funded normally through

54:32

NDIS or whatever. It works.

54:35

Not everyone has enough money or,

54:37

you know, don't have preferred people, or there also

54:39

aren't enough communication guides in the country,

54:41

which is a whole different problem. So

54:44

we got volunteers to join up

54:46

as well, which the volunteers were

54:48

excellent. Some of the volunteers are just people

54:50

who have been around the deaf blind community before.

54:52

Others we partnered with Melbourne Polytechnic,

54:55

where they do the Auslan courses

54:58

in in Melbourne and

55:00

had a lot of students come as well. So

55:02

they were all, we're rostered everybody.

55:04

So everyone had two supports so they

55:06

could obviously so people could have breaks

55:08

and regain their energy. But I have

55:10

to say the comm guides and the volunteers were just

55:12

excellent, like a really excellent

55:15

bunch of very passionate people who really

55:17

care about the deaf blind community. And I guess.

55:19

From a professional development point of view, they would

55:21

have got plenty out of something like this. I mean, you can

55:23

learn this sort of stuff, but when you're kind of

55:25

living it or experiencing it, uh, that

55:27

that's uh, you know, that's a further plus, isn't

55:29

it?

55:30

Oh, absolutely. It's such an isolating

55:32

job being a communication guide, working,

55:34

you know, 1 to 1, not seeing

55:36

your wider team, just

55:38

being out in the community, which is great. Everyone gets

55:41

to live their life the way they want. But professional

55:43

development and just asking, oh, how do I do this

55:45

better? Or you know, those kind

55:47

of questions. At camp, everyone

55:50

could just see the really incredibly

55:52

experienced people or jump

55:54

in and help each other. There was so much support,

55:56

just not just for the deaf blind, but for the

55:58

wider group that was there. So they really

56:00

all got to build their skills. It was a beautiful

56:03

to watch, really.

56:04

And the, uh, states in terms of representation

56:07

of people from most of the states and territories,

56:09

yeah.

56:09

The only place we didn't have was

56:11

the Northern Territory. Uh, so,

56:14

you know, some people, again, flights were too

56:16

expensive or couldn't come. A few people

56:19

did get Covid beforehand, so didn't

56:21

come. But, you know, 34 people.

56:23

I'm very happy with that. The great turnout.

56:26

And what about from here back, uh, do you

56:28

start planning for the next one?

56:29

Uh, I've been asked.

56:31

I've been asked, um, it

56:33

really NDIS doesn't fund

56:35

this anymore. So it's all really another

56:38

grant. And we got that grant from the

56:40

Lionel and Yvonne Spencer grant,

56:42

if we're lucky enough to get another one. Sure.

56:44

But yeah, it's very it's used

56:46

to be funded by, you know, block funding

56:49

before NDIS. Right. And now

56:51

we just apply for grants and hope we get it.

56:53

I'd have to say it would only be every two years.

56:55

I couldn't do it every year.

56:56

Well, it.

56:57

Sounds like it's very much worthwhile. And,

56:59

uh, you know, for those that

57:01

went maybe two years would go by pretty quickly

57:04

and hopefully the next one will happen as well.

57:06

Yeah. Thank you Peter.

57:07

Great to catch up. Thanks. That's a lovely summary.

57:09

And uh, all the best to all those that took part. It

57:11

sounds like it was most, most worthwhile.

57:13

Peter got out of it by, uh, all those that attended.

57:16

We appreciate you.

57:17

Good a child with us.

57:17

No worries. Thank you. Peter.

57:19

That's a big.

57:19

Swanson. Who's the manager for deaf? Blind? Serves

57:21

the table. Australia. It's about the deaf blind camp.

57:24

The very, very successful deaf blind camp

57:26

held just a few weeks ago on Phillip Island.

57:31

I ordered a scallop shell of the week. It's coming

57:34

up this Sunday evening. 640

57:36

SBS Movie Channel The

57:39

Defiant Ones rated PG.

57:41

This features two men from

57:44

different races who hate each other.

57:46

They make a grand escape from

57:48

a chain gang shackled together.

57:51

Starring get This, Tony

57:53

Curtis, Sidney Poitier

57:55

and Carol Williams. So

57:58

that is certainly something to behold. The

58:01

Defiant Ones this coming Sunday evening.

58:03

640 SBS Movie Channel

58:05

The Defiant Ones rated PG

58:08

and Sidney Poitier, Guess Who's Coming to

58:10

Dinner and what was that other one?

58:12

That wonderful movie, um, to

58:14

Sir with love. What about that song

58:16

by Lulu? To sir with love. How

58:18

can you thank someone who is taking you from

58:20

crayons to perfume? I'm

58:23

getting a little misty eyed. Anyway, that's that ordered

58:25

described movie of the week. Uh,

58:27

please, uh. Sample it. Enjoy it.

58:29

I'm sure it sounds like it's going to be great.

58:31

Certainly for, um, people who like the old style

58:34

movies from, uh oh, a few years ago.

58:36

You will really love that. Some birthdays

58:38

before we go, happy birthday to Doctor

58:41

James Muki 2020 Australian

58:43

of the year does great work with his site for all

58:45

foundations. So happy birthday to you James.

58:48

Also very happy birthday to Evie

58:50

Wilson, a wonderful technologist

58:52

and advocate. Happy birthday to you Evie

58:54

and gentleman John Bastian's having

58:56

a birthday. Granger John, happy birthday

58:59

to you. Hope life is going well. Very

59:01

much involved with the early days of Focal

59:03

Point with ideas and contacts, and

59:05

appeared on the program a few times and

59:07

been a great friend for a long, long time.

59:09

So happy birthday to you John! Hope things

59:12

are going really, really well. Speaking

59:14

about the great friends of the program, got a lovely,

59:16

lovely email from Karen over there

59:18

in Western Australia early in the week saying

59:20

how much she, uh, Karen enjoyed the

59:22

interview with Kylie Forth, that

59:25

wonderful sailor. So Karen, thank you

59:27

so much for all the great work you do behind the

59:29

scenes and in the community there in

59:31

Western Australia in particular. Uh, very

59:33

lovely to receive your email. Very

59:35

much appreciated. Sam. Richard,

59:37

thanks so much for your help. Pam Green, thanks

59:40

so much for yours. Reminding you that Focal

59:42

Point is available on your favorite

59:44

podcast platform. You

59:46

can't yourselves be thoughtful of

59:48

others all being well focal

59:50

point back at the same time next week.

59:53

This is Peter Greco saying on behalf

59:55

of Philip Napier and a big cheerio

59:57

to Wendy McDougall. This program

1:00:00

is focal point coming to you

1:00:02

from Vision Australia radio from

1:00:04

Greenland. See you next week.

1:00:10

White white, white white. There.

1:00:12

I bet you thought we didn't

1:00:14

remember. Well, we

1:00:16

had a party today at Vision Australia, Radio

1:00:19

Adelaide, and yes, we did

1:00:21

remember Glenn Butcher sang us a few

1:00:23

songs and he sang us this beauty.

1:00:25

Last up, over to you, Glenn.

1:00:30

Happy birthday

1:00:32

to you. Happy

1:00:39

birthday, dear Peter.

1:00:43

Happy birthday.

1:00:46

You. Thank

1:00:54

you.