October 5, 2025 • 15 mins
Eliza Grogan, State Lead from Vision Store Services in Brisbane, chats with Peter Greco about Vision Australia Community Inclusion Expo coming up on 11th October. The event will be held 2 to 5 pm at the Amora Hotel 200 Creek Street Brisbane, just before the Blind Australian of the Year Gala event.
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S1 (00:13):
We've chatted about the blonde Australian of the year. One
of the partners of the event is Vision Australia, and
they're having something on just before the big red carpet event.
Let's chat about it with Eliza Grogan. Eliza, great to
meet you and thank you for your time.
S2 (00:26):
Thank you so much, Peter. This is pretty excited. Yes.
S1 (00:29):
Yeah, you should be, because it's a big event. The
blonde Australian of the year growing every year as far
as sort of impetus and gravitas goes. And you're going
to be there, I guess, in the afternoon.
S2 (00:39):
Yeah. That's exactly right. Yeah. We are very, very excited
to be a sponsor of the event and actually have
an expo before the gala, which is, yeah, just a
free community inclusion expo, basically, which runs from 2 to
5 p.m. before the gala event on Saturday the 11th
of October.
S1 (00:57):
And it's an important word there. Free.
S2 (00:59):
Yes that's right. Yeah, absolutely. So everybody's most welcome to come.
And we are coming I'm from the vision store of
Vision Australia. So we're very excited to bring a bunch
of our equipment to showcase as well.
S1 (01:10):
Okay. We'll talk about some of the equipment you bring
because there's always new people listening in. We can't always
assume that everyone knows what might be in the store,
or what things are out there that can help people's
quality of life. So give us a bit of an
idea of what you'll be taking along.
S2 (01:23):
Yeah, you're spot on, Peter, and that's exactly what we
want to do. We don't just want to bring in
the high end tech things. We want to bring in
products that people might not be familiar with and things
that help assist with basic kind of things, like making
things bigger or bolder or brighter brailled, tactile and talking.
So we want to give a small look into a
(01:46):
wide range of equipment, basically, and that's going to include
things like magnifiers, whether they be your traditional kind of
inspector type magnifiers that you hold onto, or digital magnifiers,
which a lot of people have no idea that they exist.
We'll also bring other daily living aids, things like large
print keyboards, phones with big buttons, portable lamps, writing materials,
(02:10):
things like bold line Pens and paper will also bring
braille and tactile items as well, which are really, really
useful for people that don't have usable vision and rely
more on touch and feel. So things like bump dots
that you can use to mark where the start button
is on your microwave, or the aircon remote control. Um,
(02:30):
when we're getting into summer, um, all of those kinds
of things will be bringing along just to showcase a
bit of the range. Um, there's so much that we
stock we've got, I think about a thousand different items.
S1 (02:41):
Okay.
S2 (02:42):
People have, you know, you can't remember all of those
things and you might not know that a lot of
them exist. So yeah, we'll just bring a small range.
But there's um, yeah, it should be a good sample
of everything that we've got.
S1 (02:52):
I wouldn't like to be there when you do your stocktaking.
S2 (02:54):
Yeah, exactly.
S1 (02:54):
A thousand items. Good luck with that.
S2 (02:56):
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
S1 (02:57):
Unless you make a really good point about the bump dots,
because you don't have to be a fluent Braille reader
to kind of have that sort of integrated into your
life that can make a huge difference.
S2 (03:06):
Yeah. Spot on. And that's and that's right. Sometimes things
like learning Braille or adapting to a really complicated type
of technology might be a bit overwhelming for certain people.
It might be a bit too much and bump dots.
It's literally just a tactile raised lump that you can
put on things, and you'd be surprised at how much
that can open up using things like remote controls or
(03:29):
other kinds of white goods or appliances around the house.
They're they're little, they're cheap, but they're super effective.
S1 (03:35):
Yeah, well, cheap as well, which is very important. And
you make a great point about the fact that, uh,
you know, putting on your microwave or your air conditioner, etc., because,
I mean, those of us who are blind or have
low vision, we have to live in a sighted world.
And a lot of this equipment is not made for
people who are blind or low vision in sight. So
we've got to be kind of clever and work work
our way around it.
S2 (03:55):
Yes, but on and there's so many touch screens out
there these days or touch or displays and um, for
a lot of those kinds of things, either utilizing bump
dots or tactile markers or using other kinds of workarounds,
like for example, we've got a large print, um, universal
remote control, which is really good for, you know, complicated
(04:16):
smart TVs and that sort of thing, because the remote,
you can pair the few buttons on there to whatever
buttons you're most frequently using on your smart remote. So
instead of looking around for the teeny tiny little Netflix button,
you can just whack one big one and away you go.
So we've got lots of little tools like that that
you can use. Um, and.
S1 (04:34):
Again, these days that the TVs are so smart, but
they're almost too smart for some of us. And if
you've got something that can kind of almost bring it
down to our kind of level understanding or what just
makes it practical for us, I mean, it's not so
much that we, you know, don't get it, but we
don't need it. And sometimes there's a lot of stuff
that you can have that you think, well, that's a
bit superfluous, but if you can kind of narrow it
down to the stuff that's practical to your everyday use,
(04:56):
then it's a good thing.
S2 (04:57):
Absolutely. And we're really keen to just be there for
people to have a chat to as well, because we're
really familiar with these, you know, thousand different items. So
if people have a particular issue or a problem that
they want to come and talk about. We might be
able to offer some solutions as well. And we're also
bringing a lot of information with us about the range
of Vision Australia services, outside of just the equipment that
(05:18):
we also provide to, so we can discuss those kinds
of options with anyone who's interested in learning more about us,
about all the range of allied health services and the
other Vision Australia services that we have to.
S1 (05:31):
I'll come back to the second. But you also touched
on another important thing that the big button phones or
the phones that have got tactile buttons. I mean, again,
you know, those, uh, clever people that can use those
flat screens and navigate those screens really well, that's great
for them. But, you know, sometimes that old fashioned, if
I can call it big button phone or that tactile
keyboard is such a a comforting thing as well to
(05:52):
be able to use.
S2 (05:53):
That's right. And not not everybody wants to use a
touch screen and learn how to use gesture swiping. It
is a great option for those that would like to
do that, but it's not always suitable and some people
just don't like it. And that's fair enough too. So
we've got a couple of options there. We do have
the big button phones and for example, the blind shell,
which is a mobile phone that has a tactile keypad
and reads everything out loud to you. But then we
(06:14):
also have other kind of complementary devices, things like the
sense player, which sort of acts like a device that
you can pair to your smartphone and then use it
as a tactile keypad to actually navigate through your phone.
That's really cool too. Or like the Ray-Ban meta glasses.
That's kind of the hot topic at the moment, because
you can pair those to your glasses and then give
(06:35):
it audio commands. Say things like, hey, meta, look and
tell me what you see, or hey, meta, look and
read this text to me. And that can be really
quite world opening as well because it's quite simple, but
it's doing something really complicated in the background.
S1 (06:50):
Yeah. And you know, if you're, you know, maybe for
whatever reason, maybe your fingers and hands don't work as
well as you might like because of arthritis or things
like that. You know, using your voice can be a
very powerful thing. That can also be very helpful.
S2 (07:03):
Yeah, absolutely. Spot on.
S1 (07:05):
You talked about the blind shelf, which is very, very popular.
I think there's a new version of that out too,
isn't it?
S2 (07:10):
That's right. Yeah. Just recently released is the Blind Shelf
Classic three. So this is the third iteration of the phone,
and it's come with some really good improvements. Um, one
of them being a new AI voice assistant, which is
a significant improvement on the previous one. It's got that
kind of Hey Siri type function that you might be
used to on other kinds of smartphones, and, um, is
(07:32):
a lot. I just made my phone start listening to
me by saying that, um, and it's a lot better
at picking up kind of those types of cues, saying,
call this person or write this message. It's, um, a
significant improvement on the previous models, which is really, really exciting.
S1 (07:46):
Terrific. All right. Well, that'll be then. I guess people
can have a bit of a or at least a
bit of a feel of it because sometimes, you know,
it's great. I heard about this on the radio, but
if you can get it in your hand, that kind
of makes a bit of a difference as well, doesn't it?
S2 (07:56):
Yeah, for sure. And then we, you know, encourage anybody
to even just drop into their local store. I'm in Brisbane,
so we've got a store here at Cooper Roo which
is open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. And we've
got all of this equipment out on display. And we're
here to guide people through. We can show you all
the basic functions of each item and let you actually
touch and feel it and play with it, because sometimes
(08:17):
you don't know until you give it a go as well.
S1 (08:19):
Sure, they talked about the technology, lots of different things
there that can help our quality of life. What about
some of the services, the kind of, um, you know,
face to face services or the services that rely on humans?
S2 (08:30):
Yeah, that's that's right. There's quite a big range. And
we do have a lot of allied health type services,
which sort of look at people that do have low vision.
What we can do is actually have one of our
Orthoptists do a low vision assessment with you, and that
looks at your functional vision. How much vision do you have?
Where is it? How do you use it? How can
(08:52):
we get the most out of it? And that can
be things like recommending tailored lighting or magnification solutions and
working with you to find the best products available. We
also have occupational therapists as well, and one of the
most valuable services that our OTS provide is actually doing
home visits to assess your environment and your skills of
(09:15):
daily living, and look at any kind of technology or
strategies or skills that might help you to do the
things that you love, just with a little bit of
help or a little bit of guidance. Basically looking at
things like, do you need some more lighting in the house? Um,
are there ways that we can make your kitchen more
accessible so that you can use it more? Really practical
type of things. And it's all based on what individuals
(09:37):
want to do, which I think is really important. So
it's totally guided by our clients or our people and
what they want to get out of the service. Basically,
that also extends to our orientation and mobility specialists as well,
who are our professionals that don't just do things like
teach you how to use a cane, although they do
do that, but also, you know, how can we safely navigate,
(09:59):
how can I catch public transport easily when I can't
see where the free seat is on the bus, how
can I navigate? Um, yeah, a bus route to work,
all sorts of kinds of things. And it's such a
valuable service. And then even how can I use my
technology to help me get around easier using Google Maps, GPS,
integrating all the technology with your getting around safely. And, um,
(10:22):
these are just a couple of the the allied health
services that we have, plus our access technology specialists. With
all of the complicated tech that I've been talking about,
they're the ones that can help you understand it, unpack it,
and teach you how to use it as well, which
is a very valuable service.
S1 (10:39):
Sure. Like you talked about not coming into your home,
which is so important because you might have lived there
for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and maybe the last
five or so years, your sight has deteriorated a bit
and you still do things or have things set out
the way you used to, and maybe they might be
able to work out a better way. And they're right
there to see what your environment is like and say, well,
what about trying this?
S2 (11:00):
Yeah, that's that's exactly right. It's a very valuable service
being able to come in into the home, look at
what you've got. And also there's a lot of benefit
in seeing people in their home environment as well, because
lots of our clients who are blind or have low
vision will already have strategies that they do to either
put things in certain places or just ways of navigating around.
(11:21):
And yeah, utilizing their own skills and strategies so they
can look to kind of enhance those rather than just
teaching you something brand new that's, you know, completely irrelevant.
And you're starting again. There's a lot of benefit to
doing that. Absolutely.
S1 (11:34):
And these people are well trained and well qualified in
their abilities. And they, you know, they spend years and
years studying and and then obviously they have their the
time when they get their practical experience. So they're right
up with the latest but also I guess very empathetic
at the same time.
S2 (11:50):
Yeah. That's that's right. And I think that's the difference
with Vision Australia service providers. Um, like our OTS, they are,
you know, specialists in this kind of space with adapting
to vision loss, with working with people who are blind.
They know the strategies and they can help you implement
them in your day to day lives.
S1 (12:09):
You talked about orientation mobility. Of course, that doesn't mean
that everyone has to have a dog guide if you
choose to use the cane, or maybe if you've got
enough sight to be able to get around a bit
more safely or a bit more independently, you know, you
can be helped in those sort of areas as well.
S2 (12:23):
Yeah, that's that's right. And it really all all comes
back to our mission statement. It's about the lives that
people want to live. It's the life that you choose.
And none of our service providers are ever looking to,
you know, tell you no or tell you you can't
do it that way. It's all about you. Set your
own goals. What do you want to achieve and how
(12:43):
can we help, basically. And, um, I think we're all
quite creative as well in the way that we want
to approach these things, whether it's looking at, you know,
something like tactile markers or if it is technology or
if it is just strategies or free apps that you
can download on your phone, it's all good. It just
depends on what's going to be right for you, basically. Yeah.
S1 (13:02):
Fantastic. Now it's the 11th of October which is a Saturday.
S2 (13:06):
Mhm. That's right. Yes. And we've got our um our
expo from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. And um, we'll
be there with all of these goodies for you to
have a look at. Um, and that's at the Amora Hotel, uh,
which is in Creek Street in the Brisbane CBD.
S1 (13:20):
Now, you said at the top of the interview it's free.
Would you like people to book or to RSVP just
so you've got a bit of an idea of how
many people might be there or could rock up on
the day?
S2 (13:30):
You could just rock up on the day where there'll
be plenty of us available. So I don't think we're
going to get overwhelmed. There'll be plenty of us there
to answer any inquiries that anyone has. So yeah, come
on down, check it out and ask us any questions
that you might have.
S1 (13:43):
You say you work in the store so you know
the sort of stuff and, you know, you can refer.
I guess people can also take information away with them too,
because sometimes it's hard to digest it all at once.
S2 (13:53):
Absolutely. Yeah. And if there are any, you know, things
that you might want to ask, take some brochures away
and then come and visit us later or give us
a call. You're most welcome to. Yeah, absolutely.
S1 (14:02):
Just give us the details again. So it's the 11th
of October, which is a Saturday at 2 p.m. to
5 p.m.. The address again.
S2 (14:09):
It's the Amora Hotel, which is at number 200 Creek
Street in the Brisbane CBD.
S1 (14:14):
Terrific. So great to talk to you. Congratulations on the initiative.
And I know that, uh, well, it'll be a great
afternoon and night, won't it, with your, uh, community engagement
event and then also the Blind Australian of the year
announcement later on in the evening. So be a very
full day.
S2 (14:28):
Yes, yes. Very exciting for the gala and the announcement
of the award recipient and all of that kind of thing, too. So, yeah,
it should be a great day and we're very, very
happy and grateful to be involved.
S1 (14:37):
Have a rest on Sunday.
S2 (14:39):
That's it.
S1 (14:39):
Yep. Thanks a lot.
S2 (14:41):
Excellent. Thank you so much Peter.
S1 (14:43):
Grogan there from Australia. That's a great event. It's certainly
worth getting along to. And as always, if you miss
any of those details check out our show notes. All
those details will be there. And again, if you missed
or can't have access to those, call us here at
the radio station and we'll pass the information on.
We've chatted about the blonde Australian of the year. One
of the partners of the event is Vision Australia, and
they're having something on just before the big red carpet event.
Let's chat about it with Eliza Grogan. Eliza, great to
meet you and thank you for your time.
S2 (00:26):
Thank you so much, Peter. This is pretty excited. Yes.
S1 (00:29):
Yeah, you should be, because it's a big event. The
blonde Australian of the year growing every year as far
as sort of impetus and gravitas goes. And you're going
to be there, I guess, in the afternoon.
S2 (00:39):
Yeah. That's exactly right. Yeah. We are very, very excited
to be a sponsor of the event and actually have
an expo before the gala, which is, yeah, just a
free community inclusion expo, basically, which runs from 2 to
5 p.m. before the gala event on Saturday the 11th
of October.
S1 (00:57):
And it's an important word there. Free.
S2 (00:59):
Yes that's right. Yeah, absolutely. So everybody's most welcome to come.
And we are coming I'm from the vision store of
Vision Australia. So we're very excited to bring a bunch
of our equipment to showcase as well.
S1 (01:10):
Okay. We'll talk about some of the equipment you bring
because there's always new people listening in. We can't always
assume that everyone knows what might be in the store,
or what things are out there that can help people's
quality of life. So give us a bit of an
idea of what you'll be taking along.
S2 (01:23):
Yeah, you're spot on, Peter, and that's exactly what we
want to do. We don't just want to bring in
the high end tech things. We want to bring in
products that people might not be familiar with and things
that help assist with basic kind of things, like making
things bigger or bolder or brighter brailled, tactile and talking.
So we want to give a small look into a
(01:46):
wide range of equipment, basically, and that's going to include
things like magnifiers, whether they be your traditional kind of
inspector type magnifiers that you hold onto, or digital magnifiers,
which a lot of people have no idea that they exist.
We'll also bring other daily living aids, things like large
print keyboards, phones with big buttons, portable lamps, writing materials,
(02:10):
things like bold line Pens and paper will also bring
braille and tactile items as well, which are really, really
useful for people that don't have usable vision and rely
more on touch and feel. So things like bump dots
that you can use to mark where the start button
is on your microwave, or the aircon remote control. Um,
(02:30):
when we're getting into summer, um, all of those kinds
of things will be bringing along just to showcase a
bit of the range. Um, there's so much that we
stock we've got, I think about a thousand different items.
S1 (02:41):
Okay.
S2 (02:42):
People have, you know, you can't remember all of those
things and you might not know that a lot of
them exist. So yeah, we'll just bring a small range.
But there's um, yeah, it should be a good sample
of everything that we've got.
S1 (02:52):
I wouldn't like to be there when you do your stocktaking.
S2 (02:54):
Yeah, exactly.
S1 (02:54):
A thousand items. Good luck with that.
S2 (02:56):
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
S1 (02:57):
Unless you make a really good point about the bump dots,
because you don't have to be a fluent Braille reader
to kind of have that sort of integrated into your
life that can make a huge difference.
S2 (03:06):
Yeah. Spot on. And that's and that's right. Sometimes things
like learning Braille or adapting to a really complicated type
of technology might be a bit overwhelming for certain people.
It might be a bit too much and bump dots.
It's literally just a tactile raised lump that you can
put on things, and you'd be surprised at how much
that can open up using things like remote controls or
(03:29):
other kinds of white goods or appliances around the house.
They're they're little, they're cheap, but they're super effective.
S1 (03:35):
Yeah, well, cheap as well, which is very important. And
you make a great point about the fact that, uh,
you know, putting on your microwave or your air conditioner, etc., because,
I mean, those of us who are blind or have
low vision, we have to live in a sighted world.
And a lot of this equipment is not made for
people who are blind or low vision in sight. So
we've got to be kind of clever and work work
our way around it.
S2 (03:55):
Yes, but on and there's so many touch screens out
there these days or touch or displays and um, for
a lot of those kinds of things, either utilizing bump
dots or tactile markers or using other kinds of workarounds,
like for example, we've got a large print, um, universal
remote control, which is really good for, you know, complicated
(04:16):
smart TVs and that sort of thing, because the remote,
you can pair the few buttons on there to whatever
buttons you're most frequently using on your smart remote. So
instead of looking around for the teeny tiny little Netflix button,
you can just whack one big one and away you go.
So we've got lots of little tools like that that
you can use. Um, and.
S1 (04:34):
Again, these days that the TVs are so smart, but
they're almost too smart for some of us. And if
you've got something that can kind of almost bring it
down to our kind of level understanding or what just
makes it practical for us, I mean, it's not so
much that we, you know, don't get it, but we
don't need it. And sometimes there's a lot of stuff
that you can have that you think, well, that's a
bit superfluous, but if you can kind of narrow it
down to the stuff that's practical to your everyday use,
(04:56):
then it's a good thing.
S2 (04:57):
Absolutely. And we're really keen to just be there for
people to have a chat to as well, because we're
really familiar with these, you know, thousand different items. So
if people have a particular issue or a problem that
they want to come and talk about. We might be
able to offer some solutions as well. And we're also
bringing a lot of information with us about the range
of Vision Australia services, outside of just the equipment that
(05:18):
we also provide to, so we can discuss those kinds
of options with anyone who's interested in learning more about us,
about all the range of allied health services and the
other Vision Australia services that we have to.
S1 (05:31):
I'll come back to the second. But you also touched
on another important thing that the big button phones or
the phones that have got tactile buttons. I mean, again,
you know, those, uh, clever people that can use those
flat screens and navigate those screens really well, that's great
for them. But, you know, sometimes that old fashioned, if
I can call it big button phone or that tactile
keyboard is such a a comforting thing as well to
(05:52):
be able to use.
S2 (05:53):
That's right. And not not everybody wants to use a
touch screen and learn how to use gesture swiping. It
is a great option for those that would like to
do that, but it's not always suitable and some people
just don't like it. And that's fair enough too. So
we've got a couple of options there. We do have
the big button phones and for example, the blind shell,
which is a mobile phone that has a tactile keypad
and reads everything out loud to you. But then we
(06:14):
also have other kind of complementary devices, things like the
sense player, which sort of acts like a device that
you can pair to your smartphone and then use it
as a tactile keypad to actually navigate through your phone.
That's really cool too. Or like the Ray-Ban meta glasses.
That's kind of the hot topic at the moment, because
you can pair those to your glasses and then give
(06:35):
it audio commands. Say things like, hey, meta, look and
tell me what you see, or hey, meta, look and
read this text to me. And that can be really
quite world opening as well because it's quite simple, but
it's doing something really complicated in the background.
S1 (06:50):
Yeah. And you know, if you're, you know, maybe for
whatever reason, maybe your fingers and hands don't work as
well as you might like because of arthritis or things
like that. You know, using your voice can be a
very powerful thing. That can also be very helpful.
S2 (07:03):
Yeah, absolutely. Spot on.
S1 (07:05):
You talked about the blind shelf, which is very, very popular.
I think there's a new version of that out too,
isn't it?
S2 (07:10):
That's right. Yeah. Just recently released is the Blind Shelf
Classic three. So this is the third iteration of the phone,
and it's come with some really good improvements. Um, one
of them being a new AI voice assistant, which is
a significant improvement on the previous one. It's got that
kind of Hey Siri type function that you might be
used to on other kinds of smartphones, and, um, is
(07:32):
a lot. I just made my phone start listening to
me by saying that, um, and it's a lot better
at picking up kind of those types of cues, saying,
call this person or write this message. It's, um, a
significant improvement on the previous models, which is really, really exciting.
S1 (07:46):
Terrific. All right. Well, that'll be then. I guess people
can have a bit of a or at least a
bit of a feel of it because sometimes, you know,
it's great. I heard about this on the radio, but
if you can get it in your hand, that kind
of makes a bit of a difference as well, doesn't it?
S2 (07:56):
Yeah, for sure. And then we, you know, encourage anybody
to even just drop into their local store. I'm in Brisbane,
so we've got a store here at Cooper Roo which
is open Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. And we've
got all of this equipment out on display. And we're
here to guide people through. We can show you all
the basic functions of each item and let you actually
touch and feel it and play with it, because sometimes
(08:17):
you don't know until you give it a go as well.
S1 (08:19):
Sure, they talked about the technology, lots of different things
there that can help our quality of life. What about
some of the services, the kind of, um, you know,
face to face services or the services that rely on humans?
S2 (08:30):
Yeah, that's that's right. There's quite a big range. And
we do have a lot of allied health type services,
which sort of look at people that do have low vision.
What we can do is actually have one of our
Orthoptists do a low vision assessment with you, and that
looks at your functional vision. How much vision do you have?
Where is it? How do you use it? How can
(08:52):
we get the most out of it? And that can
be things like recommending tailored lighting or magnification solutions and
working with you to find the best products available. We
also have occupational therapists as well, and one of the
most valuable services that our OTS provide is actually doing
home visits to assess your environment and your skills of
(09:15):
daily living, and look at any kind of technology or
strategies or skills that might help you to do the
things that you love, just with a little bit of
help or a little bit of guidance. Basically looking at
things like, do you need some more lighting in the house? Um,
are there ways that we can make your kitchen more
accessible so that you can use it more? Really practical
type of things. And it's all based on what individuals
(09:37):
want to do, which I think is really important. So
it's totally guided by our clients or our people and
what they want to get out of the service. Basically,
that also extends to our orientation and mobility specialists as well,
who are our professionals that don't just do things like
teach you how to use a cane, although they do
do that, but also, you know, how can we safely navigate,
(09:59):
how can I catch public transport easily when I can't
see where the free seat is on the bus, how
can I navigate? Um, yeah, a bus route to work,
all sorts of kinds of things. And it's such a
valuable service. And then even how can I use my
technology to help me get around easier using Google Maps, GPS,
integrating all the technology with your getting around safely. And, um,
(10:22):
these are just a couple of the the allied health
services that we have, plus our access technology specialists. With
all of the complicated tech that I've been talking about,
they're the ones that can help you understand it, unpack it,
and teach you how to use it as well, which
is a very valuable service.
S1 (10:39):
Sure. Like you talked about not coming into your home,
which is so important because you might have lived there
for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, and maybe the last
five or so years, your sight has deteriorated a bit
and you still do things or have things set out
the way you used to, and maybe they might be
able to work out a better way. And they're right
there to see what your environment is like and say, well,
what about trying this?
S2 (11:00):
Yeah, that's that's exactly right. It's a very valuable service
being able to come in into the home, look at
what you've got. And also there's a lot of benefit
in seeing people in their home environment as well, because
lots of our clients who are blind or have low
vision will already have strategies that they do to either
put things in certain places or just ways of navigating around.
(11:21):
And yeah, utilizing their own skills and strategies so they
can look to kind of enhance those rather than just
teaching you something brand new that's, you know, completely irrelevant.
And you're starting again. There's a lot of benefit to
doing that. Absolutely.
S1 (11:34):
And these people are well trained and well qualified in
their abilities. And they, you know, they spend years and
years studying and and then obviously they have their the
time when they get their practical experience. So they're right
up with the latest but also I guess very empathetic
at the same time.
S2 (11:50):
Yeah. That's that's right. And I think that's the difference
with Vision Australia service providers. Um, like our OTS, they are,
you know, specialists in this kind of space with adapting
to vision loss, with working with people who are blind.
They know the strategies and they can help you implement
them in your day to day lives.
S1 (12:09):
You talked about orientation mobility. Of course, that doesn't mean
that everyone has to have a dog guide if you
choose to use the cane, or maybe if you've got
enough sight to be able to get around a bit
more safely or a bit more independently, you know, you
can be helped in those sort of areas as well.
S2 (12:23):
Yeah, that's that's right. And it really all all comes
back to our mission statement. It's about the lives that
people want to live. It's the life that you choose.
And none of our service providers are ever looking to,
you know, tell you no or tell you you can't
do it that way. It's all about you. Set your
own goals. What do you want to achieve and how
(12:43):
can we help, basically. And, um, I think we're all
quite creative as well in the way that we want
to approach these things, whether it's looking at, you know,
something like tactile markers or if it is technology or
if it is just strategies or free apps that you
can download on your phone, it's all good. It just
depends on what's going to be right for you, basically. Yeah.
S1 (13:02):
Fantastic. Now it's the 11th of October which is a Saturday.
S2 (13:06):
Mhm. That's right. Yes. And we've got our um our
expo from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.. And um, we'll
be there with all of these goodies for you to
have a look at. Um, and that's at the Amora Hotel, uh,
which is in Creek Street in the Brisbane CBD.
S1 (13:20):
Now, you said at the top of the interview it's free.
Would you like people to book or to RSVP just
so you've got a bit of an idea of how
many people might be there or could rock up on
the day?
S2 (13:30):
You could just rock up on the day where there'll
be plenty of us available. So I don't think we're
going to get overwhelmed. There'll be plenty of us there
to answer any inquiries that anyone has. So yeah, come
on down, check it out and ask us any questions
that you might have.
S1 (13:43):
You say you work in the store so you know
the sort of stuff and, you know, you can refer.
I guess people can also take information away with them too,
because sometimes it's hard to digest it all at once.
S2 (13:53):
Absolutely. Yeah. And if there are any, you know, things
that you might want to ask, take some brochures away
and then come and visit us later or give us
a call. You're most welcome to. Yeah, absolutely.
S1 (14:02):
Just give us the details again. So it's the 11th
of October, which is a Saturday at 2 p.m. to
5 p.m.. The address again.
S2 (14:09):
It's the Amora Hotel, which is at number 200 Creek
Street in the Brisbane CBD.
S1 (14:14):
Terrific. So great to talk to you. Congratulations on the initiative.
And I know that, uh, well, it'll be a great
afternoon and night, won't it, with your, uh, community engagement
event and then also the Blind Australian of the year
announcement later on in the evening. So be a very
full day.
S2 (14:28):
Yes, yes. Very exciting for the gala and the announcement
of the award recipient and all of that kind of thing, too. So, yeah,
it should be a great day and we're very, very
happy and grateful to be involved.
S1 (14:37):
Have a rest on Sunday.
S2 (14:39):
That's it.
S1 (14:39):
Yep. Thanks a lot.
S2 (14:41):
Excellent. Thank you so much Peter.
S1 (14:43):
Grogan there from Australia. That's a great event. It's certainly
worth getting along to. And as always, if you miss
any of those details check out our show notes. All
those details will be there. And again, if you missed
or can't have access to those, call us here at
the radio station and we'll pass the information on.
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