June 14, 2023 • 14 mins
As of the start of this year Vision Extra in Adelaide has been subsumed by Peter's other Wednesday night show Focal Point. For the time-being Vision Extra (as is being broadcast in the other states) is being podcast as well However this interview is also available in the Focal Point Podcast: https://omny.fm/shows/focal-point
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:15):
On Vision Australia Radio. This is Vision Extra with Peter Greco.
S2 (00:22):
I'm absolutely delighted to welcome the program. Alliterative Peter, who
is the project officer for DeafBlind Information Australia. It's a
lovely to meet you. First time we spoke and say
thank you so much for your time.
S3 (00:34):
Peter Thank you so much for having me.
S2 (00:35):
Yeah, you've been doing some really interesting research. We actually
spoke about this when it first started, a research into
technology that people are deafblind using. Do you want to
give us a bit of background as to how all
this has come about And then we can talk about
some early findings?
S3 (00:51):
Yes. So deaf blindness is a unique disability. It's a
combination of the vision loss and hearing loss. For people,
there are different levels of hearing loss and vision loss
and the combination of this presents challenges relating to communications,
access to information, orientation, mobility and awareness of your environment.
(01:15):
So with the Technology Project, it was launched in February
2020 so that Australia and our research team from university
can help the blind community to look at some technology
that could help to assist them with their everyday activities.
(01:37):
Prior to this, there was a technology hub that was
up and running and Flinders Lane in Melbourne City and
that was called Able Link run by Australia and that
was a centre where people could drop in and try
different bits of technology whenever they were in the area
or whenever they could plan to get there. But with
the services moving to NDIS, that particular service was discontinued.
(02:02):
So we tried to launch the technology project to maintain
the support, to reach out to the community and see
what the technology needs are and how we could assist
to support them in the areas that are already mentioned
of communications information and access to support.
S2 (02:22):
I mean, that's such important things aren't that communication, access
to information, orientation and mobility. It's all about quality of life.
It's all about independence. So were you pleased with the response?
Because I guess you can have these really good ideas
and then it's up to the community. If you'd like
to kind of respond to a survey or research like
(02:43):
this where you pleased with the response?
S3 (02:45):
Yes. So the project was open to all people with
deaf blindness over the age of 18. So all the
participants that we had a residents of four of our
homes here in Melbourne, so we had participants from four
of those houses as well as those some people who
resided in the community. And there was always an opportunity
(03:08):
for them to accept or to leave at any time.
And people were happy to participate and provide information to
the project so that we could also support them.
S2 (03:17):
So when you talk about technology, what sort of technology
specifically are we talking about? I guess, you know, as
you said, you know, deaf blindness, hearing and vision impairment,
it can vary so much from person to person. I
guess also the technology they use can vary as well.
S3 (03:33):
Yeah, definitely. So we have people that use Braille and
they were looking at purple displays to pair with things
like iPads and iPhones. We also had people who use
magnification and had goals around, you know, access to printed
or digital print. So those are people that looked at CCTVs.
(03:55):
And what.
S2 (03:56):
About, as I said, it's in the early stages of,
I guess, findings. Is there a common theme that's coming
up or what what are you gaining from the information
that people have responded with?
S3 (04:07):
So the early findings are that we discovered that the
questions that we use, the tools that we used for
for the assessments sometimes had to. Modified so that there
could be a better suited to the community. Sometimes would
be the sorts of tools that have repetitive questions, maybe
(04:29):
suitable in some situations, but for the different community, the
experience a lot of some people experience a lot of
fatigue if you think about how they communicate with the signing.
So we wanted to simplify the surveys and make it
more accessible and more enjoyable for them. Also, we found
that a lot of people were already using mainstream technology
(04:52):
and a lot of cases, and we also found that
it wasn't just simple to just give someone technology. They
had to be the background support to it. They had
to be people there to help the participants with the
ongoing support. So we have a client who the behavioral
(05:12):
support specialists help to recommend apps for the clients, use
on her iPad, and that enables her to recognize colors and,
you know, trace colors like she could trace a color
on its own, like she could recognize green, she could
even trace it in a pattern or such as a rainbow.
(05:33):
And that would give her good quality time with staff members.
And staff members have to be trained in order to
support the participants to make the most of the technology
that is given to them. So those are early things
that we discovered early on.
S2 (05:49):
That is such a great point you make about the
training because you can have the greatest technology out there,
but if either the individual or, as you say, staff
aren't trained in the area to work to get the
best out of it, that can kind of be that
can be a bit challenging, can it?
S3 (06:05):
Yeah. And our participants are people that require a lot
of supports. And because the project started in February 2020,
there was a big delay when Covid happened because you
just can't interview people over the phone or over Zoom.
They need their support there. They need, you know, interpreters
(06:26):
or their guides. So com guides are basically support workers
who have extra training to be supportive to people with
deaf blindness. So they give them information about their environment
and their surroundings and who's in the room, that sort
of thing. So that's just supporting that access to information
and technology and also their surroundings. So we can't just
(06:51):
operate a a research project during Covid. And this there
was a lot of delays there. But also in providing
the technology, we need the support of our behavior support specialists,
speech pathologists and occupational therapists and other professionals to be
able to provide the right support to ensure that the
(07:12):
people have the right supports behind them and that they
have the right apps. And yeah, to be able to
operate the technology that they have.
S2 (07:20):
It's a bit like the old thing about you don't
know what you don't know. And sometimes if people can
point you in the right direction, they can make a
lot of difference. What about from here or later? What
happens from here? These are some of the early findings.
What's kind of the next step from here?
S3 (07:36):
So the project is in that's wrap up stage now.
So the we don't have the final data. So later
on we'd be happy to come back and share the
final results with you. But for now, all the participants
receive a report or recommendations that they can use to
(07:56):
obtain the required mainstream technology that they need. The research
findings will also assist us to lobby the Ndia and
any other appropriate service for better supports for people with
deaf blindness, not just better access to technology, but also
(08:17):
better access to the human supports like we spoke about.
So they have that assistance to be able to make
the most of technology and to improve the quality of
life and access to information and and communications. But it
could also support any other future research.
S2 (08:36):
That is such a great point about kind of then
representing it or presenting it to the NDIS because the
NDIS for a lot of people is a great thing.
It works really, really well. But if they can, as
in the NDIS, can be aware of information like this,
people in the future are going to get even more
from the NDIS plan if they can have this as
(08:57):
a reference point as well. So this is going to
be quite a powerful tool and quite a powerful thing
for people to be using it, not just now but
in the future as well for people or deafblind in
well years to come.
S3 (09:09):
It's so important because with the NDIS is always a
they seem to want to avoid technology. I see is,
you know, everyday equipment, like, for example, a TV with
a large screen. They wouldn't see that as a disability aid,
but that hinders a person to access subtitles, which hinders
(09:32):
their access to information, communications and all of that. So
that sort of thing we're really including in this research,
it's a human right to be able to access information
and to understand what's happening in the world where you
in in your surroundings.
S2 (09:48):
That is a brilliant point because, you know, someone might
like it because, you know, they've got their sight, they've
got their hearing and they like the big screen to
show off to their mates or, you know, sit around
watching sport. But that is such a wonderful example that
you've given there of the fact that the captioning can
come up and people can get much better use from it.
(10:09):
So we're congratulations on, on on this initiative. So the research,
if you like, was from people in Melbourne. So would
there be perhaps, you know, opportunities in the future for
other people or deafblind outside Melbourne? Do you think there.
S3 (10:24):
May be opportunities in the future? I guess once we
wrap up this research and we have the final information
and then I guess we'll know what you know, we
will head on from there. Yeah, but it's been a
great project apart from the interviews, because our research team,
(10:44):
when we're in university, they travel out to the client's
homes or in a, you know, a familiar place where
they meet them with their communication supports and and go
through their technology that they're using and how they could
what other technology could support them. We also ran a
(11:05):
couple of commentary days. We had several pieces of equipment
there that people could come and try. Our last one,
which was held in February, we had six different providers there,
so I was representing Australia and we also had an Oti.
We had human wear displaying and medication and we also
(11:28):
had new eyes. And that was amazing because one of
our clients who was looking at magnification and in particular
looking at the new eyes glasses, to be able to,
you know, go to the footage like everybody else and
be able to see from afar and not have to
hold binoculars to his eyes and, you know, have that
fatigue of so the new eyes glasses where he could
(11:51):
just have it sitting on his head and adjusting the magnification.
So he was able to come to the commentary day
in February and and try that in person. And that
was amazing. And we had the actual people from the
organizations or from the manufacturing services there. So we had
a guy from New York and he could actually explain
(12:11):
and assist and show that piece of equipment in detail.
And we had the interpreters and supports there to be
able to communicate that well with our clients. So that
was a very successful day. We also had two people
from Virgin Australia. We had someone from the government services
as well as an OEM instructor and he was very
popular on the day because he was he was displaying,
(12:34):
you know, these smart phones with the technology, the haptics.
So that was very popular on the day he was
helping people to navigate around the the building with their
eyes closed and just relying on the the haptic signals
in the phone. So that was amazing day. Yeah.
S2 (12:52):
You made some very, very powerful points in the last
10 or 12 minutes. It's been really wonderful to speak
to you. Thank you for joining us. And as you said,
when you get the final results from this, you'd love
to report back and we'd love to have you back,
because this has been most, most interesting. And as I
mentioned with, of course, Helen Keller Week and DeafBlind Awareness
(13:14):
Week coming up as well. But it's a topic that
is relevant to 24 over seven, particularly obviously for people
who are deafblind. Thank you again so much for spending
a bit of time loose and continue. Good work. We
look forward to speaking to you again in the future.
S3 (13:24):
Thank you, Peter. Thank you very much.
S2 (13:26):
That was fascinating. That's all little professor there who is
a project officer for DeafBlind Information Australia. That is it
for the program. If you've missed some of them, if
you'd like to hear it again, you can search for
an extra on the iTunes store on Spotify or your
favorite podcast service.
On Vision Australia Radio. This is Vision Extra with Peter Greco.
S2 (00:22):
I'm absolutely delighted to welcome the program. Alliterative Peter, who
is the project officer for DeafBlind Information Australia. It's a
lovely to meet you. First time we spoke and say
thank you so much for your time.
S3 (00:34):
Peter Thank you so much for having me.
S2 (00:35):
Yeah, you've been doing some really interesting research. We actually
spoke about this when it first started, a research into
technology that people are deafblind using. Do you want to
give us a bit of background as to how all
this has come about And then we can talk about
some early findings?
S3 (00:51):
Yes. So deaf blindness is a unique disability. It's a
combination of the vision loss and hearing loss. For people,
there are different levels of hearing loss and vision loss
and the combination of this presents challenges relating to communications,
access to information, orientation, mobility and awareness of your environment.
(01:15):
So with the Technology Project, it was launched in February
2020 so that Australia and our research team from university
can help the blind community to look at some technology
that could help to assist them with their everyday activities.
(01:37):
Prior to this, there was a technology hub that was
up and running and Flinders Lane in Melbourne City and
that was called Able Link run by Australia and that
was a centre where people could drop in and try
different bits of technology whenever they were in the area
or whenever they could plan to get there. But with
the services moving to NDIS, that particular service was discontinued.
(02:02):
So we tried to launch the technology project to maintain
the support, to reach out to the community and see
what the technology needs are and how we could assist
to support them in the areas that are already mentioned
of communications information and access to support.
S2 (02:22):
I mean, that's such important things aren't that communication, access
to information, orientation and mobility. It's all about quality of life.
It's all about independence. So were you pleased with the response?
Because I guess you can have these really good ideas
and then it's up to the community. If you'd like
to kind of respond to a survey or research like
(02:43):
this where you pleased with the response?
S3 (02:45):
Yes. So the project was open to all people with
deaf blindness over the age of 18. So all the
participants that we had a residents of four of our
homes here in Melbourne, so we had participants from four
of those houses as well as those some people who
resided in the community. And there was always an opportunity
(03:08):
for them to accept or to leave at any time.
And people were happy to participate and provide information to
the project so that we could also support them.
S2 (03:17):
So when you talk about technology, what sort of technology
specifically are we talking about? I guess, you know, as
you said, you know, deaf blindness, hearing and vision impairment,
it can vary so much from person to person. I
guess also the technology they use can vary as well.
S3 (03:33):
Yeah, definitely. So we have people that use Braille and
they were looking at purple displays to pair with things
like iPads and iPhones. We also had people who use
magnification and had goals around, you know, access to printed
or digital print. So those are people that looked at CCTVs.
(03:55):
And what.
S2 (03:56):
About, as I said, it's in the early stages of,
I guess, findings. Is there a common theme that's coming
up or what what are you gaining from the information
that people have responded with?
S3 (04:07):
So the early findings are that we discovered that the
questions that we use, the tools that we used for
for the assessments sometimes had to. Modified so that there
could be a better suited to the community. Sometimes would
be the sorts of tools that have repetitive questions, maybe
(04:29):
suitable in some situations, but for the different community, the
experience a lot of some people experience a lot of
fatigue if you think about how they communicate with the signing.
So we wanted to simplify the surveys and make it
more accessible and more enjoyable for them. Also, we found
that a lot of people were already using mainstream technology
(04:52):
and a lot of cases, and we also found that
it wasn't just simple to just give someone technology. They
had to be the background support to it. They had
to be people there to help the participants with the
ongoing support. So we have a client who the behavioral
(05:12):
support specialists help to recommend apps for the clients, use
on her iPad, and that enables her to recognize colors and,
you know, trace colors like she could trace a color
on its own, like she could recognize green, she could
even trace it in a pattern or such as a rainbow.
(05:33):
And that would give her good quality time with staff members.
And staff members have to be trained in order to
support the participants to make the most of the technology
that is given to them. So those are early things
that we discovered early on.
S2 (05:49):
That is such a great point you make about the
training because you can have the greatest technology out there,
but if either the individual or, as you say, staff
aren't trained in the area to work to get the
best out of it, that can kind of be that
can be a bit challenging, can it?
S3 (06:05):
Yeah. And our participants are people that require a lot
of supports. And because the project started in February 2020,
there was a big delay when Covid happened because you
just can't interview people over the phone or over Zoom.
They need their support there. They need, you know, interpreters
(06:26):
or their guides. So com guides are basically support workers
who have extra training to be supportive to people with
deaf blindness. So they give them information about their environment
and their surroundings and who's in the room, that sort
of thing. So that's just supporting that access to information
and technology and also their surroundings. So we can't just
(06:51):
operate a a research project during Covid. And this there
was a lot of delays there. But also in providing
the technology, we need the support of our behavior support specialists,
speech pathologists and occupational therapists and other professionals to be
able to provide the right support to ensure that the
(07:12):
people have the right supports behind them and that they
have the right apps. And yeah, to be able to
operate the technology that they have.
S2 (07:20):
It's a bit like the old thing about you don't
know what you don't know. And sometimes if people can
point you in the right direction, they can make a
lot of difference. What about from here or later? What
happens from here? These are some of the early findings.
What's kind of the next step from here?
S3 (07:36):
So the project is in that's wrap up stage now.
So the we don't have the final data. So later
on we'd be happy to come back and share the
final results with you. But for now, all the participants
receive a report or recommendations that they can use to
(07:56):
obtain the required mainstream technology that they need. The research
findings will also assist us to lobby the Ndia and
any other appropriate service for better supports for people with
deaf blindness, not just better access to technology, but also
(08:17):
better access to the human supports like we spoke about.
So they have that assistance to be able to make
the most of technology and to improve the quality of
life and access to information and and communications. But it
could also support any other future research.
S2 (08:36):
That is such a great point about kind of then
representing it or presenting it to the NDIS because the
NDIS for a lot of people is a great thing.
It works really, really well. But if they can, as
in the NDIS, can be aware of information like this,
people in the future are going to get even more
from the NDIS plan if they can have this as
(08:57):
a reference point as well. So this is going to
be quite a powerful tool and quite a powerful thing
for people to be using it, not just now but
in the future as well for people or deafblind in
well years to come.
S3 (09:09):
It's so important because with the NDIS is always a
they seem to want to avoid technology. I see is,
you know, everyday equipment, like, for example, a TV with
a large screen. They wouldn't see that as a disability aid,
but that hinders a person to access subtitles, which hinders
(09:32):
their access to information, communications and all of that. So
that sort of thing we're really including in this research,
it's a human right to be able to access information
and to understand what's happening in the world where you
in in your surroundings.
S2 (09:48):
That is a brilliant point because, you know, someone might
like it because, you know, they've got their sight, they've
got their hearing and they like the big screen to
show off to their mates or, you know, sit around
watching sport. But that is such a wonderful example that
you've given there of the fact that the captioning can
come up and people can get much better use from it.
(10:09):
So we're congratulations on, on on this initiative. So the research,
if you like, was from people in Melbourne. So would
there be perhaps, you know, opportunities in the future for
other people or deafblind outside Melbourne? Do you think there.
S3 (10:24):
May be opportunities in the future? I guess once we
wrap up this research and we have the final information
and then I guess we'll know what you know, we
will head on from there. Yeah, but it's been a
great project apart from the interviews, because our research team,
(10:44):
when we're in university, they travel out to the client's
homes or in a, you know, a familiar place where
they meet them with their communication supports and and go
through their technology that they're using and how they could
what other technology could support them. We also ran a
(11:05):
couple of commentary days. We had several pieces of equipment
there that people could come and try. Our last one,
which was held in February, we had six different providers there,
so I was representing Australia and we also had an Oti.
We had human wear displaying and medication and we also
(11:28):
had new eyes. And that was amazing because one of
our clients who was looking at magnification and in particular
looking at the new eyes glasses, to be able to,
you know, go to the footage like everybody else and
be able to see from afar and not have to
hold binoculars to his eyes and, you know, have that
fatigue of so the new eyes glasses where he could
(11:51):
just have it sitting on his head and adjusting the magnification.
So he was able to come to the commentary day
in February and and try that in person. And that
was amazing. And we had the actual people from the
organizations or from the manufacturing services there. So we had
a guy from New York and he could actually explain
(12:11):
and assist and show that piece of equipment in detail.
And we had the interpreters and supports there to be
able to communicate that well with our clients. So that
was a very successful day. We also had two people
from Virgin Australia. We had someone from the government services
as well as an OEM instructor and he was very
popular on the day because he was he was displaying,
(12:34):
you know, these smart phones with the technology, the haptics.
So that was very popular on the day he was
helping people to navigate around the the building with their
eyes closed and just relying on the the haptic signals
in the phone. So that was amazing day. Yeah.
S2 (12:52):
You made some very, very powerful points in the last
10 or 12 minutes. It's been really wonderful to speak
to you. Thank you for joining us. And as you said,
when you get the final results from this, you'd love
to report back and we'd love to have you back,
because this has been most, most interesting. And as I
mentioned with, of course, Helen Keller Week and DeafBlind Awareness
(13:14):
Week coming up as well. But it's a topic that
is relevant to 24 over seven, particularly obviously for people
who are deafblind. Thank you again so much for spending
a bit of time loose and continue. Good work. We
look forward to speaking to you again in the future.
S3 (13:24):
Thank you, Peter. Thank you very much.
S2 (13:26):
That was fascinating. That's all little professor there who is
a project officer for DeafBlind Information Australia. That is it
for the program. If you've missed some of them, if
you'd like to hear it again, you can search for
an extra on the iTunes store on Spotify or your
favorite podcast service.
Popular Podcasts
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com