LiveWire June 2008

View a PDF version of this edition of the newsletter.

Farewell to a Friend and Colleague

“All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves.” Amelia Barr After nearly 12 years, Lee Kumutat is leaving Quantum and she will certainly be leaving behind an enduring legacy. This would include the thoughtful and expert assistance she has provided to children, their parents and many adults throughout Australia and New Zealand, and many friends within the blindness community as well as her work colleagues.

She has shown incredible dedication to the job; living as she does “half way to Canberra”, just getting to and from work each day has been a marathon. She has also travelled extensively both domestically and internationally for Quantum and is a very positive role model for young people who are blind and sometimes view travel as a major obstacle.

Lee has decided that Quantum is not a life-long sentence and is heading off to the UK to find new challenges and experiences. Part of that will include undertaking further studies as part of the degree she has been doing in her “spare” time. To help us farewell Lee we are holding a small event here at Quantum on Thursday 26th of June and everyone is invited. Festivities will start at 4.00pm and continue on into the evening. There will be a minimum of speeches but hopefully much singing and carousing! Please RSVP to or phone (02) 8844 9888.

We haven’t forgotten Beau, but let’s face it, the dog always gets most of the attention, so we have left him to last. Beau has been a wonderful ambassador for Quantum and will be sorely missed. Take the greatest of care Beau, as you guide a wonderful team off into the future.

Seminars and Training

In the last three months alone Quantum has held seminars and expo events in 27 locations throughout Australia and New Zealand. On top of that we held 15 events around the visit from Freedom Scientific in May, and 14 days of individual and group training. Some may well ask WHY? Well the answer is that we believe strongly that assistive technology is best understood when a potential user actually gets their hands on whatever device they may need and are able to experience it directly.

We have talented staff who have a full time job organising these events and ensure they reach as wide an audience as possible. If you have any ideas about events that may be useful in your community please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Mountbatten in India

As the last Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten played a pivotal role in the development of the modern democratic India we know today. It is particularly fitting that a product bearing his name is starting to also help blind children in India achieve education and equality.

In March this year, our Managing Director, Tim Connell visited the spectacular and remote state of Arunachal Pradesh in north east India. This is a little known area that is wedged between Burma to the south and China to the north, and shares a western border with Bhutan. The purpose of the visit was to install a Mountbatten Brailler and a Braille production facility in an orphanage, Manjushree Vidyapith.

The project was 100% funded by the Australian High Commission in India under the Direct Aid Program, and was aimed at providing Braille educational materials for students at the orphanage who are blind, and also as a resource for the local area. Manjushree was founded 10 years ago by a Buddhist monk, Lama Thupten Phuntsok to take in children from the surrounding region that had been orphaned or left destitute. It is situated on the side of a picturesque valley in the mighty Himalayas near the town of Tawang and is around 3500 metres above sea level. The two and a half day drive to get to the nearest major city of Guwahati in Assam, takes you over several passes that are at 4,500 metres.

Manjushree now has 160 students and the demand is growing all the time. Many of the children have suffered shocking accidents and illnesses and bear the scars such as missing limbs. There is no doctor or medical clinic in the area, the nearest being a two day drive away. Children with disabilities in such a remote area would typically have a very limited future and almost universally receive no education. Manjushree is making profound changes in the lives of all its children, but especially those with disabilities.

The facilities at Manjushree are at best described as rudimentary, with no heating and some classrooms in the open with just a lean-to roof. The open air classrooms can only be used in spring and summer as temperatures remain below zero for much of winter. Facilities for sport and recreation are also very limited with one worn out soccer ball being used at every possible opportunity.

Yet, what is most noticeable as soon as you enter Manjushree is the beaming smiles of the children, and the sound of happy play. It is a stark reminder for many of us in the west that happiness is not based on material possessions, and that even when you have very little there is always hope and the potential for happiness. The students are also unerringly polite and all speak three languages fluently, English, Hindi and the local language of the Monpa people. They take great pride in their school uniforms, which includes a bright red jumper, a donation from supporters in the Netherlands.

Jombay Dolmar is 14 years old and has been at Manjushree for two years. She had previously received no education and is currently at a Grade 3 level. However, she is very bright, is learning very fast, and is determined to catch up to her peers! For several years prior to arriving at Manjushree, Jombay had been responsible for looking after her three younger siblings, including cooking their food, cleaning the house and washing the families’ clothes. Jombay has been blind since birth.

Manjushree is funded entirely from sponsorships and donations and it is a testament to the dedication and tireless energy of Lama Phuntsok that they have achieved so much.

We are confident that Lord Mountbatten would be very pleased with this particular part of his legacy, in a country that played such an important role in his life.

For further information on Manjushree Orphanage visit http://manjushreeorphanage.org/

Mountbatten in Australia

Despite the success of the Mountbatten Brailler around the world there is still a surprising lack of support or recognition of it from blindness organisations, educational authorities or government agencies in Australia. A picture from the front page of the SPEVI Website (South Pacific Educators of the Vision Impaired) shows a young blind child using the Perkins. The student is having to lean her whole body weight into the action of writing, has her fingers cupped and is using multiple fingers to push down each key. Is this “best practice” in Australia today?

At Quantum we support the Perkins as an important tool for Braille but should it be the ONLY tool available for early learners and young children? The vast majority of young blind children in Australia today only have access to a Perkins. The disparity between expectations for sighted children and blind children is just extraordinary. And this is happening in one of the richest countries of the world.

Resources for Parents

The Association for Children with a Disability NSW (ACD NSW) is a non-profit registered charity, run solely by parents who seek to help other families in situations similar to their own.

ACD NSW has developed two publications to help guide families with a child or young adult with a disability through the maze of information. The books were launched by the Hon. Kristina Keneally MP on Wednesday 30 April 2008.

The “pocketsize” publication, “HELPING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY”, was designed for families with a child who is newly diagnosed with a disability. It deals with the issues that will face the family at that early stage, focusing on emotional and relationship issues, with a brief overview of the service system.

The larger publication, “THROUGH THE MAZE”, is a comprehensive guide to disability services in NSW for families, parents and carers. It covers the stages from diagnosis of a disability through to adulthood. It is a guide to the services available and a key to understanding the way the service system works but also provides information on advocating for your child and the financial and legal options available to support your child.

Both books are written by parents of children with a disability so the books are full of handy hints and coping mechanisms. An electronic copy of the books will be made available on the ACD NSW website (www.acdnsw.org.au ) after the Launch. Printed copies are available by contacting Katrina Clark on 02 9416 1725 or by email at

Resources for Children

The following product is not supplied by Quantum but we think they might be a lot of fun for kids who are blind or vision impaired. If you need additional information you can find them on the web at www.smencils.com.au/ or phone them on 1300 7636 2457

Gourmet Scented Pencils

At last, fundraising with a purpose! This year, raise funds for your school, club, community group or anything else with these great, environmentally friendly pencils. As they like to say at Smencils Australia, "FUNDRAISING WITH A FUTURE". They come in several fun gourmet scents! And, yes - they really are pencils made from sheets of newspaper instead of wood - you can actually see the layers of newspaper when you sharpen them! They sharpen the same as all other wood pencils and they SMELL WAY BETTER! Not only do Smencils smell great, but they look great too. Each one has a colourfully designed wrapping on it that coordinates with the scent. each Smencil comes in its own freshness tube. All the materials used to make Smencils are completely safe for adults and children.

New equipment helps Tim look to the future

Story by: Jodie van de Wetering. ABC Wide Bay Qld

A Bundaberg student will have a fresh perspective on his studies, with a new piece of equipment which will enable him to read both the classroom whiteboard and regular sized printed text.

Tim Robertson is a grade nine student at Bundaberg State High School. He took delivery of the new device under the watchful eye of Glen Zerafa, who travelled to Bundaberg from the Sunshine Coast to deliver and install the machine.

"It's what we generally call adaptive technology," Mr Zerafa explained. "It allows the user to interface with material he otherwise wouldn't be able to, due to low vision. It basically has a camera on it, and it takes a photograph of the work he's doing or the whiteboard. It takes a snapshot of it, to allow Tim to read and digest it at his own pace."

The device is connected to Tim's laptop with a USB cable, and creates a magnified image on the computer screen. "I'll be able to read the board now, and small print books, which is a good thing," Tim said. "I can't read small print books, so we've just had to try to find large print ones. I have to have a teacher aide who reads everything to me from the board, and photocopies everything and enlarges it so that I can see it.This is a lot better, it's going to make it a bit easier to do what I want to do."

Tim's mother Sandra Robertson said a lot of work was done to get the new device, both in terms of securing funding from the Variety Club and making sure they were getting the most appropriate equipment. "It's not just a case of getting the funding, which was a really hard part, but a matter of finding the right technology for Tim as well.”

"Tim's very good with technology. He loves to build things and to read, and now he can actually read books that have small print, which is really good because it's very difficult to find large print books for a teenager." Glen Zerafa said the technology was quite common in various different forms.

"It ranges from learning disabilities and young children right through to mature people who suffer from macular degeneration, so there is a whole range of equipment and machinery available to various people," Mr Zerafa said. "The suitability to each candidate is the important thing, to make sure they can use it in their particular application."

Mr Zerafa said the technology varies from $3,000 to $5,000, with Tim's device in the $4,000 range. "That's a pretty big investment for a family or a student to have to make by themselves."

Marie Blundell, head of special education services with Bundaberg State High School, said the new equipment would give Tim more independence, and also free up school resources. "Tim will be able to access his curriculum so much more easily, and his independence is a big thing. He's a very intelligent boy, and he does need to be able to access that curriculum more easily than he can at the moment. It's not just school, his personal life will benefit as well because he'll be able to do more reading at home. At the moment to accommodate Tim we have to use a lot of teacher aide hours. He has a one-on-one teacher aide all day every day, which is a big drain on resources because we're not resourced to that level."

Vale John Button

John Button, who sadly passed away in April this year, played a pivotal role in securing the Mountbatten Brailler project for Australia.

In late 1987, as the Federal Minister for Industry, Technology and Commerce, Senator Button personally wrote to Prince Charles in his capacity as Chairman of the Mountbatten Memorial Trust. On one of the few days he had for vacation that year, Senator Button was on a boat fishing in Port Phillip Bay, when he dictated a letter that encapsulated all the reasons why Australia made an ideal country in which to commercialise the Mountbatten Brailler. He described the industrial environment, the support for and funding of R&D, and Australia’s long standing reputation for innovation. As he said in his speech when launching the Mountbatten Brailler a few years later, “the fish weren’t biting that day – I had a bit of time on my hands”!

Quantum was competing at the time against German, American and British companies and Senator Button’s intervention was crucial to us winning the tender.

Senator Button proudly launched the Mountbatten at the Powerhouse Museum in August 1990 and described the Mountbatten as “a true technological breakthrough and a case history of something that has gone right in this country”.

His passing is a great loss to all of us, and there are many thousands of young blind children, both here in Australia and around the world that will forever be indebted to him.

Cool School on the Airwaves!

RIDBC Teleschool

The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) has recently extended its services to support school-aged children who have a vision impairment. RIDBC Teleschool provides services to children who have a vision impairment and who live in rural and remote areas of Australia.

Families can access the service from the time of their child’s diagnosis through the end of their child’s schooling. The program provides vision impairment knowledge, expertise and resources to the family and/or school, and aims to ensure that children in regional and remote areas receive similar quality educational services to those available within metropolitan regions.

Braille and adaptive technology instruction, as well as other core curriculum and disability specific learning needs, are addressed through individualized programs. RIDBC Teleschool offers regular contact for families and schools through video conferencing, phone calls, email or post. The program is designed to complement local services. Appropriate resources are mailed out to families and are used during the video conferences which take place at a local studio or in the family home. In many cases the video conferencing technology support and equipment can be provided by RIDBC. RIDBC Teleschool works collaboratively with other services and is available at no cost to the family.

If you would like to know more about this innovative service, please visit: www.ridbc.org.au ,Phone: Melissa McCarthy 1300 131 923 or Email:

Open Letter

From: Andrew Daly, Executive Director, Royal Society for the Blind (RSB) South Australia

I write to seek your support of the World Blind Union, Equipment Recycling Scheme. As you may be aware this is an Australian and New Zealand initiative that was created and approved at last years Regional Assembly.

The concept is based on using the internet as a tool to match surplus or recycled low tech equipment with South Pacific organisations in need. From an individual agencies perspective all that is required is that they advise Ms Carolyn Phillips the web administrator on of what surplus or recycled equipment is available. Agencies requiring support will email your nominated contact person and request the equipment from you. If you are able to help with a request all that we ask is you advise Ms. Phillips to enable her to update the web site. The website address is www.rsb.org.au/wbu

To date the only agencies that have come on board are Vision Australia, Blind Citizens Australia and the RSB. However in the short time that this has been working surplus or recycled equipment has been sent to Tonga, East Timor, PNG, Solomon Islands and Somoa. These countries have substantial shortfalls in even basic necessities and Dr Murfett was only telling me the other day for instance of blind children in the Solomons that were forced to use sticks as their primary mobility aids.

Dr. Kevin Murfett and myself are presenting a paper at the General Assembly in August with regard to the progress of what I think is a great initiative and I believe it would be fantastic if all Australian and New Zealand agencies were able to get on board and show that we are part of a global society and prepared to provide tangible assistance to those in severe circumstances.

If you would to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact me. Cheers Andrew, Ph: (08) 8223 6222, Fax: (08) 8232 2111

TypeAbility

The Typing Program for the Blind!

For both children and adults who need to learn to type, TypeAbility is the easiest, most enjoyable and most affordable of all typing programs. TypeAbility requires the JAWS screen reader, either the full JAWS version, or the JAWS demo. TypeAbility is also compatible with MAGic 10 or 11, Freedom Scientific's screen magnification program for the partially sighted.

TypeAbility is currently being used at the Vision Ed program at North Rocks (RIDBC) in Sydney and by school districts around the US, to teach blind and vision impaired students keyboard basics. Teachers are amazed at how engaged the students become while doing their lessons, with constant feedback and encouragement given directly by the program. TypeAbility is so easy to use, that it only takes a few lessons with an assistant before the student is off and running through the 68 graduated lessons. Typeability teaches the full keyboard including function keys and number pad. It has different operating levels starting from young children through to adults and is compatible with JAWS versions 6 through 9.

TypaAbility is available in Australia exclusively through T & T Consultancy Australia Pty Ltd. Contact them on 02-9499 5075.

T&T Consultancy is a new player in the Australian assistive technology field and was established by Scott Erichsen. Scott has been blind since he was 4 months old and is known to many people as an accomplished musician and a self confessed technology geek. His new business offers a range of hardware and software products as well as training services. We here at Quantum are really happy to support Scott and T&T Consultancy and wish him well on this exciting endeavour.

Visit from Freedom Scientific

In early May we were privileged to host a visit from Eric Damery, Vice President of Software Product Management and Products Testing at Freedom Scientific. Eric is known around the world as “Mr JAWS” having been closely involved with its development since 1994. Over three days Eric undertook a punishing schedule of 14 events in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and presented very informative sessions to over 250 people. Eric also demonstrated the new version of MAGic software for people with Low Vision. JAWS and MAGic now share the majority of the same commands, offering an easier transition from magnification to speech for those with failing eye sight. This is also beneficial to adaptive technology trainers, who only need to learn the one set of keystrokes in order to teach JAWS or MAGic.

Some of the many benefits of JAWS and MAGic to users and organisations that provide training services or run large networks include MAGic's ability to track and highlight the JAWS focus, even when in virtual cursor mode. JAWS uses virtual cursor mode to provide navigation in environments such as HTML and PDF documents, where the systems cursor doesn't allow full navigation. As this functionality is being provided in a virtual mode, there is no onscreen highlight present when MAGic is not running. This makes it difficult for trainers and sighted colleagues to provide assistance to a JAWS user, as they cannot visually see where the JAWS focus is. The ability to license both JAWS and MAGic from the one license server, makes the administration, maintenance and tracking of licenses a breeze.

In order to be able to compete on an equal footing, blind and low vision computer users need to possess a thorough knowledge of windows and their adaptive technology. Eric gave an excellent demonstration of the free DAISY tutorials that are included on both the JAWS and MAGic program CD's. These DAISY books can either be red with FSReader, included with both MAGic and JAWS, or by inserting the program CD in to any hardware DAISY player. They are full of thorough descriptions and examples, which can be used by trainers to assist in their training programs, or by the users themselves to get a comprehensive understanding of their adaptive technology. These materials are also provided free of charge from the www.freedomscientific.com web site.

Eric also discussed and demonstrated the recently released Openbook 8. This version of Openbook now shares the same basic reading keystrokes as JAWS and MAGic, making the use of Freedom Scientific products more uniformed. Openbook now includes the ability to re-recognize pages, without having to re-scan them. Openbook 8 is now compatible with Microsoft Word 2007 and supports SAPI synthesizers, allowing you to use the voice of your choice. Comments and highlights can now be inserted in to documents and it is possible to print and photo copy the exact view of a document.

This was an exciting opportunity for users and organizations to directly pose questions and receive answers from Eric Damery, Freedom Scientific’s software product manager. All sessions conducted by Eric were very informative and well received. Quantum Technology would like to thank Freedom Scientific and Eric Damery for making himself available to those of us down under. Quantum Technology would also like to thank all those who attended and enthusiastically participated in these sessions, making them extremely worthwhile and successful.

Pac Mate now with UEB!

Freedom have announced that the Unified English Braille Code will be available with PAC Mate in the next release, expected end of June or early July.PAC Mate incorporates JAWS Screenreader, has a detachable Braille display and works out of the box with a host of applications. Available with either Braille or PC keyboard.

Low Vision Specials!!

Quantum is pleased to announce a major price reduction for end of model ClearViews. Part of the successful ClearView+ range the ClearView CRT is a very popular electronic magnifier and we currently have excess stock that we are making available at greatly reduced prices.

Full Colour CV+ CRT $3438

Black and White CV+ CRT $2938

The ClearView+ CRT features conveniently located control buttons on the movable table. The central button controls the magnification and three different viewing modes to view text and pictures in full colour, high contrasting black on white or reverse. Other features include fully adjustable brightness and a focus lock function to allow craftwork and writing. Some buttons can be hidden to maintain a perfect overview of your control panel.

Key Features

• Wide magnification range of 2.6X - 50X times
• Full auto-focus (including focus lock)
• High contrast text reading modes, which make reading so much easier.- black letters on a white background - white letters on a black background—choose what suits you.
• Photo mode for viewing photographs and images
• Fully adjustable brightness control
• Large working space beneath the camera to allow craftwork and writing

(Note: Prices quoted include shipping)Full home trial options also available.

RadaR the Eargame

RadaR is a new online game for children who are blind or vision impaired. RadaR is not only very entertaining, but also educational. It teaches the children to safely ‘surf the Internet’ - via keyboard commands. RadaR has been developed by Sonokids.

A very special feature of RadaR is the beautiful audio-story, with real voices, sound-effects and songs. For the Australian RadaR comedian Dave Hughes, Nine news presenter Eva Milic, blind radio presenter Amanda Tink, and Hollywood actor Brian Cox are a few of the famous voices behind the main characters: Mik the dolphin, Max the bat and Mo the mole. These three animals have in common that they do not rely on their eyesight to find the way, but ‘see with their ears’ instead. Their adventure proves to be symbolic for the virtual world and online communication. After listening to an episode of the audio-story, the player will do an interactive training ‘mission’ on the computer.

While playing RadaR, unknowingly the player builds his or her own website and after successfully completing all missions, the player will have a personal website, for keeps, powered by Sonokids’ accessible content management system MaX 4.0.

Free RadaR account

Children who are blind or vision impaired can apply for a free RadaR account by sending an e-mail to: . Please include age, first and last name and the requested player-name for RadaR. Please use subject-line ‘RadaR account’. If you would also like to receive a free audio-CD with the audioplay and songs from RadaR the Eargame, please include your postal address.

More audiogames

Sonokids has set up and maintains an international, multilingual webportal which is fully accessible for children with a vision impairment. On www.sonokids.com you will find accessible audiogames. Shoot the Banjobusters, play a drum-solo or remix your own pop-song. All audiogames are fully compatible with assistive technology such as JAWS.

The Quantum Technology Dealer Network

What the Dealer Network does

Our Dealer network provides the local support and personalised service needed by our customers. We work with individuals and companies who enjoy a good reputation and the trust of their local community.

Our Dealers provide personalised demonstrations, installations and general support to customers with a print disability.

Who can be a Dealer?

Our Dealers are typically individuals or companies that have a passion for helping others and are interested in providing an essential service to people with a print disability in their community.

We offer exclusive arrangements in geographic territories for our appointed Dealers, and help them get established with training and local promotion.

Who benefits from the Dealer Network?

Our customers include young children entering school, right through to elderly people who may be losing their vision due to age related diseases like macular degeneration. Our products help people with print disabilities in education, employment and in simply enjoying life and remaining independent.

This is an opportunity to work in an area of high social benefit within a market that is growing rapidly, due to the aging of the population and the greater participation of people with disabilities in education and employment.

This is one of those rare opportunities to work in a highly rewarding environment whilst making attractive financial rewards.

How do you become a Dealer?

If you have an interest in or would like further information on our Dealer Network, speak to our National Dealer Manager on 02 8844 9888 or email your questions to

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