Each year Freedom Scientific and Quantum are proud to support a scholarship program across Australia which aims to help young vision impaired Australians go on to either TAFE or Tertiary studies.
We are proud to announce the winners of the 2007 Scholarship
Bradley Ford, Moss Vale, NSW
“I am currently finishing my Year12 at Moss Vale High School. As I have been totally blind since birth, I have had to overcome many obstacles and this has been made easier with great support and assistance.
Since 1998 I have had the advantage of working more efficiently with the aid of JAWS. This has been imperative during my years at high school, and with every new version of JAWS navigating through websites and completing general tasks has been getting easier. I am studying a VET Information Technology course for the HSC and without the assistance of JAWS, this would be very difficult, if not impossible.
I am currently using JAWS 6.10 at school, however, this version unfortunately belongs to the Department Of Education. As soon as I finish school this technology remains the property of the Education Department.
After completing the HSC my ambition is to enrol into a TAFE course to gain a diploma in Information Technology (Systems Administration). This course has many job prospects within the Information Technology industry, of which my goal is to gain employment in the field of adaptive technology for the vision impaired.”
Nastasia Campanella, Minchinbury, NSW
I am a totally blind, keen Year 12 student at Loyola Senior High School. I have been studying continuously throughout the year and hope to continue on to further education as a university student in 2007. I'm hoping to study either Psychology or Journalism in 2007 and hope to make them fulfilling and enjoyable careers.
Universities thrive on research and therefore, internet access is integral to the success of any course in today's technologically driven world. Being able to access the internet using a program like Freedom Scientific’s JAWS means that life will be just that little bit easier to find research for assessments as well as enabling me to be completely independent. It also means that I will not have to ask for as many extensions on assessments and will be entitled to all the same rights as every one else. Many of the universities now use established websites as the main data base for students or prospective students to access important information such as course outlines and assessment timetables. Therefore, the universities website would need to be visited on a regular bases and Jaws would be a big help in this case.
The lucrative world of journalism now demands that research be accurate and truthful. Research needs to be up to date and from a number of sources. Email is a quick and convenient form of communication and is becoming increasingly indispensable, even more so than the phone. Being able to access the research sources of other libraries will enable me to access a wide variety of information on different topics to write better assessments, more interesting articles and jump on top of breaking news.
Syeira May Ferguson, Ulladulla, NSW
Next year I hope to study Theology at a University in Canberra. I will be purchasing a laptop computer, which I will use for note taking during lectures and for typing up assessment tasks. JAWS would be the ideal program for me to use at University, as it will assist me in reading and editing my notes and other written work. As my eyes become sore after a fair time of reading, JAWS would relieve the strain on my eyes. SARA has been a great assistance but it cannot be easily transported for daily use at the University, however, the Libraries at such do have scanners and the like that I will be able to use on written works. I will be able to transfer the information by disk or the like to my Computer then the reading of such by the use of JAWS. I will be setting SARA up at my residence for out of hours study and the like and will have JAWS on my laptop so that I can use such at any time or place.
I understand from the Universities that the JAWS programme appears to be the preferred programme used by visually impaired or blind persons. During my discussions with the Universities at Orientation times they informed that they do use the JAWS programme and it easy to use by them and the visually impaired students.
As the JAWS program is capable of reading information on the Internet, it will be helpful for me to use when I am researching on the web. This would be a great advantage for me as in the past, I needed assistance at all times to access and search the websites, decipher information and print off the relevant pages. The laptop that I will buy will be capable of Internet connection so that I can access such at University, home or other areas and JAWS will allow me to read and edit such information on the spot.
Lindsay Heaven, Balwyn North, VIC
Lindsay has just completed Year 12 at Balwyn High School and is hoping to study Civil Justice and Administration at RMIT in 2007. Lindsay is the youngest member of the Australian Blind Cricket Team, he recently played in the World Cup in Pakistan.
Suzan Gould, Bendigo, VIC
Suzan is a trained nurse but is no longer able to pursue her chosen career due to her failing vision. To continue with a helping/caring career she has chosen to study Social Welfare at Latrobe University, Bendigo.
Chelsea Bartlett, Seaview Downs, SA
I plan to apply for a Bachelor of Applied Science – Disability Studies at Flinders University or the Certificate VI in Community Services (Disability Work) at TAFE SA (Panorama Campus).
While I am studying at University or TAFE, JAWS would be helpful in accessing the internet and or email services for my personal research, which will be crucial in my success. Internet access is very important for university study as many lecture notes, tutorial discussions and feedback are posted on the university website for students to access outside of lecture time. This would be very important information for me to independently complete my theory assignments or practical placements. Computer software such as Word, Excel PowerPoint, Access and FrontPage may be chosen for completing written assignments or constructing graphical information such as tables, graphs and databases. I already have some experience with these softwares.
JAWS will assist me to maintain the mainstream independence in my studies. It is very empowering to be able to interact on an equal level with my sighted peers and give teachers the confidence that I can access lecture notes and information through the Internet and email. JAWS has already assisted me in my success in education and I hope it will continue to do so.
Josh Yates, Busselton, WA
This year I have performed well at school and I was happy to be announced Western Australian Vocational Education and Training Student of the year in the Education Support category.
I really enjoy writing and it is something I am good at and I have just recently won a prestigious writing competition held by the ABC. If I was able to access my computer more effectively I could write without assistance from another person.
Next year I am hoping to study Counselling Skills and I will need to access my computer to complete assignments as well as keep confidential records. JAWS will allow me to do this independently.
JAWS would also help me to access the internet for research purposes and also to send and receive emails which will be a necessary requirement of my course.
I have only been vision impaired for three years and previous to that I was very computer literate.
Moana Mani, Glen Innes, Auckland
I am totally blind and I read and write Braille. I have been using the Jaws screen reader program on the classroom computer to write my schoolwork and read my work back. Next year I want to be able to do all of my course work on the computer and I want to receive my lecture notes by email.
I have a Perkins Braille machine to write some of my schoolwork and to write Braille Music and Mathematics. One of the problems using a Perkins is that my teachers next year will not be able to check my work and my classmates will have problems reading and working in a group with me, because they do not know Braille. When I correct my work, I have to redo my writing from the beginning because the Braille dots are permanent on the page and cannot be edited. The Perkins Braille writer is noisy and heavy to carry around.
I have been learning to use Jaws to write my schoolwork and to receive and send emails. Last year I attended a touch typing class for one term at the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind at New Market in Auckland. Kathryn Johns was the tutor. I learnt to use the function keys and all of the QWERTY key board. My touch-typing is very good and I can type quite quickly with no extra help from my teachers. I have also learnt to copy my print text into a Braille translation program and to emboss it so that I have a Braille copy to read when I am away from the computer. Over the holidays, I will be having some extra tutoring at the Fale Kotuku RNZFB where I will get some more practice using Jaws.
I have a computer at home, which I have not been able to use, as it does not have a screen reader program. The assistive technology tutors at the RNZFB will support me to load and setup this computer so that I can send my homework to my tutors at Manukau Institute of Technology. I will also be able to stay in touch with my new friends and my old friends at James Cook High.
I am very excited about next year and I hope that I will be successful in applying for a Jaws Scholarship.