Someone said to me recently;
"You know when an organisation is successful when they have their own website".
Let's look at what success means to an organisation that provides some support for parents and children when they need it most.
Out in the field, talking, encouraging, and picking up spirits, which have been allowed to dive instead of soar.
All the experience held in one person's hands cannot replace the feelings that a parent feels at the time when they need to talk to someone first. Like talking to someone who has been down the similar path of frustration, shock, loneliness, bitterness, all feelings of a negative nature.
After speaking to other parents who have travelled this road, they realise that it is not what happens to you, but what you do about it that makes the difference. It is easy to stay in the realms of despair and not move on, however our humanity and the spirit of personal growth makes us go on to another level of understanding and boots us into action to help our children. We then find a strength that we never dreamt we possessed, to start to work with the children and look forward instead of going to the past to look for blame and getting stuck on "Why Me". It is OK to look into the past, only to remember that some things in nature are out of our control. The future is where all the exciting technology in the field can be put to good use so that the quality of life can be experienced through employment, self help, medicine, research, information exchange.
Something to look forward to indeed.
Vizhelp is an organisation which built it's foundations on parents, children and adults getting together Friday nights to play games of goal ball, swish, board games and to socialise with other family groups of people and children who are vision impaired. Ron Anderson, recreation officer of the Association for the Blind was the organiser of these events. We would all meet at the building, which was then known as "The Young Australia League" head quarters in Murray St, Perth. A famous dance studio was upstairs so it was nice to have different music filtering through while having coffee and chatting to other parents. On his suggestion to myself and another parent, we were asked to start a parent group so that the Friday nights would continue and Vizhelp was born. That was 9 years ago now and today we have a variation with technology with information exchange being sent out via the "Viznet".
In our 9 years of operation, we have met with the then minister for education.
We were successful in obtaining a Visiting Teacher for the Vision Impairment Service, a section of the Department of Education of Western Australia to teach our children who are integrated into the mainstream of society which starts at kindy primary school and goes on through tertiary years. Integration is great, providing that the resources are available for the teachers and students to tap into. Problems arise when the ratio of student teacher goes beyond a joke. As parents we tend to have too much faith in the relevant departments to "Look after" the children's needs. When the groups of children are spread around the state, and a big state it is, and also a minority group, the importance to band together and boot into action became apparent as being used as political footballs just would not do. Children's quality of life was at stake here as children grow up into mainstream society and need to have the same quality of education as all other students in the classroom. In fact in it their right under the discrimination laws which have been passed.
My daughter recently had her 21st birthday in April and the room was filled with many vision impaired friends. Friends who met at music camp in the 90's and friends from interstate, down south, or just around the corner. One couple traveled from Germany and it did remind me of the early days when we all used to get together.
My how time slips away from us. It is how we use this time we have to build on our strengths, our encouraging skills which we pass on and our ability to see that our children grow up into adults who need to function in a sighted world they live in.
Until next update, enjoy the website.
Written by Marie Czatyrko, May 2002