CFN: 15925DECEMBER 2016

This Newsletter comes to you from the Hand Over Hand Club.  The club is a self-determining group of people with both hearing and vision loss. It is an important part of the DeafBlind Association of NSW and is assisted by Vision Australia formerly Royal Blind Society of NSW. The club provides interesting outings, information and social interaction for its members. The newsletter is produced in Braille, Large Print, Regular size print, as a word doc, on CD and can be sent by e-mail.

Put yourself on the mailing list by ringing Janne Bidenko 029456 2372 /0432 570 210 Voice OR send a fax to DBA FAX: 02 9744 0171 Fax anytime OR e-mail to dbansw@bigpond.com.

Our website address is: http://www.dbansw.org.au

We meet on the last Saturday of each month except December.

We welcome all articles from members.

Articles, inquiries, comments and general correspondence may be sent to:

The Deafblind Association (NSW)P.O. Box 1295 Strathfield NSW 2135

This month’s articles:

- DEAFBLIND ASSOCIATION CHRISTMAS PARTY - By Irene McMinn- JANNE’S CORNER- DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS- THE WORLD FEDERATION OF DEAFBLIND - BY Irene Mcminn- ACHIEVEMENTS OF WFDB- WA DEAFBLIND CONFERENCE AND CAMP – by Mark Hoarau- PERTH TRIP – 15th to 21st of Nov 2016 - By Lisa Chen- JANNETTA SIMPSON AT WORLD ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS W.A.- OCTOBER HOH CAMP - MYUNA BAY SPORT AND RECREATION CENTRE ON

LAKE MACQUARIE.- DEAFBLIND STUDENT WHO 'SWITCHED OFF' FROM HEARING WORLD

RECOGNISED FOR COMMUNITY WORK – by Richard Howell- TECHNOLOGY FOR PEOPLE WITH DEAFBLINDNESS – Irene McMinn- JOKES –Hannan Abdallah, Diana Dale & Eileen Westwood

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RAINBOW NEWS

- DBA(NSW) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, BURWOOD RSL – Saturday 28 th

January 2017- MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION – DEAFBLIND ASSOCIATION(NSW) &

MEMBERSHIP RENWAL FORM

DEAFBLIND   ASSOCIATION CHRISTMAS PARTY - By Irene McMinn

On Saturday 3rd December Hand-Over-Hand Club celebrated our Christmas Party. This was also the International Day of People with a Disability.

We were picked up by Andy or Branko on the buses and taken to Bi-Centennial Park at Homebush Bay, where we were met by Janne and some of our faithful volunteers and guided to a table where we could sit and enjoy the festivities.

Those of us who had brought presents gave them to Janne to put under the Tree which we had forgotten, one of the poles ended up as our ‘Tree’, and was decorated to look like it. Wayne got a bit eager and opened his own present himself.

Those who attended were Felicity, Gaie, Irene, Jannetta, Wayne, Ian, Mark, Joe, Brett, Leanne, Dean, Hannan and her sister Helen, Nerida, Cathy, Libby and Graham from Forsight and our wonderful support of Mick, Annii, Colin, Jo, Brendan, Dale, Ada, Andrew Niklaus, Kamal and already mentioned Andy, Branko and Janne.

We all enjoyed a BBQ lunch of sausages, rissoles and salad with a bread roll. This was followed by fruit salad and chocolate Christmas cake, quite a feast. Thanks to our great cooks. After lunch I played Santa’s helper and gave out the presents and wished everyone a happy Christmas. Everyone was pleased with their presents and I got a hug from Felicity.

We all sat and had a chat while the volunteers ate their lunch, there were plenty of volunteers for taking people to the bathroom etc. 

Later I went for a walk with Brendon down to the water which was very nice. Jannetta showed me her mascot which she had for the athletic championship which she attended in Western Australia, he had very fuzzy hair, which I was told was green and gold.

Jannetta set up Boules, a game similar to bowls, for us to play, where we had to roll the ball along the ground to get near a black ball, she kept clapping her hands so that we could hear where to roll it. I think everyone enjoyed this game.

Some of us wanted to go Tandem Bike riding so DBA hired a bike for an hour and Andrew took those of us who wanted a ride, for a ride around the area. This was very exciting for me, especially as I had done Tandem riding at the WA camp for my first time ever on a bike.

Then it was time to head home on the buses and everyone said goodbye and wished each other a happy Christmas.

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JANNE’S CORNER

I hope you all have a very Happy Christmas and New Year, and have a chance to relax after a very busy year. We go into 2017 with much to seek and achieve, but hopefully it will be a very good year for DBA(NSW).

You may wonder why I am stressing the (NSW), where we usually just refer to DBA in Rainbow and elsewhere. The Australian Deafblind Council (ADBC) voted on changing their name, at the AGM during W.A. Conference, to Deafblind Australia, so will now be using DBA and it may become confusing. We could shorten ours to DBAN if you wished, but I shall welcome everyone’s comments.

Many of our members travelled to Freemantle W.A., 15-20 November, to attend the 10 th

National Deafblind Conference, and the camp following this. Reports from everyone were glowing in their praise, it sounds as if I missed out on a very rewarding trip.

I was not just relaxing at this time though, I travelled to Canberra for an NDIS meeting re ILC funding on 16th November. I shall continue to work towards this, although NSW cannot apply until 2018.

The Self-Advocacy/Advocacy meeting was well attended by many Deafblind people on Wednesday 23rd November. The Self-Advocacy group have a meeting with St Vincent de Paul NDIS LAC on 14th December, but money is fast running out to provide Interpreters and Taxis for them to continue their important advocacy within the community and with politicians. We will be looking at the next round of Club funding, as well as any other area that can be found.

Our Christmas BBQ Party was a great success at Bicentennial Park, on 3 rd December, it was changed to this date to also celebrate International Day of Disability, to celebrate ABILITY. The food was great, Santa’s helper handed out gifts and people went on walks and some rode on Tandem bikes.

On Monday 5th December Krystel Keller and her colleagues from PWDA presented the last of the NDIS Pre-planning meetings with a Technology presentation for Deafblind people. This was very well received and I hope it has made people aware of good communication possibilities for future planning with NDIS.

The last DB Consultative Forum for 2016 was held Wednesday 7 th December at DBA(NSW) Office with representatives from Able Australia, Deaf Society, Deafblind Services VA, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, Forsight Australia, 2 Self-Advocacy representatives and DBA(NSW). It was proposed that other organisations that give any support to Deafblind people be contacted and be invited to attend. They will be conducted 3 times per year in the future.

Our final Craft for 2016 was held on Friday 9 th December with a Christmas party. We look forward to another good year with our ‘Crafties’ in 2017, and thanks to our great facilitators for making this so enjoyable. This is held on the second Friday of each month at the DBA(NSW) office 1-4PM.

Happy New Year to everyone, may it be a good one!

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DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS

A very Happy Birthday to all, but a special one to our DBA President, Mark Hoarau, on his big 60th! Congratulations Mark and best wishes for the next 10 with the DBA team.

December 8 Mark Hoarau 11 Kwame 14 Rebecca Dunkley15 David Dawson18 Jenni Parkes18 Mark Adams18 Walt Bidenko 31 Peter Risby

THE WORLD FEDERATION OF DEAFBLIND - BY Irene Mcminn

1996 - The Steering Committee of the World Federation of Deafblind (WFDB) was set as a voice for and of Deafblind people Worldwide. It was set up at the Helen Keller Conference held in Columbia South America, and consisted of 10 Deafblind people from around the World with ten people including President Stig Olson, Sweden I was asked to be the representative for the Pacific.

2001 – The first General Assembly worked on putting together a Constitution in Auckland New Zealand in October 2001,  It was decided at this time that the name Deafblind would be used to represent all Deafblind people Previously Deaf-Blind or Deaf/Blind had been used by many Countries and organizations, although some countries are still fighting for recognition.

2007 - I became the Pacific Representative at The WFDB Executive Council Meeting, this Board consists of ten Deafblind people 4 office bearers and six regional representatives covering the six regions of the World.  Most of the work of WFDB is done by email and a few face to face meetings.  Face to face meetings are hard to organize and not everyone is able to get to them, because of lack of funding.

2007-2018 - As Pacific Representative I have been attempting to find Deafblind people within the Pacific Islands. Both Deafblind New Zealand and Deafblind Australians are members of WFDB and Deafblind Association (NSW) became an Associate Member. There are no Deafblind Organizations within the Pacific Islands. In fact there are no Deafblind people recognised by the Pacific Disability Forum the peak disability organisation in the Pacific

2016 - I have just found out about a group of Deafblind children in PNG and another group in Kiribarti.   I will contact both these groups in the near future to find out what is happening for them and if they know of any more Deafblind people.  Also, to see if Australia can assist with information on Deafblindness.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF WFDB

WFDB was very active in the setting up of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD). The then President Mr Lex Grandier, Denmark was present at the signing that brought the UNCRPD in to force. There are 4 articles referring to Deafblind

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people in the UNCRPD.  WFDB and IDA are very involved in encouraging all countries ratify the UNCRPD. WFDB is still very involved in working with the United Nations in improving the conditions for Deafblind people the World over.

WFDB is a member of the International Disability Alliance (IDA) which is an organization which is drawn from 12 International disability organizations across the World.  The President of WFDB  Mr Gier Jenson,  Norway, represents all Deafblind people on this committee. IDA is very active in supporting all people with disability and fights for their rights on an International basis.

At the moment  WFDB is working with Deafblind people in Peru to help them set up their own Deafblind Organisation.

In the Pacific I am hoping to make contact with the Deafblind Children in PNG and Kiribarti.

WA DEAFBLIND CONFERENCE AND CAMP – by Mark Hoarau

My impressions of the Deafblind conference and camp. I flew out of Sydney on Monday 15thy November afternoon and arrived in Perth 5 hours later. Karen Wickham picked me up from the airport and drove me to the hotel, where both the mini-conference and conference proper were being held.

On the Tuesday afternoon, I attended the mini-conference on Ushers syndrome, which was very interesting and informative. On the Wednesday and Thursday I attended the Deafblind conference, which was very well attended.

On the Friday we went out for social outings, which were very good indeed; I went with a group to the old Fremantle gaol which was interesting. After lunch, we went by coach to Woodman Point camp for the rest of the week-end.

I met some old friends and was introduced to some people I hadn't met before which was great! On the Saturday morning I chose tandem bike riding which I had not done in some years, it was fantastic being out there with the wind in your hair and feeling alive! In the afternoon, we went on a history walk around the site. The camp had once been the quarantine centre for the port of Fremantle; it was most interesting.

On Sunday morning, a group of us went out of the camp to visit the Dome cafe. We walked a good distance, found the place went in and had a good time, and enjoyed good coffee.

After returning to camp I had to have an early lunch, because I was leaving early that afternoon. All in all it was an interesting week, and I would go over there again for a much longer time! It was good hearing about all the research and counselling they are doing for deafblindness.

PERTH TRIP – 15 th to 21 st of Nov 2016 - By Lisa Chen

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Hello, everyone. I would like to share my experience with you all about the Perth trip, that I have recently attended on 15th to 21st of November 2016 with 2 x Deaf male and female support workers, 2 x female support workers and 3 x female in the group travelled to Perth together. It was an excellent experience for me and I really loved it! Virgin Australia is a wonderful service, but the foods/drinks are alright because of wrong time during the flight. The service and support from Virgin Australia is wonderful experience for me. Fremantle is a beautiful city and it is close to beach, despite the weather keep changing, it was frequently cool or cold or humid…. It is very different to Sydney weather.

The female group and I stayed at Be Fremantle Apartments for 3 nights, while my male support worker staying in Esplanade Hotel sharing with another male volunteer for 3 nights, but it was only 15minutes walk between those two accommodations. Perfect! It is close to Coles and other supermarkets etc.

The Pre – Conference, Conference and Annual General Meeting were amazing. Also, Senses Australia provided me with 2 x female interpreters (Deaf Relay Interpreter and hearing) for those committees for communication access and it was fantastic experience. The volunteers in Pre – conference and Conference are well trained and I am impressed with them. The most interesting topic about Deafblind is focus on the type of Deafblind, which are Charge Syndrome, Usher Syndrome, RP, CP and many more, lead me to be fascinated and keen to meet different Deafblind women and men.

The Gala Dinner and Tourist Activities were awesome because the Senses Australia provide interpreters and volunteers to support the DB and B clients. Wonderful. The most interesting is the taste of wine where deafblind men and blind men are keen to taste wine. Interesting while the women heading off to Fish and Chips to chat and enjoy the lunch for hours.

We went to Deafblind camp on 18th to 20th of November 2016 and travelled by coach bus to the camp. It is awesome experience for me. Technologies are more advanced than Sydney, especially the Dome Café and Braille access for hearing loop for Deafblind women/men who prefer to listen it through the hearing loop. I was staying with my female support worker, female volunteer and Deafblind women in the women dormitory – it was not that bad at all. It was close to the bathroom, but, we had to share with other women volunteers and women clients. It was fine with me. No problem! There are lots of activities to choose from and I love it! I had rode the bike and had tried The Cube beside beach walk, Craft and Dome Café for two days activities. I really enjoy it so much! The night activities on Saturday were not that bad, but, Bingo was too boring for me and it was not my style. The Robert Performance was awesome and funny. I love it! I could not stop laughing through the performance. On the other hand, the HOH table and tactile fingerspelling table were set up in the front of me, where the Deafblind clients were communicating with their interpreters, were not feeling comfortable with the table position – I suggest it will be nice if Senses Australia or DB clients bring their own cushion to use it for WHS.

The rest of the camp was fantastic! The volunteers were awesome! Despite it was not enough male volunteers to match the number of DB male clients. Hopeful the male support workers/interpreters will be particular in the DB camp 2017 or HOH camp 2017 or the future camps to support the male clients in case something happen to them in the bathroom etc.

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Afterward, we went back to Perth Airport, having the company of a few female interpreters and staff while we were waiting for the flight. Then, I had finally approach to meet a Deafblind woman with usher syndrome name is Molly at the Perth airport and had brief conservation with her while the interpreter speak for Molly. I had photo taken with Molly and had added it on my facebook page. I have keep in touch with Molly since then. I had brief conversation with Perth staff, that Perth has 3 x deafblind women who have Charge syndrome like I do. I was surprised and thought I was the only one in the camp who have Charge syndrome. I was so happy to hear that 2 x women will attend to DB camp 2017. I hope I will meet them and get to know them well. I want to know more about Charge syndrome relate DB. I had returned to Sydney with the group on 21 st of November and head home in separate ways. I am so pleased and so proud of myself for attending the conferences includes Pre – conference, conference, Gala Dinner and tourist activities. I am look forward to attend to DB camp 2017, DB conference 2017, HOH camp 2017, DB conference 2018 and DB camp/DB conference 2019 to receive more information and meet more people as much as I can. Thanks for reading my article. Have a good week, everyone. Happy Christmas and happy new year, everyone.

JANNETTA SIMPSON AT WORLD ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS W.A.

Jannetta flew to Perth on 24th October to compete in the World Athletic Championships from 26th October to 4th November. Congratulations Jannetta, on competing so well in mainstream sports, and doing so well in them.

I think Jannetta’s results, being 7th in the world in two events is very admirable, as well as the other events she competed in and did well - 8th, 9th, 12th, & 14th especially even finishing the last event, a 7½ hour marathon.

OCTOBER HOH CAMP - MYUNA BAY SPORT AND RECREATION CENTRE ON LAKE MACQUARIE. 27-29 October 2017 Take a tour

Ninety minutes north of Sydney and 30 minutes south of Newcastle, Myuna Bay Sport and Recreation Centre provides a range of services. With a natural bushland setting, Sport and Recreation Centre is idyllic and the source of much water-based fun.

Please start planning for this now, as we will need numbers by June, we have tentatively booked two 39 bed buildings, but we will need to know who is attending before July 2017, to confirm whether we will need 1 or 2. People from other states are welcome to join us at this camp, if wished.

Please make sure you have an up-to-date Companion Card, and bring it with you to pay for your volunteer or support worker. Remember if you have already received your NDIS funding, your support worker is welcome and paid for with Companion card, so please let us know about this.

Volunteers, this should be a great weekend away, please let us know if you can support us.

We will also need to know what buses we will be needed, so please contact Janneb@iinet.net.au or dbansw1@bigpond.com well before June.

Cost: HOH Club members $175 (subsidised)

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Non-members$275 Volunteers free

Time: Leaving Sydney 5pm on Friday 27th October 2017 Returning: Mid-late afternoon Sunday 29th October 2017

DEAFBLIND STUDENT WHO 'SWITCHED OFF' FROM HEARING WORLD RECOGNISED FOR COMMUNITY WORK – Sent in by Richard Howell after the W.A. Conference, where Vanessa spoke about her life. She is an inspiration. Vanessa Vlajkovic has never let her sensory loss prevent her from working towards the life she wants.

Last year, the 19-year-old, who is legally blind with "inconsistent" hearing, bravely chose to "switch off" from the hearing world.

Now, Ms Vlajkovic, who is also Edith Cowan University's first deafblind student, has been named WA's Young Person of the Year.

"I don't believe you should ever let others dictate what you can and can't do," she said.

"And I don't think, for even a millisecond, that having a disability makes you inferior, makes you an alien or less worthy."

Ms Vlajkovic, of Dianella, is an avid cheerleader and has just finished her first year at university, where she is studying journalism.

She said her first year of study had been daunting, and a learning curve for herself and the staff, but was worth it.

"I remember the day I found out that my ATAR meant I could go to almost any uni I wanted," she said.

"The pride I felt when I ran my fingers across the Braille display and read the words that brought me some of the best news ever.

"It's hard to forget something like that, especially when you have worked day and night to see it happen."

'SWITCHING OFF' FROM THE HEARING WORLDWhile Ms Vlajkovic was born blind, her hearing did not begin to deteriorate until she was seven.

"I can recall feeling confused during high school because I realised that I was hearing less and less," she said.

"I had hearing aids to help me get through my days, but it was soon evident they were becoming ineffective."

Last year, she made a bold choice.

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"I feel like I'm always being tugged between two worlds — the hearing and the deaf," she said.

"Twelve months ago I officially made the decision to switch off from the hearing world."

She now communicates through 'tactile' Auslan, a unique way of communicating where signs are formed on her hand through an interpreter.

"It means I receive the full information through touch," she said.

"Like many deafblind I can't judge facial expressions, see head movements or assess body language.

"I also have a Qwerty keyboard that is connected to my BrailleNote device — this enables communication between myself and people who don't know Auslan."

FAMILY HEARTACHEMs Vlajkovic's family's first language is Bosnian and she said her choice to "switch off" had been hardest on them.

"We communicate predominantly via SMS, although my mum's signing is improving," she said.

"It's very tricky because I know, in my heart, that they are never really going to accept what happened to me.

"My mum had a perfect pregnancy, so my eye and hearing conditions were a shock to everybody.

"My family wanted me to get cochlear implants when I was 16, but I refused, preferring to learn Auslan, and I know this has disappointed and upset them."

Ms Vlajkovic said she did not regret her choice, and while she loved her family and could not ask for better role models, her relationship with them had been affected by a lack of communication.

"The struggle is real and many a day I feel like crying because I just want to be able to have a conversation in Auslan with my parents," she said.

"Acceptance is a process, and although it has been four years, I know that it never gets easier for them.

"I only hope that one day in the future they will realise that Auslan is to me what Bosnian is to them."

'I'M PASSIONATE ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS'Being named WA's Young Person of the Year is not the first time Ms Vlajkovic has been awarded for her inspiring work advocating for the deafblind community.

She was the Deaf Youth Australian of 2015, and has won an International Braille contest and two VisAbility awards.

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Ms Vlajkovic said just being nominated for the youth award was an honour, and she would use it as a platform to continue advocating for the deafblind community, with many people having misconceptions about what the term means.

"Being deafblind doesn't mean deaf plus blind, it's actually deaf times blind — one disability disguised as two," she said.

"No two deafblind are the same, vision and hearing vary vastly.

"The lack of knowledge can be frustrating but really all it takes is some explaining."

The teenager, who identifies patience, perseverance and resilience as her keys to success, said she was inspired by creating change for good.

"I'm passionate about human rights and the absolute necessity for all people — deaf, blind, in a wheelchair or otherwise — to enjoy life at the exact same level as any person not in their shoes," she said.

"It's important to me that the doubters are proven wrong and that society is able to understand the very real consequences that their actions, and inactions, have on people like myself."

But ultimately Ms Vlajkovic said she has a simple dream for her future.

"Be happy," she said.

"Aside from that I would love to travel the world, find myself a suitably interesting job and continue to compete in one of the things I love most in life: cheerleading.

"It also goes without saying that I will carry on advocating on behalf of the deafblind community to see justice rightfully performed."

TECHNOLOGY   FOR PEOPLE WITH DEAFBLINDNESS – Irene McMinn

On Monday 5th December People with Disability Australia put on a technology display for people with deafblindness so that we could have a hands on experience of technology available through NDIS.

The companies who came along to show their wares were Pacific Vision, Quantum, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT and Humanware came in the afternoon.

Pacific Vision  has a Braille Sense which is similar to the Braillenote A senses Mini which is a smaller note taker, a Braille display for a Mobile Phone and a couple of Scanners which were quite small and handy to go in your bag.

Quantum  had a Mountbatten Braille writer, A Pearl Scanner,  A couple of Braille Displays one for the computer and one for the Mobile Phone, they also had a couple of low vision  devices.

Guide Dogs were advertising several APPS they have developed to help people with their Mobility. They had several canes and the Mini Guide, which is a mobility aide that can be carried in the hand.  It vibrates when there are obstacles in front. 

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Claire has advised that some Deafblind people use a mini guide at Ablelink to navigate to the toilets and around the space. It is a free device from Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. If anyone is interested in having some training and the opportunity to have one, they can contact Guide Dogs themselves or ask a staff member to make a referral on their behalf.

Humanware had a Braillenote Touch which is the latest Braillenote and some low vision aids.

It was a great day and I am sure people saw technology they would like to add to the NDIS Plans, to help them for the future.

JOKES –Hannan Abdallah, Diana Dale & Eileen Westwood

From Hannan Abdallah for Christmas:

Why is Christmas like a day at work? Because you do all the work and the fat guy gets all the credit.

From Diana Dale:

Graham, an old man, went to his doctor for his hearing problem. The doctor fitted a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear perfectly again. Graham returned to the doctor in a month for a final check on the new equipment. After some tests the doctor proclaimed, “Your hearing is perfect!”

“Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again”.

”Oh I have not told them yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations I used to miss,” replied Graham. The doctor guessing the reason said “Really? You must just not be ready to believe it yourself that you can hear now.”

Graham said, “Well that’s not it exactly, but I have changed my will three times!”

Getting richer with age.

I have silver in my hair, gold in my teeth, crystals in my kidney, sugar in my blood, lead in my butt, iron in my arteries and an inexhaustible supply of natural gas.

Eileen Westwood -Truisms

 -If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they'd eventually find me attractive.

-I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom, until they're flashing behind you.

-Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water.

-I changed my password to "incorrect" so whenever I forget it the computer will say, "Your password is incorrect."

-Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

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-I'm great at multi-tasking--I can waste time, be unproductive, and procrastinate all at once.

-If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.

-Never tell your problems to anyone, because 20 percent don't care and the other 80 percent are glad you have them.

-Doesn't expecting the unexpected mean that the unexpected is actually expected?

-Take my advice — I'm not using it.

DBA(NSW) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, BURWOOD RSL –

1:30pm Saturday 28th January 2017.

This is an invitation to everyone to join us at our 2017 AGM in January. We hope that we have many Deafblind people, Ushers people and all other members as well, join us on the 28th January.

This is also a call to our members to nominate themselves for the Committee, including the Executive, which meets every second month. All Office bearers must stand down and the new elections held, however people are able to renominate if they wish. The role of President entails speaking at all events on behalf of DBA(NSW) and running the Bi-Monthly General Meeting occurring on even months, i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8,10 & 12, although this year we combined the October and December meeting and held it in November, because of unforseen circumstances.

The Secretary works at the DBA Office on Fridays, and records the mail on the computer after picking it up at the PO Box. The Treasurer also works at the DBA Office most Fridays, recording all financial transactions on a Reckon program on the computer. Please let Tony on dbansw1@bigpond.com or Janne on janneb@iinet.net.au if you wish to nominate yourself or someone else, for the committee. Otherwise nominate at the meeting.

Membership invoices are going out with this Rainbow, many will receive these this year, as it is 5 years since we introduced 1, 3 or 5 year membership, so if you don’t receive one you don‘t need to pay, you will know you are up to date with membership. We will also take new memberships at the meeting or by post to DBA(NSW), PO Box 1295, Strathfield, 2135. The Application for memberships will be in this Rainbow too.

DBA has also had requests for changing our time and day of General Meetings, from the 2nd Friday night of Even months to a daytime meeting, most likely the 2nd Wednesday of Even months, from 10am-1pm. This is for a number of reasons, 1 is that 2 hours is not really long enough, we also know that Ushers people cannot come to these because of not travelling at night, and also we have people travelling long distances, such as from Newcastle and outer Sydney late at night, which is not satisfactory. I would like to hear views on this on the above email addresses, and we will vote on this at the AGM.

VENUE: Upstairs Conference room at Burwood RSL, Salisbury Rd, Burwood.

TIME: 1:30PM Saturday 28th January OR if anyone wants to join us at the Cafeteria, some of us we will be buying our lunch there at 12:00. FONT Size 14 Page 12

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Appendix 1 Application for Membership of Association

(Clause 3 (1))

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF

DEAFBLIND ASSOCIATION (NSW) Incorporated

(incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009)

 

I, ..................................................................................................................

 

of ...................................................................................................................

                                     [address]

hereby apply to become a member of the above named incorporated association. In the event of my admission as a member, I agree to be bound by the constitution of the association for the time being in force.

 ........................................................................................………................   

Signature of applicant                                                Date

I AM a Deafblind Person (member) 

I AM NOT a Deafblind person (associate member)

please underline one of above.

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DEAFBLIND ASSOCIATION(NSW) INC.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL - DUE JANUARY

Individual fee - $5.00 for 1 year  OR   $12.50 for 3 years  OR   $20 for 5 years

Organisations with annual income less than $100K fee - $ 50.00 per year

Corporations or Orgs with annual income more than $100K fee - $100.00 per year

Donation in addition to the Membership Renewal - $...............

Name:.........................................................................................................

Address:.....................................................................................................

....................................................State:................. Postcode:....................

Birthday: ...................................... (you don't have to include the year)

Phone Number:.......................................................

Fax Number: ...........................................................

Mobile: ....................................................................

E-mail address:.......................................................

Preferred contact: (Mail / Phone / Fax / Mobile / TTY / SMS / Email)

RAINBOW NEWS - the newsletter of the DeafBlind Association (NSW) Inc. - is produced monthly, 11 times each year. In which of the following formats would you prefer to receive your newsletter: E-MAIL / PRINT / BRAILLE / CD - please circle

If in print, what size font would you prefer it in?:

14 Point / 18 Point / 24 Point / 30 Point / 36 PointDo you wish to receive Christmas Raffle Book with Rainbow? Y/N

For Office Use: Receipt No:

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