AMC2010 - Guide Dogs NSW/ACT

The CMS team answered this question by deciding
to challenge students to plan and run their own
mobility program in the busiest capital city in
Australia - Sydney.
2. Title: The Miniguide: Ten Years Down
the Track
Author: Jeremy Hill, Regional Manager, Guide
Dogs NSW/ACT
Summary: The development of the electronic travel
aid, The Miniguide is firmly rooted in meeting the
needs of the consumer. In 2000, Guide Dogs NSW/
ACT was approached by the inventor who was
seeking to trial the Miniguide with potential users.
The prototype was refined over an intensive testing
period to take into account customer feedback.
Over the past ten years, over seven hundred and
fifty clients in NSW and ACT have been trained and
issued with Miniguides.
A survey was recently carried out of one hundred
randomly selected clients of various ages,
environments and travel needs who presently use
or have used a Miniguide. The results reflect the
adaptability of the aid, the ingenuity of the users
and the imagination of the instructors.
3. Title: Review of Current Practices in
Teaching Spatial Concepts and Navigation and
Advantages in Using GPS Devices to Improve
the Practical Spatial Knowledge of People who
have Significant Vision Impairment
Authors: Ewa Borkowski, Regional Manager, and
Des Creagh, Project Officer, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT
Summary: O&M is about navigation, and knowing
where you are in space, is the major component of
navigation. Significant vision impairment affects the
way a person perceives the environment.
Teaching navigation, which is an important skill for
independent and safe mobility, is the most critical
skill taught by an O&M Instructor. This paper
evaluates how we teach spatial concepts and
navigation skills in current O&M practice in NSW/
ACT. It examines the benefits of using GPS devices
to teach a person with significant vision impairment
the concepts of spatial awareness and navigation.
2:00pm Session 5, Forum A: Program
evaluation. Room: Menzies Common Room
1. Title: Unilateral Spatial Neglect: Top Down
Approach, Bottom Up Approach or Both?
A Research Project Investigating Prismatic
Adaptation, Visual Scanning Training and
Transference into the Real World
Author: Tracey Stuart, O&M Instructor, Acquired
Brain Injury Vision Service, Guide Dogs SA.NT
Summary: Visual neglect (or inattention),
following right hemisphere injury, has long been
acknowledged as an influencing factor on a
person’s ability to operate at an expected and
consistent level.
For approximately 30 years, Guide Dog
Associations have implemented a “top down”
visual scanning program developed from the
compensatory strategies of Diller and co-workers.
A “bottom up” approach is prismatic
adaptation, where a Fresnel prism is used to
marginally shift the visual field to the right and a
brief exercise undertaken.
Guide Dogs SA.NT are embarking on a research
project which combines the traditional “top down”
approach with the “bottom up” approach of prism
adaptation and then transfer and reinforce the skills
in a range of dynamic, every day environments.
2. Title: Scanning Training for Acquired Brain
Injury: Where is the Research?
Author: Allison Hayes, NVT Systems
Summary: After 25 years how can it be
possible that so little research data is available
to support the efficacy of compensatory visual
scanning training?
This presentation will look at the reasons why
this research has been so long in coming. The
discussion will include the development and use of
a validated outcome measure that relates to vision
skills for mobility. The presentation will also outline
the development of a standardized protocol for
the assessment of all aspects of vision affected by
acquired brain injury.
Finally, the results of a collaborative clinical study
conducted over two years in South Australia will
be reviewed.
3. Title: TBI Vision Therapy for Veterans of the
Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts
Authors: Gayle Clarke and Allison Hayes,
NVT Systems
Summary: The major injury sustained by veterans
of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts is Traumatic
Brain Injury (TBI). Over 33% of all wounded were
diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe TBI,
although these figures are thought to be highly
underestimated. 13% of all evacuated wounded
have sustained direct eye trauma.
Concerning studies are revealing that 75% of
those with TBI injuries have visual complaints.
Approximately 60% of those injured have
associated neurological visual disorders as well
as diplopia, convergence disorder, photophobia,
ocular-motor dysfunction, and an inability to
interpret print.
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