Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, Firstly, arohanui to those of you in Otago and Southland today and please know you are in our thoughts as the rain continues. For the past two weeks I have promised you information I learned about Reasonable Accommodation while in Fiji. This is by way of empathising […]

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, Discussions here in Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland are exciting this week, including the exploration of devices that will support Hearing Aid users while in Peer to Peer Support situations as well as at Conference. It is just lovely to be working with a representative from Jands NZ

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, Yesterday I returned from Fiji after ten days on a Bridge Training Programme for the links between the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) matching to the global Sustainable Development Goals. What does this mean for you and me? It is about realising our

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, This week I am in Nadi, Fiji learning about the United Nations Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities and how this sits alongside the global Sustainable Development goals. This has been sponsored by the International Disability Alliance, the International Disability Development Consortium, and the Pacific

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, OK, so I confess to being a bit of a nut when it comes to days getting lighter and plants getting brighter but I just can’t help sharing with you my sense of wellbeing as I recover from a bout of lurgy. The sun is streaming onto

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, Firstly, and lucky for me, I didn’t get washed away in all the torrential rain here in Whakatū / Nelson recently. The thunder and lightning were quite electrifying! Wherever you are in the motu I hope you and yours are warm, and dry, and well. —– 2024

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, With a more than usually busy week I offer my apologies to you as our community for not meeting deadlines for this week for this update and to Aimee who has been awaiting my input. I ask for your understanding. —– Social Wellbeing for Deafblind This week

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, I start today thanking people. Every month that goes by another person steps forward willing to convene meetings or volunteer in other ways. Let me acknowledge here Joeline, Judy, Brian, and Elizabeth for willingness to convene in your areas. I also want to acknowledge that Laura Morse,

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, — Friend, also known to us as board Secretary Top of the list this week is a heart-felt thank you to Sarah, Board Secretary and Administrator, for all that she has done for us. Sarah is resigning due to increasing work commitments in other areas and we

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, OK, so it’s only zero degrees in Nelson this morning! I checked Alexa who told me the coldest place on the globe today is minus 48C in Antarctica and plus 54C (somewhere in California I think). My gratitude for the day is that we hit the middle

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, There’s a lot to reflect on this week. All of the details are below. The social narrative is changing for blind and disabled. Shining a light on past events allows them not to continue in the same way. Power imbalances can be harsh and obvious and sometimes

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, My first cheerful thought this morning was when Alexa told me sunrise is at 07:47. That’s 21 minutes later than midwinter. Even though I have no light perception I like to stay in touch with the turning of the seasons in that way. Thank you to all

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, We certainly have had some wins this week and nothing to do with the rain and freezing temperatures here in Wellington today! Firstly, our thanks have been sent to Blind Low Vision NZ as our primary funder for a successful outcome for this financial year. We have

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, Two weeks seems to have flown by and we hope that you managed to find some ways to celebrate Helen Keller Day, Matariki and the life that each day brings. —– Global Disability Innovation Hub: AT2030 AT2030 tests ‘what works’ to improve access to life-changing Assistive Technology

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, There is so very much to celebrate in the coming week! It’s Helen Keller Day 27 June, Volunteer Week, and Matariki – Māori New Year. For me, in looking for what connects us, Helen Keller is a model for me for Social Justice – her story was

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, We have some very creditable people on your Board, one of whom is Sally Britnell. In the coming week Sally will be both running, and part of, two panels. One is next week in our events list below and the other is a panel on inclusion for

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, With the global work on Social Haptics for deafblind, and personally I feel it would benefit blind as well, I connected into a webinar at 3:30am a few nights ago. It is on Social Haptics supporting someone’s hobby of astronomy. When the link comes up I will

Kia ora tatou, Hello to all of us, This week we have a fascinating interview from 21 May with Neil Heslop from Southern Cochlear Implant Programme from the No Labels radio programme hosted by Thomas Bryan. Neil explains what and how a Cochlear Implant works, how many Cochlear Implants are funded each year, and who

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, With apologies first for not putting out an update last week. I was in Auckland and, while a lot of great in person connections were made, my laptop decided to ask for an update I was unaware of – I felt disconnected from you all and am

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, It has been a very enriching week for some of us and there are many people to thank for this. Let me start with Audio Described Aotearoa, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for a stunningly accessible performance of Swan Lake. Then