news and events

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

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, This week we pay tribute to Sir Robert Martin, Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. While Sir Robert was not deafblind, his leadership in the pan disability sector has brought about much change under our shared goal of Nobody Left Behind. Any one of

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, If you have the time I encourage engagement with surveys that spark your passion for change. Here’s one you might like and, as Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much!” — Office of the Privacy Commissioner | Biometrics We’re

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, — Pacific Disability Forum CEO, Setareki Seru Macanawai is resigning after being our Pacific Regional Champion on Disability since PDF’s inception. As part of the Pacific Disability Forum we have sent the following, “On a professional level Seta’s championing for the disability sector across the Blue Pacific,

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, This morning I am writing from Raumati Beach on the Kāpiti Coast. It is thrashing down with rain and I know many of you in the central motu will be batoning down the hatches. On Wednesday we had a very successful launch of the Palmerston North Deafblind

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, It’s a hot-diggity-do day here in the office for Sarah and I! We are working on four Peer to Peer Support gatherings in the coming week. Plans are now in place for Whakatu / Nelson, Palmerston North, Kāpiti, and Wellington/Lower Hutt. Board member Phil Thorn and I

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, This week I want to urgently highlight our need for Deafblind Services provided by Blind Low Vision NZ. Currently they have a review of the need for services. The tricky bit is that, if we are not asking for services then it won’t show up as a

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, Personally I find there is so much stuff in the world to listen to, to access in different ways, and to hope that, when I do access it, I will be able to hear it. I want to thank Mark for sending me the link to the

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, This week I am so pleased to be hosting Peter Allen and Natalie McLean from My Life My Voice here in Whakatū – Nelson. To have time to kōrero kanohi ke to kanohi – be in the presence of one another and to talk, is an enriching

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, Last week we introduced Tom Eats and Phil Thorn as new Board Members and promised to introduce you to our third new Board member. Drum roll please as we introduce Sally Britnell… — My name is Sally Britnell. I am a 50-something-year-old woman who doesn’t like to

Kia ora Tatou, Hello to all of us, This week I am delighted to let you know we welcome three new members onto our Board: Sally Britnell, Phil Thorn and Tom Eats, all identifying as deafblind/dual sensory impairment. In the coming weeks we will offer biographies for them so you can be really confident of