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00:00:51
S1: On Regional Australia Radio. You're listening to the thing. I'd share it with me your eyes at mouth it. Today I'm going to be sharing with you three short interviews. The first is with Brooke Anderson. We're going to be talking about the youth program, which has been the pilot program that has run in 2022. We're going to be talking about some of these skills offered to young people who would like to find out more about dog mobility and how you can get involved next year and what that program entailed. Then we're going to be talking to Paul Adrien. This interview is from the Archives training manager Paul has joined us talking about eligibility for seeing our dogs and who benefits from dog mobility. Some of the kind of criteria that make you a handler or make or make dog mobility suitable for you. Then we're going to be joined by Leslie Butler, who is a government relations advisor at Vision Australia. We're going to be talking about the upcoming webinar and why you might attend to find out more about access rights and advocating for yourself. Without further ado, here is my first interview with Brooke Anderson. Thanks for joining me on the show today.
00:01:56
S2: Thank you for having me.
00:01:57
S1: To start off, what is your all seeing eye dogs?
00:02:01
S2: My eye doctors are seeing eye dog instructor. So that encompasses a whole range of things from, you know, training the dogs, how to do their roles to working with clients of all ages in terms of upskilling them for dog mobility, but also working with their current dog.
00:02:17
S1: So I guess when we talk about all ages, what are the age ranges that we're kind of looking about? Fido got mobility.
00:02:25
S2: So typically it has been, you know, that 18 plus, but you know, more and more we're seeing people who are younger, who are ready for dog mobility, have gone through intensive own in program prior have the workload for a dog who are interested in sort of engaging in dog mobility. So I think our youngest at the moment is 14. And so it's more you know, being at that age is not a barrier anymore, but more around actually working with that individual in terms of what their workload is, where they're going, how a dog is going to help them in their sort of mobility.
00:03:02
S1: So I guess thinking about the the kind of youth element of it. I've heard a bit about a youth program. Could you please tell me a bit about the youth program? What is that?
00:03:11
S2: Yeah, the youth program was a pilot run this year through 2022, and it was centered around sort of upskilling people in their own home skills, whilst also giving them an idea of what dog mobility entailed, what skills that they could further before getting a dog, but also giving them the experience through to kind of, you know, taking care of feeding, toileting and working and the responsibilities as, you know, constantly training of being a dog and how that sort of would work in their day to day life. So it was more a developed as sort of a program that people between the ages of 13 and 18 could engage with to really get an idea of what dog mobility actually entailed.
00:03:57
S1: I guess for someone who's, you know, for example, maybe attending school there a different number of morning routine changes that you'd have to make if you had a seeing eye dog.
00:04:06
S2: Yes. And that's one of the things that we cover. So the program sort of goes over. It's 12 month program. Every month we meet online to do a theory component of a module. So, you know, there could be things from road crossings to problem solving to dog welfare and care. And so that's where we sort of discussed with all the participants in the group. So, you know, we can have up to six people, you know, what that actually would look like for them, how they have to change their day to day routine, what adaptations would they have to make as well? And then they also engage with face to face on M sessions to sort of solidify that and to practice some of those skills that we talk around that every month. And then two camps, so one in the April school holidays and then one in the September school holidays to, you know, issue them this thing I took for three days and we then support them in terms of feeding, toileting and also, you know, caring for the dog overnight as well.
00:05:11
S1: So who attended the program? How old were the attendees roughly and how long did it run for? So the whole year, sorry. How long did the camp, I guess, run for? Maybe.
00:05:21
S2: So the camps run for three days and two nights. And then the people in this current program range from 13 to 17, and there's a total of six people for this program, which was fantastic for our pilot.
00:05:38
S1: Were they all Victoria based?
00:05:42
S2: No, no. So we had one person come from an interstate location and sort of they flew down to the camp, which we supported and booking flights and we were able to meet them at the airport. I'm noticing I dogs. We have three horses which we say out, which is about to, you know, two minute walk from our seeing eye dog campus. And both houses have sort of a three bedroom layout with their own en suite areas inside. So there is a staff member that stays overnight as well.
00:06:13
S1: So if so, for anyone who is potentially interested in the feature, which would talk about a little bit later being kind of either local to Kensington or not is not a barrier.
00:06:22
S2: Definitely not. No, it's yeah, we can work with anyone despite where they live in the country.
00:06:28
S1: So obviously there's and you've kind of covered part of this, but what is involved in the youth program?
00:06:34
S2: So probably the involvement, you know, in terms of additional things that I haven't covered so far is just that commitment to attending the monthly sessions. They are recorded because we do realise that, you know, things come up every now and then, but at least for a majority of them. So we can
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have that discussion. FOSTER Of the relationship between, you know, the group before that, they all come on camp and then also talk around how they're going with their program. So the commitment, the big one, just because it is the 12 month program, but also, you know. It's around sort of having that goal of continuing to develop their own. And so realising that the dog's not going to, you know, do things like make you independent, but seeking out that independence and having those skills already for dog mobility.
00:07:25
S1: So what are the objectives or skills that you aim to develop with participants, or was it more individual to the participant? You know, was a goal setting in particular?
00:07:34
S2: Yes, there is an individual component, but also then a structured program. So yeah, it comes down to those every month having those topics and we touch base with the O&M so that they can develop their lesson plans individually that benefits that person. And so, you know, it might be that the topic for the month is road crossings. And so at the end of the month, you know, seeing where that person is in their Rhode Crossing ability is one of the things of the dog guard is that the client is the one making the decision to cross the road, but is a myth out there that sort of the dog will alert you when it's safe. And so yet the owner will really work with that participant in that month or, you know, ongoing if they need extra time to make sure that they've got those skills ready. And so yeah, every month is a different topic. And then the OEM, the face to face will then go through the be more individualized program for that person.
00:08:31
S1: So it sounds like it's not necessarily, I guess, a guarantee of a dog being issued, and that's not the aim. How does the youth program set up attendees to prepare them for dog on mobility in the future?
00:08:44
S2: Yeah, it's yeah, it's a good pick up there. So the program doesn't guarantee that at the end, you know, you go straight onto the waitlist and get a dog. Our aim is to really ensure that people who, you know, are issued seeing eye dogs are ready for dog mobility. So it gives them the best foot forward in ensuring that their mobility is the safest out there. And so in the beginning, there is an assessment process for the youth program just to ensure that in terms of eligibility, we can ensure the person is ready for the program. And then from there, it's sort of just outlining the three main outcomes. At the end of the program. There will be some at the end who perhaps have been going really well with their own M already for dog mobility. So we'll have that discussion with the family in terms of what that person's mobility looks like after 12 month program, whether that be straight, you know, going onto the waitlist, there will be others who may need an extended on end program because throughout some of the modules, maybe, you know, we need to increase some of their skills on problem solving or
road crossings. Landmark ID, you know, everyone's going to be very different and they will sort of tailor that to the person, give them a very structured sort of plan in terms of going forward, you know, what they need to accomplish before the mobility would be suitable for them. And then there may be some who go through the program really keen for dog mobility, but then through their experience have realised that there's actually a lot more involved than they had potentially thought. And so they may make the decision to, you know, stick with their current mobility, whether that be the long train or others that they're currently using. And so that is still a success of the program because, you know, we really want to ensure that people who are issues being I talk to and a really aware of what it is involved but at that way yeah we're setting everyone up for success.
00:10:44
S1: So how can anyone find out more information for either them or for their child or teen for the feature around the youth program?
00:10:52
S2: So the pilot this pilot ends in December, but we are running another program in 2023. We do have an information session for anyone who's interested and wants to come along, ask questions. Darren, who is an orientation mobility specialist and myself, will be there to sort of discuss the program, a little bit more of what's involved, individual questions, things like that. That's the 20th of July. You can either contact myself on or four, four, eight or 93817 or Darren orientation mobility specialist or 43778785. And we can give you that link and talk to you a little bit more around perhaps everyone's individualized circumstances and sort of, you know, what might be some of the questions you may have.
00:11:42
S1: So just to, I guess, kind of finish up who is eligible to sign up for 2023 and who might I guess, who do you think it might benefit? The motions in some ways, if that makes sense.
00:11:58
S2: Yeah. So we're looking for people between 12 to 18 years old who have that family support for their dog mobility goal. You know, so that as a family, we can work toward the person's goal of dog mobility. We look also to ensure that the person is either legally blind or has a functional impact on their mobility, that, you know, a dog may be suitable for them. And again, happy to discuss what that looks like for individualized faces. And they have to be able to travel their school independently. So they're sort of able to get from classroom to classroom and don't need sort of friends, support workers or anything to sort of help them at that point. So that way, once the dog enters, they have the ability to direct, you know, the dog where it is that they're heading. We also look for perhaps 1 to 2 rats outside of the school that the dog will be accompanying, you know, working with that client on as well. Whether that be that the person's getting to and from school independently or perhaps they have after school curriculums that they, you know, attend to that dog will be sort of helping with their mobility just to ensure that workload is there for the dog after as well. But again, it's happy to discuss any individualized cases if people want to give me a call. And because of the camp, there's also an ability to administer your own medication. So if you are on any medication, then ensuring that the person they admit to that independently.
00:13:34
S1: Well, it sounds like a really good opportunity for for someone who was who was young and considering all of the options and building those skills already. So yeah, it sounds like it. A really amazing pilot program. I'm sure the participants have learnt a whole heap even now halfway through.
00:13:51
S2: Yeah, definitely. And I think that's a benefit as well. Even though there's this aim of dog mobility, whether that's at the end of the program or a couple of years down the track or anything, is that they do walk away with an increase in mobility skills that aren't just dog specific, but also can be used for, you know, using when using their long cane and travelling around. So it is really upskilling them not just for dog mobility, but just in life in general.
00:14:16
S1: Well, thank you so much for joining me today on the show and for explaining that amazing program.
00:14:21
S2: No, thank you for having me.
00:14:22
S1: Anytime. Been listening to the Sing Dog Show on Vision Australia Radio. I have enjoyed my interview with Brook. I think you can agree that the pilot program for the youth program sounds like a really great experience for the kids and for the young people to enjoy and experience. So hopefully that year runs for years to come, giving young people an idea of Doug mobility before committing to the amazing next steps. Without further ado. Now I'm going to be airing the next part of our episode. This is going to be an interview with training manager Paul Adrian about Doug and mobility. Here is my interview with Paul. Hi, Paul. Thanks for joining me on the show today.
00:15:04
S2: Hi, Harriet. Nice to join you and your listeners again.
00:15:07
S1: What are the main criteria for Doug? Guide Mobility. So for someone who is looking to get a seeing eye dog or adult guide.
00:15:13
S2: Strap yourself in. Harriet I'll talk to this for a little while. What I encourage listeners to do, if they're at all interested in finding a thing I do, they get in contact with us and discuss their individual circumstances with us because it's very difficult to, you know, have a set of criteria that is set in stone. Every individual needs to be considered according to their particular needs. But let me just take you through two or three of the criteria we're looking at. First of all, a person would need to either be legally blind or have a significant issue with their vision that's having some functional implications on their movement. They need to have an ability to walk around. So a level of physical fitness, although many people
think that needs to be there. You know, a person needs to be able to walk three or four, five kilometres a day, and that's not strictly true. Some people with quite limited needs for travel are still successful with a dog guide, and it depends on the complexity of the work they do, their level of physical fitness, but they do need to be able to walk around and have reasonable balance as they do so we've got a range of different dogs with different energy levels. If we still can find suitable matches for people who don't travel too much. But it's important for the dog's welfare that they do get out most days for a walk of some sort. When we're assessing an applicant, we also need to to be sure that with our support and training, they have the capacity to keep a dog healthy, to provide it with vet checks, to feed it and maintain a healthy weight, and also to grow and care for the dog's part bills and so on. It's important that an applicant has a home. The dog can be kept safe, healthy and stable. It's helpful if if a person has a backyard, but it's certainly not necessary. Most of our applicants have a need for a primary mobility aid that's a long canine or a dog guide in order to travel safely, independently, and also very importantly, just to travel comfortably, because that's one of the great benefits of having a dog guide. And that's the fluidity which which with which people can travel when they're when they're working with a dog. The other really critical piece of the puzzle is that the person has the capacity to reinforce the trained behaviours of the dog. And that means that when the dog's doing the right thing, they're aware of it and they can, they can reward the dog for those those behaviours that are useful and also they're able to detect and correct behaviours from the dog that that are helpful to do its work, such as if the dog wants to take a sniff that they're aware of it and that they can control it. So to do that person may have reasonably good awareness and reasonable reflexes. Again, depending on the type of dog, some dogs are more challenging to to work with and others are far less challenging. And we can find a dog to mate the various capabilities of of people who apply. So that's a kind of broad a broad brush list of those requirements that we're looking for. But but as I say, it's it's really important that if people have any interest in obtaining a dog guard, that they they have a chat to one of the staff here. You know, it is really a really individual thing. And we'd like to be able to talk to people about their individual requirements.
00:18:49
S1: And so you kind of touch on this, but does a handler need to be completely blind so have kind of know life perception and what kinds of low vision make dog and mobility useful?
00:18:58
S2: Yeah, really good question. So, so first of all, absolutely no. To the first part of that question, it's not necessary for a person to be totally blind in order to apply for and successfully use a seeing eye dog. And our first be that there are still people out there who would would definitely benefit from from having a seeing eye dog who either think they're not they're not blind enough in to to paraphrase, you know, expressions that I've heard people use in the past or. Or they're concerned that if they have one of the dogs, they'll be denying the opportunity to somebody who needs it more. You know, I really encourage people not to think like that. We've got a great supplier of dogs, and we know that dogs can provide fabulous benefits to people who are totally blind, but also to people who have partial vision. And I'll give you a couple of examples here. One being for people who perhaps have narrow fields. As a result of crime or other other conditions. If you've got a narrow field that, you know, might be akin to looking through at the world, through a toilet roll, for instance. Our. You're going into a a busy situation such as a shopping center where where people are moving randomly from left to right. And there's potentially obstacles on the floor or steps going down or escalators going down that you're trying to access. It's really, really difficult. To use your vision to navigate target destinations and also to be scanning the environment for all those obstacles on the floor or people who are crossing your field of vision from left or right, or having a dog guide to look after the obstacles on the floor, that that would enable a person with narrow fields to use their remaining vision in a in a more functional way to be able to target their destination and travel more comfortably as a result.
00:21:11
S1: You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dog Show on Vision Australia Radio. That episode from the archive I think suits our first interview really well, talking about the eligibility and the criteria and finding out who will benefit from dog mobility. So if you'd like to find out more about your individual circumstances or chat to the team, head to a website at said dot vision dot org to find out more about dog mobility and becoming a single dog handler. Now I'm going to be joined by Lesley Butler, a government relations and advocacy advisor at Vision Australia. And we're going to be talking a bit about the upcoming webinar about access rights and advocating for yourself. Here is that interview with Lesley. Hi, Lesley. Thanks for joining me on the show today.
00:21:51
S2: You're most welcome. Nice to be here.
00:21:53
S1: So just to start off with, could you please introduce yourself? What is your role and what is the expertise that you bring to the webinar that we're going to be talking about?
00:22:02
S2: So my name is Leslie Butler. I'm currently the government relations advisor at Vision Australia. I've been with Vision Australia for the last four years in the government relations and at the theme, and I've recently moved into the Government Relations Advisor role before I joined Vision Australia, I was a
sort of practicing listener for about 15 years and since I've been at Vision Australia, I've actually done quite a lot of work looking at the access right or thing I do. And so yeah, that's the experience that I bring to the to the webinar.
00:22:38
S1: What exactly does the government relations team do at as a, as a general?
00:22:43
S2: So what we do, we've got two primary functions. So we firstly can look at individual advocacy matters for people so we can be contacted and help you out if you do have an advocacy issue around blindness and vision. But we also do a lot of systemic advocacy. So we like to talk to government, you know, liaise with other with other bodies in the blindness and vision sector to bring attention to issues within the blindness and low vision sector that are that are relevant or that present a barrier for for many people within the sector.
00:23:24
S1: So what is the topic of the webinar that you are going to be hosting or co-hosting?
00:23:30
S2: So the topic is advocating for your rights for guide dog users. And yeah, so it'll be a good opportunity to, to learn all things advocacy.
00:23:44
S1: So what are the topics that are going to be kind of, you know, what I guess will be covered? Why why should someone attend?
00:23:53
S2: So we're going to be covering a broad range of things, everything from what is advocacy, but also what is effective advocacy. So how can you most effectively put your point of view across if you are facing an issue? We're also going to be looking at what are some of the things that you might do if you faced an issue and run through, I guess, things from the very basic level of, you know, advocating your rights in a particular situation down to if you need to make a formal complaint. We're also going to be looking at where you can find out what your rights are. We're not going to go into too much of the legislative detail around that, but we're going to give you the basic information of where can you find out what your rights are. And then we're going to try and look at a few particular scenarios where people might face barriers with being a dogfight in, say, a taxi or a rideshare, when you might be accessing a shop or a restaurant or even when you might be accessing a hotel.
00:25:01
S1: When you talk about, I guess, the different legislation and that that's not something that you'll be going into. Am I right in thinking that that that might be partially because the some of the states will have different rules? And is it going to be Victoria focused or Sydney focused, or are there any particular locations that you'll be kind of, I guess, thinking about more or is going to be Australia wide?
00:25:24
S2: So we're going to keep it fairly broad there. You're right, there are different legislative regimes in at the Commonwealth level and also at the state. They are they can be different in the way that they work, but primarily they do protect access rights for everyone who is using a thing.
I jog for the purpose of alleviating their their vision loss, but they also can I guess it's also quite a complex it can be also quite complex differentiating between the the the different pieces of legislation. So we're going to keep it broad or for that reason. But everything we talk about will cover you, whether you are in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland or Western Australia.
00:26:18
S1: So who should attend this webinar and why?
00:26:22
S2: So the anyone can attend. Anyone who is interested in what advocacy is and how to effectively advocate can attend, but is primarily aimed at people who have seeing eye dog who might want to know more about what to do when they face that barrier also, or their family or friends who might also want to be able to assist someone that they're with, who might who might face a barrier in being able to access a public place.
00:26:52
S1: I guess that's also for handlers from other other schools as well. Not not seeing audio specific.
00:26:59
S2: Any any anyone with a anyone with a dog guide, whether that be a seeing eye dog guide dog or other assistance animal.
00:27:09
S1: And just to finish off, where can will when is the webinar and how can anyone find out more specifics as the details? And then also kind of I guess register to get the Zoom link.
00:27:20
S2: So the the webinar itself is being held on Thursday, the 30th June. It will run Eastern Australian Eastern Standard Time between 630 and 730. In order to register, you can go to the Seeing Eye Dogs webinar or the Seeing Eye Dog website. And there is a there's a page there that you can you can register for the Seeing Eye Dog webinar.
00:27:52
S1: Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show. I think it sounds like it'll be a really interesting webinar whether someone is about to get a sing it or has one or an audio guide. So yeah, thank you so much for coming on the show. And also hopefully yeah, everyone attends and get some good knowledge from from you at the webinar.
00:28:10
S2: Thank you. Fantastic. Thank you.
00:28:18
S1: You've been listening to this thing, Auto Show on Fish and Stray already. I enjoyed my three interviews. If you like to find out about any of the topics discussed about the Eagles program, about dog eat, dog mobility and eligibility for a seeing eye dog, or about the upcoming webinar or other webinars throughout the year, please head to all of that said Vision Australia dot org. If you are interested in volunteering for us in particular, if you are interested in six or 12 month puppy caring options, we are looking for puppies now in regions of Sunshine Coast, North Brisbane, Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong. If you're interested in finding out more about Puppy Garing, head to our social media at seeing eye dogs on Facebook or Instagram or head to our website at said dot Vision Australia dot org. Also, if you'd like to find out more about via a radio radiothon, we are hoping to get some donations to help support the work that Vision Australia Radio does, which is providing shows like this. Other leisure and entertainment shows, as well as information services and newspapers, read out for people who are blind or have low vision and the broader community who have a print disability. If you'd like to find out more about Vision Australia Radio's radiothon and donate, please head to via radio dot org or call one 384 7466. Thank you for listening and don't forget to tune in same time next week for an episode of these products radio show.