Vision Australia has been given the go ahead to build a new Indoor Mobility and Safety Training Centre at its Seeing Eye Dogs Australia breeding and training centre thanks to a $500,000 grant from the Victorian State Government.
An Australian first, the centre will provide a safe and realistic place for a person who is blind to become familiar and confident with either their newly-matched Seeing Eye Dog, or their white cane, without the fear that can come from training outside. It will also be used by children who are beginning to use canes.
The Indoor Mobility and Safety Training Centre will be a mock outdoor environment that will consist of pedestrian and training crossings, roadside kerbing, functional traffic lights with audio signals, a mock café, overhanging obstacles, like tree branches, and footpaths to teach cane techniques.
Vision Australia Chief Executive Officer, Ron Hooton, said this will complete the state-of-the-art facility, which opened two years ago, and welcomed the funding announcement by Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas, who visited the SEDA Open Day in Kensington yesterday.
“Many people who are blind or have low vision are already experiencing an extreme loss of confidence, especially those with recently diagnosed vision loss. I want to thank the State Government for listening to the concerns of people who are blind or have low vision and responding, by providing this funding, so we can get onto providing a safe place for white cane and Seeing Eye Dog training.” he said
For some people, having to learn to cross a road can be a terrifying prospect – as can getting on a bus or tram, or just being able to work out where they are while outdoors, in the midst of traffic and other pedestrians.
“Current urban environments are not well-designed for people with blindness or low vision. We will now be able to provide a safe, controlled environment that enables clients to focus on the skills they need to learn, and gain confidence in, before using them out in the real world.” Mr Hooton added
More than 350,000 Australians, including 90,000 Victorians, are blind or have low vision and this number is only expected to increase as our population ages and lives longer.
It takes around 18-months to train a Seeing Eye Dog. From around 12 months of age, the Seeing Eye Dog undergoes six months of advanced training. A person who is blind or has low vision is then matched with a dog and, together, receives training from a Seeing Eye Dogs’ instructor for 3-4 weeks.
The main purpose of the Indoor Mobility and Safety Training Centre is to better equip people are blind or have low vision with the skills and confidence to move safely and independently around their community so that they can work, study, and take part in leisure activities or everyday tasks such as shopping and banking.
The Indoor Mobility and Training Centre is part of Vision Australia’s long-term plan to provide people who are blind or have low vision with methods of way-finding. The organisation is currently trialling iBeacons, a wireless device that sends environmental voice descriptions to an app on a phone, to help with navigating busy city areas such as train stations.
The $8m donor-funded kennel and puppy centre opened in March 2014 and features a rehabilitation therapy pool, grooming area, whelping rooms, free-run area and an indoor and outdoor puppy playroom. Seeing Eye Dogs Australia is located at 17 Barrett Street, Kensington Vic 3031
Media enquiries: Rebecca McLean, 0403371559, or email [email protected]
Visit our website: seda.visionaustralia.org