When Michael Simpson lost his sight at the age of 18, he turned to the Royal Blind Society to help in learning the skills he needed to adapt to the huge change in his life.
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“I was working for the family motor repair business in Gulagambone at the time,” Mr Simpson said. “I had to learn how to use Braille, how to use the long white cane to move around and living skills like how to cook with senses other than sight. “
More than 40 years later, Mr Simpson is helping other blind or vision impaired people as the NSW General Manager of Client Services for Vision Australia.
In Mudgee on the weekend to attend the Cork & Fork Opera, a major local fundraiser for Vision Australia, Mr Simpson said Vision Australia works with more than 33,000 people every year who are blind or have low vision.
“We see people who have lost their sight due to accident, illness or age,” Mr Simpson said.
“Children who were born without sight need intensive services, including early education and physiotherapy and we also work closely with the family.”
Vision Australia’s information and library service provides talking books, Braille and large print books and electronic text to people around Australia.
The organisation also plays an important role in advocating for measures which make life easier for blind and low-vision people, such as tactile tiles at road crossings.
“The Black and White Committee has also been the face of Vision Australia at a local level, and that’s why it’s important that people support it.”
Vision Australia also worked with electoral commissions to introduce the electronic voting, to provide accessible voting for visually impaired people.
Mr Simpson said advances in technology, such as synthetic speech on computers, and improvements in the built environment were helping blind and visually impaired people to be independent at home and in the community.
“Braille is still the key to literacy for blind people, but it is now being used differently. We can now deliver Braille electronically to homes over the internet.”
However, some changes raise new challenges for blind people.
“One of the biggest challenges is electric cars – because they are quiet – and the ever increasing amount of cyclists on the footpaths,” Mr Simpson said.
“Gophers are a challenge as well, especially when they are left outside shops and cafes on the footpaths.
“We try to get local government to have regulations which require businesses to keep the building line clear of chairs or signs.
“It’s all about awareness and education about the needs of all citizens to be able to find their way around easily.”
Mr Simpson said in councils which have an access committee, such as Mid-Western Regional Council, there is a better outcome for people with disabilities than in areas which do not.
Local resident Mary Lovett has been an active member of the access committee as well as raising issues nationally through Blind Citizens Australia, he said.
Mr Simpson said the fundraising efforts of the groups such as Mudgee’s Black and White Committee, who have raised nearly $100,000 through their annual operas over the last 10 years, were essential for Vision Australia.
“Vision Australia receives only 30 per cent of its funding from federal and state governments and has to raise the other 70 per cent through fundraising and corporate sponsorship,” he said.
“The Black and White Committee has also been the face of Vision Australia at a local level, and that’s why it’s important that people support it.”
“Events like tonight are a good way for the community to support Vision Australia.”
Mudgee Black & White Committee president Annie Johnston said the committee urgently needs new members to continue its work in supporting Vision Australia.
People who are interested in being a member of the Black & White Committee can contact Mrs Johnson on 63731441.