SPEVI Community of Practice (CoP) for Parents and Carers of children/young people with blindness and low vision
Organised by SPEVI Inc., open to members and non-members of SPEVI who are Parents and Carers of children and young people with blindness and low vision. We do encourage parents to join SPEVI.
Co-facilitators: Melissa Fanshawe, Melinda Whipp, and Melissa Cain.
Contact email: Melissa.Fanshawe@unisq.edu.au
The first meeting of this CoP was held on 10 October 2023.
Next meeting: 7 September 2026
Time: 19:00 pm Brisbane, QLD
Topic: “Start Right Now”.
Guest Speaker: Dr Natalie Kaine, Vision Australia
This session is for all parents and carers of children with blindness and low vision (all stages and ages), looking at the future of employability and/or meaningful participation in the community.
Description: Dr Natalie Kaine is a paediatric occupational therapist and the Children and Young People Client Lead NSW at Vision Australia. With over twenty-five years of experience at Vision Australia, she has dedicated her career to helping children and young people (and their families) to build the aspirations, skills, knowledge, independence and confidence needed to participate fully in education, employment and community life. Natalie has particular interest in career education, employability and life transitions for children and young people with BLV. Alongside her clinical work, she completed a doctoral research degree through The University of Sydney, examining pathways to employment and the factors that support successful employability preparations for children and young people who are blind or have low vision. In this session, Natalie will explore the concept of starting right now with employability preparations and share some of the findings from her two research studies.
Register in advance for this meeting (required):
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/Io0Eoka0ThmdtrjYtf4wcg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please check your junk folder and add the invitation to your calendar.
Please note: No recording, no redistribution, no commercial reuse. Third part reuse is prohibited. Terms explicitly prohibit scraping, aggregation, AI training, or resale. By participating in this session, you agree to these terms and conditions.
Past Meetings
Meeting 2 was Monday 13th May, 2024, 7pm – 8pm AEST.
Topic: Ideas for Leisure and Recreation for children/young people with blindness and low vision.
This session was facilitated by Melissa Fanshawe, co-president, SPEVI and Melinda Whipp, parent volunteer facilitator on the Vision Australia Parent Community (both parents of young people with blindness and low vision).
Enquiries and to request the recording: Melissa.Fanshawe@unisq.edu.au
Meeting 1: In the first session of this Community of Practice, on Tuesday 10 October 2023, participants discussed some key topics about caring for children with blindness and low vision. Future sessions will have guest speakers to address and discuss these topics.
Contact email: melissa.fanshawe@unisq.edu.au