The first hybrid SPEVI Conference, hosted by SPEVI Inc, took place from 13-15 January 2025. Delegates attended in person or online with dynamic programs tailored to both platforms. The face-to-face event took place at the University of Southern Queensland city campus in Brisbane, Queensland. The Conference Theme was 'EmPOWERment through connection, inclusion and education'. Various special activities celebrated the 200th anniversary of Braille and the 70th year of SPEVI's first iteration: the successful Braille Awareness Community Event in Post Office Square in Brisbane, an exclusive premier screening of “Possibilities” (American Foundation for the Blind – AFB) in the iconic Elizabeth Picture Theatre, and the production and showing of the “Voices of SPEVI” video created by Sue & Carla Silveira.
SPEVI would like to thank the members of the conference organising committee, the fantastic youth volunteers, the team from UniSQ for hosting the conference, and the Conference sponsors and exhibitors: Brisbane City Council, Brisbane Economic Development Agency, NextSense, Vision Australia, Quantum Reading-Learning-Vision, Able Australia, NV Access, Wonderbaby.org, Sonokids Australia, Massey University, HumanWare, Pentronics, VisiTech Magnifiers, Guide Dogs Queensland, and the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities.
We thank Carla Silveira and Lena Karam for their assistance with the editing of session recordings and the creation of this online repository.
Listed below are links to video recordings of the keynotes, plenary sessions, panel discussions, workshops and papers that were presented at the conference.
In the top menus, click on the name of the session you wish to view. Doing this will take you to the relevant section of the page where you can watch the video or download the paper presentation or handout where available. Please use appropriate referencing. Published with authors' consent.
Griffiths, C. Dr
Session 1: Day 1 - Keynote Presentation: Life on our Terms: How to Consciously Create a life of Adventure, Opportunity and Empowerment
Minnis, J.
Session 2a: SPEVI Position Statement on Braille Literacy in Australia
White, E.
Session 2b: The pathway to the pathway: Building the evidence for an empirical braille literacy learning progression and beyond
Gentle, F. and Cashmore, C.
Session 2c: New developments in UEB Online
Silveira, S.
Session 3a: Exploring family quality of life among families raising children with vision impairment
Carwardine, M.
Session 3b: Building community capacity for inclusion
Kuan Cheong, S.
Session 3c: Grief and loss experienced by parents of children diagnosed with vision impairment
Leonida, K.
Session 4a: Let’s get moving! Early intervention to promote motor development in a blind infant
York, T.
Session 4b: The Oregon Project: Overview and New 7th Edition
Baguhn, S.
Session 4c: Understanding Barriers to Digital Inclusion Students May Encounter
Cain, M., Whipp, M., and young adults
Session 5 Panel: Essential factors to build Quality of Life and wellbeing through the teen years
Clare, B. Curran, M., Goodsir, D., and invited guests
Session 6 Panel: The New Frontier of Braille: How do we integrate Multiline Displays with Screen Readers in Education
Abbracciavento, A.
Session 7a: Enhancing inclusivity for students who are vision impaired at a local high school
Wallace, K.
Session 7b: Providing and promoting high expectations for children with vision impairment
Strickland, L.
Session 7c: What are my options? Life Post School - Vision Impairment and Intellectual Disability
Gower, L., and Damsma, P.
Session 8a Workshop: Sonification in the classroom
Angelier, M., LEGO
Session 8b Workshop: Let’s code with LEGO Braille bricks
Becker, R., Black, T.
Session 9a: Easy step-by-step methods for teaching braille reading using actual tactual materials
Rose, A.
Session 9b: Quality of life for braille users: What does the literature say?
Jesso, A. Wilton, A.
Session 9c: The Braille Bites project
Sheppard, M.
Session 10: Day 2 - Keynote Presentation: Let me fail so I can succeed
Martire, J. L.
Session 11a: The power of the dots: Empowering braille users through communication connection and language rights
Kaine, N.
Session 11b: Skills, Thoughts, Activities, Responsibilities: Development and evaluation of the STAR Kit employability home program
Sutherland, E.
Session 11c: “We're somehow stupid because we don’t have working eyeballs”: Exploring stigma consciousness of children and adolescents with vision impairment
Raphael, F., Arvier, L., Horriat, E., and Comerford, G.
Session 12a: Bridging the accessibility gap through tactile sporting fields
Hannen-Williams, R.
Session 12b: In 2022; Zero BVI children under 15 Years old are playing sport in WA. Let's change that
Beckman, E., Tweedy, S.
Session 12c: Looking to the future. Building Australia’s next Paralympians through the ParaSTART and APAP programs
Lau, M.
Session 13a: Innovating inclusive education: introducing reach & match light and braille number tiles for children with visual impairments
Robinson, D.
Session 13b: EmPOWERment via math accessibility through digital access in WORD and AI: Using UEB math, braille displays, and screen readers for connection, inclusion and education
Bawden, K., Rattray, K.
Session 13c: Hands on maths - not just for juniors!
Strickland, L.
Session 15a: Portraits in the Dark - Visual art for students with complex needs
Zuvela, D.
Session 15b: Can touch this: Centering the blind spectator in contemporary art
Anderson, L.
Session 15c: Life Ready Games - online games for young people
Oddoux, M., Angelier, M., LEGO
Session 16a Workshop: The learning through play experience tool
Joshi, R.
Session 16c Workshop: Empowering STEM Learning through inclusive braille-based technologies
Babanisi, E.
Session 17: Inclusive education for blind children in the Solomon Islands
Strickland, L., Gower, L.
Session 18a: Help! I have a blind student in my music class! – support for teachers and teacher aides
Gatehouse, G.
Session 18b: My empowering journey: Life with Lily, Andy and Eddie
Damsma, P., Norgaard, J. Cantle, R., and Cashmore, C.
Session 19a Workshop: Open forum - Strategies and tools for students with BLV to be safe and savvy online
McDowell, N.
Session 20a: How to use the Austin Assessment: From screening for CVI related visual issues through to guiding practice
Jones, S., Wittwer, S.
Session 20b: Fluency at your fingertips: the power of reading
Clare, B.
Session 22: Day 2 - Keynote Presentation: Access to Employment for People with Disability, a Pacific Islands Perspective
Cracknell, P.
Session 23a: UEB maths with NVDA, JAWS, single-line braille displays
Taylor, S.
Session 23b: Advanced JAWS features: the path to academic and professional excellence
Woodbridge, D.
Session 23c: Braille, Braille, and More Braille
Rose, S.
Session 24a: Barriers and facilitators to including users of tactile language: making inclusion work, on the basis of understanding tactile language and cognition
Middleton, J., Pine, C.
Session 24b: Communication and literacy development support for students with multi disabilities VI
Prain, M., Rose, S.
Session 24c: Tactile literacy and deafblindness - beyond braille and sign
Embling, C.
Session 25a: Beyond the itinerant model: a new approach to developing independent living skills
Rolland, P., Izzard, P.
Session 25b: The Life Ready Hub and the expanded core curriculum
Goodsir, D.
Session 25c: The power of partnerships to transform lives in Tuvalu
Paueli, R., Dares, A.
Session 26a: Portraits in the Dark - Visual art for students with complex needs
Farouk, B., Salafabisi, V.
Session 26b: Empowerment through connection, inclusion and education
Clare, B.
Session 26c: From Marrakesh to the Marshalls; making the right to read real in the blue Pacific
Gower, L., O'Brien, H.
Session 27a Workshop: Museums for Touch project
Cain, M., Martin, R., Jackes, W.
Session 27b Workshop: Goalball Queensland workshop
d'Apice, T., Silveira, S.
Session 28a: Developing a braille needs assessment for early childhood
Weaver, K.
Session 28b: Braille for lifelong learners
White, U.
Session 28c: The changing face of Cerebral Visual Impairment
Roth, M., Moyle, D. Foote, P.
Session 29a: Explorers United - Exploring the power of connection through O&M group programs
(online) McDowell, S., Arrian, S.
Session 29b: Building vision teacher capability to help expand the Developmental Orientation and Mobility workforce in Aotearoa, NZ
Goodsir, D.
Session 30a: Learning something every day: A reflection on a life in teaching
McLeod, J.
Session 30b: Mapping Guide Dogs Queensland’s holiday mobility camps onto the ECC
Rattray, K.
Session 31a: Brewing Independence: Empowering vision impaired students through coffee entrepreneurship
Kuman, J.
Session 31b: Establishing disability inclusion centres in tertiary institutions: The challenges and success stories of the University of Goroka in Papua New Guinea