I finally found a tool that i have been trying to find for months. It is a "simulator" for Braillers. This program is a very simple, straightforward application that will happily run under Windows Xp and Vista. It is called Perky Duck.

The company that provides it is called Duxbury Systems and the direct link to the application is Perky Duck Link Please note that i have included this link to help out. It may change in the future so please go via the main link to Duxbury Systems and then choose products. Look for Perky Duck

I have installed and used this on my laptop and my desktop now and it is brilliant. This program should be encouraged to be used by all people learning Braille.

I would like to also add my special "thank you" to Anne and Mick, Scott and all staff involved in the Variety Club day at McDonalds Cooparoo.

As a Grandparent it was a very moving day for me personally when the presentation of the Braille machines was made to the 4 recipients. It brought tears to my eyes to think that this wonderful organization was helping not only my darling Grand-daughter Caitlyn but 3 other beautiful children. With these Braille machines these children now have the opportunity to expand their learning ability and in turn "write" their own thoughts and ideas as they grow older, and commence their schooling and education.

I myself (at the ripe old age of 59) am going to do my best to learn Braille and in turn be able to sit down in the future with Caitlyn and read to her, and her read to me at a later age.

"Thank you" are only two simple words to express our appreciation to the above mentioned people but they are said with much gratitude.

How can I express the feeling after today, McDonalds Coorparoo and Variety Club Day!!... A few words come to mind.

1. "TOTAL EXHAUSTION!!"
We had a fantastic day there. Mick and Anne (McDonalds Coorparoo owners and Variety Club members) put on a day well and truly worth every cent. They together with their crew at McDonalds ensured that everything went smoothly and that everyone was able to have an enjoyable day.

2. "Total Joy"
To receive the Perkins Braille Machine was just something that cannot be described. Variety Club is a fantastic organisation who provide much needed support to families, like ourselves, who may not be able to provide much needed equipment due to the over-the-top pricing of some items. To give an example of the costing involved - a Perkins Braille Machine is in excess of $1000. Today, Variety Club provided 4 of these units to needy families (ours included).

3. "Complete Satisfaction"
Knowing that we in our own way helped out some of the others there by selling some of the Golden Hearts made us feel really good. There are still more that can be purchased by visiting the McDonalds Coorparoo store.

I will be posting quite a few photos from the day as well as links to various groups that where involved in the day. My family and myself cannot express enough our thanks to Mick and Anne from McDonalds Coorparoo as well as Trevor from Variety Club for organising the day. Our heartfelt thanks and love goes out to all

Today we received our information pack from the staff at McDonalds Coorparoo and Variety CLub.

The pack contains 2 posters for us to put up around at our workplaces, a letter from Scott who is co-ordinating the day as well as a request for information from Variety Club.

All things seem to be underway now. More information will be posted once i receive it.

Well, where do i start???

We had a visit to the low vision clinic in Buranda on wednesday. This is part of the Narbethong Centre. I cannot say enough about the services and support that are provided there.

To start with, one of the Teachers there took us for a tour for nearly an hour. They put Caitlyn into several of the "training aids" that they have including the little room and the hammock.

Wow, what a busy couple of days

Lets start earlier this week.

We installed a new application for video conferencing. This is a fantastic system called Sightspeed. We did some local testing and finally was able to do a real call test on thursday morning with Luda from RIDBC.

Wednesday afternoon