Saturday, March 1, 2014 – 9:30 a.m. Melbourne time
By Teressa Jackson
Yesterday we had a wonderful team day at Blackburn Lake and
Taralye. Blackburn Lake is a man-made lake that is one of the few remaining
bushland reserves in the area. We had a guided tour with a very knowledgeable
and funny fellow by the name of Ian, as well as presentations by Lucy, their
part-time educator, and several volunteers. The weather was gorgeous and we all
really enjoyed the tour.
One point that tied the morning and afternoon together,
apart from the actual very close proximity of our two visits, was a history in
relation to individuals who are deaf. Many years ago, Blackburn Lake was actually
home to a group of deaf people who grew flowers on the property and sold them
to raise funds. Taralye has also served individuals who are deaf for over 40
years, and is located just about a kilometer from the lake preserve.
Taralye sees about 400 children a month in a variety of
programs. Like many disability services organizations, it was founded by
parents of children who are deaf who wanted their children to learn to speak. Taralye
also serves children with autism, and in fact, the Mother Goose program we
participated in had only one child who was deaf in it. No fees are charged for
their services.
Like Rauch, the organization where I work, Taralye has an
early intervention program. Their programming extends throughout the state of
Victoria, and their case managers, who are speech therapists and teachers of
the deaf, visit families in their homes. They are very focused on ensuring that
the auditory cortex is stimulated before the visual cortex begins to take over.
Other programs include play groups, kindergarten (preschool) programs, language
groups, and a cooking group.
We were interested to hear that Cummins, which is
headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, had volunteered to do yardwork at Taralye
that very morning, and they do other volunteer work for the organization from
time to time. It’s amazing how much smaller the world continues to feel the
longer we are here.
View more photos from the day and stay up-to-date with all our latest at our Facebook page:www.facebook.com/gse2014.
Thank you Mike, Teressa, Tonya and Kelsie for visiting Taralye and taking the time to hear about our programs. It was a pleasure having you and we hope you have a safe journey home. Margaret Polacska - Submissions and Communications Coordinator
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting us, Margaret. It was a pleasure to spend time with all of you learning about Taralye. You are doing great work!
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