The support network I have chosen to do is the royal institute for deaf and blind children. The institute has many centres located around nsw, but the one I"m focusing on today is the tingara centre, which is currently located at 160 Floraville Road Floraville. The RIDBC is Australia's major dependant special educator, providing a wide range of educational services to children who have significant hearing and/or vision loss, including children who have additional disabilities. The provision of these services is the institute's primary purpose. In affiliation with the Newcastle University, the institute conducts a centre for research and professional development in education for children with impaired hearing or vision. .
The institute has many days out and charity nights to raise funds for the centre. It is dependent on community support to enable its education program to continue. You can donate money, become a volunteer or leave a bequest to help to institute. .
The tingara centre in Newcastle provides a pre-school program for children with impaired hearing and/or vision under five years old. They also cater for children without impairments. The centre provides children with a broad range of first hand experiences to enable them to develop an awareness and understanding of the world around them. Language development is a priority of the program and activities like reading, story telling and drama are emphasised. The centre also has excellent indoor and outdoor facilities to enhance the educational program. In this environment children learn a variety of skills including language and communication. Problem solving task related behaviour, movement, and self help. The activities are designed to foster children's social and emotional needs and to enhance their initiative, self-esteem and independence. The children are grouped together in mixed age groups, so that friendships can be formed between younger and older children, providing an optimum learning setting.