logologo-optometry

Collection of material related to the foundation of the low vision clinic at the Kooyong centre of the Association for the Blind

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Catalogue Number: 3529
Collection of material related to the foundation of the low vision clinic at the Kooyong centre of the Association for the Blind
Category: Papers
Sub-Category: Collection of papers (Events)
Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1972 and 1973
Time Period: 1940 to 1999
Description Of Item: Collection of material related to the early years of the low vision clinic at the Kooyong Centre of the Association for the Blind (1) Booklet Seeds of Compassion: the story of the Association of the blind by Kathleen L. Shepherdson, Craftsman Press, 1972, glossy white card cover, 145 x 235 mm. 37 pages, (2) Courage: the official journal of the Association for the Blind, 1972; 8(27), glossy white paper, 178 x 244 mm, centre stapled, 24 pages, in which the commencement of the low vision aids clinic on 23 February 1972 is reported with a cover picture of the founding optometrist, Ian L Bailey, the clinic administrator, Sister Margaret Biggs and the Manager of the Kooyong Centre, (3) The 78th annual report 1973 of the Association of the Blind in which Ian Bailey, Anthony Gibson and Helen Robbins are listed as optometrists in the low vision clinic and Barry Cole is listed as a consultant. (4) a list of the patients seen in the low vision clinic from February 23 1972 to 12 June 1973 on 3 foolscap pages, and (5) a catalogue of low vision aids held by the Low Vision Clinic, 1978, A4 size blue card covers, spirex binding. 14 pages, and, (6) Operational Guidelines for the Adelaide Low Vision Clinic, one foolscap sized page, dated February 1979.
Historical Significance: The first Australian low vision clinics were founded in the second half of the 20th century. Josef Lederer, the foundation head of the optometry course at the University of NSW, later professor of optometry at that university, established the first low vision clinic about 1955 in the university's department of optometry and also at the Royal Blind Society of NSW. The second was a joint venture of the Association for the Blind in Melbourne, the Victorian College of Optometry and the Department of Ophthalmology in the University of Melbourne. It was started in February 1972. It was the first to set up an integrated multidisciplinary program of care for people with low vision, a model that was greatly admired around the world. A low vision service was also established in Hobart, Tasmania, in the Royal Hobart Hospital by Hobart optometrist Brian Sims in 1973. Item 6 tells us that a low vision clinic was operating in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1979.
How Acquired: Donated by Ian Bailey, honorary life member of the College
Date Acquired: Mar 2018
Condition: Good
Location: Archive office. Pamphlet and ephemera filing cabinet. Drawer 8

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