Profiles
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Focus on employment
Dean Jackson gets a buzz out of solving difficult problems, so it's a good thing a key aspect of his job for Pulse Data International is giving technical support to customers.
As part of the development team for the BrailleNote [A BrailleNote is a portable device that gives users instant access to reading and writing via braille and/or speech output.] family of products, Dean spends most of his day trouble shooting problems for Pulse Data customers in New Zealand and around the world.
He also manages the beta test process.
New versions of software are tested in two stages - the alpha (first) test and the beta (second) test. The beta version is tested externally before public release.
"I love the challenge of my job and the fact I get to talk to people all over the world," says Dean.
Dean previously worked at Microsoft Services and the Foundation's adaptive technology department.
Vocational employment advisors: Auckland, Eleanor Pooley, 09 355 6879; Hamilton, Bob Wicks, 07 838 7516; Wellington, Shirley Hampton, 04 380 2149; Christchurch, Stephanie Lange, 03 375 4319; Dunedin, Paula Waby, 03 466 4250.
Recording master
HIP Recording Studios is located in a cul-de-sac in Mangere Central, in what used to be the garage of a lovingly tended lemon-yellow house. The studio is also known as Al's Place. Allan Witana has been playing guitar in bands ever since he was a school kid. He knocked around with the likes of Billy T. James, Bunny Walters and Eddie Lowe in the early 1960s. He also played in bands such as the Rising Stars and the Radars and has backed many international artists such as the Coasters and the Platters.
Allan is of Nuiean descent and he has had retinitis pigmentosa since birth. When he married Isabel Stevens in 1968 (who has cataracts), they had a family of four. When Leyton-John was born with cataracts, they decided to have no more children, instead fostering a child in 1984.
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Allan played gigs almost every night while his five children were growing up and held a fulltime job during the day. He was made redundant from Allied Industries (Yazaki) in 1999 after 21 years.
With 13 grandchildren, but with plenty of time on his hands, Allan taught himself computer and digital sound recording. He uses a 16-channel mixer, a recording mixer and Cool Edit on the computer.
Allan has recorded a CD with blind group, The Radars. He's most interested, however, in recording families. From his studio he can master a CD and turn out as many or as few copies as you want, with beautiful labels and covers.
"I can do it much cheaper than the big studios," he says, "even when the dog's barking in the yard and planes are flying overhead. I can edit those sounds out afterwards. I can provide backing music and some vocals. People can take home a CD and put it straight into their stereo and listen to themselves."
With the recent addition of a sound-proof room to his garage, using egg trays, carpet and foam rubber on the walls, producer Allan is set up and ready to go. He is on the lookout for some decent microphones - and some new clients for his studio.
Those interested can contact Allan at HIP Recording on 09 275 4534
Throw yourself into goalball
Goalball is a unique team sport developed in 1946 by Austrian Hanz Lorenzen and German Sett Reindle to help rehabilitate blinded WWII veterans.
It was introduced to the world at the 1976 Toronto Paralympics in Canada and has been played at every Paralympics since. In addition, since 1978 a Goalball World Competition has been held every four years.
How to play
The original aim of goalball was to just roll the ball over the opponent's goal line but, as the game evolved, the skill level and tactics of the game increased. It is now a hard and fast sport requiring lightning reflexes and an investment in protective gear. Some players have been clocked throwing the goalball at 65 kms per hour!
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- Each team has three players, one centre and two wingers.
- The team plays on a court divided into six-metre thirds.
- All players are blind-folded, so blind, visually-impaired and sighted athletes can compete together. The referee is sighted.
- Goalball is a non-contact sport, with each team staying in the third in front of their goal line. The middle third is no-man's-land.
- Raised tape on the court floor enables players to feel their way around, using their hands and feet.
- The goalball has bells in it, so defenders listen for the noise then throw themselves on the floor, or slide across the floor to block the ball and prevent a goal. Knee and elbow pads are a good investment!
- To pass the ball, team-mates tap the floor to let players know where they are.
- Goals are still scored by getting the ball past the opposition and across the end line.
The New Zealand goalball scene
Goalball NZ held its first unofficial tournament in 1999, with around 20 players. There are now around 35 players nationwide and new players are always welcome.
In June last year the first New Zealand international team competed in the Australian State Goalball Championships and this year Goalball NZ are planning on sending the first female team to compete alongside the two men's teams.
There is a goalball club near you! To join a team contact either Dennis Wells (Goalball NZ) on 09 435 0379 or email: goalball@paradise.net.nz.
Your local Foundation recreation and sports advisor also has details about goalball.
Thanks to Dennis Wells, Charles Tauhore, Allan Malcolm and the other members of the Auckland Goalball Club for the photos used in this article.