Vision Australia has announced the recipients of its 2010 \'Making a Difference Awards\'.

These prestigious awards are presented to local business, organisations or individuals who have shown outstanding support for people who are blind or have low vision in their community. These Australia wide awards recognise best practice in considering the needs of people who are blind or have low vision.

The award was accepted on May 19 by Nicole Brunhierl, Assistant Manager Children\'s Program, on behalf of Gowrie Victoria, and in particular the Room 4 educators at The Harbour Family and Children\'s Centre, Victoria
Harbour, Docklands.

In making the award, Vision Australia acknowledged \'The Harbour Family and Children\'s Centre has gone the extra mile to ensure that Vision Australia client, Micah, has felt welcome at their centre. They have adapted toys and equipment and ensured that all staff have received specialist training about how to communicate effectively with someone who is blind or has low vision. They are doing everything possible to ensure that Micah has everything he needs to be able to fully participate in the centre\'.

Nicole said she was \"thrilled that the Room 4 team have been recognised
for work undertaken to ensure that our service is truly inclusive\".

The Gowrie Victoria educators worked closely with Vision Australia to learn about two year old Micah\'s partial vision and ways the learning program could be adapted and enhanced to encourage his learning. Nicole explained that the educators had changed the way learning experiences were presented; for example by using high contrast materials in the playground, using their voices and bodies in different ways to communicate, and learning Braille.

Working closely with Micah\'s family and the support services of Noah\'s Ark over the last 12 months, educators have been assisted to understand Micah\'s routines, communicate his development and learning progress and devise strategies to enable further extension and learning.

Speaking about receiving the award, Nicole said, When we take extra time
to train educators and support inclusion we don\'t do it for accolades. We do it because we believe that every child has the right to high quality care and education, so receiving an award is a surprise and an honour.