Vocal synthesiser on show Govt helps out with synthesiser funds

Press, 17 December 1986, Page 13

Vocal synthesiser on show Govt helps out with synthesiser funds

A Government grant to buy computer equipment has enabled Mr Graeme Guildford to keep his job at Canterbury Apparel and Footwear, Ltd.

The member of Parliament for Yaldhurst, Mrs Margaret Austin, presented Mr Guildford with the $6OOO worth of equipment — Vert Plus, a vocal synthesiser that reads what is printed on the computer screen, and an enlarger that magnifies any image placed under it.

Mr Guildford has been with the company for nearly eight years. He started to lose his sight about two years ago through a combination of diabetes and an accident.

The department he was working in required keen sight to see small pattern lines and graphics and he was unable to continue. Mr Colin Hansen, a vocational employment assessment officer with the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, took Mr Guildford to Wormaid International Sensory Aids, Ltd, which assessed what type of equipment he needed to continue work as a computer programmer. They then applied for a Government grant from the Social Welfare Department and borrowed

the equipment from Wormaid so that Mr Guildford could keep working. Mrs Austin took an interest in the grant application and was able to confirm very quickly that the money had been approved. Mr Guildford now works in another computer department doing viability studies. He said that the equipment was a big help to his work. “The Vert enables me to use the computer without seeing the screen.

“It also makes me productive again — when I was not productive, it really frustrated me. Being productive again makes me feel useful.’’ Mr Tony Ineson, general manager of Canterbury Apparel and Footwear, Ltd, said the company had a social responsibility to help visually impaired people when it could. The company had been pleased to help Mr Guildford because he had done a lot to help himself, said Mr Ineson.