It all started with the vision of one man, Mr Andrew Whyte Hendry, who was blind. After hearing of the disadvantages faced by an acquaintance who was blind, Mr Hendry had the idea of starting an industrial training school where people who were blind could learn an occupation, thereby providing them with the skills to be active and valued members of the community.

In 1883, Mr Hendry joined forces with Mr Charles Goode (who was to receive a Knighthood in 1910-1911 for his dedicated services to the blind) to develop a working committee around the idea. In 1884, a suitable premises was found in Brougham Place, North Adelaide. Mr Goode was appointed Chairman of the Board, Mr Hendry was appointed Manager and The Institution for the Blind, as it was then known, was born. The main activity initially was the production of baskets, brushes and mats.

In 1903, The Institution for the Blind became The Royal Institution of the Blind and with the passing of the Royal Society for the Blind South Australia Act, 1934-1974, the Royal Institution for the Blind became the Royal Society for the Blind - the same RSB that is still going strong today and serving over 10,500 South Australians who are blind or vision impaired.

A memorable event for the State’s blind community occurred in 1950 when Miss Helen Keller, the American woman who had been blind and deaf since birth but had overcome these disabilities to great success, visited Adelaide. Miss Keller visited both the Royal Institute for the Blind and Melrose House (a hostel for the aged and unemployable blind) and was greatly impressed by both facitlities.

As it was back in 1884, the RSB’s goal today is to assist South Australians who are
blind or vision impaired achieve the quality of life to which they aspire. In recent years, the focus has been on expanding low vision and regional services, assisting
clients to gain competitive employment, providing access to new technology, enhancing mobility and educating the community on vision impairment.

Milestones in the RSB’s History

1884
The Institute of the Blind is founded and housed in an old church in Brougham Place, North Adelaide.

1885
The Institute employs 68 people.

1903
‘The Institute’ is re named the Royal Institute for the Blind.

1915
Andrew Whyte Hendry organises the building of larger premises (including recreation rooms and a braille library) opposite the Children’s Hospital on King William Street.

1938
Melrose House established to provide accommodation for the frail blind elderly.

1972
The Institute moves to Gilles Plains and changes its name by Act of Parliament to The Royal Society for the Blind. Services are expanded to include assistance with daily living, recreation and study needs.

1991
The first regional RSB office established in Mount Gambier

1992
Knapman House is opened to provide the best low vision care and assessment in South Australia

1993
Opening of RSB Port Augusta office to service the mid north region.

1994
Opening of RSB Noarlunga Office

1995
Appointment of dedicated Multicultural Case Worker

1996
Introduction of Client Surveys

1997
Opening of Adaptive Technology Centre

1998
Introduction of Orientation & Mobility Services
Launch of first web site

1999
Creation of Future Solutions Service
Introduction of Young Business Leaders Program
Creation of 3VI CD Rom package for children

2000
Attainment of ISO 9000 Quality Accreditation
Introduction of Braille and Equipment Subsidy Scheme
Launch of 3V1 web site for children

2001
OMA Course created and delivered

2002
Opening of the RSB Elizabeth office
South Australian Books in the Sky (BiTS) pilot launched

2003
Creation of memorandum of Understanding with Deaf SA and CanDo4Kids
Introduction of audio described theatre
Launch of 23rd Talking Newspaper

2004
RSB Victor Harbor office opened
Service Excellence and Disability Employment Service Accreditation.
Australian launch of Ultracane

2005
National Books in The Sky (BiTS) pilot launched
Hosting of inaugural TechFest
Creation of equipment long term loan pool

2006
Creation of RSB Guide Dog Service
Construction of a day-kennel facility at the RSB’s Gilles Plains site
Supply of Audio Navigators to 150 vision impaired South Australian children
Adaptive equipment assistance to the vision impaired community in Tonga

Article courtesy of the Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia

On June 30th 1948 Helen Keller, a woman without sight or hearing who wrote, spoke and worked tirelessly to help others came to Adelaide and gave a speech to 1,200 school children at the Adelaide Town Hall.

A personal account of the ‘Address to the 1,200 School Children’

When Helen Keller visited Adelaide in 1948 I was in Grade 5 at Woodville Primary School. The entire class was marshalled onto the train at Woodville station, then marched through King William Street to the Adelaide Town Hall. We had all heard beforehand about Miss Keller, and how she had learned to speak in spite of having been born without sight or hearing.

The man who introduced Helen Keller told us not to applaud by clapping our hands, because Miss Keller wouldn’t be able to hear us, but we could stamp our feet so she could feel the vibrations. Tell a town hall full of restless kids they can stamp their feet as loud as they like, and you can imagine the outcome. When a small older woman, (she must have been in her late sixties at that time) came out on stage our applause was wildly enthusiastic.

She spoke for quite a while about her life, what she had done, and about overcoming difficulties in life. I remember thinking then if she could overcome her difficulties, I should be able to do anything I wanted. I thought the flat quality of her voice was unusual and remember our teacher explaining later that people who have no hearing, while able to learn to speak, are necessarily unaware of the vocal inflexions that others use. The concluding applause was, if anything, louder than the first. Elizabeth Jardine

Helen Keller Biography

Helen Adams Keller was born on 27 June 1880 in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama, USA. In February 1882, when Helen was 19 months old, she was struck with a mystery illness. Doctor’s at the time called it a ‘brain fever’, however it may have been scarlet fever or meningitis. Helen recovered but had lost both her sight and hearing.

When Helen was seven her parents hired a 20-year-old tutor named Anne Sullivan. She began teaching Helen letters by signing into her hand but Helen didn’t understand what the words meant. It wasn’t until Anne made a ‘miracle’ breakthrough and held Helen’s hand under the water and spelt ‘W-A-T-E-R’ into Helen’s other hand. A feeling had been turned into a word and Helen understood. Helen bent down and tapped the ground and Anne spelt ‘earth’. When Helen was ten she learnt to speak by feeling Anne’s mouth when she talked. During these years Helen learnt to read French, German, Greek, and Latin in Braille. Helen and Anne became inseparable until Anne’s death in 1936.

In 1889 Helen began her first formal education at Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston. In 1900 she entered Radcliffe College. While at Radcliffe, Annie Sullivan laboriously spelled books and lectures into Helen’s hand. Helen graduated with honours in 1904 and became the first deaf-blind person to graduate from college. While still at Radcliffe, Helen Keller began her writing career with The Story of My Life. Over the next 50 years she wrote 11 more books and many articles on blindness, deafness, women’s rights and social issues.

Helen Keller gave speeches and helped raise money for many organisations, including the American Foundation for the Blind and the American Foundation for the Overseas Blind (Helen Keller Worldwide). She spent years travelling around the world speaking about the experiences and rights of people who are blind. She travelled with Anne and later with Polly Thompson visiting 39 countries on five different continents. She received dozens of awards and in 1964 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honour an American civilian can receive.

Helen Keller died in her sleep on 1st June 1968. Helen Keller, with the help of Anne Sullivan showed that a disability need not be an obstacle in life.

In Helen’s own words: ‘The public must learn that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realise, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work.’

References

American Foundation for the Blind. 2007. [online]. [Accessed 15th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=1&TopicID=129

Royal National Institute of the Blind. 1995 -2007. [online]. [Accessed 15th May 2007]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_keller.hcsp>