Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Disability Reform) Share this | Hansard source

Lilly Cascun is six years old and attends Ivanhoe Primary in my electorate of Jagajaga. Lilly is very clear about the fact that the Feelix Library has given her a head start in her education.

Lilly wrote her speech in braille and read it out at an address for the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Feelix Library at Vision Australia headquarters in Kooyong on Sunday. She was joined by nine-year-olds Ella Edwards and Sam Valavanis, each of whom spoke very bravely to the audience of parents, friends, supporters and children, who, like Lilly, Ella and Samuel, have vision impairments or are blind. They spoke about what reading means to them and about the world that the Feelix Library, with its dedicated staff and volunteers, has opened up to them.

The Feelix Library is an early-childhood braille resource for children aged from birth to seven years who are blind or have low vision. It gives children and their families access to braille materials for the whole family. The staff, led by Louise Curtin and Robyn Sainsbury-Vale, and volunteers produce high-quality, tactile reading materials—feathers for the ducks and zipper teeth for the crocodiles—so that the stories come to life for young children with low vision or who are blind. For 10 years they have been working with children and their families to introduce them to books and reading and to introduce them to braille. This is critical early support, which allows young people to learn and grow, to adapt to a life without sight and to make the most of the opportunities that come their way. For 10 years the Feelix Library and Feelix the echidna, their mascot, have been making an enormous difference to the lives of young children with vision impairment and their families right around the country. It was a real privilege to share the celebrations with the library's family on the weekend and I look forward to continuing our support for the library and its work as we open up the world to children with a disability. Congratulations to everybody at Feelix.

See this speech in context