Evening Meeting - Her experience in attending the 9th European Deafblind International Conference

Vanessa is a 19 year old woman who is both deaf and blind.  While Ms Vlajkovic was born blind, her hearing did not begin to deteriorate until she was seven.  She learnt braille at 4 and twelve months ago switched off from the hearing world.  Due to her limited vision, the Auslan is ‘tactile’ meaning the signs are formed on Vanessa’s hands. 

Vanessa has never let her sensory loss prevent her from being involved at school and in the community – competing in gymnastics and cheer-leading, several awards, and being named WA Young Person of the Year in 2016. She has become a significant advocate within the Deafblind Community, and helped establish Deafblind West Australians, an entity providing support, social interaction and advocacy for deafblind individuals.   

The Rotary Club of Osborne Park sponsored her to attend the 9th European Deafblind International Conference, held in Aalborg, Denmark in September 2017 where she presented a paper on  “The important role that touch has played in my life”.