The Pre-School Child Who Is Blind

The Pre-School Child Who Is Blind

Future Reflections Sept./ Oct./ Nov.1984, Vol. 3 No. 4
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THE PRE-SCHOOL CHILD WHO IS BLINDExcerpts from a U.S. government brochure
He needs what all children need
There are certain things that every child needs.
He needs to know that he is loved and wanted
and is an important member of the family. He
needs to be able to help himself and have others
recognize that he can. He needs to know that
happy feeling of getting something done well.
He needs to grow continually in ablility to direct
his own play. Blind children need these things
as much as other children.
And he needs good health. In addition to general
care by a physician, a blind child needs the care
of an ophthalmologist (a doctor who specializes
in conditions of the eye). From the ophthalmologist
parents can learn what their child's
eye condition means.
Sometimes blind children need other professional
help. If so, your physician or ophthalmologist
may suggest that you seek help from
another professional worker, such as a psychiatrist,
a social worker, a public health nurse.
Good mental and emotional health go hand in
hand with good physical health in making a
happy child.
For the first few months all that any baby needs
is food, sleep, and fondling. Picking him up,
holding him close, carrying him about with you
gives a feeling of being loved and safe.
He is born with the urge to begin reaching out
and moving about. But seeing nothing, he needs
to be encouraged to reach and move through
voices, other sounds, and a variety of things to handle. Thus his inborn curiosity can lead
naturally to his growth and development.
As a start, he needs to be moved from place to
place more than you would move a child who can
see. And he likes to hear conversation between
others and to have people talk to him. He can be
propped up with pillows a little each day at
about the same time that any baby enjoys being
propped up. If he knows that there is a string
across his crib that toys are attached to, he will
begin reaching and hitting at them.
Some parents are slow in playing with their
blind baby. They don't joggle him on their knee
or pick him up even. Babies enjoy such play and
attention whether they can see or not. They may
be little but they are not fragile and enjoy a romp
with their mother or father. Always let your
baby know that you are going to pick him up. He
may be startled if suddenly he is lifted without
warning.
Help him get started
Some parents keep their blind baby in his crib
too long -- weeks after he begins moving himself
about, pulling himself up by the rail. They are
afraid he might hurt himself when be begins to
roam. Even when they place him on the floor he
usually has no more space than a playpen. A
playpen is fine but see to it that he doesn't stay
there too long. Most blind babies can make good
use of the outside of a playpen. They use it to
walk around and pull up on. As soon as thay can
sit up and touch the floor, some like a stroller.
Your baby may need encouragement to begin
making little side trips -- to feel the rug and the
smooth floor, the train of little wooden cars you
will put there for him, the grass out of doors.
Don't force him. One day he may not be interested
in trying something, may even refuse to have
anything to do with it. The next day or two he
may want to try it. Accept his feeling in this
regard.
A child who can see reaches out and goes to what
he wants. A blind child doesn't reach out into the
unknown unless he has reason to. A voice or
some sound that interests him -- like a little
bell -- may be just the thing to start him going.
Some parents attract him with a favored toy, or
guide him along with only a slight touch. Until a
blind child in moving about in a room or place
that he is accustomed to, he is limited in what he
can explore and examine -- two of the best ways
by which babies add to their knowledge. Moving
about gives him exercise, too.
He uses other senses
The blind child depends on hearing, touching,
tasting, and smelling for what he learns and
does. After a while he will be using these senses
to better advantage than the seeing child does.
The child who can see uses his eyes, ears, and
fingers working together. He hears his mother
tell him what she is going to do and watches her
drop a toy into a box. He sees how it is done as he
hears how it is done and imitates.
For the blind child, ears and fingers must work
together. He must hear or feel what to do.
Parents often have to help by building up his
interest. That takes longer. And it takes a great
deal more patience and ingenuity for the parent.
Parents could save time and it would be much
easier if they did everything for their blind child.
But then he would never learn to do things, for we only learn by doing. He would always expect
things to be done for him. Also, he wouldn't know
how to do things for himself. He wouldn't like
this either.
Share his pleasures with him
Give your child a chance to do a thing and time
to do it in. Encourage him to try new things.
When he learns something, like a new word,
pulling off his sock, or helping mother set the
table, share his pleasure with him. That will
make him want to keep on trying other things.
He can learn almost everything that a sighted
child can. He can learn to do things safely that
you at first thought were impossible for him, like
running, roller skating, riding a tricycle. He will
have many bumps, but he will learn to take them
-- if you don't make too much fuss over them. All
babies take bumps. Some more than others.
Some parents of a blind child think that every time their child falls down it is due only to his
not being able to see. Most of the time it is just what takes place when any baby begins to get his
balance, walk, and move about.
Try to give him many opportunities to do things
for himself. Let him get first hand information
by his own investigations. Give him something
to occupy his mind and hands. Like all babies,
he will like papers to crumple and tear, a nest of
hollow blocks, pie pans, or a lid to bang with.
A child learns much from his toys and playthings.
Today many of the toys on the market
are made for that purpose: a small set of tools,
dolls with clothes, tea sets, the little autos,
busses, airplanes.

Frequently the sighted child understands a toy's
use at once, having seen a bigger model used by
grown-ups. The blind child may have heard the
hammer or saw, ridden on a bus, heard an
airplane, but has no true idea of what they are
really like. As he handles a toy, explain it to him.
But don't be surprised if he gets more pleasure
out of using a toy in a way other than that
intended by the salesman. Sighted children do
this, too. Rather than rolling his auto back and
forth, he may prefer to turn it over and spin its
wheels. A child doesn't always follow store
bought directions.
As you feed and dress your child or give him
something to play with, talk to him about it. For
example, say something like this: "Now, we'll
put on your coat. Hold out your arm." As you
start to pick him up, prepare him saying: "Up we
go." In this way, he learns the meaning of words
and connects them with what is being done.
When you say, "Here's your toast," he will reach
out for it. Use the words that seeing people use.
"Here, Mary, look at this doll's pretty dress."
"Tom, let's go out in the yard and see the
flowers."
But when you say such things, let Mary "look"
at the dress by feeling it. Let Tom "see" the
flowers by smelling them. Our hands can tell us
the difference between wool and satin. Our nose
can tell us the difference between a rose and a
carnation, just as surely as our eyes.
Give him many experiences
Everything your child does, everywhere he goes,
everything he handles and learns about -- in
other words, every experience -- helps him in his
gaining of knowledge. Take him with you to the
grocery store, the park, the woods, the brook, the
zoo, the museum, the church, the concert, the
hardware store, the neighbor's house, the library, a restaurant, the beach, a filling station, the place where daddy works.
....

child and expresses pity because their little boy
or girl is blind. The stranger may even want to
give money or candy to the child.
Inconsiderate and thoughtless words and acts
of the sighted toward a blind person are due to
ignorance. The general public knows and understands
little about blindness, and much of what
it believes is untrue. As one mother put it: "It
took me a long time to learn not to be irritated.
But now I can honestly say to my boy: "They
don't mean any harm. It's just that they don't
know."
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