Reading Tips for Kids Who Are Blind in One Eye

A Publication about Visual Impairments and Deafblindness for Families and Professionals
Autumn / Wintertime 2015

By: Charlotte Cushman, Manager of Paths to Literacy

Abstract:Suggestions for introducing literacy sensation and dearest of stories to children with visual impairment or deafblindness who are not notwithstanding able to read

Keywords:early on literacy, reading aloud, story boxes

One of the first and most important things to call up when introducing books and literacy experiences to a immature child with a visual impairment is that the child is a child first. While in that location are certain tips and techniques that volition make reading more meaningful and pleasurable for children who are blind or visually dumb, many of the aforementioned principles apply to ALL children. Sharing quiet fourth dimension together with a family unit member, instructor or other special person enjoying stories that are funny or interesting is something that all of us love, regardless of our age or the amount of vision we accept.

1. Share your honey of reading by reading aloud with your child every solar day.

Information technology is important to set aside time each day to read with your child. This does not mean that yous accept to read a book from cover to cover or brand the child listen to each and every page. This means that y'all show your child that books are something special to be enjoyed and that they can make life more than interesting and fun.

2. Choose times and places that are quiet, comfortable and free from distractions.

Life is often busy and tin be cluttered, especially when juggling schedules and other children. Turn off your prison cell phone and the TV, sit close to the child, and actually focus on exploring books and literacy materials together. Be sure that the child is comfy, with proper positioning, then that she tin focus on y'all and the story rather than on trying to sit down upwardly. This simple human activity of sharing focused time together volition help to create a routine that is special and enjoyable for both you and the child.

3. Choose books that relate to the kid's own feel.

Many young children who are blind or visually impaired have limited experience with the globe, and if they take additional disabilities or are deafblind this is even more true. Books about rocket ships or monsters will have limited meaning to children who don't know these concepts, and it is best to begin with simple books that relate directly to a child'due south own experience. 1 favorite that many children savor from a young age is Piffling Rabbit's Bedtime. It includes familiar routines, such as taking a bathroom and brushing teeth, and real objects can be shown to the kid while reading the book (i.e. a real toothbrush and washcloth).

For older children or children with multiple disabilities Lunch Crunch offers a unproblematic story line where you can use real carrots, crackers, etc. to accompany the story.

4. Utilize objects to back up the story, in place of illustrations.

Every bit with the examples above, real objects can be used to illustrate and aggrandize the story. These can help children to identify objects mentioned in the story (e.g. a pair of shoes) or to encourage them to act something out (east.thousand. brushing hair). Story boxes are collections of items from a given book that are stored together with the book in a convenient way. At that place are many examples of story boxes on Paths to Literacy.

v. Add together textures or bright colors to call attending to important parts of the page.

The type of adaptation used will depend on the individual child, including the corporeality of vision they have and the specific vision condition. CVI or Cortical Visual Impairment, for case, oftentimes calls for different types of adaptations. In general textures or bright colors tin can be used to phone call the child's attention to a certain function of the page or to brand the meaning clearer.

vi. Use interactive language to brand the story more than engaging and meaningful.

Stories can exist a wonderful fashion to assist children to draw the connexion to their ain feel. For example, "José went to the grocery store in this book. Do you retrieve when we went to the grocery store yesterday?"

7. Provide books in braille and/or big print.

Braillable labels or sheets tin be created as overlays that can be added to private pages. There are likewise many sources of braille books, some of which are gratuitous. Work with your child'southward teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI) to identify sources of books or to find aid creating braille books. 1 parent had the idea of hosting a volume making political party!

8. Encourage the child to be actively engaged in the handling of the book.

Invite the child to:

• Find the comprehend
• Open the book
• Turn the page
• Observe the "top of the page"

ix. Create tactile books with the child, based on their experiences.

Experience books are created by collecting real objects associated with a given experience and making them into a book. When possible, include the child in collecting and saving the materials and helping to brand them into a volume. For example, when going out to eat, become an extra straw and bring it home to glue onto a page in a book telling about the feel.

10. Store the books and other literacy materials in an accessible place that the child can discover.

Designate a shelf or cabinet that the child can locate and reach. Label it with braille or a tactile symbol or moving picture to bespeak that this is where books are kept. Encourage the kid to find the shelf and choose a volume to await at. Invite her to return the books to the shelf subsequently reading time, so that she volition acquire nearly where things are stored and can thereby take a more active part in selecting books and making literacy an active selection in her life.

Most important of all -- Enjoy!

Resources

To read more about literacy for young children who are blind or visually impaired, please see: http://world wide web.pathstoliteracy.org/blog/10-tips-innovate-reading-young-child-who-blind-or-visually-impaired

We invite you to register for Paths to Literacy, which is a collaboration between Perkins School for the Blind and Texas School for the Bullheaded and Visually Impaired. To register for this gratis site, visit http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/user/annals. You volition receive weekly email notification of new web log posts on diverse topics related to literacy and children with visual damage.

Paths to Literacy is as well present in many social media platforms. Encounter the post-obit links:

https://www.facebook.com/ptliteracy

https://twitter.com/PathstoLiteracy

https://world wide web.pinterest.com/pathstoliteracy

wangititan.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.tsbvi.edu/index.php/fall-winter-2015/4571-10-tips-to-introduce-reading-to-a-young-child-who-is-blind-or-visually-impaired