The New Kid Is Blind…
Some information for leaders of Scouts, youth groups, classrooms, and other groups who may be having a blind youth joining them.
Twenty suggestions for adult leaders:
1.
If you would direct a question or remark to the child if he/she were sighted under similar circumstance (age, other handicaps, etc.), then the same should hold true for the blind youth. Don’t ask the parents or persons bringing them, “What’s his name” or “What does she like to do in school” if the child is sitting there- ask the child.
If you would direct a question or remark to the child if he/she were sighted under similar circumstance (age, other handicaps, etc.), then the same should hold true for the blind youth. Don’t ask the parents or persons bringing them, “What’s his name” or “What does she like to do in school” if the child is sitting there- ask the child. 2.Don’t be afraid of “slipping” and using a visual reference. Most blind people use terms such as “I watched television last night” or “See you later.” Even if you do slip and say something to a blind child, such as “have a seat in the blue chair,” it isn’t offensive. Most blind people are aware of living in a visual world and have visual descriptions given them every day and aren’t going to be mad or upset about it. Just speak normally.
Don’t be afraid of “slipping” and using a visual reference. Most blind people use terms such as “I watched television last night” or “See you later.” Even if you do slip and say something to a blind child, such as “have a seat in the blue chair,” it isn’t offensive. Most blind people are aware of living in a visual world and have visual descriptions given them every day and aren’t going to be mad or upset about it. Just speak normally.3.Speak normally, but remember spatial orientations. Saying to a blind child, “Did you see the football game on TV last night” is easily understood and appropriate. Saying, “The trash can is over there” does not have meaning to them. They aren’t going to be offended, as it happens often, but remember there has to be some spatial orientation for your instructions to be understood. "There" is only a location in a visual world. Saying “move over” or place your pack “over there” doesn’t have any meaning. Saying “move over to your left” or “put your pack by the wall behind you” gives a spatial reference to work off of. Distance needs to be descriptive also. “Move four steps to your right” is better than “move a little to your right.” Be aware that very young blind children may struggle with concepts such as behind/in front, over/under, above/below, etc.
Speak normally, but remember spatial orientations. Saying to a blind child, “Did you see the football game on TV last night” is easily understood and appropriate. Saying, “The trash can is over there” does not have meaning to them. They aren’t going to be offended, as it happens often, but remember there has to be some spatial orientation for your instructions to be understood. "There" is only a location in a visual world. Saying “move over” or place your pack “over there” doesn’t have any meaning. Saying “move over to your left” or “put your pack by the wall behind you” gives a spatial reference to work off of. Distance needs to be descriptive also. “Move four steps to your right” is better than “move a little to your right.” Be aware that very young blind children may struggle with concepts such as behind/in front, over/under, above/below, etc. 4.Get in the habit of descriptive instructions. Once again, it is not a major deal, but when instructing on skills or activities, get in the habit of being descriptive. We tend to demonstrate and narrate such as, “Using some glue, put the sticks together like this.” You can reach both the visual and non-visual kids by describing what you are doing as you demonstrate. “Put a drop of glue on the end of the pop sickle stick, place it about in the middle of the other stick like a "T", then hold it together a minute until it dries.” (Most blind children are taught to recognize regular alphabet letters). Actually, you may find this benefits other sighted members of your group that may be more auditory learners also.
Get in the habit of descriptive instructions. Once again, it is not a major deal, but when instructing on skills or activities, get in the habit of being descriptive. We tend to demonstrate and narrate such as, “Using some glue, put the sticks together like this.” You can reach both the visual and non-visual kids by describing what you are doing as you demonstrate. “Put a drop of glue on the end of the pop sickle stick, place it about in the middle of the other stick like a "T", then hold it together a minute until it dries.” (Most blind children are taught to recognize regular alphabet letters). Actually, you may find this benefits other sighted members of your group that may be more auditory learners also.5.Remember tactile examples. If you are going to do something the other children will look at, if it has tactile characteristics (not just a piece of paper, etc.) try to have one a visually impaired child can explore with his/her hands. Even if it is a patch, craft project, etc. I usually try to pass as much stuff as possible around the room so all the children can explore it if possible. Even though they can see it, sighted children will often feel slighted if the visually impaired child is the only one that can touch. Especially younger children won't care about blindness and may get jealous of any "special treatment" of a blind child. It is more inclusive if all can have a chance to hold things.
Remember tactile examples. If you are going to do something the other children will look at, if it has tactile characteristics (not just a piece of paper, etc.) try to have one a visually impaired child can explore with his/her hands. Even if it is a patch, craft project, etc. I usually try to pass as much stuff as possible around the room so all the children can explore it if possible. Even though they can see it, sighted children will often feel slighted if the visually impaired child is the only one that can touch. Especially younger children won't care about blindness and may get jealous of any "special treatment" of a blind child. It is more inclusive if all can have a chance to hold things.6.Older children and parents will have a pretty good idea what they can and can’t do or what they may need help with. Once they are familiar with your program, ask them what areas they feel they might need help with and ask for the suggestions on how help can best be achieved. In some cases you may want to gather some information from the parents. Children like to fit in and will sometimes not tell of their limitations to be more like the others. I had a child that had no functional vision before memorize a sheet of paper to convince us he could read regular print like the other kids. He did a nice job except the paper had gotten turned around and he was looking at the blank back side of it as he “read” it. Low vision children who would often benefit from the use of their cane often don’t bring it when out with peers because they don’t like to be different. Sometimes you have to go by what you know their limitations are and not what they tell you.
Older children and parents will have a pretty good idea what they can and can’t do or what they may need help with. Once they are familiar with your program, ask them what areas they feel they might need help with and ask for the suggestions on how help can best be achieved. In some cases you may want to gather some information from the parents. Children like to fit in and will sometimes not tell of their limitations to be more like the others. I had a child that had no functional vision before memorize a sheet of paper to convince us he could read regular print like the other kids. He did a nice job except the paper had gotten turned around and he was looking at the blank back side of it as he “read” it. Low vision children who would often benefit from the use of their cane often don’t bring it when out with peers because they don’t like to be different. Sometimes you have to go by what you know their limitations are and not what they tell you.7.If the child is going to be attending activities in a regular place, orientate them to the location. Where are hazards (hot stoves, fire places, etc.), the bathrooms, chairs and tables, fire exit, items that might be tripped on? Children will vary in their skills. Some will be very independent in moving about after a single orientation- others may take months and still begin moving the wrong direction towards the bathroom.
If the child is going to be attending activities in a regular place, orientate them to the location. Where are hazards (hot stoves, fire places, etc.), the bathrooms, chairs and tables, fire exit, items that might be tripped on? Children will vary in their skills. Some will be very independent in moving about after a single orientation- others may take months and still begin moving the wrong direction towards the bathroom.8.Orientate the other children and adults in the group to having a blind child as a member. The proper way to be a sighted guide and some general courtesy rules are good. They need to know a balance of helping- and helping too much. Blind children are children who just happen to be blind- they are not helpless.
Orientate the other children and adults in the group to having a blind child as a member. The proper way to be a sighted guide and some general courtesy rules are good. They need to know a balance of helping- and helping too much. Blind children are children who just happen to be blind- they are not helpless. Learn yourself when to help and not help. Just because a blind child drops something on the floor, doesn't mean you have to pick it up for them. Give them a chance to find it if it is close by. If they are struggling, give some verbal direction to the location of the item next. If you need to talk to the child, let them walk to you unassisted. Let them use your voice to locate you or give some verbal directions. While I would find it rude with adults, with children I often tap or clap to help them in locating me as they need the practice of using audio clues to find locations. When they do need assistance, try to do things with them, not for them whever possible. Even parents of young blind children struggle with the independence issues if they haven't become familiar with other blind youth and successful blind adults and their capabilities.
9.Often, especially with friendships and group relationships, other children will want to be sighted guide for blind peers. The youth often enjoy the time together and it is good socialization. At times, it may be necessary to draft a sighted guide because help is needed. This is where taking some time to orientate the others to such skills is helpful. Be aware that children sometimes get excited and forget they are guiding someone else. Kids forget at times they have someone they need to let know that a curb is there or that two have to fit through the door- so you get some bangs and trips on occasion (of course, adults do this sometimes too). Most blind kids still prefer the company of their peers often as guides, but it is good to keep an eye on them and some gentle reminders to slow down or that they are guiding someone else is sometimes helpful. Sighted guides may not be appropriate at some times if the child can move independently. Sometimes sighted guides is more social than needed for movement as it is easier if two people are talking or walking in a group.
Often, especially with friendships and group relationships, other children will want to be sighted guide for blind peers. The youth often enjoy the time together and it is good socialization. At times, it may be necessary to draft a sighted guide because help is needed. This is where taking some time to orientate the others to such skills is helpful. Be aware that children sometimes get excited and forget they are guiding someone else. Kids forget at times they have someone they need to let know that a curb is there or that two have to fit through the door- so you get some bangs and trips on occasion (of course, adults do this sometimes too). Most blind kids still prefer the company of their peers often as guides, but it is good to keep an eye on them and some gentle reminders to slow down or that they are guiding someone else is sometimes helpful. Sighted guides may not be appropriate at some times if the child can move independently. Sometimes sighted guides is more social than needed for movement as it is easier if two people are talking or walking in a group.10. Some hazards to no-vision, low-vision persons: Open cabinet doors, car doors, low hanging branches, etc. The cane doesn't detect these (the cane can slide under the open car door not detecting it in time). Mirrors that extend from vehicles like trucks and vans can be a hazard walking though parking lots. Changing furniture or other items require some reorientation. Children who get familiar with an area often get comfortable moving around established routes. If you block these routes or put obstacles in these routes that can be collided with or tripped over, it makes it difficult. it is easy to forget. I was at a school for the blind that would change parking lots or do construction and never make announcements. People would be running into things all over the place until the word spread.
Other hazards could be hot stoves, grills, etc. It is good for the children to be very familiar with the location of these when in use. Grills, since they are usually in areas without much reference for their location, it is good to have some form of barrier around them. I have found this helpful for sighted or blind youth if they are playing in the area.
11. Some areas that may require some assistance? New areas need some orientation and mobility training. The parents or the child's school may be able to help with this if it is very complicated- such as you meet in a large building that requires travel from place to place. Orientation is not only showing the child around, but giving them descriptions of their area, different hints and clues they can use in travel, and the location of important items.
Navigating in large rooms with a lot of noise is difficult for the blind. Sound is important to navigation and large places like dining halls often don't have many tactile clues and the noise makes it difficult for auditory clues. Crowded rooms are difficult also- for the main reason it is difficult enough to navigate if you can see others without bumping into them- let alone when you can't. The cane is not really effective in a crowed room as it tends to hit people.
Finding an empty chair in a meeting or dining facility can be a challenge. Not that a blind person can't use their cane or hand to feel for an empty chair, but most wish to be unobtrusive and not have to tap on someone to see if a chair is empty or not.
Snow can make travel difficult for blind people. Not only is walking difficult, but the snow covers up many tactile targets a cane is used to detect or follow- such as sidewalks. It also muffles and changes sound.
Using sighted guides in these situations may be the most appropriate.
12. Time to eat? Most blind children will eat close to the independence of their similar age peers. If you are having snacks or food, remember to let them know what is coming. It is easy to just put out "drinks" figuring everyone will recognize fruit punch in the glass. For children, it is best not to fill glasses quite full. Also, let them know if you put something in front of them. With some children not quite skilled, I will gently take their hand and guide it to a drink or snack so they know the location. The blind will search and area to find something with a sweeping motion. Some children whose coordination hasn't quite caught up to them yet will knock over drinks while trying to locate it. Of course, younger children tend to knock over drinks often whether they can see or not.
Some items may require a little training if they aren't familiar with it. If they haven't used a juice box drink before, it may take showing them where the straw and the hole to insert it is and how to do it for them to figure it out.
13. Speaking of eating, what about cooking? Depending on their age and skill, blind youth can cook, help with dishes, clean up, etc. along with the rest of the group. I have blind students that regularly cook on the stove, grill, do dishes, roast marshmallows on the fire, and other cook tasks.
There does have to be some extra caution around fire. While blind adults quite often do such cooking independently, I do not leave even my sighted kids alone in cooking or using the fire. Blind children are also not as aware of loose clothing that may hang down onto a burner. Pot holders and oven mittens are sometimes easy targets to be set back down on a stove too close to a burner where they may catch fire.
14. Meeting time, classes, or group discussions? Remember if people are raising their hands to be recognized, pointing to someone doesn't help the blind person know if you want them to talk or the person next to them. Use names to call on people. Even if the blind child hasn't raised his/her hand, call on people by name anyway. That way it becomes habit and if the blind child is new, that will help them identify the different members of the group by name from hearing their voice.
Let everyone know also the general protocol for any class or discussion. If it is a general discussion where people just join in comments compared to raising a hand and being recognized- announce that. If a blind child just hears people making comments or asking questions, he/she will not know if the person just talked or raised their hand to be recognized. If you don't announce that for them to know, you may be interrupted as they might assume it is okay to just go ahead and talk..
15. Emergency planning. It is a good idea to plan for emergencies with any group of children. Practice drills can be particularly important for the blind. Fire alarms are often loud which robs the blind of sound as a sensory source for determining location as well as the alarm, the noise of others evacuating the facility, and the sense of urgency can overwhelm a child in responding. If staying somewhere for a period of time, such as a summer camp, it is important all children know how to exit if there is a fire alarm during the night perhaps before an adult can reach them. A good drill is also to have the kids practice an exit crawling as well as walking. This helps remind them of smoke and in particular is good practice for the blind child as traveling by crawling requires different mobility. If a child is used to counting steps to locate a door, that doesn't work crawling and other tactile clues will have to help locate the door.
16. Remember as with most of the accommodations and assistance, it should be with as little attention and "fanfare" as possible. It has often been found when talking about special needs, the uninformed and persons ignorant of disabilities often attempt to use "concern" to restrict the activities and freedom of choice of the blind or any disabled person. "They can't go camping, they might get lost." "They can't sleep in the upstairs dorm with their friends, put them in a room on the first floor in case there is a fire."
It is important to acknowledge that there are many things a blind person can do and assist in areas as needed without drawing undue attention to them as a disabled person. Where it might be good to have a blind child in a bed that they can easily access an exit without a lot of barriers, it would depend on the child. It would also not be good to say, "Jimmy is blind, so he will sleep by the door." If you assign beds, just assign beds without comment. I have also had fire drills where my totally blind kid led two sighted kids out of the building because the fire alarm scared the sighted kids and they didn't like the dark. I work with a scout troop with a totally blind assistant scoutmaster who serves as a human guide to lead sighted and blind kids to places they need to find all the time.
17. Remember when arriving somewhere by vehicle, a blind person does not have mobility until they know their location. If you let a blind person out of a vehicle, unless they are familiar with the area and know not only where but the direction you parked, they are lost until they find a clue to where they are in reference to known landmarks. If you pull up to their school, it is necessary to know which door you went to if there are more than one and where that door is. Even if you plan on being a sighted guide, are you going to meet them at the front or back of the vehicle? After awhile, it gets to be habit to pull up and say, "We're at the front door- sidewalk is to the front."
Remember if you are dropping the group off somewhere and then going to park, don't expect the other kids to remember in excitement that you have someone who could use a sighted guide. If you pull up to McDonald's and the kids are excited about eating there, they may all just run in as soon as you let them out and forget a member of their group could use a little assistance in unfamiliar territory. It is a good idea to assign someone as a sighted guide if needed before you let the group out.
18. Don't restrict the group from all activities that your blind child can't participate in. If a group wants to play football, don't say, "Jimmy is blind and can't play, so you guys can't play football." For one thing, if Jimmy is really interested in wanting to play football, he will probably find a way to participate- perhaps serving as center or blocker. Chances are not all of your kids will probably want to do any one particular activity anyway. Having some alternative activities for these kids is just good planning. It is good to have some inclusive activities that everyone will participate in, but spontaneous activities of the others certainly don't have to be eliminated.
19.Most blind children participate in a wide variety of functions and activities. They go camping, swimming, boating, bowling, hiking, attend dances, and so forth. You can include the blind child in most activities with a little creativity and planning.
Most blind children participate in a wide variety of functions and activities. They go camping, swimming, boating, bowling, hiking, attend dances, and so forth. You can include the blind child in most activities with a little creativity and planning. There may be physical restrictions on some children related to their vision- the same as some children may have related to asthma or other conditions. In a few instances, some eye conditions may not allow physical contact type activities due to problems with shunts or the possibility of detaching a retina. In some cases eye protection may be required for some activities. The parents should fill you in on any such needs and you may find the children will sometimes need some "reminders" during the course of activities of limitations.
20.Remember that for the most part, blind kids are just kids who happen to be blind. There are fat, skinny, smart, dumb, lazy, ambitious, hyperactive, studious, quiet, shy, outgoing, and every other kind of description you can think of blind children the same as sighted kids. I have been around really great, caring kids who happened to be blind, and have also caught blind teen couples sneaking off into the bushes to make out, blind kids sneaking off to smoke cigarettes, and even trying to shoplift from the local store (“I didn’t hear anyone around me” is what he told me when I asked how he thought he would get away with it). Remember they are just kids who happen to have a characteristic of being visually impaired.
Remember that for the most part, blind kids are just kids who happen to be blind. There are fat, skinny, smart, dumb, lazy, ambitious, hyperactive, studious, quiet, shy, outgoing, and every other kind of description you can think of blind children the same as sighted kids. I have been around really great, caring kids who happened to be blind, and have also caught blind teen couples sneaking off into the bushes to make out, blind kids sneaking off to smoke cigarettes, and even trying to shoplift from the local store (“I didn’t hear anyone around me” is what he told me when I asked how he thought he would get away with it). Remember they are just kids who happen to have a characteristic of being visually impaired.Copyright 2003 by Gary L. Brockman
May be reproduced for educational purposes if unaltered and copyright/author information is provided.
This is general information not meant to replace professional services.
