I can't believe the holiday break is upon us; it has absolutely snuck up on me. If you're in need of a last minute holiday braille gift, we have some ideas. With the potential for your family to have unstructured time, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some sensory activities with you guys in case little hands need something to do. If you're looking for additional ideas check out wonderbaby.org or search for ideas on pinterest. I'd love to hear how any of these activities went, and any new ones you guys try! -Anne Edible Marshmallow Slime 6 Jumbo marshmallows 1 Tablespoon cooking oil 1/2 - 1 Tablespoon cornstarch Combine marshmallows and cooking oil to microwave safe bowl, and microwave for about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch. If a stiffer texture is desired, slowly add some additional cornstarch. Scented Salt Dough Braille Ornaments 1 Cup flour 1/2 Cup table salt 1/2 Cup water 1 Teaspoon cinnamon 1 Teaspoon ginger 1 Teaspoon ground clove Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Kneed on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll, form, or use cookie cutter to obtain desired shape. If braille is desired, form small balls, and press into ornament. Place ornaments on a piece of paper towel. Microwave in ten second increments checking each time. It's important to do these short bursts of time or the ornament will burn. Once it's dry, remove from paper towel and allow to cool completely. Snow Paint Mix equal parts foam shaving cream and glue. Apply to card stock or cardboard, and when it's dry, you have tactile art! Gifts for kids without vision can sometimes be tricky. If you're in need for some last minute gift, we wanted to give you some ideas. By no means is this a comprehensive list, Wonderbaby.org is again is a great place to check out a more extensive list. Braille Magnetic Letter These are a fun way to for accessorize your fridge, keep little hands busy. We found them at National Braille Press for under $10 and on Amazon for about $12 Uncle Goose Braille Letter and Math Blocks These traditional wooden blocks in either letters or numbers are a great way to incorporate braille into your kiddos toy box. The math blocks are $26 and the letters are $45. Bonus, you can get them in American Sign Language as well! Braille Scrabble So many of our students love words and language, so Braille Scrabble is the perfect gift for our language lovers. The price point for this is all over the map. Amazon and Maxi-Aids have it for under $60. Braille Uno Uno is a family classic. Of course, you can always braille a standard deck if you have one around, but this is a quick and easy way to get all family members involved in a game night. Rumor is that this is available at Target. Maxi-Aids and Amazon have it for under $13.
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Although it's been a very warm fall, today we woke up to a little snow. I thought this would be a great opportunity to do a couple of quick videos about putting on winter wear. As with all kids, putting on winter clothing is a fine motor challenge, and this is especially true for our kids who are visually impaired or blind. If your child is struggling to learn the motions of zipping a zipper, have them place their hands over your hands to help them develop the feel.
As usual, I've used my kids to model these skills. They're older than most kids learning to put on their coat, so it goes pretty smoothly. When your child begins to put their coat on, it will take a lot of patience (from both of you), coaching, hand under/over hand, and praise. Sighted children have the benefit of watching others to learn new skills and tasks (this is sometimes called incidental learning), so blind and visually impaired children have to be intentionally taught. This will take more time and practice. If you're in the market for a new coat for your child, avoiding the 3 in 1 coats with the zip-in lining will make it a little easier for your kiddo to learn to put their coat on. Where the shell of the coat and the lining meet at the neck, can sometimes feel like a sleeve. If you already have a 3 in 1 coat, please don't replace it. Your kiddo can learn to put it on successfully. Gloves, mittens, hats and boots are essential winter items that take some practice as well. Again this takes time, repetition, and praise. I know it takes a lot of work up front for your child to obtain these skills, but when they're able to complete these skills independently, that time investment will pay off. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me -Anne Putting on a Coat Putting on Boots Putting on Hats, Gloves and Mittens I hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful weekend weather; it looks like we'll have a beautiful week ahead of us as well. I hope you and your family get out and enjoy it! Marcia and I wanted to share a video on tactile alignment for street crossings. As Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist our tried and true method of aligning for street crossings is using sound to align with parallel traffic. However when we begin street crossings or in the absence of sound, we often teach a tactile alignment method. Another thing to keep in mind is that when your child determines that it's safe to cross, body language is very important. A confident, swift step let's drivers know the pedestrians intentions to cross. Less confident and hesitant body language can lead to miscommunication. We hope this video helps you support your blind or visually impaired student travel throughout your community. -Marcia & Anne
Tactile Alignment for Street Crossings Today's weather is wet, but this weekend is looking sunny. I hope you and your kids get out and enjoy the sunshine. In honor of the beautiful weather and keeping with our mobility unit, Marcia and I though we'd do a post of basic residential travel skills, so we did a couple of videos on walking around the block, handling changes in elevation on the sidewalk, and going around a car parked over the sidewalk. When Marcia and I were filming these, we learned that we both teach these skills slightly differently, so this really emphasizes that there are a lot of ways to teach skills. Whatever way your O&M has taught your child, is the best ways to reinforce these skills. If you're not sure, please reach out to us. I hope you get our and enjoy the sunshine this weekend.
Walking Around the Block Changes in Elevation Going Around a Vehicle Parked Over the Sidewalk Welcome back families to our mobility unit! I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day and got to outside during the beautiful weather. One of the skills that often gets glossed over for our kids is getting in and out of a vehicle. This simple task is made easier and safer with the ideas shared in this video. Initially, your child may need a lot of assistance and prompts to get in and out of a vehicle, but over time, you can step back slowly from giving so much assistance until they can do everything themselves. Remember when you're kiddo is closing the door of your vehicle to push the exterior handle with the flat palm of their hand. This will help avoid injuries from slammed fingers. We hope this is helpful information as we approach more summer like weather. - Marcia & Anne
Getting In a Vehicle Getting Out of a Vehicle Parents generally have a lot of questions about how to handle an unfamiliar restroom, specifically public restrooms. These concerns often revolve around hygiene and cleanliness as our kids have to be so tactile. Hopefully this video answers your questions and gives you tips on how to minimize any unnecessary surface contact. In the video, the stall and the sink are on the same wall, but generally speaking in most public restrooms, the sinks and stalls are on opposite of each other. We hope you find this video helpful, and please let us know if you have any questions! -Marcia & Anne
Using an Unfamiliar Restroom It's rainy and dreary outside today, but as we move closer to the end of the week, it's looking beautiful. With this in mind, Marcia and I wanted to focus on mobility. We're hoping this mobility unit will help you feel more comfortable and confident getting your child out and traveling in the beautiful weather. Today, Marcia has done a great tutorial on using a white cane on stairs. As always, we hope you'll reach out to us if you have questions or if we can help in any way.
Stairs As if having Gwen contribute to our blog wasn't amazing enough, today we have her son Greg demonstrates how to use a knife to slice an apple and how he uses an apple slicer as a blind person. I knew Greg when he was in middle school, and I can't believe he's 26 years old now. I'm proud of what he has is going to accomplish. I'm so honored he took the time to share this information with us.
Independence Skills for Blind Children Part 3 Gwen has joined us again today to share some more ideas on raising and teaching a blind or visually impaired child. Check out Gwen's great suggestions and tips!
Independence Skills For Blind Children Part 2 This week we have a wonderful guest contributor for you. Gwen Botting is the a parent of an adult blind child. Gwen wears a lot of hats. She is the Past President of Michigan Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (MPVI). She is currently Executive Director, Camp Director, and Camp Cook of Opportunities Unlimited for the Blind summer camps (OUB). To say that Gwen has street cred is a huge understatement. We appreciate Gwen being willing to share some ideas and thoughts on raising and teaching a blind or visually impaired child.
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December 2020
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