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
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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.
Independence Skills for Blind Children Part 1 Once your child is confident and independent with slicing soft and easily cut items with a spreader, table knife, and/or lettuce knife, it might be time to move onto a kitchen knife. Two skills that naturally go together are peeling and chopping. Here's a quick tutorial on peeling vegetables and chopping with a kitchen knife. Remember that lots of supervision, verbal feedback, and tons of encouragement are needed. -Anne
Peeling and Chopping Vegetables We hear a lot of anxious concerns from parents about teaching their blind or visually impaired child to use the stove. This is a skill that all parents are nervous about, but we're hoping these videos help ease some of the anxiety about introducing this skill. We teamed up to do this post because of the variety of stoves on the market. Remember to always introduce and orient your child to a cold stove, and be patient because your child is likely as nervous about learning to use the stove as you are. We're available, as always to answer questions. - Marcia, Megan, and Anne
Using a Coil Electric Stove Using a Glass Cook Top Stove Using a Gas Stove Are your kids eating you out of house an home? My kids believe that all times are snack times...they might have come by that naturally. With the constant traffic in and out of my refrigerator I thought it would be a good moment to discuss organizing your fridge in a way that increases your blind and visually impaired child's independence. I try to make my own kids as self sufficient as possible, so I try to keep the things I want them to have within reach. The things I would prefer they not have easy access to, I keep out of their reach. Of course, this can be incorporated for any child blind, low vision or sighted. We've also incorporated keeping like items together in different areas of the fridge and you know I utilize my trusty rubber bands. If you have the ability to do braille labels, that's always a great idea to use. If you have questions please feel free to reach out. If you have ideas on organizing a fridge for a blind or visually impaired person, we want to learn what you do at home as well. -Anne
Organizing Your Fridge |
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December 2020
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