The Involvement of Family and Friends
Other members of a family as well as friends can be an integral part of the lives of the parents and sighted siblings of a visually impaired child, keeping the family grounded and offering help and support. If other family members or friends want to help, but are not sure how, here are some […]
Helping Siblings Understand Sight Problems
This article was collated from the information from several web pages, written by siblings of blind children and their parents. Therefore, the language is not professional or grammatically perfect, but the idea is to demonstrate the use of understandable language when talking to children. If your child has a visual impairment, it doesn’t […]
The parents, family and friends – Look after yourself
It can be exhausting to look after a young child, especially if the child has a visual impairment and needs help to develop and make sense of the world. Other families who raised a child with a visual impairment say it is important to know your limits and to avoid becoming overwhelmed and exhausted. The […]
Home Programme for Stimulating your Blind Baby
Home Programme Stimulating your Blind Baby Aged 1 – 3 Years Old Ten Important Tips Talk to your baby all the time. In this way they will learn to predict if you are close to, or far from them. As the baby cannot see you, warn them before you handle them or put something in […]
Helping my visually impaired child to develop
Children with a visual impairment develop in much the same way as other children, although the rate and order in which skills develop may differ. It is not always obvious which difficulties children with a visual impairment experience. Eye conditions cause different ways of seeing Your child’s eye condition may influence – seeing things at […]
Physical and Sensory Development
The Absence of Sight The primary stimulus for BABIES to move, vision, is absent when babies are visually impaired, with the result that these babies tend to be passive. Visual impairment, therefore, has a negative impact on gross motor development as vision dominates the early stages of learning and movement Moving Around Babies start moving […]
Behaviour Patterns some Visually Impaired Children Display (Blindisms)
Many children with VI exhibit some form of unacceptable self-stimulatory behaviour or blindisms. This is called stimming, derived from the word stimulation. It seems that these behaviours are related to the degree of visual loss a child has, as it persists longer when the child is blind. Theories relating to stereotypical behaviour There is […]
Shedding Light on Low Vision
by Michelle Ntlakana, College of Orientation and Mobility, SA Guide-dogs Association What is low vision? Low vision is the loss of sight that cannot be corrected with the assistance of prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery. It is often termed “partial vision” as there is some usable vision available although it may be blurred. There […]
Visual Impairment Facts
Visual Impairment – Causes, Diagnoses and Impact There are many reasons why children have visual impairments. Sometimes it’s genetic, or the result of an infection or injury. In many cases no specific cause can be identified. Sometimes a simple explanation may be given, but diagnosis is often difficult, especially if the condition is rare and […]
World Optometry Day
Wednesday, 23 March 2022, Alberton, Gauteng. Blind SA acknowledges and celebrates World Optometry day, a day set aside to celebrate every optometrist and eye care professional worldwide. On this very day in 1986, the International Optometric and Optical league decided to celebrate the growing profession of Optometry in the world. Today we join in to […]