Children with a severe visual disability may have special problems. Since visual information accounts for much of children’s learning, visually
impaired children have to acquire information by touching, hearing, smelling and tasting as substitutes for seeing. It is especially important for these children to have rich and varied experiences in early years of life, so that when they reach school age they will not be behind other children in the amount of exposure to and knowledge of the world.
Children’s feelings about themselves are usually developed in early life and are important in later life for satisfaction and ability to cope with problems. As visually disabled children develop and grow, they need the same opportunities as other children for recreation, sporting events and social interaction with other children, both sighted and visually impaired. They should be encouraged to run, exercise and play games with other children even though their parents, as well as perhaps the children themselves, may be anxious about such activities. Visually impaired children who attend a school where they live away from home need recreational activities and opportunities to socialize with neighborhood children on weekends.
As visually handicapped children grow older, their parents should discuss with them the types of work or education they may want to explore in the future. Parents should keep an open mind about what type of academic training or industrial training their visually impaired child may be able to undertake. The possibilities are really abundant in these days of computers. The child must be made to feel that he is a worthy human being capable of a full and useful life.
It is possible that other children may reject visually impaired children. This is painful to parents as well as to the child and may promote negative feelings in the child about himself. Parents should not emphasize these problems but encourage their child to continue to participate in activities with other children while at the same time realistically acknowledging the problem of visual impairment. Often it is very helpful for the parents to join a support group of other parents. People who have already dealt with the challenges of rearing a visually impaired child can be most helpful to those who are new at it.
Amblyopia Crossed eyes and other eye problems can lead to amblyopia or lazy eye, a condition where the child becomes used to seeing with only one eye. Without treatment, the unused eye will not develop, and permanent visual impairment can develop in the poorer eye. Treatment often includes placing an eye patch over the good eye in order to force the child to use the weaker eye.
All preschool children should have their eyes examined. Your child’s doctor can give vision tests. If he suspects a problem, he will refer you to an eye care professional. Home Eye Tests are available free of charge from Prevent Blindness Tennessee.
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