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To learn about differences – people with vision disabilities
There are so many different things in the world, and it is very important to see it, understand it and accept it. With children, when talking about the senses people have, it is important to pay attention to the importance of vision in people’s lives.
What are the senses of people?
You can start the conversation with children by learning about the different senses people have:
- hearing
- vision
- touch, feel
- taste
- smell
The teacher can invite children to share, in which situations they use each sense. They can demonstrate examples. For example, hearing the ring of a bell, seeing what is outside of the window, feeling what kind of objects are in a bag that is not see-through, taste the taste of a lemon, orange or cucumber, smell a peppermint.
Why do we need vision?
When children learn about senses, special attention can be paid to vision by talking about situations where it is crucial. For example, to see what is on the table, to see where to go or where to drive, when driving a car, or to read a book. After that it can be discussed that there are people with vision problems and people, who don’t see at all. To understand how that is, a few exercises can be done.
Walking across the room
The exercise has to be done in a big room, for example, the room you do all the events in. Children have to be divided in pairs and one member of the pair has to have his or hers eyes blindfolded. The other member of the pair has to guide his or her partner by holding them by their shoulder so that both of them cross the room and don’t run into other children.
Showing the way
A teacher in an empty room creates a trail with sheets of paper. The trail has to be created in a way so that the children have the possibility to go both to the left, to the right and, of course, to the front. One of the children has to be blindfolded and then a teacher or an other child has to stand behind him or her and tap either on the left or right shoulder to indicate that the child has to step to the left or right, or tap on their back, so that they go forward. And those actions have to be continued until the trail has ended.
After finishing the exercise, you can discuss what people with vision problems use – some use glasses, but some need to use a cane or a dog that is trained to guide them.
How does a person who can’t see read?
Possibility the kids will have a question how does a person who can’t see read. Here you can explain, that audio books are really helpful, however, there is also another method people can use – braille.
Idea!
A teacher can find braille version in their own language, stick unto a cardboard and then from the bottom poke holes exactly like it is shown in the print out. If you poke holes from the bottom, on the front there will be a lightly palatable terrain. Every kid can then feel how it feels for themselves and try to find how would their names be written in braille.
Question
Do kids know, where they can see braille in their day to day life?
Answer – of the packaging of medicaments and on the keyboards of a few computers.