23 Dec Do you have a child with visual impairment who is irritable and unsettled every time you try to encouragement to play with a toy

It’s estimated that 1 out of every 2,500 children born in Australia will be diagnosed with severe vision loss. Early intervention is important for children who are blind or have low vision to ensure that other areas of their development like gross motor skills, fine motor skills and speech and language skills are not delayed.

However, when parents try to encourage their child with visual impairment to play with a toy, their little one becomes irritable and starts screaming or crying. This is not uncommon and often a result of one of the 3 mistakes that parents make when interacting with their child with visual impairment. Once we eliminate the 3 mistakes, little ones very quickly settle and learn to play and explore toys happily.

3 Common Mistakes that Parents make when playing with their visually impaired child
1. Picking up your child and placing them down elsewhere without prior warning. A child with visual impaired can feel disorientated and scared when they are suddenly picked up and moved. Instead, tell them that you are going to pick them up and take them somewhere else or to be near someone else.

2. Not explaining how a toy works. A child with visual impairment cannot see the toy in front of them and does not know what the toy in front of them is supposed to do. They would not know what a toy car looks like, or how to play with it. So instead of expecting your child to just play with a toy, describe the toy to your child.

3. Not helping your child to explore a toy. A child with visual impairment cannot see the toy in front of them and would not know how to activate toy to make it sing or move. So instead of just putting a toy into their hands, take their hand to gently explore the toy and describe the toy as they touch it. This way your child can make a connection between what they feel and what they hear.

If you are concerned about your child with visual impairment, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today.