Question

Give some examples of how a teacher can promote positive social interactions for very young students with low vision or blindness in his or her classroom.

This is for my Introduction to People with Exceptionalities class.

Answer 1

Social interactions are learnt mostly through observation in young children. For instance, a child learns to respond and smile based on his mother's reactions. The child observes his immediate environment to understand appropriate social interactions. However, observation or understanding other's body language is something a visually impaired child is incapable of. After family, the only interaction a child has, is with peers in his class or school. Teachers play a very important role in this particular setting to help young students with low vision or blindness with social interactions. Unlike other students, visually impaired students need to be aware of their surroundings through other senses. For instance, when all the students are sitting together in a classroom to indulge in arts and crafts, the visually impaired child must be assisted with the happenings in his immediate surrounding. The other students must be asked to be more vocal with the visually impaired. If the teacher has asked all the students to cut paper in two halves, the other students must be encouraged to help the student with visual impairment. The teacher could make the session interactive by making other students assist the visually impaired student by letting him know where the scissors are kept, which part of the paper must be held in the hand and where to cut. Involving other students and making the visually impaired child comfortable, promotes positive social interactions.