The approach is very individualized and, as they say, “person-centered.” Students who are non-verbal are still able to make their needs known, they just do so in more subtle ways and it’s important that everyone working with the students know how to read them.

Confidence, self-awareness, and capability are all things we want to teach our children, whether they have special needs or not. But sometimes it can be hard to let go and allow our children, especially if they are visually impaired, to move out into the world on their own, develop their own abilities, and learn from their mistakes.

Graciela Tiscareno-Sato, mother to a beautiful little girl, Milagro, has traveled the country telling other parents of visually impaired children just how she and her family were able to break down those barriers and allow Milagro to blossom into a happy and confident child.

Their story, as well as video of Milagro growing from a baby to a downhill skiing five-year-old, is available on the DVD Letting Your Child’s Wild Side Out: Raising the Wild and Confident VI Baby, Toddler and Preschooler.

This DVD is such a great inspiration for both parents and care givers of blind and visually impaired young children!

There are many different types of therapy that benefit disabled children, from aqua therapy to hippo therapy, but I had never heard of horticulture therapy until recently.

Learn more about how the Perkins School for the Blind uses horticulture therapy to enrich students’ lives.