Perkins just uploaded a video to their YouTube channel where Lucia Hasty discusses how important it is to teach young children about where they are within their environment.

This concept is often referred to as spatial awareness and even though it sounds simple enough, it can be a really hard idea for kids with vision impairments to understand. What does it mean to be "in front of" something? How do I know which is the desk "to my left?"

Lucia points out that without these concepts it can be difficult to learn how to read. Think about basic concepts like "the top of the page" or "the front cover of a book." Throw tactile graphics into the mix and things start getting really complicated. As Lucia says, "You can't move on to figuring out that this is the symbol for the real thing, when you don't know what the real thing is."

You can watch the video here and also check out our article on teaching basic prepositional concepts (in, on, under) to babies.