Development
Learn how to support your baby as they grow and develop through milestones, including gross motor and fine motor development as well as communication skills.
Filter by: Communication, Fine and Gross Motor, Orientation and Mobility
Development, Special Needs
Development Charts for Blind & Visually Impaired Babies & Children
Blind children are known to have delayed development is several key areas, such as fine motor skills and cognitive development. We provide age-range development charts with with visual impairment in...
Behavior, Development
Is My Blind Child Autistic? One Parent’s Experience
Parents who are trying to determine whether their child's behaviors are related to their visual impairment, or a symptom of autism, benefit from Mary's story about learning to identify her...
Communication, Special Needs
You Can Say That Again! Echolalia in Visually Impaired Children
Learn why children who are visually impaired repeat back what they hear, and how parents can help minimize repetition in a constructive way.
Orientation and Mobility
Guide Dogs of America
Guide Dogs of America is dedicated to its mission to provide guide dogs and instruction in their use, free of charge, to blind and visually impaired men and women
Communication, iPad Apps and Accessibility
Adapting Signs App for Children with Vision Impairment
This app gives tips on how to adapt signs for blind children including videos and written information. It also allows you to create your own dictionary of signs.
Orientation and Mobility
ZipZac Mobility Chairs
The ZipZac 1 & 2® are great mobility chairs for kids who need assistance. The chair was originally developed for a young boy with spina bifida who could move his...
Orientation and Mobility
Hand Use While Walking: Helping Your Child Who is Blind Understand His Home
Certified Orientation and Mobility instructor Susan Shier Lowry gives tips on how to encourage young blind children to reach out and touch while walking through familiar environments. Trailing techniques are...
Development
Reach Out and Teach: Helping Your Child Who is Visually Impaired Learn and Grow
The empowering guide that teaches parents how to promote the development of young children with visual and multiple impairments.
Orientation and Mobility
Anticipators for Young Children with Visual Impairments: Push Toys, Pre-Canes and Long Canes
Early Orientation and Mobility skills for blind children can be taught with pre-canes or push toys. Learn how to choose the best tools and when to introduce them.
Development
Looking Good and Feeling Good When You’re Visually Impaired
Fashion blogger Emily Davison discusses teaching kids with visual impairment about appearance, self-esteem and social acceptance.
Fine and Gross Motor, Sensory Activities
Hold Everything: “Stay-Put” Play Spaces for Infants and Young Children with Sensory Impairments and Other Special Needs
This guide provides you with DIY Stay-Put play spaces for infants and developmentally young children with sensory impairments and other special needs.
Development
8 Tips for Surviving Toilet Training in Public Bathrooms with Your Blind Child
Toilet training a child with special needs is difficult enough... have you tackled public bathrooms yet?
Fine and Gross Motor, Sensory Activities
Make Your Own Tactile Comparing Bag
Are you looking for ways for your blind child or student to experience tactual exploration in a safe, confined space? Then let me show you how to make your own...
Assistive Technology, Orientation and Mobility
Smart Cane Recognizes Faces
The XploR cane uses smartphone technology to send vibrations to the user when it detects a familiar face.
Feeding and Eating, Fine and Gross Motor
EazyHold Grip Assist Strap
EazyHold is a simple but innovative grip assist strap that easily attaches to tools, toys, utensils and more! It enables children and adults with limited or no grip strength to...
Fine and Gross Motor
Headpod keeps your head up!
Headpod keeps your head up! Revolutionary dynamic patented head support system for inadequate head control due to hypotonia of the neck muscles.
Fine and Gross Motor, Play
Making Swim Lessons Accessible for Blind Children
Find tips on how to make a swimming lesson accessible for kids who are blind or have other disabilities. Great ideas for parents or swim instructors!
Orientation and Mobility
Learning to Navigate through Echolocation
Daniel Kish demonstrates his controversial echolocation technique that allows those who are blind to navigate using sonar in this TedX talk.
Communication
The ProxTalker Communication Board with Real Objects
The ProxTalker is a communications device that gives nonverbal kids a voice. Tags can be customized for your child's specific situation, and added and revised as necessary.
Communication
Sign to Speech to Text – The Next Big Thing for the Deaf Community
New technology translates sign language to speech and speech into text, making communication between those who sign and those who don't much more seamless.
Development, Fine and Gross Motor, Sensory Activities
Make Your Own Play Space for Your Blind Baby!
Blind babies may need help learning how to interact with and be actively involved in their environment. You can build your own active learning play space so your baby can...
Orientation and Mobility
These Shoes Were Made for…Giving Directions?
Ducere Tech, an Indian start-up, has created new technology whereby your shoes can tell you which direction to take by connecting wirelessly with your GPS nav system. This could be...
Orientation and Mobility
Community Trips for Little Explorers: Teaching your child who is blind about the community
Children with visual impairment learn by having direct, hands-on experiences with objects and events, including those in their community. These experiences can build important concepts that will prepare your child...
Communication, iPad Apps and Accessibility
Talkitt® Makes Unintelligible Speech Understandable
Talkitt translates unintelligible speech from any language into understandable speech through smart phones, tablets or computers. Works for people with speech disorders or diseases or syndromes that affect speech.