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, Crawling, Fine and Gross Motor, Orientation and Mobility

boy kissing his hand

Communication, Visual Impairment

Teaching Your Visually Impaired Child Sign Language

Jennie writes about how she taught her son, Max, to sign. Max is totally blind and does have a few verbal words, but using signs to augment his early communication...

blind child listening

Communication, Visual Impairment

Helping your blind child develop effective listening skills

Learning to listen carefully and distinguish between different sounds is an important skill for any child, but espeically for children with visual impairments. Lesley Potgieter explains how to assess your...

Ivan and his switch

Assistive Technology, Communication

Switch Play: Using a switch for communication and play!

For children who are non-verbal or have low motor coordination, switches can be a great way to augment their play. If you're just getting started with a switch you may...

Ivan talking

Communication, Visual Impairment

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.

A group of four yellow labs

Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

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

Adapting Signs app icon and menu

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.

a little girl in her assistive rolling chairs for kids

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...

blind student walking at school

Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

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...

Eric using an anticipator

Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

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.

DIY stay put play spaces

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.

Smart Cane recongizing owner's faces

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.

Ivan using an EazyHold with a mixing spoon

Feeding and Eating, Fine and Gross Motor, Product Reviews

EazyHold: Grip Assist Strap

EazyHold is a simple grip assist strap that easily attaches to objects enabling kids with limited grip strength to accomplish daily living skills.

Example of the Headpod being used

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.

Daniel Kish in a collared shirt holding a cane against a blue background

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.

ProxTalker

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.

how uni works

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.

Red Lechal shoe

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...

Ivan at the grocery store

Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

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...

child speaking with an iPhone

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.

AFO socks

Fine and Gross Motor

AFO Socks

A great resource for anyone who uses AFOs, this site sells socks for both children and teens in a variety of colors. Yes, AFO socks in different colors and patterns!

Smartphone over printed text, showing larger.

Assistive Technology, Orientation and Mobility

Verizon Creates Navigational Tools to Promote Independence for Blind Users

Being blind means giving up a lot of independence; this new technology from Verizon gives blind people real-time information about their environment, including colors, textures, nav cues, and more, using...

little boy in a go baby go car

Orientation and Mobility

Go Baby Go Provides Mobility Inspiration!

Dr Cole Galloway from the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Delaware is adapting motorized ride-on toys for children with mobility special needs.

Blind Square

Assistive Technology, Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment

Getting Around Using Assistive Technology when You’re Blind

Getting around keeps getting easier for blind travelers thanks to new assisistive technology. Find out about a new O&M iPhone app and an UltraBike!

Baby in a Merry Muscles jumper

Fine and Gross Motor

Merry Muscles: A Jumper for Big Kids!

Merry Muscles is a jumper that connects to a door frame or beam in your ceiling. What makes it special is that they carry ALL sizes, from baby up to...