Non-Verbal CommunicationBy: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com Updated June 9, 2019 Nonverbal behaviors provide us with a lot of information about conversations and interactions. Students who are blind will not be able to perceive nonverbal communication and students with low vision may not be able to perceive subtle nonverbal communication. Not being able to see the effects of their actions and how others respond can impact the students understanding of the effects of their behavior as they may not have enough vision to see people’s body language. Students may need extra support in understanding what nonverbal behaviors communicate, both of others and of themselves. Some students will need honest, but kind, feedback to understand how others respond to their behaviors.
People who are blind or visually impaired often have visual behaviors (ex. turning their head to locate their null point and slow nystagmus, viewing materials close up, not looking directly at others, etc.) that assist them in seeing people and viewing the information in ways that make them look different. Students who have significantly reduced vision or no vision will need to learn about non-verbal communication.
Almost all social skills used by sighted children and adults have been learned by visually observing the environment and other persons, and conducting themselves in socially appropriate ways based on those observations. Students with visual impairments must be taught when and how to smile, frown, nod, wink, shrug, and many other nonverbal communication skills. Mannerisms/BehaviorsNot being able to see the effects of their actions and how other people respond can impact the students understanding of the effects of their behavior as they may not have enough vision to see people’s body language. Students may need extra support in understanding what nonverbal behaviors communicate, both of others and of themselves.
Not being able to see the effects of their actions and how others respond can impact the students understanding of the effects of their behavior as they may not have enough vision to see people’s body language. Students may need extra support in understanding what nonverbal behaviors communicate, both of others and of themselves. Some students will need honest, but kind, feedback to understand how others respond to their behaviors.
Some students will need honest, but kind, feedback to understand how others respond to their behaviors. Students may seek comfort and stimulation through behaviors (or mannerisms sometimes referred to as "blindisms") that are not socially appropriate. Social behaviors are negatively impacted by the inability to visually observe other social behaviors. Such behaviors can alienate the student from their sited peers.
Non-Verbal CommunicationHelp the student develop socially appropriate non-verbal communication by encouraging the student to:
Emotional Awareness
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