Hygiene & Grooming

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated June 9, 2019

Learning personal hygiene and independence in grooming are important skills for all students to learn. These are equally important for students who are blind or visually impaired. It may take students longer to master these skills but it is essential to encourage independence and avoid the urge to do the task for them in a rush to complete the activity.

General Bathroom Tips

Families can help students by making simple adaptations to the bathroom to help the student discriminate and identify items and promote safety.

• Use non-skid rugs on the floor and nonskid mats in the tub.
• If the student has any useable vision, use towels and washcloths in colors that contrast with the tub.
• Install a grab bar on the edge of the tub or a railing on the wall.
• Place a rubber band around the student's toothpaste tube and toothbrush so they know which one is theirs. 
• A talking scale can help a student keep track of their weight.
• Group frequently used hygiene items together on a shelf or in a basket.
• Using different shaped containers can be helpful.
• Purchase items in plastic bottles and containers versus glass containers.
• Use rubber bands, hair bands, tape, or tactual markers to attach to bottles, containers, and tubes to distinguish them.
• Purchasing soap in a contrasting color or using liquid soap can help a student with some vision locate it. It is also helpful to keep it in a consistent location.

• During toileting routines, encourage the student to get his own diaper if not yet potty trained.

Hygiene

Remember to be sensitive and respect the student’s privacy when teaching personal hygiene skills. Many of these skills can be more naturally taught at home by caregivers.  Keeping hygiene products in a consistent location will make locating them easier. For students with low vision, either purchase items that provide high contrast or attach labels to the containers.

Encourage the student to independently turn on and off the water at the sink, soap their own washcloth, blow and wipe their own nose and brush their teeth. Also, have the physically able student flush the toilet and style their own hair. Students should learn to identify if their teeth are clean if their face and hands are clean and if their body is clean and free of body odor.

Grooming

Provide grooming supplies with contrasting colors for students with low vision and organize items in separate containers in a drawer so they can locate them independently. Don't miss opportunities during self-care routines to embed concepts (in/out, up/down, wide/narrow, depth, matching, rough/soft, front/back, etc.) and fine motor and tactual discrimination skills.  Use, touch, and talk about the feel of a hairbrush, toothbrush, wet and dry items (towels, soap, sponges), the lather of soap to promote finger sensitivity. Squeeze toothpaste and wring washcloths to develop hand strength. Pull Kleenex from a tissue box to develop hand strength. Students should learn to identify if their hair is neat and styled and is clean.

Toothbrush Tips

Instruct the student to place their finger alongside the bristles of the toothbrush to monitor how much toothpaste is being applied. 

Shaving Tips

Instruct the student to use points on the face to know where to shave. Advise the student to use overlapping strokes and use tactile skills to determine where to repeat strokes.

Makeup

Instruct the student how to label products for identification and how to apply them using facial features as landmarks. A towel placed in the lap can help protect clothing from spills. Using subtle shades can help ensure makeup looks smooth and even. 

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TVI's Guide Complete Set Bundle + BONUS Resources

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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level. In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community-based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.


In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included:
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist
·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist


For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page.


TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details
·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font)
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements
The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.  


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page.


Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement
The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page


Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement
The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. 


Additional Use:
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code.


For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page


Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details:
·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource
·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments
·      Author: Carmen Willings
·      Language: English


BONUS!
Lotto Cards
The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC.


On My Way File Folder Cards
Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27.

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