LEARN TO PLAY

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated October 30, 2017

Many students with visual impairments will need to be taught how to interact and participate in activities. You may have to teach the student how to explore toys & materials. As stated in Guiding Principles, students who are blind or visually impaired need many opportunities to play with real objects. That doesn't mean that you will not want to provide the student with toys. In selecting toys, you do need to choose toys that meet the students learning needs. If the student has low vision and is distracted by visual clutter, you will want to select toys that are simple and have bold colors. If the student will only visually attend to a certain characteristic (red, or metallic), obviously you should look for toys with these features. For a student with minimal or no vision, you will want to look for toys that are tactually interesting. As you explore toys in the toy aisles, close your eyes and feel the toys. Does it just feel like a lump of hard plastic or does it have tactually interesting features that will encourage exploration and interest?

Exploring Toys

​Introduce new materials and activities intentionally and provide the student with plenty of time to explore them. When you present materials to the student, provide the student with a verbal prompt and understand that you may need to guide the student’s hand to explore the toys. Show the student how to explore the details of materials and objects. Provide the names of the objects he is exploring and a description of what it is used for.

Although random exploration provides lots of information for the student, intentional teaching can help the student learn scanning skills to look for and piece together features. It helps to sit behind the student and help guide their hands in a systematic search pattern. Show the student that you are paying attention to the activity that he is engaged in by talking about it, or helping him visually and/or tactually explore it (but not taking over). Be sure to monitor your talking and verbal descriptions as talking can distract the student and interrupt their exploration and visual attention toward materials.

Playing Alongside or Cooperatively

Students may need extra time to familiarize themselves with other student’s style of playing.  The quick, unpredictable movements of other students can be disorienting, perhaps even frightening at times for students. It takes time for some students to gain the skills and the confidence they need to enjoy playing with other students.

Toy Companies...

The following companies publish catalogs of toys, many of which are appropriate for use with infants and young children who are blind or have low vision. In some cases, you will be able to discover comparable toys in a local discount store at a savings.

• ​​Abilitations provides equipment for development and restoration of physical and cognitive abilities through movement.
• ​AbleNet is an international company that provides educational and technical solutions to help children and adults with disabilities lead productive and fulfilled lives.
• Discount School Supplies provides a collection of therapy, exercise and special education products for children with special needs.
• ​American Federation for the Blind's Family Connect site that lists toys that are appropriate for children with visual impairments. Toys are marked in categories of being appropriate for low vision, blind and multiple impairments. A brief description of the toy is included along with the area of development the toy stimulates.
• ​Beyond Play offers an extensive selection of products for young children of all abilities - from infants through elementary grades.
• ​Brio specializes in high-quality, brightly colored wooden toys.
• ​Constructive Playthings specializes in teachers supplies, classroom materials, learning toys, playground equipment and more. 
• ​Discovery Toys offers products sold by local educational consultants.
• ​From toys to technology, Dragonfly Toys offers products for children with special needs.
• ​Enabling Devices sells adapted tools, toys and devices for children and adults with disabilities.
• ​The Equipment Shop sells special tools and toys for children with special needs.
• ​The Exceptional Teaching Aids mission is to help individuals with special needs acquire the skills and attitudes required to function effectively as contributing members of society. The corporation accomplishes its mission by providing affordable and innovative products for individuals of all ages having special needs as well as all those who serve this population. They carry the Mangold Dev. Programs for learning braille and math, raised line coloring books, braille blocks, world maps, and other items.
• ​Flaghouse's Special Populations catalog carries products for education and rehabilitation.
• ​Hasbro Playskool sells toys and materials for infants and young children.
• ​Kaplan Toys provides exciting and fun educational toys that focus on helping children develop.
• ​Kaye Products, Inc. is a mail order catalog features selected toys and products for children with disabilities.
• ​Lakeshore Learning Materials catalog features learning materials and furniture for the preschool and early learning classroom.
• ​The Learning Resources catalog contains materials for kindergarten, primary grades, and special education.
• ​S&S Worldwide offers Therapy and Rehab supplies in addition to educational supplies.
• ​An international company TFH carries toys, adapted equipment and sensory stimulation materials for special needs.
• ​Toys to Grow On sells toys with bright primary colors are in this mail order catalog.
• ​US Toys - Constructive Playthings sells many toys but not specifically designed for students with special needs.

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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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