{"id":7120,"date":"2024-11-21T03:23:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T03:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prrf.org\/?page_id=7120"},"modified":"2025-03-24T09:47:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T09:47:42","slug":"encouraging-independence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/prrf.org\/zh\/parents\/encouraging-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Encouraging Independence<\/h1>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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It is very common for parents to do everything for their disabled child. Some parents say it\u2019s just easier to do it for them than to take the time to teach them. It DOES take a lot of time, but once they learn a task well, you may never have to help them with it again, or at least give minimal assistance. That one hour or several weeks assisting your child on that daily task and slowly pulling away to watch them try it on their own is a feeling of victory not only the child, but the parent(s) as well!<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Daily hygiene tasks:<\/h2>\n

Showering<\/strong>\u200b\u00a0\u2013 if the shampoo and conditioner feel the same, put a rubber band around one of them to differentiate them. My totally blind daughter was independently showering everyday at age 6. When she began showers, I would stand there and peek in the curtain instructing her what to do next and telling her where to find the soap and shampoo giving her verbal cues. Washing the hair took a lot of time. She would wet her hair. I would put the shampoo in her hair and have her feel how much was in her hand. She would then lather it all around. Teaching her to lather her hair efficiently really took a lot of time. I would sometimes step in and work her hair to a long point on top of her head just to tactually illustrate that if her hair could stand up like that, she was properly lathering it. We spent about 2 weeks doing this routine, but once she got it she felt so accomplished\u2026\u2026.and so did I!<\/p>\n

Getting dressed<\/strong>\u200b \u200b(ages 3-5)\u00a0<\/strong>\u200bA lot of shirts are tagless now. This can be difficult for young kids to tell which way to put their shirt on. A lot of times with the tagless shirts, you can still feel some kind of print on the inside back of their shirt neckline. If not, put a dot of puffy paint there so they know that is the back of their shirt. You could also use little safety pins. You could put one little safety pin on the inside neckline on all school related shirts, 2 little safety pins on shirts that go with a certain pair of pants, etc.) Personally, I don\u2019t like sewing in braille labels that you can purchase through\u00a0\u200bwww.aph.org<\/a>\u200b\u00a0because kids grow so quickly. That\u2019s a lot of work to put in clothes that will only fit them such a short time. Try not to step in to help unless they are getting frustrated. It is very important to make your child ask for help! This is just the beginning for them \u2014 learning how to advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n

Think about it\u2026..most sighted people can zip a coat without looking! The hardest part for our kids is teaching them (hand-over-hand) how the zipper fits into the zip fastener. Have them try zipping their jacket every time with less and less assistance as they are catching on.<\/p>\n

Brushing their teeth<\/strong>\u200b\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u200b(ages 3-5)\u00a0<\/strong>\u200bI never realized how visual learning to spit was! I had to spit on my daughter\u2019s hand so she could feel the force. I also had her touch my lips so she could feel how they were formed. I would have her hold her toothbrush with my hand over hers demonstrating how to brush her teeth properly. Putting toothpaste on the toothbrush was a little tricky at first too, but she figured out on her own how much to put on there by feel. We really take advantage of these non verbal things that we do daily. Things that seem simple to sighted people, can be very challenging to the blind.<\/p>\n

Brushing their hair \u2013 (ages 3-5)\u00a0<\/strong>\u200bHave them feel where the part is in their hair and show them hand-over-hand which direction to brush their hair.<\/p>\n

Styling their hair \u2013 (ages 8-10)\u00a0<\/strong>\u200bIt was hard stepping back watching my daughter try to put in a messy bun, pony tail, half up, etc, but it\u2019s not \u201ccool\u201d if mom is still doing her hair as a teenager. She goes to a lot of blind camps. I found this skill very important for her to know so she could get her own hair out of her face and have it look halfway decent. She puts a ponytail holder around her wrist and brushes her hair into a ponytail. While holding it with the hand she has the elastic around, she then takes her other hand and slides the holder off her wrist over her hand, then onto the pony tail twisting it and pulling the hair through as many times as she needs to make it feel tight enough. With a messy bun, I purchased a bun maker gadget. She puts her hair in a pony tail first then she twists it around fastening each loose piece under a prong until it all circles around in a bun formation. You learn to get crafty as a parent finding ways to help them be independent.<\/p>\n

Shoe tying \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>\u200bI\u2019ve talked to a lot of parents through the years. Some think shoe tying is important; others don\u2019t! Learning to tie doesn\u2019t just apply to shoes\u2026..it applies to drawstring pants, bows, knots, etc. I\u2019ll admit, it was frustrating to teach. In order to teach her how to make a bunny ear, I wrapped tape around one lace in two places spaced apart. She would touch the tapes together to get a feel of how big to make the loop. The loop and swoop were fairly easy, but the pull through part took a lot of time and patience. We tackled double knotting immediately to get her in the habit of not tripping over her laces. Also, I recommend you use rope laces for teaching this. They are easier to tactually differentiate while manuevering all the steps of tying! On this video, she is 12 years old. You will see how proud she is of herself. What seems so easy for sighted kids, are huge victories for our kids with low vision or blindness!<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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