[blindkid] What are your thoughts on coloring?

[Carol Castellano]

Hi Heather,

Reasons for a blind kid to color:

Learn about the activity
Enjoy the tactile and sound feedback of coloring a raised line 
drawing over a screen board
Learn about shapes
Learn about colors
Learn to draw with crayon on a screen board
Gain the fine motor skill involved for future marking, drawing, and signature
Learn about 2-dimensional renderings of 3-dimensional objects
Begin learning how to interpret raised-line drawings that others 
might create with crayon on a screen board

Reasons for a kid--blind or otherwise--to take part in an activity 
not exactly to their liking:

Learn that in school and in social situations sometimes we need to do 
what someone else wants us to do rather than only what we want to do
Maybe learn to negotiate and take turns
Learn that sometimes we need to do things that we are not great at
Learn self discipline and self control

Would I want a teacher to go overboard with any of this?  No.  Would 
I want the child to take part in coloring activities without 
appropriate adaptations and materials?  No.  Would I want the child 
to spend inordinate amounts of time doing it?  No.  My bottom line 
would be for the classroom teacher and TVI to exercise what I would 
call informed common sense.  BTW, in my experience, it has been the 
classroom teacher, not the TVI wanting the child to color.  The TVI 
has been the one suggesting how the activity could/should be adapted.

Carol

At 07:02 PM 9/30/2011, you wrote:
>Hi Carol,
>As, in the circumstances described in these posts by mothers whose 
>children have no usable vision, I can think of absolutely no useful 
>purpose to be served by colorin. Even coloring within raised lines 
>has very small value, except for older children who have attained 
>hand strength, co-ordination and abstract reasoning ability, and are 
>working on some kind of diagraming/graphinc or tactile art project.
>
>I liken this to insisting that profoundly deaf 5-year-olds attend 
>violin music appreciation classes. While your point on how much 
>wasted time is too much, is well taken, I don't believe this is the 
>issue in this case. The blind children are being compelled to take 
>part in an activity under false pretenses. It does not develop hand 
>strength, co-ordination or fine motor skills for what the blind 
>child needs. When pursued in individual circumstances with TVIs and 
>blind children with no usable vision, I have found in 100% of cases 
>that the activity is chosen out of teacher incompetence or ill preparedness.
>I would be interested to hear your thoughts on how coloring benefits 
>blind children.
>Regards,
>Heather Field
>
>
>-----Original Message----- From: Carol Castellano
>Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 1:56 PM
>To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
>Subject: Re: [blindkid] What are your thoughts on coloring?
>
>I have a feeling there could be some middle ground on this issue.
>
>Some coloring may be a useful experience for some blind children.  I
>don't think coloring itself is the real issue--the real issue is the
>idea of wasting a child's time when he/she could be doing more useful
>things.  I think the fact is that in any classroom on any given day,
>part of the time of some child--not just a blind child--might be
>being wasted.  Is it okay to waste some of a child's time?  How much
>would be acceptable? Parents of many kinds of children--not just
>blind children--grapple with this issue.  Teachers do, too.  If
>parents/the team determines that the coloring is taking up too large
>an amount of time and is really wasting all of that time, then it
>should be stopped.  But if it's determined that the coloring serves
>some purpose and isn't taking up an inordinate amount of time, then
>it could be continued.  The answer would vary, depending on the child
>and the circumstances.
>
>If we take the idea of not wasting a child's time to its logical
>extreme, we find some difficulties.  In a classroom setting, we can't
>realistically eliminate any and all activities that might be wasting
>the time of any individual child.  Since classrooms contain a mix of
>children with a mix of abilities and interests, there will be times
>when the subject or activity is not completely appropriate for a
>particular child's abilities and needs.  My own feeling is that this
>can help a child to learn self discipline and self control :-),
>attributes that can help them in their later academic work and
>career.  It's a matter of degree.
>
>Carol
>
>At 11:28 AM 9/30/2011, you wrote:
>>Hi,
>>I am a TVI and blind myself. It is my experience that most TVI's 
>>aren't really very well trained in the area of early childhood. 
>>Thus, they find it difficult to come up with activities that really 
>>do develop fine motor skills for blind children. Further, many of 
>>them don't actually know the alternative, nonvisual methods that 
>>blind children will actually use to perform fine motor tasks, such 
>>as buttoning, snapping, zipping, tying, identifying coins, pouring, 
>>measuring etc. so they don't know the precursors to those skills. 
>>Also, as many of them are itinerant and must travel between 
>>schools, it is quite a challenge to organise and carry all kinds of 
>>hands-on activities/equipment for young blind children, replacing 
>>it often. So, it's not easy to do it well under the usual 
>>circumstances of the included/mainstreamed, young blind child 
>>needing fine motor skill development. It is much easier at the end 
>>of a tiring day when the children are doing art to simply justify 
>>the blind child's coloring with nonsense about fine motor skills and inclusion.
>>
>>In my opinion, this nonsense about coloring is simply a result of 
>>teachers not knowing appropriate alternative activities. Holding a 
>>pencil is a very specific fine motor skill that benefits writing 
>>for sighted writers. I have seen no evidence that it develops the 
>>kind of finger eexterity and sensitivity, or strength for that 
>>matter, that TVIs claim it does for blind children. It makes my 
>>blood absolutely boil when I hear of children's time being wasted 
>>on such rubbish. This is a skill that they will never use for 
>>anything. Yes, I've heard the old "strengthening for the slate for 
>>the slate and stylus and the braille writer", but I'm a blind adult 
>>and I never had my time wasted with coloring and I use my stylus 
>>and slate just fine. Also, the braille writer has three keys for 
>>each hand to push. If this rediculous coloring is supposed to be so 
>>important for developing hand strength, shouldn't the children be 
>>using a crayon or pencil in both hands? How does it mystically 
>>develop strength in the hand not used to hold the marker? This is 
>>clearly nonsense. Furthermore, Creative expression is supposed to 
>>be part of art and, unless children are specifically Coloring as 
>>part of an activity such as a math worksheet - "color the six dogs 
>>blue" - all the sighted children are expressing themselves 
>>creatively. I cannot agree with denying blind children this 
>>creative expression. When do they get to decide how their art will look?
>>
>>As for using coloring to justify inclusion this is perhaps the 
>>silliest reason of all. The blind child clearly cannot color and 
>>all his classmates see his incompetence. worse, they see that, 
>>unlike all of them who improve during the year, even with the help 
>>of an aide or teacher the blind child continues to be a pitifully 
>>bad colorer. How can this be seen as a positive factor in the 
>>inclusion of a blind child. Does anyone imagine for a moment that 
>>the blind child doesn't know that he can't color and that his 
>>coloring is worse than the other children? Why is it that TVIs will 
>>force children to color, telling them that they must learn to do 
>>what they don't like, but will not push them in areas of 
>>independence, such as being organised or travelling quickly down 
>>the hallway, even if they don't like doing so? these 
>>inconsistencies expose this coloring issue for the travesty is really is.
>>
>>there are so many things that young blind children should be 
>>learning. Threading, cutting, modelling, ripping, screwing - bolts 
>>& nuts, jar lids/containers - paper folding and twisting, a million 
>>and one manipulative/construction toys designed to strengthen small 
>>muscles. This coloring is just an excuse for lack of teacher 
>>versatility and imaginativeness.
>>
>>I have actually attended IEP meetings where we have challenged the 
>>TVI's claims for coloring for blind children. When closely 
>>questioned about their claims for its value, especially in 
>>reference to preparation for brailling when only one hand is 
>>actually being used, and with reference to future use of this skill 
>>beyond signing one's name in 10 years or so, they concede that it 
>>isn't really that useful. We then get it specifically written into 
>>the IEP that this child will "NOT be made to color with any medium 
>>for any reason. The child may use a crayon to mark with a check 
>>mark when correcting their work". Guess what, we have had to fight 
>>over it during the year, showing them the IEP to get them to stop 
>>making the blind child use scented markers in coloring; to stop 
>>them pretending to themselves that they are somehow providing a 
>>meaningful art experience to a child who has no idea what they're 
>>doing besides moving their hand randomly on the paper until the 
>>aide says "yes, that's good." The fact that the TVI agrees in an 
>>IEP meeting that it's meaningless as an art experience and inferior 
>>as a fine motor development activity, and agrees to have it 
>>prohibited in the IEP itself, and then proceeds to try to make a 
>>blind child color in class when they think they can do so without 
>>anyone knowing, speaks to me of the true nature of this activity.
>>
>>Can anyone tell that I am passionate about the topic of blind 
>>children's time being wasted by teachers making them color? If I 
>>were a parent of a blind child being made to color, I would 
>>immediately call an IEP meeting and have it written into the IEP 
>>that my child would not be made to color in any medium under any 
>>circumstances. Naturally they will argue but if you add up the time 
>>in any given week that your child is wasting his young life 
>>coloring, you will be convinced it's worth the trouble.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Heather Field
>>-----Original Message----- From: Meng, Debi
>>Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 2:40 PM
>>To: Katie Cochrane ; NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of 
>>blind children)
>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] What are your thoughts on coloring?
>>
>>I did see the benefit at 3 and 4 but he should be beyond 
>>that.   Thanks for the advice.  I guess I need to find out what the 
>>goals are and if we can achieve them in another way.
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org 
>>[mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Katie Cochrane
>>Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 2:05 PM
>>To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)
>>Subject: Re: [blindkid] What are your thoughts on coloring?
>>
>>My son is 3, and they spend a lot of time on coloring, too.  He is 
>>totally blind.  Our TVI explained to me it is important to build 
>>finger strength and dexterity for learning Braille, using a stylus 
>>to make Braille notes later, etc.  They also want him to get used 
>>to participating in tasks just like the rest of the kids in the 
>>class.  They do a lot of coloring of raised line papers, and they 
>>put textures under it.  We also have one of those musical coloring 
>>tablets (I think it's from Crayola) where it plays music as you 
>>scribble...the faster you scribble the faster the music plays. No 
>>matter what we do, it is not his favorite task, either, but I think 
>>the reasons they gave were reasonable.  Have you asked your TVI 
>>what the reasons are for focusing on coloring at this point in his 
>>education?  I know my son is younger, but I would imagine all of 
>>these reasons will still be relevant when he is in kindergarten.
>>
>>Take care.
>>Katie
>>
>>
>>
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>
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