[blindkid] [Bulk] Social behavior

Wed Oct 26 14:03:48 UTC 2011

I think it is important to remember that social pressure that most sighted kids will perceive when other kids stop and stare have no real effect when a blind child is unaware of others' reactions. At age 5, I'm not certain it is time to make a big issue of that, but at my daughter's age (9) we do make a point of letting her know when she is making a spectacle of herself, especially if it begins to spiral out of control.

I would certainly focus a lot more on gentle redirection to alternative behaviors first before offering too many reasons for a child to stress over what other think, especially at age five. Also, from what I can gather, schools for the blind are not the best places to expect "blindisms" to be addressed. They are so common there that I think many of the schools pretty much ignore most of them. As might make sense, mainstream behavior is much more expected in the mainstream schools and classes. 

Expect less correction of blindisms in isolated classrooms as well. Even if it is in the IEP, it is unlikely to become a priority in that environment, partly because many other kids in the room are less likely to have the same social reactions to these behaviors.  

Richard

On Oct 26, 2011, at 9:37 AM, Carly B wrote:

> I think replacement behaviors may really be the key here, especially ones
> that are not really noticeable. When I have told my son to stop, it has had
> no effect whatsoever, in fact, it's made him stubborn and defensive about
> it. I think sometimes kids just have to have their own "buy in" like you
> did, Brandy. I really think my own son may need to have his own "real
> consequences." Since we plan to remove him from the Academy in the next year
> or two, and he will be mainstreamed, that may be the time when that happens.
> 
> :) Carolynn
> On Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 8:15 AM, Brandy W <branlw at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
>> Yes you can tell him to stop, and you need to!!! It is perfect to find
>> replacement behaviors, but he must not do this. It already looks weird in
>> kinder, and just imagine what it will look like in years when he is a tween,
>> and everyone is laughing, and worse yet when he is in college? I speak from
>> experience. I eye poked, sometimes gently rocked, and I sucked my little
>> finger. Non of this was OK, and no one stopped me. Not even at the blind
>> school. It was horrible and hard to break! It took me some very good
>> friends, real consequences, and a lot of persistence to stop these things. I
>> still sometimes go backwards to these behaviors when I'm sick or stressed. I
>> wish someone had stopped me when I was 5 for sure!
>> 
>> Some replacement behaviors are providing a trampoline for an appropriate
>> place to bounce, Give him the words and appropriate gestures for when he is
>> excited, give him appropriate swinging and rocking chairs to get this out
>> appropriately.
>> 
>> So you can and do need to make him stop!
>> 
>> Bran
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> "When we treat children's play as seriously as it deserves, we are helping
>> them feel the joy that's to be found in the creative spirit. It's the things
>> we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in
>> our lives."
>> - Fred Rogers
>> 
>> Brandy Wojcik
>> Discovery Toys Educational Consultant and Team Leader
>> www.playtoachieve.com
>> (512) 689-5045
>> 
>> Looking for team members nation wide!
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erin Teply" <eteply at cfl.rr.com>
>> To: "(for parents of blind children) NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List" <
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 7:51 AM
>> Subject: [Bulk] [blindkid] Social behavior
>> 
>> 
>> Hello everyone,
>>> 
>>> I am some questions around social behavior (at least I think that is the
>>> best description!).  My son Max, is 5 and in mainstream kindergarten.  He
>>> has some 'blindisms' as I call them or some different social behaviors when
>>> he gets excited.  He tends to rock his body back and forth and sort of do a
>>> strange 'arm-straightener' thing when he gets excited or really wants to say
>>> something.  We see this at home in just these cases and I believe the same
>>> at school, but because he has to 'sit still' so much more at school, I think
>>> the behaviors are more pronounced and/or more often.  I have a meeting
>>> tomorrow with his OT and mobility teacher on what we can do to replace or
>>> minimize these behaviors.  As we all know, you simply can't tell the child
>>> to *stop* this because then they think, "well then what?". How have some of
>>> you dealt with this type of thing?  I think the main concern from his OT
>>> that this is socially not acceptable.  Any thoughts are appreciated.
>>> 
>>> Thank you,
>>> Erin Teply
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ______________________________**_________________
>>> blindkid mailing list
>>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org>
>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>> blindkid:
>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/**
>>> branlw%40sbcglobal.net<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/branlw%40sbcglobal.net>
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ______________________________**_________________
>> blindkid mailing list
>> blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org>
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> blindkid:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/**options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/**
>> barnesraiser%40gmail.com<http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/barnesraiser%40gmail.com>
>> 
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/rholloway%40gopbc.org