[blindkid] Referring to name versus saying I want was greetings

Tue Apr 6 00:37:33 UTC 2010

It is developmentally appropriate for toddlers from eighteen months to four 
years to refer to themselves with their name instead of using the parts of 
speech such as I, me and we.  This has nothing to do with being blind.  Many 
children as very young toddlers use their name first, rather than I or me, 
because that is what they hear others refer to them as.  Older toddlers may 
enjoy the novelty of calling them self by their first name, because it is 
fascinating to them that they are I and me, but also Jeremy or Todd or 
Melissa as well.  They often also go through a phase of calling their mom or 
dad or aunt or uncle by their first name, because they are playing with the 
concept of familiar and formal titles, of dule names for the same person, 
based on social context.  This is to be accepted and worked with, not 
quashed and viewed as disrespect.  Think how odd it would seem to you at 
first to realize that to you your mother is mommy, to daddy she is honey, to 
her friends she is Linda, etc.  To Sue, I wouldn't be concerned with the 
whole conversation thing.  It shows that he has a strong imagination, as he 
acts out conversations in his independent play.  That is a good thing. 
Mirroring is always a good thing.  You might also try call and response 
games, repete after me games, or games where whoever is holding the ball 
gets to talk, or try touching him on the arm or shoulder when you want him 
to respond to you, gently, to sub for eye contact.  But, I wouldn't make a 
huge issue out of it.  As long as he is communicating his needs, seeking out 
you and others for companionship, I wouldn't be too concerned about a three 
year old prefering self talk or listening.  If he is six and still isn't 
exactly thrilled about engaging in back and forth exchanges, then of course, 
start worrying, but at this stage he seems to be in a developmentally 
normative and developmentally appropriate context.
----- Original Message ----
From: "Gerardo Corripio" <gera1027 at gmail.com>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 3:52 PM
Subject: [blindkid] Referring to name versus saying I want was greetings


> Hi listers: Is the behavior of when being a toddler referring to oneself 
> by
> name instead of saying I want so and so? I ask because during my 
> Psychology
> major in Special Education class we talked about this pattern of behavior
> being present in children with other disabilities but in blind children
> didn't have idea of this happening until Sue Harper talked about this
> behavior in the below mesage. also I just asked my mother if when I was a
> toddler I did the same pattern and she doesn't remember. Is it only me 
> that
> when I hear of blind children's difficulties I wonder if ai also had them?
> It sounds weird but I'm not crazy; I feel that the more I know of how 
> blind
> children develop the more I'll get to know myself.
> Gerardo
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Susan Harper" <sueharper at firstchurchgriswold.org>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)"
> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 2:06 PM
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] Greetings! and am I welcome?
>
>
> Welcome to the list.  Your English is better than many people who speak 
> the
> language.  I think we would have a lot to gain from hearing from your
> mother's experience in bringing you up.  She must be one great lady to 
> raise
> a child to a man who can speak fluently in two languages.  We will look
> forward to your contributions!
>
> My son is three and one of twins.  He is totally blind from detached 
> retinas
> from retinopathy of prematurity (25 weeks). He just navigated a walk on 
> our
> street today using his cane with verbal prompts from me and following my
> voice.  A new first.  This week he also has started to ask for things he
> wants, but still refers to himself by name, rather than saying "Can I go
> outside"; He says, "Vinnie go outside?"  But last week we were playing
> twenty questions, so this is an incredible improvement.  He has always had
> perfect language skills and diction, but getting the back and forth
> conversations going has been tough.  He will have a whole conversation by
> himself while playing with toys and the conversation will mirror something
> that happened earlier.  So I model both sides of the conversation and then
> tell him what to say back when he is asked a question.  We are a large
> family with 5 children still in the home from ages 3 to 19, so he hears 
> lots
> of give and take conversations, as well as argumentative ones too.  My
> strategy is finally paying off.  I am open to other suggestions.
>
> Blessings,
> Sue H.
>
> On Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Gerardo Corripio 
> <gera1027 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi listers: I'm Gerardo from Mexico and hope I'm welcome on here because
>> though blind from Retinopathy of Prematurity and 70% hearing loss for
>> which
>> I use hearing aids, I'm already 32 and have a psychology major, but apart
>> from being curious as to your experiences in raising blind children (now
>> that I'm grown I want to better understand all my parents had to go
>> through
>> to get to where I'm now) I hope my childhood experiences I recall might
>> help
>> you guys who are only starting. Even more though I know the US has the
>> custom of the children when going to college live on their own, the
>> perspective here in Mexico and in other Latinamerican countries is
>> different
>> in that children (especially blind) live at home for more years, thus I'm
>> encountering some situations maybe some of you have already encountered
>> with
>> your kids or may be new experiences for you guys that may help some of 
>> you
>> in better coping with raising blind kids I'll be sharing little by 
>> little.
>> Hopefully I'm welcome for the before-mentioned reasons; my expectations 
>> on
>> being on the list are very high that I'll learn new tips I may use in
>> coping
>> especially with my mother and I'll be able to share tips that have 
>> hellped
>> me that mey also help you in getting your children to the point in having
>> careers and being adults integrated into society and sorry for my 
>> english;
>> sometimes it isn't as good as I'd like but hope I made myself understood;
>> I
>> know what I want to say but sometimes can't seem to find the right words
>> to
>> say them. And some of my questions might be very obvious to you guys
>> already
>> in the NFB but because until recently I've discovered myself the list
>> might
>> be new to me and give me new info I might not have known before so please
>> bear with me; I'll try not to saturate the list. Again I'm very hopeful
>> I'll
>> get a lot out of the list. Beforehand thanks for accepting my presence.
>> Gerardo
>>
>>
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