[blindkid] Suggestions for utensil use and verbal descriptions

Marie empwrn at bellsouth.net
Sun Jun 6 16:45:43 UTC 2010


Hey guys, 
I could use tips for teaching utensil usage (see blog post below). 
Also, I have only recently realized (I'm slow sometimes) that we need to do A LOT more verbal describing for Jack in EVERYTHING (outdoors, indoors, reading books, etc.) BUT I'm worried about overwhelming him with too much language. He is also a late talker and his language has greatly improved since we stopped having verbal diarrhea and giving him time to talk a little. Any tips?
Marie
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-----Original Message-----
From: Marie <empwrn at bellsouth.net>
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 2010 09:31:35 
To: <empwrn at bellsouth.net>
Subject: [All Access Pass to Jack] Even Breakfast is Therapy

Jack is great with independently feeding himself finger foods. Utensil
use, however, has been a challenge with the exception of his morning
oatmeal. At least part of it has to do with his fine motor
challenges--small hands with fingers that don't bend.
However, it also recently occurred to us (DOH!) that it is also a
visual challenge. Jack has not yet learned to completely accomodate for
his lack of depth perception. He often does not use his vision in fine
motor tasks--kind of like his brain decided it was too difficult so it
took the path of least resistance--and instead feels for things rather
than looking.
It occurred to me that he does absolutely fine scooping his oatmeal so
perhaps we should try making all of his food spoonable and putting it
into a bowl. This worked pretty well for foods that were okay to get
mixed up like your meat and veggies. But not so well when things like
oatmeal and scrambled eggs with cheese, mushrooms, peppers, and onions
got mixed together. Jack wouldn't eat that. (Who blames him?)
Enter the divided plate. We have a bunch of these from taking lunches
to work. They are great because they have high sides for ease of
scooping and they keep foods seperated.
So far, so good.
If you've got any tips for teaching utensil use to a child with fine
motor issues or a visual impairment or both, I'd love to hear them!
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Posted By Marie to All Access Pass to Jack at 6/06/2010 11:31:00 AM


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