[blindkid] talking to a child about blindness

[DrV]

Hi Richard,
Another way we have tried to relay the concept of shadows is via sound.
The radio becomes fuzzy in a parking garage or a tunnel; less so, yet still 
perceivable as you pass under may bridges.
Petras early on found this very intriguing. We chose to call this a "sound 
shadow". Using this reference has made it easier to discuss light shadows.
Eric

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org>
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 21:04
Subject: Re: [blindkid] talking to a child about blindness


> Interesting perspective. It is always nice to hear about things like 
> this-- small details that can come together to help build a concept. 
> Several of those things would not have dawned on me. Especially the  under 
> the door thing-- I must have been a poor hide-and-seek player as  a 
> child-- I suspect I would not have thought of that,  I am rather 
> embarrassed to say...
>
> For quite a while, I was stumped about how to convey any reference or 
> understanding of light and shadows to Kendra at all, then standing in 
> front of the oven with the door open one day I had an idea--
>
> Shadows work with heat too-- pass an object between yourself and a hot 
> oven or a fire and there is an instant cooling effect from the shadow  of 
> the heat projected. I tried it and apparently it was enough to  satisfy 
> her curiosity-- suddenly she could actually feel a shadow. It  was the 
> first time I felt like I had managed to convey anything close  to a 
> concept of light and how it moves and behaves to my daughter.
>
> I expect there will be better ways down the road, but my thought was  that 
> any way to get that making some sense to her at whatever age she  was (5 
> or 6 I guess?) had to be progress.
>
> Richard
>
>
>
> On Mar 11, 2010, at 5:55 PM, Deborah Kent Stein wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> Playing hide and seek with sighted kids taught me a lot about sight  when 
>> I was growing up.  I remember being shocked when I discovered  that 
>> sighted kids could see under doors; if I wanted to hide in a  room by 
>> closing the door I had to get up on a piece of furniture and  keep my 
>> feet off the floor. I also found that kids could find me  when I hid 
>> behind a door because they could see through the gap by  the hinges.  And 
>> I found out that bathroom windows are tinted so no  one can see in.  Hide 
>> and seek is just one example of the myriad  ways blind kids pick up 
>> working knowledge about vision.  The  opportunities are endless, 
>> especially if kids feel comfortable  asking questions.
>>
>> Debbie
>
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