Blind Childrens Center

4120 Marathon Street, Los Angeles, California 90029 (323)664-2153

A family-centered agency serving children with visual impairments

IN THIS ISSUE

Progress Notes: Occupational Therapy

Addressing a student’s fine motor skills

By Karen Eisenlord, BA, AA/(COTA)
and Jill Brody, MA, OTR/L

All of the children at the Blind Childrens Center participate in the Occupational Therapy Program. A typically developing sighted child acquires most of his or her learning in the first years of life visually and effortlessly. For a child who is blind or visually impaired, this does not happen so naturally. Here, at the Blind Childrens Center, special Occupational Therapy Intervention is provided for infants and preschool children who are blind or visually impaired. These children are encouraged to learn to crawl and walk as well as to develop in other areas, such as in fine motor, sensory motor, eating, speech and social adaptation. All of this is critical for later academic and social success in life. Without intervention, it is less likely that blind or visually impaired children will be adequately prepared for the future. The overall goal of the therapeutic services at the Blind Childrens Center is to increase the independence, self-confidence and self-image of the child who is blind or visually impaired. The parents of these children are also taught skills to support their child’s development.

Occupational Therapy (OT) focuses on the child’s gross and fine motor skills, oral motor functioning, feeding, social skills and sensory processing. Children who are blind need non-visual stimuli and activities to build muscle strength, to become oriented to their environment and to overcome their fear of falling, sudden noises and new textures. In other words, they need to be motivated to explore their world in ways that appeal to the other senses. For example, through the use of toys with sounds and the strategic placement of play things, a child who is blind or has a visual impairment can learn to do what a sighted child does naturally. Blind or visually impaired children often have an over-sensitivity to textures, especially new ones. This can interfere with development and even eating, and the preparation for future academic tasks such as reading Braille.

Marvin is a visually impaired child at the Blind Childrens Center who had been very fearful of exploring his environment and new textures. With consistent Occupational Therapy intervention in both a class setting and individually, Marvin has made good progress. Each classroom of children comes to Occupational Therapy for a group session at least one time a week. Certain children with special needs, such as Marvin, receive additional individual therapy. The team approach, including OT, Orientation and Mobility training, classroom intervention, speech consultation and a home program for the parents, has made Marvin a different child. Through patient exposure to a variety of play activities involving movement, such as a swing, Marvin has become more confident with himself in space and has gone from being a fearful insecure child to a happy child willingly exploring his environment first through crawling and then cruising. Therapists and teachers started by having Marvin sit on a platform swing and carefully progressing to additional movement.

Occupational Therapy helps a child who is blind or visually impaired engage in meaningful activities and purposeful play. The Blind Childrens Center is devoted to helping children have the best quality and most productive lives possible.

Newsletter Archives

How You Can Help