Play and Communication for Children with Visual Impairment and Additional Support Needs
Presented on Monday & Tuesday 1 & 2 December 2008
The importance of touch in non-verbal communication with young people with visual impairment and additional support needs
Mary Lee
Royal Blind School, Edinburgh
Visual imparment can change the conditions and dynamics of social interaction
between children, their peers and their care givers. It is the effectiveness
of adults in making these connections that is the key to overcoming some
of the limits imposed by visual impairment.
Partners in Learning
Enabling educational and social inclusion for children and young people
with visual impairment, RNIB
Non-verbal elements of social interaction
Olfactory
Visible
- Posture
- Gesture
- Proximity
- Facial expression
- Eye movements
Auditory
- Vocal sounds
Tactile/bodily contacts
Social interaction
Michael Argyle
- Bodily contact most basic form of social behaviour
- Later replaced by visual and auditory cues
- There is a language of bodily contact
- Touch influenced by culture
Frequency of contact between couples in cafes - per hour
Jourard (1966)
- San Juan, Puerto Rico 180
- Paris 110
- Gainesville, USA 2
- London 0
The face is the area most closely observed during interaction
Birdwhistle (1968) analysed physical movements of the face, he found:
- 4 eyebrow positions
- 4 eyelid positions
- 7 mouth positions etc
- 33 in all
The Canaan Barrie 'on body' signs
A sign vocabulary adapted for children with visual impairment and additional
support needs (MDVI)
Characteristics of the adapted sign vocabulary
- Most signs have a reference point on the body
- The signs give auditory feedback, or involve movements close to child
- The signs are simplified and do not involve complex manipulative skill
- The adapted sign vocabulary reflects the everyday routines, needs and interests of the child with visual impairment.
Reasons for the use of adapted signs
- To encourage the understanding of language
- It brings the adult close to the child
- The adult's language is slower, simpler and clearer
- To compensate for the visual aspects of non-verbal communication
- To focus the children on listening
- To provide tactile cues to the meaning of words
- To give an accessible means of expressive communication
- To encourage the development of spoken language
Using the signs
- Use all the signs in the core vocabulary to create a signing environment
- Sign keywords only in a sentence and always accompany them with speech
- Continue to accept and respond to the child's personal gestures
Methods of signing
- In front
- On body
- Hands over
Research has shown that it is the mismatch between the communication
modalities of two partners has a more profound effect on development
than does the sensory impairment itself.
Paul Hart (2006)
How we put our message across
We replace the visual element with careful use of:
- Tone of voice
- Touch
- Emotion
- Emphasis/timing
'On body' signing is about relationship
We need permission to touch
We will know from the child's reaction
- If we have been understood
- If we are going too fast/too slow
- Whether touch is accepted at that time