
Preparing for Braille with DUPLO Blocks
Almost all pre-braille activities can be done with DUPLO to prepare the children to reading as soon as possible.
EARLY INTERVENTION
Vision plays a crucial role in a young child’s development. However, for blind infants and children, the gateway to the world is through touch.
Vision helps sighted children coordinate their movements, navigate their surroundings, explore their environment, and perceive others’ emotions. Vision also enhances the sense of touch: information gathered visually and tactilely combines to create a richer understanding.
“Early intervention doesn’t make just a difference.
It makes all the difference.”
Karen Borg, Director, Parent-Infant Program for Blind and Visually Impaired, Utah
Blind infants and children must acquire all these skills through touch alone. Touch is not fully developed at birth; rather, it evolves with use and stimulation. Therefore, it is essential to stimulate touch from an early age to help blind and visually impaired children develop this sense to its full potential.
Providing blind children with a variety of tactile experiences, while guiding and helping them anticipate what they are about to touch, is crucial. Sighted children can often predict how an object will feel by looking at it: a metal object is cold, a brush is prickly, and a sponge may be soft and wet. They prepare for these sensations. A blind child who is not guided may be startled—or even distressed—by unexpected textures, which could lead to reluctance to touch other objects in the future.
Yes. Tap tap tap.
Braille should be natural.
But if you want a child to read
and to love it, you start early
with loving experiences
with hands on experiences.
“Some more! Keep moving!”
From the very beginning,
early education makes not
just a difference, but all the difference.
Babies who are blind
give different kinds of cues,
or need different kinds of strategies
than other children might.
The parents become frightened.
It disturbs attachment and bonding.
We work with them on embedding our vision
strategies into everyday routines.
When they’re changing diapers,
when they’re feeding the children,
when they’re sitting together as a family,
reading or telling stories.
The very first thing we worry about
is attachment.
Even a baby, when they are blind,
if they hear a mother coming down
the hall, they will become very still
so that they can listen more carefully.
But the mother, she thinks:
“My baby doesn’t like me.”
And this is devastating.
And so instead, we teach the mother.
Oh, look, they’re becoming very still
so they can hear you better.
So they know that it’s you who’s coming.
We often advise parents
to have many tactile explorations
for their children, and we begin again very young.
We counsel parents that
having the baby on your hip
or in a carrier, so that they can feel
and hear you, opening the fridge,
bringing out the milk, opening the cereals,
shaking it into the bowl.
They become part
of the process of everything.
Encourage independence: Allow the child to touch objects, even those that seem fragile or complex, to help them understand the world.
Use verbal descriptions: Name the objects the child touches and describe the sensations to enrich their vocabulary and concepts. A baby who is given the same object multiple times, with its name repeated, will begin to memorize its shape and characteristics.
Create a tactile-rich environment: Set up spaces where the child can safely explore. Offer objects with varied textures (smooth, rough, soft, grainy) to help develop their tactile sensitivity.
Repeat and vary experiences: Tactile development is built through repetition and diversity. Reflexes like grasping are present from birth, making this an ideal time to encourage and stimulate touch.
The Importance of Affective Touch
Touch is not only a practical sense; it also plays a vital role in emotional bonding. Cuddles, massages, and physical contact contribute to the well-being of blind children and reinforce their emotional security.