A Resource You Should Read, Save, Print, Use and Share!

I did my annual training of occupational therapists yesterday. It was a great workshop and one that I am always excited to do. I love working with occupational therapists. I feel like when we combine forces, we do super amazing things! I learned so much when I was a classroom deafblind teacher.

I invite my colleagues to come and participate in these workshops. One of my colleagues presented on multiple impairments. She shared a resource that I had forgotten about. The resource is a PDF from the Ohio Deafblind Project.

On their site,/http://www.ohiodeafblind.org/assets/files/images/products/holdon.pdf, they have a wonderful PDF called "Hold Everything: Twenty “Stay-Put” Play Spaces For Infants, Preschoolers and Developmentally Young Children With Sensory Impairments and Other Special Needs". This is a FANTASTIC resource for children who are MIVI/DB and perhaps for several children who are ASD/VI.

My colleague had another great idea. This is one for the therapists. She printed out each page and laminated each one. She hole punched it, put it into a 3 ring binder and turned it into a book! This way she can show her teams the ideas.

Parents and members of the education team should take the time to read (save, print and use...) the materials from this PDF. It truly is a great resource. Each of the "stay put" play spaces are pretty easy to make and cheap. There truly is something for all abilities including children who may have limited upper body movements.

Do it at home: Parents, select a "stay put" place for your child. Discuss it with your TVI and make one (or two...) for your home. All of our children who are MIVI/DB & ASD/VI could benefit from having exposure to these kinds of activities. The most important thing to remember is to WAIT and BACK OFF when your child is in these activities. Remember, it may take several trials for your child to get used to the activity or notice that something is there. By backing off and being quiet, you are allowing your child to explore and become aware. This is an active characteristic (exploration) and one that we want developed for our children with these unique needs.