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Helping Social Skills Development in Young Children with Visual Impairment |
When participating in an inclusive setting, young children who are visually impaired (VI) tend to show different types of social overtures and play than their sighted peers. This was noted again in a new study conducted in Greensboro, North Carolina (McGaha, C.G. & Farran, D.C. (2001). Interactions in an inclusive classroom: The effects of visual status and setting. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 95, 80-94.).
The authors explored social interactions among nine preschool-age children who were visually impaired and 11 who were sighted. They found that some sighted children in the classroom were comfortable interacting with children who were VI, while others avoided these interactions. Sighted children tended to initiate interactions more frequently than the children with VI. Whether the setting was outdoors or indoors seemed to influence the nature of the interactions. Sighted children tended to have more solitary play indoors and more interactive/social play when they were outdoors. However, children with VI did not show any differences in their play when they moved outside the classroom. When the VI children attempted to initiate interactions, they were less successful than when they were indoors; they were unable to sustain conversations. This seemed to be related in part to the limited mobility of the children with VI, compared to the almost constant gross-motor movements and relocations of the sighted children.
The authors concluded that ” …simply placing both groups of children together does not lead to interaction. Children with VI initiate interaction less frequently and less successfully than do sighted children.” This study highlights the need for adult caregivers to remain vigilant and provide needed support and guidance around social interactions when the children are outside, just as they usually do when the children are in more structured activities indoors. In other words, “children with VI may need support in developing skills than ensure success on the playground as well as in the classrooms.”