4 how can i help my child?
Understanding the stories of Kamala and Rani
If your child cannot see well or is blind, you can help her learn
many skills, just as Rani’s family helped her. But it is important to
understand why Rani was able to learn the skills other children her
age were learning while Kamala did not learn them.
To understand this, it helps to know:
• how children develop (learn new skills as they grow)
• how difficulty seeing affects development
How children develop
Every child develops in 3 main areas: physical (body), mental (thinking),
and social (talking, listening, and getting along with other people). In
each area, a child learns new skills step by step in a certain order.
Before a child can learn to walk, for example, he must first learn many
simple kinds of body control:
1 First, he needs to be able to hold his
head up and to move his arms and
legs.
2 Then he can use his arms and
legs to lift himself to sit.
3 While sitting, he begins to reach, lean,
and twist. This helps him develop
balance – a skill he will soon need for
standing and walking.
4 Then he pulls himself up to a
standing position.
helping children who are blind