Practical strategies to try at home

  • Offer your child toys with good colour contrast and books with clear uncluttered illustrations.
  • If a toy rolls out of reach, encourage your child to reach towards it to encourage independent exploration.
  • Give your child longer to explore new toys and activities.
  • Offer your child activities that make use of and include all the senses.
  • Give constant verbal feedback.
  • If you want your child’s attention then always start a sentence / instruction with their name.
  • Encourage your child to turn towards you when you are speaking to them.
  • Try to give your child lots of experiences of everyday noises, for example, washing machines, phones, cars, ambulances, animals.  Perhaps give your child a photo / model of an animal to connect with the sound.
  • When outside, explain unfamiliar noises: sirens, cars, buses, trains, music. Don’t worry if your child is uncomfortable initially; the more experience they have, the more relaxed they may feel.
  • Try to allow your child time to explore lots of different materials and / or textures. Slime and spaghetti play are great fun. But never force your child’s hand into a new mixture! Try guiding their hand by moving their elbow – this way your child will still feel in control.
  • If your child has a field loss, encourage them to look and feel for objects on the side where the vision loss is. This will encourage them to be aware that there are things there even though they may not see them initially.