Children deserve to know who is in their environment, who is being addressed, how a person will be interacting with them and what to expect.
Here are some ideas for respectful interactions with children with CVI given that they often lack facial regard and facial recognition. With consistent use of these methodologies, trust will build and learning will be enhanced.
- Alert John to incoming message by stating his name before asking a question or making a statement.
- Introduce yourself by name and salient feature when approaching.
- Tell John what you will be doing together and what material he might see.
- Tell John what part of his body will be touched and give a touch cue before moving that body part. To learn more about touch cues see Project SALUTE: http://projectsalute.net/Learned/Learnedhtml/TouchCue.html
cvi teacher 
Hi Ellen,
What if the student is also deaf? Any suggestions?
Jan
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For all my children who are deaf blind: all staff have a personal identifier that is explored together so the child understands who is interacting. It might be a bracelet, a ring, an object that will always be used together or a necklace. I also pair my greeting with a song and touch sequence. With young children, I use Ant Go Marching and tap up their arm to the shoulder. Touch cues become even more essential for children with deafblindness.
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When you say “Identify yourself by your name & salient feature”, would you use something like an item of clothing that day, or something more anatomical? So, “It’s Mary & I’m wearing a pink shirt today” or more like “It’s Mary & I have pink hair”?
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