Stimulating blind babies?

[lilym]

An update on Gus as promised. He is now 3 months old and we have had him (and all his associated monitors!) home for just over a week now. As I have previously said he is blind and I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience/ideas of how to enrich his environment - everything seems to be so visually based... Honestly, I'm just so tired that I'm struggling to come up with any ideas.

He has 7yr, 5yr and 18m old siblings. I feel terrible for not having the same amount of time for them as previously but this little man is currently requiring 24/7 care. Is there anyway that I can try to involve the older ones? He has ridiculous amounts of equipment attached most of the time and Dee's a bit too young to understand that she musn't touch it!

Many thanks in advance for any advice, Lily

[kateinlouvain]

I have no no no experience with this sort of thing at all..but one thing I did do for my son as a baby was have gentle music
playing lightly much of the time near his pack and play. Classical, folk, sweet gentle mild baby appropriate things. I also had some recordings on the ipod of profession versions of songs I sang to him to because I heard that baby´s like anticipating familiar
sounds of music they know. I was thinking
that bathtime with all the touching and different feelings must be extra special for your baby too.
all the best to you

[greyer]

I'm not a mom, but my ex-boyfriend was visually blind and if we had had children there would have been a pretty good chance of them being visually impaired also, so I did some research. Hope I can help.

If they're available in your area, look for the type of rattle that are soft and strap to the baby's ankles or wrists. That way when he kicks or moves his feet or arms he can hear the rattle. It's supposed to encourage seeing babies to explore their feet and hands, I think it would help Gus, too. Also, for when he gets older, any toy that makes a noise - even one of those soft baby books with the pages that squeak and crinkle, et c., or a pop-up toy that makes noise when you press the buttons - is better than one that doesn't because of the audio feedback.

This website is from 2005, but it has some suggestions from a mom whose then 4-month old is blind and also some links to other websites. I hope it can help you. http://www.homeschoolviews.com/feature/peek-a-boo.html

[clendons]

I don't have any specific experience in this but just wanted to voice my support. I can't imagine how hard this is for you. It's difficult to give advice on how to involve your other children without knowing them and Gus. In general, my older ones have always loved anything they could do to help with their younger siblings while they were babies. As far as stimulation I'd second anything that makes a noise and perhaps looking for things that have different textures for him to explore? Maybe a windchime in place of a mobile? Bouncy chairs? Constant narrating of whats happening around him?

[skateblinder]

I too do not have any specific experience with your situation, but perhaps the older children can read to Gus? Maybe you could just involve them in day to day activities. Like fetching a diaper or bringing his blanket over to where you are holding the baby. Good luck and God bless.

[lynae]

I feel for you, what a challenge you have. I work with children with various impairments. Maximizing Gus' tactile and auditory experience makes a lot of sense as he will be useing these modalities to make sense of his world and the quality of his stimulation is important for his brain development. I like the idea of music. Also, talk to him all the time even though he does not yet understand. being familiar whith your voice will comfort him. As you talk to him about what you are doing he wil pick up on natureal cues from your voice and words about what is going on around him. Touch will be very important to him as well.

Also, just like most babies, overstimulation should be avoided.

Are you in the US? he should qualify for early intervention. The occupational and speech/language therapists should have good advice for you in this regard.

best,
Lynae

[lilym]

Thankyou for all the responses and support. He seems to really like the wooden windchimes - thanks whoever suggested that one! He also really like being in the sling we got last week, unfortunately we can only use it for short periods of time at the moment but as he gets stronger we should be able to have him in it more. It's been great for spending time with the rest of the family. Thanks for that link greyer. Lynae we are in the UK and have been in touch with various organisations - all of whom have been amazing support unfortunately we are still dealing with the various other problems that came with his prematurity so we pretty much spend our lives in the house and going back and forth to the hospital. Hopefully as he continues to improve we'll have time to go to some of the meetings etc. Thankyou again everyone!

[hayley88]

I have no experience of this personally,but have heard of a UK based charity for blind children. They use dark rooms with sort of soft filter coloured lights and gentle music. I think they use the lights on the basis that although a child may be blind,there is often some degree of light awareness. So though they can't see the colours exactly,they are aware of them. Like when a sighted person is in a dark room with their eyes closed and someone else turns on a light.
So that may be something you could do?

[poptart8]

It sounds like you are doing great with him! When he gets older letting him crawl on the grass or sand would be good. Rub his feet, massage him and just putting baby lotion on him would all be good. Lots of soft talking and letting him know what's going on. If you think he may get a guide dog when he is older it might be a good idea to get him used to dogs/puppies. Just remember that sometimes he may just want it to be quiet. He doesnt need stimulation 24/7! Just sitting and rocking him would be wonderful!