Think of the ECC Opportunities! Involving Families Think of the ECC Opportunities!

You Can’t Do This Alone! Families are key! Skills Evolve They build on one another They get better with lots of distributed practice They get better with strategic feedback They get better as they are used in more contexts and are broadened Families are key!

Perceived Barriers May not believe the child is ready to learn Doesn’t recognize evolutionary nature of skills May not recognize that child might not know to demand to try a new skill May believe that the task is too difficult Can’t imagine how a person with visual impairment would perform a task May not believe they have the background to teach the skill to the child

Remember! It’s hard to be a parent Especially a parent of a child with special needs Coping isn’t always a linear process There are many competing demands for a parent’s time and attention Parents aren’t always inherently good teachers #1 job is caretaking

First Steps Talk with families about the ECC From earliest contact Provide them with appropriate resources Work to convince them that the ECC is really just about involving children in family life Encourage families to keep lists of things that they don’t have their child do because of the child’s visual impairment

More Ideas Use ABA techniques with families Help families to see the ECC in their midst What do skills in each area look like? Explain evolution of skills Recognize the ECC skills that parents are encouraging Help them to see impact, even if small Use ABA techniques with families

Involve Families in Assessment, Planning, and Instruction use as source of information about child’s schedule, engagement at home and in the community use for ecological planning use as assessors interpreters of child’s behavior use as demonstrators of child’s abilities use as providers of rich site for assessment and instruction use as data collectors

Help Parents See the Dangers of Helping Too Much Bonus Benefit! Help Parents See the Dangers of Helping Too Much

Perception & Reality Parent thinks: Child thinks: What happens: “I’ll cut his meat for him because he might get hurt.” Child thinks: “Blind people can’t really cut meat.” What happens: Child never learns appropriate eating skills.

Perception & Reality Parent thinks: Child thinks: What happens: “She might get hurt if she walks to the mailbox by herself.” Child thinks: “This grown-up, who knows, doesn’t believe in me. I guess I can’t do it by myself.” What happens: Child quits trying.

Perception & Reality Parent thinks: Child thinks: What happens: “I’ll carry his lunchbox (paper, cane, brailler, etc.) to save time.” Child thinks: “People in the world do things for me and I don’t owe them anything.” What happens: Child becomes helpless, egotistic, and selfish

Dangers of Over-Protection Children don’t get the experiences they need to understand the world affects language, concepts, reading Children don’t develop friendships Nothing in common with others Children don’t experience failure And learn from their mistakes Children learn to be helpless

Help Prevent Learned Helplessness support building of healthy attachments have appropriate expectations provide safe and predictable environments provide choices avoid prompting recognize initiations, give feedback reward independent behavior model persistence; assure success