Touch and Movement

Massage, Motor Skills, and Sensory Integration for Children with Visual Impairments or Blindness

In this section, families can explore the importance of touch in bonding and communicating with a baby who is blind or visually impaired. Touch and movement are integral to development of fine and gross motor skills, encouraging young children to reach out and to actively explore the world arofund them!

Below is a list of topics you'll find in this section. Click on a title to jump to a specific topic.

• Infant Massage and Touch
• Movement and Gross Motor Skills
• Tactile and Fine Motor Skills
• Sensory Integration

Infant Massage and Touch

Using Touch and Movement in Early Years Play, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
Stella Lamb offers practical suggestions to encourage young children to explore their environment.

The Importance of Touch in Parent-Infant Bonding, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Teacher trainer Gigi Newton focuses on the power of gentle touching and lists ways in which touch can make a positive change in the lives of parents and their babies; available in English and Spanish.

Infant Massage and the Benefits for Children with Blindness or Visual Impairment, Council for Exceptional Children, DVIQ
Prof. Grace Lappin describes how infant massage can provide another way for the caregiver and child to interact, establish contact and communication, and develop a deep bond. (Microsoft Word Document)

Infant Massage for You and Your Child, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
Nicky Joseph discusses how a loving, nurturing contact between caregiver and infant can have a positive impact on their development.

Touch from The Deafblind Disabled Baby, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
This chapter is part of a comprehensive program of care for parents of the deafblind baby with multiple disabilities by Peggy Freeman.  She discusses the stages of touch and offers suggestions for activities at each level. (Microsoft Word Document)

Research: Infant Massage

Applying Infant Massage Practices: A Qualitative Study, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness
This study explores the dynamic interaction between a mother and her 11-month-old visually impaired infant before and after the mother was taught infant massage. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Infant Massage: Facilitating Positive Change in Dyadic Interactions, International Council on Education for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)
Dr. Grace Lappin's studies suggest that massage may strengthen parental bonds and be a great developmental stimulant for infants with blindness, although there is a need for longitudinal studies to confirm this. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

Movement and Gross Motor Skills

ECI: Gross Motor Movement, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
This article outlines how vision affects movement and offers strategies to encourage motor development in children with visual impairments.  A developmental sequence of motor skills is included.

Get That Baby Moving! Florida Instructional Materials Center for the Visually Impaired
This powerpoint presentation by Kay Ratzlaff examines the relationship between vision and movement and includes activities to encourage children with a visual impairment to develop their motor skills. (requires Microsoft PowerPoint)

Gross Motor Development in Infants with Multiple Disabilities, National Consortium on Deaf-Blindness
Rita Snell suggests environmental adaptations and interactions that will encourage the development of gross motor skills, such as head control and walking, in an infant who has multiple disabilities.

Inventory of Purposeful Movement Behaviors, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
This compilation of motor developmental scales is designed to assist teams in the assessment of a child's purposeful movement.

Possible Implications of Visual Impairment Upon The Sequence and Quality of Gross Motor Development, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
This article examines some of the factors that affect the gross motor milestone development in children with visual impairment and offers some strategies to share with families.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Movement

Movement & Development, Blind Children's Resource Center
The information in this section of the BCRC site is designed to help parents encourage movement in their young children who are blind. 

Tactile and Fine Motor Skills

Feelin' Groovy: Functional Tactual Skills, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI)
Millie Smith and Roger Toy discuss an intervention strategy that creates a supportive learning environment and facilitates the development of functional tactile skills. It includes sample assessment and planning forms; available in English, Spanish, and Polish.

Fine Motor Development, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Overbrook School for the Blind has prepared these materials "especially for use by parents in the home with young children who are blind or visually impaired." Activities encourage reaching, grasping, and bimanual coordination; available in English and Spanish.

Motor Activities to Encourage Pre-Braille Skills, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
These activities help develop fine motor skills, including grasp, rotary motion, finger isolation, bilateral hand use, hand and finger strength, and tracking.

Some Things to Learn from Learning through Touch, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Kate Moss draws from Learning Through Touch, a book by Mike McLinden and Stephen McCall, explaining the developmental importance of touch and suggesting activities to develop hand function; available in English and Spanish.

Touch, Project SPARKLE
Project SPARKLE lists some of the features of touch which make it a crucial sense to children who are deafblind; includes resources and a glossary.

Research: Tactile and Fine Motor Skills

Divergent Development of Manual Skills in Children Who Are Blind or Sighted, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness
This study compares the average age of acquisition of 32 fine motor skills by sighted children with the age of their acquisition by four children with congenital blindness.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Tactile and Fine Motor Skills

Project SALUTE, (Successful Adaptations for Learning to Use Touch Effectively)
This website is intended as a resource on tactile learning strategies for working with children who are deaf-blind or who are blind with additional disabilities.

Sensory Integration

Sensory Integrative Dysfunction in Young Children, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Linda Stephens provides an introduction to sensory integration dysfunction and four of its characteristics: attention and regulatory problems, sensory defensiveness, activity patterns, and behavior problems.

Sensory Development Resource Boxes, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
The sensory activities described here are designed to motivate your child to notice the changes in their environment and then to begin to explore these changes by listening, looking, tasting, touching and moving. (Microsoft Word Document)

Sensory Integration and Motor Control, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Occupational Therapist Lisa Ricketts provides an overview of Sensory Integration, including a look at the tactile system, proprioception, and the vestibular system.

Sensory Integration Dysfunction in Deafblind Children, Deafblind International
Gail Deuce explores the development of the proprioceptive, kinesthetic and vestibular senses in deafblind children and…consider(s) the possible impact on learning for the child experiencing difficulties in these areas. Three case studies are included.

Sensory Integration: Current Concepts & Practical Implications, Neurolearning.com
In this 5-page article, neurologist Dr. Fernette Eide explains the biology of sensory integration dysfunction and the role of occupational therapy in its treatment. (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

What is Sensory Processing Disorder? Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation
This overview of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) includes information about sensory-avoiding children and sensory-seeking children, as well a list of common motor skill problems. There are numerous links to other aspects of SPD on this site.

Home Activities for Children with Sensory Processing Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation
Heather Miller-Kuhaneck gives specific suggestions for incorporating sensory input into daily activities and offers general guidelines for the home.

Organizations and Resources to Explore: Sensory Integration

Bridges4Kids
This site includes extensive information about sensory integration dysfunction, with sections focusing on education, classroom accommodations, and additional resources.

Sensory Integration, Come Unity
This site offers links to numerous articles, including "Preemies and Sensory Integration", "Adoption and Sensory Integration", and more.