“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light – Helen Keller

A visually impaired person needs self-help strategies to perform daily tasks. “How do visually impaired people learn, play with friends, have a meal or do their jobs?”

With these questions in mind, our teachers shared with the children stories about how visually impaired people overcome challenges and accomplish tasks. In addition to this, children were given hands-on experiences with the techniques of blindness through various class activities.

Each child from K2 donned a blindfold & attempted to eat a snack.

They tried walking to the washroom while being guided by their classmates.

“Please bring me to a bin to throw rubbish”

“Come, I help you across the room.”

“Ay, not so fast, I cannot see!”

“Keep to the left, your water bottle is on your left…”

“We tried to use the materials on the table to do painting!  We used the corner of a paper to feel its centre…”

K2 children found it very hard to perform routines & tasks without being able to see! Through the hands-on activities, children learnt to communicate & build trust with their “visually impaired friends”. Each child also learnt to understand the needs and abilities of a friend who could not use eyesight. They learnt to adopt relevant strategies in supporting them.

Abraham Nemeth, the blind mathematician created the Braille code for mathematics. Braille is a system of raised ‘dots’ that can be read with the fingers by people who lost vision.

K2 children used beads & tiles to create ‘letters’ through a Braille activity. They recognized that visually impaired friends could learn to ‘read’ just like them!

Make a “Thank You” card

Make a “I Love You” card in Braille

Make a frame for the card

To also give our Nursery 2 (N2) children a glimpse of the visually impaired people’s experiences, the following activities were conducted in their class:-

• A power point presentation showing the day to day activities of some visually impaired people.

• They walked around the classroom, opened and zipped their bags, and touched things with different textures while being blindfolded.

N2 children made a mosaic art and enjoyed a colouring activity “Let Us Walk in their Shoe”. These activities enabled them to value and care for the visually impaired people. Children learnt that the impairment does not deter what visually impaired people can do in their lives and the society.

A visit by our visually impaired friends from SAVH           

                      (Singapore Association for the

                                Visually Handicapped)

Children learnt from Ms Dolores the motto of SAVH: “To help the visually impaired people to help themselves”. They listened to life stories & realized that our visually impaired uncles lost their vision due to unfortunate circumstances. These uncles did not despair but were courageous to live on positively.

Children observed the braille dots for ‘letters’ & ‘numbers’ on a template card. They could identify that these dots were found on lift buttons & walkways as a self-help for visually impaired people to move around.

Uncle Chun Wee used a white cane with a roller tip to show children how he moves around safely.

Ms Dolores also shared & demonstrated some techniques for children & their families to help the visually impaired people. “Firstly, to make a self introduction. Secondly, to communicate with them to understand needs. Lastly, to hold the relevant shoulder or elbow to help them to move”.

In appreciation of the visit made by Ms Dolores & our SAVH friends, the children presented their Braille Art to them.

Children gave Ms Dolores warm hugs to thank her for her sharing.

Our parents and children gave food donations generously to bless our visually impaired friends at SAVH.

Children also made donation in kind towards the organization.

We hoped that our children’s small actions of learning to understand, respect and support the visually impaired people would warn their hearts, and encourage them to continue to persevere & overcome every challenge they face in their lives!