Children who are born with a significant visual impairment do not mourn the loss of their sight.
In fact, it is not until they are a bit older and learn from others that they are different. When they start to realize that they experience the world differently from sighted children it is important that they are able to meet blind role models and connect with other kids like themselves.
Connecting with our Blind Beginnings community helps children and their families to feel less isolated.
Programs for KIDS
Community Discovery Outings
Community Discovery outings were created to provide children who are blind or partially sighted and their families with the time and opportunities for hands-on exploration.
Children who are blind or partially sighted need a modified learning environment tailored to the way they interact with the world around them. For example, when students are taken on a field trip to a farm, sighted children will instantly recognize a cow, whereas children who are blind or partially sighted need time to touch, smell and hear the cow to develop an image of this animal. Families can also learn techniques on how to make outings more meaningful while at the same time providing families the opportunity to network and provide support for each other. Lastly, it gives the community a chance to interact with blind or partially sighted children or youth and educates them on how to be more inclusive.
“The Community Discovery outings are so vital to kids like mine. The outings are carefully planned to stimulate and be of interest to those who do not have sight. My daughter gets to get together with like sighted kids from across the province to hang out and be silly and we have been places that, on our own, we would not have been able to get access to.”
Early Beginnings
Often when parents give birth to a child who is blind or partially sighted, they are overwhelmed, unsure of how to support their child to reach their milestones, and they feel isolated.
With our Early Beginnings Program, we strive to help parents with a greater understanding of how to encourage early literacy, language, and mobility for their child with a visual impairment. We teach tips for making family outings more meaningful and accessible and an overview of the services and resources available to their child. We also try to create opportunities to meet and network with other families who are also experiencing visual impairment for the first time.
“We are so grateful for the opportunity to connect with other parents who are sharing this journey with us. It was incredible to find common ground with other families from across the Lower Mainland. I don’t feel so alone now.”
Kids Connect
Our Kids Connect Junior Support Group is designed for children 7 – 13 years who are blind or partially sighted. Children from all across BC have been able to connect with each other, receive support and establish friendships that would not have been possible without this online group.
Each meeting we start with a check-in where kids can share how their week has been and how they are feeling that day. We ask the kids to describe the way they are feeling by comparing it to something like a flavour, the weather, an animal, etc. Following the check-in the kids are able to request how they want to spend the group time. This could be playing games, telling jokes and riddles, talking about our favourite books, movies, superheroes, creating stories, or just chatting. At the end of the group we do a check-out where kids share something they are looking forward to over the coming week.
Summer Camps & Family Retreats
Children who are blind or partially sighted often have unnecessary limits placed on them by teachers, society and even their own families.
To support BC’s children who are blind or partially sighted to challenge physical boundaries and build confidence, Blind Beginnings’ Camp Limitless Summer Camp offers a summer camp experience for school aged children to get out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves physically and mentally. Their parents also begin to see their child’s true capacities and lift unnecessary limits, allowing their child to develop undiscovered talents, increase independence and lead an active life.
Our Family Retreats are focused on early intervention and are designed to provide families much needed resources while bringing families together and creating new friendships and bonds and much needed social networks and support systems. These weekend long retreats have historically taken place at various locations in BC, from the Okanagan to Vancouver Island.
“It’s been such an amazing experience to be here with this wonderful community. We are so grateful to have come and to have learned and to have shared and to be part of this. We are really excited to come back and meet all our new friends at some point.”
Barrier-Free Programming
We strive to make all our programs barrier-free environments. If any family or individual has any sort of barrier to participation (eg. mobility, technology needs, language barriers, etc.), please contact us at info@blindbeginnings.ca or call 866.736.8620 (Toll-Free) or 604.434.7243 and we will do our best to accommodate.
Participation in our programs and services require a Blind Beginnings Annual Membership. Sign up today!
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