In this study Louise looks at how reduced vision can affect a child’s social skills, language, and communication. If you think of all the early interactions which parents and young babies can have, for example smiling or reaching out – these can be interrupted by reduced vision.
Rather than looking at a deficit model of research, ie what a child cannot do, this project looks at how alternative methods of communication can be encouraged and developed for children with a visual impairment. TACPAC proved to be an encouraging resource to use with a range of special educational needs.

Louise looked at 5 children and their parents. The aim was to see how the children and parents were responding to TACPAC.
Louise modelled the TACPAC App to the parents. Once parents felt confident to run a session with their children, Louise was able to observe and take notes. She also used the Developmental Journal for babies and children with Visual Impairment. Louise used the objects for set 1 and I made the objects very visually stimulating.

Results of the project:

4 out of 5 parents felt that Tacpac had made a positive impact on their children.
They found that this was a very special time they had with their child, they felt that they had time to really focus on their child with no distraction, which is a clear aim of using Tacpac. Parents felt that their children showed a greater interest, tolerance, and awareness of tactile objects where previously they were resistant to touching or reaching out for various textures.
Louise describes 2 children’s development with their visual awareness, eye contact and tracking. One child started asking questions about what was happening.
The research showed that Tacpac was a really positive intervention with children with a visual impairment, especially with social interaction as well as tactile awareness, and with visual awareness.

If you would like to read the full report, please download it here.

Full Report