Written by,

Jennifer Freeman, Orientation and Mobility Specialist

Disclaimer: Neither the Author or Allied Independence receive any commission if you purchase a product listed in this article. All opinions are those of the Author and do not reflect those of Allied Independence.

Welcome to part three of my blog post! Part of my passion behind these blog posts are to assist, guide and inspire parents, staff and professionals to find a variety of ways to incorporate daily living skills into everyday life. I have a five year old myself and despite the fact that she has vision, I have spent her entire life trying to see if I could easily teach her daily living skills I blog about in our everyday life. I did this to see if I was holding too high of expectations for the parents of my students or the staff members that I work with. I can say this now, not everything that I recommend will work for you and that is why I give a list of ideas, tricks and tips. I realize that all individuals learn at different rates and have different needs. That is also why I provide additional links, pictures and Youtube videos. Through my experimentation with my daughter, I can say that if you focus on just one skill at a time, no matter how long it takes to master, you will eventually have SUCCESS. It might take some trial and error to get there but it is worth it!

Who can benefit from learning more about teaching eating skills to students with visual impairments?

You might be asking how this information can help you as a professional, parent or staff member? I think that we can all agree that eating skills are an important ability to have but given that you have or work with a child who has vision loss, it is not always easy to know how to go about teaching the skills. Hopefully you find these recommendations useful. Please feel free to leave a comment or share how you have helped guide a person into having better eating skills.

Teaching Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments How to Use Utensils

It’s best to not assume that a person cannot learn to feed themselves. After all we would all like to have control regarding what goes into our own mouths and when you cannot see what is coming towards your mouth, you would be less inclined to want to eat it and feel less in control

Eating without vision or limited vision can be a challenge so consider making his eating easier. For Example, when making a plate of food for him, consider serving meat or spaghetti already cut and food easy to use a fork and spoon with.

Construction car pushers from Amazon.com

Buy a plate, bowl or mat with edges and backstops. There are all kinds of products out there so find what works for the individual. A backstop on a plate or bowl really helps the individual use the utensil properly to retrieve the food.

Consider buying a “pusher” to help the person to learn to guide food towards the pusher and scoop it up with their spoon. This pictures below are from products found on Amazon. Note the bulldozer looking item in a pusher and these are fun and kid friendly items. When no pusher is available, teach the individual to use a piece of bread or spoon as a pusher.

For individuals who additional needs consider buying or using an adaptive fork and spoon.

Teaching your child who has vision loss how to use a spoon without guiding your child’s hand by Wonderbaby.org. WonderBaby goes over the prerequisite skills that need to be learned in order to teach your child how to use a spoon.

Teaching Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments How to Open Food Packaging

This is such an important one! When hungry all individuals need to know how to open their own food.

Set the person up for success by teaching him how to open a variety of snacks and food containers such as chip bags, applesauce, cookies, beef jerky, fruit cups, cheese sticks, gummies and whatever your child might enjoy.

Teach your child to locate the part of the package that requires them to pinch and pull. Talk about how to make the pinching motion involving his index finger touching the tip of his thumb.

Resuable Sandwich bags found on Amazon.com

Consider using reusable sandwich type bags so that you only have to teach the skill of opening the bag once early on and the child can be independent at getting out his own food during recess or lunch.

Work on how to open various types of ziploc bags. Once the person has mastered the ziploc bag, send the food in the baggies versus the person having to open a different unfamiliar type of package every day.

Work on how to open and use tupperware so that the person can get their food from them at lunch.
This is a lifetime skill so while the person is learning just focus on how to help him be independent at getting his own food. Over time practice opening all type of food packages and containers. Think about how many different types of food packages, wrappers or containers that exist.

Consider buying easier to eat items. For example, an apple sauce squeeze is easier and neater to eat then an apple sauce that comes on a cup and requires a spoon to scoop with. Yogurts are easier to squeeze or drink out of a tube versus having to use a spoon.

Youtube video giving a unique trick to opening a package that involves biting the center of a bag and slowly ripping out the middle

Chewing Etiquette for Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments

This can be encouraged by how two lips together feel. A person can check to see if their mouth is closed while chewing if they can feel that their lips are touching.

Likewise the person can listen for if they can hear themselves chewing loudly or softly.

If you’re asking why you want to encourage this, it is because you want your child to blend in gracefully with society, not stand out in a negative way. A person who chews with their mouths open, stands out and could be considered to be someone who has bad manners.

kid eating- teaching eating skills to students with visual impairments

Keep in mind that It is not obvious to a person who has vision loss that your are supposed to chew with your mouth closed, it has to be taught.

Teach a person to use a napkin to wipe their mouth and hands. Teach a person where to locate and retrieve a napkin at home, in restaurants, fast food locations and at school. Take it one step further and teach him how to throw away his own dirty napkin. Often times students will hand me their dirty napkin because they are used to doing that at home.

Have baby type wipes available and possibly even in his backpack so that he can easily wipe his hands and face when their is not a bathroom easily accessible.

Many individuals are sensitive to smells on their faces or textures. Be sure teach a convenient way to locate something to wipe off the food on their face.

Teaching Students with Visual and Multiple Impairments to Drink out of a Cup with No Lid

When transitioning to a drink with no lid, start with a drink that he really likes for motivation.

Consider initially trying using a nosey drinking type cup to help the person learn to position their face, head and neck while swallowing. You can buy a nosey cup in the photo below on a e-special needs website.

If you are struggling to teach your child to transition to a cup with no lid, consider other alternatives to sippy cups such as water bottles, straws or adapted cups. You can also check out Sippy Cup Weaning from Mom Loves Best for more information and ideas on how to go about it.

Introducing a Cup by the What to expect link which includes on how to help your child discover the new cup https://www.whattoexpect.com/toddler/use-cup/

Teaching a Student with Visual Impairment How to Drink Out of Drinking Fountains

Orient your child to a variety of water fountains and practice locating the button to turn on the water. You can find the water button placed on the side or the front of the fountain typically and the buttons can be small and round or long and rectangular shape.

Discuss the texture of the water fountain. Is the water fountain white and smooth? It is silver and made of a metal type material? Are there two water faucets or spickets?

Where can you usually find a water fountain in a building? A lot of time they are placed near bathrooms. I often use water fountains as landmarks for students when traveling because they might be the only distinct or unique object along a building line.

The technique for teaching a child who has vision loss to locate the water at a drinking fountain is to have him push the button with one hand while trying to locate the water coming out of the fountain with the index finger of the opposite hand. You can have him touch the hole that the water comes out of and move his finger away until he feels the water. Once the person has found the water with their index finger, they should bring their mouth to their finger and start drinking the water. This is one of the most sanitary ways to go about it.