Three Books, Three Ways to Build Empathy

The google dictionary defines empathy as “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” To be able to empathize with others you need to include them in your life and get to know them. One way to do this is through books. They are a great way to ‘meet’ new people who are different from the reader.

Sabrena Bishop’s book, I May Not Be Like You, But We Could Be Friends, is an delightful introduction to meeting others in a book. It encourages conversation about people in your child’s world whom they may not know but may see in their community.

Our book, Claire Wants a Boxing Name , shares a fun true story of an adult who is differently sight abled. She is a boxer who is blind. Vivian uses her other senses to teach a young girl how to pay attention so she can also become a boxer. Vivian shows Claire how to stay focused. Claire demonstrates how she interacts with Vivian and her guide dog, Catcher. A child reading this book, or other books with a main character who is blind, learns that individuals who are blind can do amazing things. They just do them a different way because they are differently sight abled.

Here are a few tips to help you when you meet a child or an adult with limited vision:
1. Speak in a normal voice.
2. Tell them your name so they know who they are talking to.
3. Provide extra information about where things are that you are talking about.
4. Tell then when you are leaving.

If you are reading to a child who has limited vision you can use these strategies to help them ‘see’ the story:
1. Before reading each page describe the picture on the page.
2. Use extra emotion in your voice to add drama to the story.
3. Provide the child with an object they can touch that is related to the story.

For more information check out: http://www.pathstoliteracy.org/strategies/reading-aloud-children-visual-impairment

If you are raising a child with limited vision you can follow these guidelines to prepare them to be a successful braille reader as they grow up:
1. Make reading time as relaxing as possible.
2. Bring out real objects to match the content of the story.
3. Highlight other senses used in the story which they can relate to such as what something smells like. Justin's pumpkin patch adventure by Tamika L. Prince is a great example of a story filled with wonderful descriptions.

For more information check out: http://www.wonderbaby.org/articles/strong-braille-readers