In working with children with a visual impairment, we talk about concept development. Anyone who thinks about concept development can understand that we live in a world of concepts, more than in a world of objects, events and situations. An object only becomes meaningful if we have received information from various senses, and we have been able to combine this loose information into a whole: the concept.
A concept is something abstract, a symbol of all knowledge about a certain object, event or idea. Concepts are often filled with language, especially when it comes to abstract concepts. To learn language you need senses, but that alone is not enough. It also requires cognition and language learning ability. To understand a concept well it is helpful that the experience with the concept is as rich as possible. Concept development is necessary to understand the world around you and to go through a good school time.
Leaflet about concept development with children with a visual impairment
Read more in the leaflet Concept Development with children with a (severe) visual impairment (PDF). It includes a summary for professionals of what the literature published so far offers on concept development with children with a severe visual impairment. A more concise version of the contents can be found on the EduVIP website, under the theme page for parents with young, blind children, category language, concept development (in Dutch).
More about concept development with children with a visual impairment
Irma Uijen-De Kleijn, behavioural scientist at Royal Dutch Visio, explains in this video how concept development is possible.
MOOC Concept development: a wealth of information
In April 2018, Visio organized an interactive e-learning about concept development. In four blocks of one week each Visio published it’s own knowledge and material online in a protected environment. Participants could also share their own documents, movies, photos, vlogs and blogs on this topic and discuss them with other participants. This created a wealth of information. Read a summary of the proceeds for every group in this concise Factsheet about MOOC Concept development (PDF).