Playing Through Touch (VIDEO)

This video is about playing through touch and using anticipation, with Mom's fingers crawling up his chest to tickle his neck. This gives Orion positive experiences with tickle and anticipation games. (Text is in the video description at its original YouTube location.)

Sighted children are able to see the tickle monster or The Hand diving in to tickle-bomb them.  If you used the same sneaky technique on your DeafBlind child, you're going to scare them.  Thomas and I wanted Orion to experience the same thing but in a DeafBlind way- what's similar in both situations is anticipation in a fun way.  Orion has no sight or sound* so he's learning mainly through the senses he does have, most commonly known as touch, taste, smell.  (There are more senses beyond the 5 senses, too, by the way!) In order for Orion to know we're about to come in, we go ahead and gently touch him on his abdomen, crawl up his chest in a slow-to-quick motion (slow most of the time) to where we ultimately tickle him.

We have accidentally frightened him, even when we mean well.  I recall one time I was so excited, I mean, so emotionally overtaken when he accomplished something, I tickled him right away in celebration. He was startled. I hoped I did not scare him to the point he avoids doing that skill again.  (He did it again anyway and I knew better to be gentle.)

*Orion has bilateral cochlear implants. He currently wears just the left processor for brief periods of time in school, especially during music class if he leaves it on.