SPECIFIC FEATURES OF WORKING WITH A BLIND CHILD IN KINDERGARTEN AND SCHOOL WITH EMPHASIS ON AUDIAL PERCEPTION

Odgoj i obrazovanje djece s oštećenjima vida, a bez drugih utjecajnih teškoća u razvoju, u redovnim vrtićima i osnovnim školama u RH pravo je djeteta zagarantirano važećim Zakonom o predškolskom odgoju i Zakonom o osnovnom školstvu, te pravilnicima vezanima uz zakone. Ipak, često mediji naglašavaju uspješnu integraciju slijepog djeteta kao neobičnu pojavu. U činjenici da se slijepi školuju nema ničeg neobičnog. Slijepo dijete, kao i sva druga djeca, želi igru i druženje s djecom u vrtiću, a u školskoj dobi želi učiti, imati svoj razred i učitelja i živjeti sa svojom obitelji. Da bi integracija slijepog djeteta u redovni vrtić i osnovnu školu bila uspješna, svi sudionici tog procesa moraju timski djelovati i gotovo svakodnevno proširivati svoje kompetencije iskustvima drugih, prateći literaturu, ali i iskustvom stečenim u radu sa slijepim djetetom. Osim stručnih kompetencija koje se odnose na poznavanje specifičnih metoda rada sa slijepim djetetom, a odnose se na detaljno i sustavno usmeno objašnjenje i dopunu podatcima o predmetu koji percipira, posebno dolaze do izražaja socijalne kompetencije. Ako u grupi ili razredu odgojitelj i učitelj stvore ozračje prihvaćanja svakog pojedinog, pa tako i slijepog djeteta, ostala djeca bit će spremna na uvažavanje razlika i pomoć djetetu s posebnim potrebama. Ako ima pozitivna socijalna iskustva u društvu svojih vršnjaka, slijepo dijete ne će reagirati negativnim emocijama na vlastitu sljepoću, niti će se povlačiti iz društva i razvijati negativan osjećaj različitosti. Pogotovo ako učitelj uočava i pohvaljuje aktivnosti u kojima se dijete ističe. Slijepa djeca ne moraju imati poseban dar za glazbu, ali je doživljavaju. Kako bi mogla ravnopravno sudjelovati u svim aktivnostima u vrtiću i školi, odgojitelji i učitelji često koriste igre, ali i ostale aktivnosti u kojima je najvažnija slušna osjetljivost. Ponekad učitelji sa strahom prihvaćaju integraciju slijepog djeteta u svoj razred. To je uglavnom zbog osjećaja nekompetentnosti za rad sa slijepim djetetom, u smislu nemogućnosti pružanja pomoći u radu s brajicom, ili straha da će njegovo uključivanje ometati rad s drugom djecom ili da će samo dijete imati dodatne teškoće u druženju s vršnjacima. U ovom radu opisana su dva slučaja uspješne integracije slijepog djeteta u vrtić i školu. Posebno se navode glazbene igre, koje će koristiti odgojiteljima i učiteljima koji u svojoj grupi/razredu imaju slijepo dijete. Isto tako, elaboriraju se specifičnosti rada u školi koje su regulirane Hrvatskim nacionalnim obrazovnim standardom.Education of children with impaired vision who do not have any other developmental problems is guaranteed in kindergartens and elementary schools in Croatia and regulated by the Act of Preschool Education, Act of Elementary Education, and other regulations related to those acts. However, the media often treat successful integration of a blind child as an unusual occurrence. However, there is nothing unusual in the fact that blind people attend school. A blind child, just like any other child, wants to play with other children in the kindergarten, and at school age he/she wants to learn, have his/her own class, his/her own teacher, and wants to live with his/her family. In order to ensure successful integration of a blind child into regular kindergarten and elementary school, all participants in this process have to act as a team, constantly improve their competences by observing other people\u27s experiences, keep up with latest research and literature, and use their present experiences of working with blind children. Besides professional competences that are related to specific methods of working with blind children and include detailed and systematic oral explanation about the perceived object, there is also a strong need for social competences. If teachers create positive atmosphere in kindergarten or classroom toward accepting each child, including a blind one, the other children will be prepared to respect the differences and help the child with special needs. If a blind child has positive social experiences with his/her peers, he/she will not react negatively to his/her own blindness, neither will he/she withdraw from its peers and feel different from others, particularly if the teacher observes and emphasizes his/her activities. Blind children do not necessarily have particular talent for music, but they do experience it. In order to ensure equal activity opportunities for all children in kindergarten or school, teachers often use games and other activities that are based on audial sense. Sometimes teachers are reluctant to accept the integration of a blind child into their class. This often happens because teachers feel less competent to work with blind children, mostly because they cannot help the children to read Braille, or they are afraid that working with blind children will reflect negatively on their work with other children, or that blind children will have some other difficulties in interacting with their peers. This paper presents two cases of successful integration of blind children into kindergarten and school. Particular emphasis is on music games that are useful for teachers that have a blind child in their class/group. Additionally, the authors elaborate specific features of working in schools which are regulated by Croatian National Educational Standard