Is continually available to blind and visually impaired children and their families at the Blind Children's Learning Center. Family Visions, a parent support group, meets monthly to discuss the unique needs of their children. Guest speakers offer their knowledge in the field of blindness and give the parents a chance to ask questions and share what works for them. Parenting classes are taught to help parents learn more about child development and behavior.

As part of our comprehensive program the Center also provides: occupational therapy, orientation & mobility, vision enhancement program, speech therapy and technology training and support. We collaborate with the Southern California College of Optometry in providing the best possible screening and eye care for low vision children.

What is Play Therapy?
A guide to understanding the play therapy process at Blind Children’s Learning Center (BCLC)

What is Play Therapy & how does it work?

Young children do not possess the same language or communication skills as adults; therefore, children’s medium of communication is through play.
Play is a natural and spontaneous part of children’s lives. Play is fun, creative, and critical to a child’s healthy development. During play, children learn about their physical surroundings, their own capabilities and limitations, social rules, and the difference between fantasy and reality. Play provides children with the opportunity to interact with toys and other people as they enter new experiences and rehearse new skills. Through their play, children create play that mirrors the current internal emotional experiences with which they are struggling. By their choice of toy selection, children recreate issues that represent emotional conflicts (e.g., aggression, anger, fear, etc…) that are currently occupying the child’s mind. The child’s play evolves until the child gains a sense of understanding and comfort over their emotions or life situation.

Who is a play therapist?

A person who conducts play therapy is a mental health professional who possesses specialized skills, knowledge, and training in conducting play therapy. The website for the California Association for Play Therapy is: www.calplaytherapy.org

What happens in a play therapy session?

In a play therapy session, children communicate, sometimes through play, not words, to the therapist, things that are complicated to express in words or sentences. The play therapy session allows children a safe environment, where they are free to express their true thoughts and feelings in ways best suited to their developmental level. In a play therapy session, trained play therapists are able to assess and understand children’s play and to assist children in coping with difficult emotions and in finding solutions to their problems. A typical play therapy session, at Blind Children’s Learning Center, utilizes the Rogerian or Person-Centered Play Therapy, where the therapist maintains a nondirective approach in the child’s play. It is believed that in a nondirective approach, children have the ability to come up with their own answers to their questions and that they solve their own problems at their own pace.

What is the difference between regular play and play therapy?

In both cases, the basic function of play remains the same. Play provides children with the opportunity to rehearse for interactions in life. There are three basic purposes to Play: (1) cognitive development, (2) motor development, (3) emotional resolutions. When facilitated by a professionally trained play therapist, who possesses specialized knowledge, skills, and training in play therapy, a child’s play becomes focused on emotional purposes, which leads to the understanding and reestablishment of balance in the child’s sense of well-being.

What does research say about the benefits of play therapy?

Children benefit from play therapy in many ways. Research supports the effectiveness of play therapy with children experiencing a wide variety of social, emotional, behavioral, and learning problems, including: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), conduct disorder, aggression, anxiety/fearfulness, depression, ADHD, ADD, impulsivity, low self-esteem, reading difficulties, and social withdrawal. Play therapy has been successfully used with children who possess problems related to life stressors such as divorce, death, relocation, hospitalization, chronic illness, physical/sexual/emotional abuse, domestic violence, and natural disasters (Association for Play Therapists).

Play therapy & confidentiality

As professionals in the field of mental health, therapists who facilitate play therapy sessions are required, by law, to maintain the contents of a play therapy session confidential to parents and children. Further to this, it is every family’s right to feel safe and to trust their play therapist to keep their play therapy work confidential in order to maintain a safe environment for clients.