Objective: To outline areas of non-academic competence required by blind children which need to be developed and monitored

• Expectation. The starting point for non-academic competences, as for academic competences, is for parents, teachers and caregivers and, most of all, children themselves, to have realistic expectations which neither over- nor under-estimate what can be achieved.
• Calibration. Competence targets should always be challenging but never unrealistic. Proper calibration is the necessary precondition for self-esteem.
• Social skills. The most important competence outside the formal, academic curriculum is social skill; the child must be able to understand what is being communicated and make a socially acceptable response.
• Verbal. Exercising verbal skills presents difficulties because most people do not hone their verbal statements so that it is obvious when they have finished. This leads to blind children appearing rude by interrupting. The difficulty should be explained to all the children with whom a blind child is in contact. Verbal statements by blind children sometimes appear callous because, for example, the blind child is apt to be abstract: she has not seen a starving child, a murdered child, or a natural disaster. Conversely, the child will be ill prepared to take any verbal initiative. The blind child and his peers need to understand these difficulties. Verbal skills may need to be taught.
• Psycho/Social. What people mean when they describe the need for psychological development has nothing to do with the psyche as such. The problem blind children face is, bluntly, that they cannot see; and they therefore suffer a set of disadvantages which require practical, not psychological solutions. If the majority of practical problems are properly handled, all things being equal, psychological well-being will be maintained.
• Co-ordination. Physical clues are often the key to integrating different pieces of knowledge and behavior (e.g., lining up or leaving a room without instruction).
• Dissent. Blind children are often “forbidden” dissent, as this is mistaken for flawed performance.
• Begin by giving the child the benefit of the doubt.