“Bumpy writing” and tactile pictures encourage George’s love of books

Three-year-old George was born prematurely at 33 weeks and has a genetic condition called Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), which means he is blind with light perception. A stroke when he was a baby also means his right side mobility and speech are affected, so much so that as of yet, he is non-verbal.

George’s parents got in touch with Living Paintings and signed up as members to receive our Touch to See books after becoming disheartened by the lack of resources available for visually impaired children and the expense of other materials.

George’s mum, Ebony, shares how Living Paintings has helped her son engage with books and gain precious new experiences:

“George was tactile defensive for a long time and still sometimes struggles with touching things, but he has shown a real interest in your books and braille and loves to be read stories.

It’s amazing that the pictures are brought to life so that he can better understand what he’s learning about. For example, I tell him about the sunshine, how it’s warm and bright and lives in the sky.

Your books with their raised, dramatised images enable George to create a ‘picture’ in his mind of the sunshine, so that he has a more tangible understanding and this builds his internal world and gives things a structure and sense of realness. He enjoys ‘bumpy writing’ [braille] and knows that this means words. He likes to explore shapes too.

We are very grateful for your service and all that you do for blind and visually impaired children. Thank you so much for your amazing work!”