Lilli Nielsen
Danish psychologist
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- 4 chapters
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Through Psychology
Biography
Nielsen was the second of seven children, four of whom were born blind. When she was seven she was charged with the responsibility of taking care of her blind younger brother.
She was a preschool teacher, then worked in a hospital, became a psychologist, and eventually was hired to teach the blind.
In 1988 she earned a PhD in psychology at the University of Århus.
Lilli Nielsen has worked as special education adviser at Refsnaesskolen, National Institute to Blind and Partially Sighted Children and Youth in Denmark.
She was awarded the Knight Order of the Dannebrog.
Dr. Lilli Nielsen died on the June 24, 2013, at the public hospital of Kolding after a short period of illness (pneumonia).
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Philosophy of Active Learning for Individuals with Visual Impairments
The Active Learning approach emphasizes that all individuals learn best by active participation. All activity, especially in the earliest stages of development, actually "wires our brains" and establishes critical foundational concepts and skills necessary for all future learning.
Individuals with multiple disabilities (cerebral palsy, visual impairment, cognitive impairment, autism, hearing impairment, etc.) are at great risk from developing reliance on others to interact with the world around them. They learn to be a passive rather than active participant, waiting for adults to provide activity rather than seeking it out on their own. Children and adults with special needs often develop stereotypical or aggressive behaviors in order to communicate with others or cope within the environments in which they are placed. Active Learning recognizes that every child/adult with special needs is unique. The programming and intervention for facilitating learning must reflect this individuality.
Active Learning emphasizes creating a developmentally appropriate and enriched environment so that children and adults with multiple special needs become active learners.
Dr. Nielsen's Active Learning approach addresses the breakdowns that can occur at the earliest stages of development due to an individual's inability to access the world because of disabilities including visual impairment, cerebral palsy, cognitive disabilities, hearing impairment, autism and other disabilities.
"Little Room"
One of her most famous ideas is that of the "little room." This is a box that is laid over a blind or severely disabled child that has toys and other stimuli hanging from it. The child can then explore and play with the toys. Most will vocalize, even for the first time, due to the superior acoustics of the Little Room. As Nielsen wrote: "The purpose of the 'Little Room' is to facilitate blind children's achievement of spatial relations and reaching behaviour, but it can also be of considerable help for sighted low functioning children."
"HOPSA-dress"
The HOPSA-dress provides vertical orientation, without the need for weightbearing, to children with multiple disabilities. Items with interesting textures can be placed near the feet for tactile stimulation. Later, the pulley system can be adjusted so that the child can bear weight gradually, at their own pace.