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BJVI JOURNAL OF
VISUAL
Helping children with visual IMPAIRMENT
Copyright © 2007 SAGE Publications
(Los Angeles, London, New Delhi
impairment develop humour: and Singapore)
Vol 25(3): 267–279
DOI: 10.1177/0264619607079808
INTRODUCTION
The ability to perceive an experience as amusing is a highly regarded
attribute in most cultures throughout the world and significantly con-
tributes to quality of life. Because everyone is born with the potential for
humour, it can be learned (Bhaerman, 2004; McGhee, 2002). Frequently
the basis of childhood friendship is shared enjoyment of jokes, cartoons,
television and movies. Humour pervades every aspect of teaching and
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B R I T I S H J O U R NA L O F V I S U A L I M PA I R M E N T 2 5 ( 3 )
Humour refines our social skills and cements social bonds, serving as a
tool to capture a group’s attention, help others adopt our point of view,
and redress power imbalances (Trout, 1998). It teaches life lessons and
locks in memories, helping children learn how to make meaning of
communication beyond words. As a catalyst for cognitive, language,
and literacy development, humour can increase children’s vocabulary,
expand world knowledge, develop meta-linguistic awareness, improve
comprehension of figurative language, heighten sensory awareness
and increase problem-solving skills (Bhaerman, 2004; McGhee, 2002;
Specter, 1992).
WHAT IS HUMOUR?
Humour is the quality of being funny. Humour typically can be catego-
rized as visual, auditory or combinations of both. Regardless of the cat-
egory, some form of non-fitting, unexpected, inappropriate, surpri-
sing or incongruous relationship is always present in humour (McGhee,
1979: 46). Table 1 provides an overview of the forms humour assumes
within these categories.
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
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B R I T I S H J O U R NA L O F V I S U A L I M PA I R M E N T 2 5 ( 3 )
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
Table 2 (continued)
Developmental stages Expression
Humour
Stage 2: 2 – 3 years Incongruous labelling of object (name an
object and then pretend to get it wrong
e.g. see a cat and say dog, point to nose
and say ear). Preoperational (Piaget, 1952).
Impulsive (Loevinger, 1976)
Stage 3: 3 – 7 years Conceptual incongruity (horse says moo
or has two tails), Concrete operational
(Piaget, 1952), self-protective
(Loevinger, 1976)
Perceive varying degrees of incongruity
(development of perceptual orientation)
Gender changes (calling Mummy Daddy)
Stage 4: 7 years to Multiple meanings, ambiguity (e.g. puns)
adult-hood (humour First signs of logic (e.g. riddles)
becomes more Concrete operational thinking
‘culture/social’ specific (Piaget, 1952)
and sophisticated) Less egocentric
rather than serious or threatening. It is this play signal that directs the infant
to take pleasure in the ensuing novel or unusual experience. Because the
child’s perception of that incongruity can lead to amusement, curiosity or
fear, the play signal helps prevent the infant from becoming anxious when
a novelty is too extreme or the child is not feeling secure.
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B R I T I S H J O U R NA L O F V I S U A L I M PA I R M E N T 2 5 ( 3 )
Feedback
The play signal that helps the infant with visual impairment enjoy novel
experiences represents the earliest form of feedback about what is
funny. This feedback quickly evolves into eliciting and responding to a
child’s laughter. The key in infancy is to ‘act silly’ to provide signals that
captivate rather than frighten or confuse the child (Frankel, 2003).
Building on reliable, positive experiences is the bridge to further novel
experiences. For example, giving kisses until they become familiar and
pleasurable, then transforming the kisses into unexpected tickles pro-
vides safe incongruities linked to grounded or emerging concepts.
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
skill. The adult or older child helps the toddler to act in an incongruous
way through modeling and by providing feedback through laughter. For
example, when the child with a visual impairment waves a rusk during
snack time, the adult can pretend to be a barking dog who wants a
bone; extending the humorous interaction by waving the rusk and
encouraging the child to act like a barking dog.
The caregiver can teach the child how to reframe potentially confusing
or upsetting situations into funny experiences by emphasizing the
incongruities. For example, when a child is crying for attention or
because of frustration, adults can imitate the child’s cry. Once they have
child’s attention, they can then cry louder, stopping when the child does
and resuming their mimicry if the child begins to cry again. Once the
child recognizes the absurdity of the situation then both will enjoy a
good laugh and cuddles.
Mediated exposure
Mediated exposure is helping children to recognize the characteristics
and thought processes underlying something humorous and challenging
them to apply those concepts to other situations (Bhaerman, 2004).
Children with visual impairment should be provided with clear indica-
tions and explanations to help them understand the way others are using
irony, exaggeration, puns or other forms of humour to make a point or
defuse a situation. Their attention should be directed to different forms of
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B R I T I S H J O U R NA L O F V I S U A L I M PA I R M E N T 2 5 ( 3 )
Reframing
Reframing – shifting the context – is a valuable way to help children use
humour to resolve personal incongruities, shift emotions and relieve
anxiety. Through this effort, children learn to use humour as a tool to
further self-esteem and manage their emotional states. Reframing can
accentuate the positive aspects of an experience instead of dwelling on
the negative and help alleviate vulnerability, important skills for chil-
dren with visual impairment. A joke where reframing provides the basis
for understanding humour is:
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
• linguistic elements;
• conceptual understanding and general knowledge;
• vocabulary comprehension;
• abstraction;
• perspective-taking.
Linguistic elements
Specter (1992: 21) identifies four broad categories of linguistic ele-
ments. They are:
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B R I T I S H J O U R NA L O F V I S U A L I M PA I R M E N T 2 5 ( 3 )
Abstraction
Some children with visual impairment are skilled at abstraction, while oth-
ers struggle to understand things that are not part of their direct experience.
Helping children with visual impairment identify an incongruity and show
how it makes sense not only develops their sense of humour, it increases
their capacity to think about and understand the world conceptually. One
approach is to analyse the statements of a humorist, such as that of
Groucho Marx: ‘Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a
dog, it’s too dark to read’. Another is to use multiple choices to answer a
question or arrive at a ‘punchline’. Exercises such as matching the ele-
ments of a riddle or pun are also useful for the development of humour.
Perspective-taking
Perspective-taking – considering things from the point of view of others –
is particularly difficult for many youngsters with visual impairment. Using
humour to develop this critical component can increase their capacity for
empathy and sympathy. Some approaches include:
Social instruction
Just as children with visual impairment must learn how to behave
appropriately in different situations and with different people, they
should be taught when to use humour and the difference between
‘good’ and ‘bad’ humour (Sultanoff, 1995). Because humour is so often
a matter of taste and cultural norms, it is important not to impose the
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
Children must learn how to poke fun at a situation – not another person
or group. ‘Good’ or ‘healthy’ humour stimulates wit, mirth and laughter;
defuses a situation and releases tension. ‘Bad’ or ‘hurtful’ humour cre-
ates pain and distance, exacerbates a situation and increases tension
(Sultanoff, 1995). Children with visual impairment may also require
instruction to learn when some forms of humour such as playful insults
or sarcasm is or is not acceptable, for example:
SUMMARY
For busy teachers serving children with visual impairment, the notion of
teaching humour and finding time to include it in the curriculum may
be overwhelming. However, with a little thoughtful planning, an under-
standing of the child as a learner and an individual, a deep knowledge
of content and a capacity for joy, silliness and irony, it can be one of the
most enjoyable and rewarding ways to approach teaching and learning.
Humour curriculum and instruction can be embedded in any and every
curriculum area and instructional experience. It deepens and enriches
the child’s mastery of content knowledge, skills and concepts across
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PAG L I A N O E T A L . : D E V E L O P I N G H U M O U R
PAUL J. PAGLIANO
School of Education
James Cook University
Townsville 4811
Queensland
Australia
Email: Paul.Pagliano@jcu.edu.au
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