[nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.

[Alco Canfield]

Hi, Carl,

I have several sighted friends who are totally lost unless they can steer by
landmarks.  If they lost their vision, it would be a sad day indeed because
I doubt that they would ever be able to become spatially oriented.  What a
sense of failure walked with blind people I have known who could not cross a
street straight no matter how hard they tried.  They felt inferior and
judged by others.  I would refer you again back to my favorite speech of all
time, The Nature of Independence.  I believe Dr. Jernigan came to the
conclusion, later in his life, that just as some people are musical and
others are tone deaf, the same can be said to apply to cane travel.  I know
those aren't his words, but the idea is the same.

Alco 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 7:05 AM
To: nfbw
Subject: [nfbwatlk] tell me your thoughts, please.

Following is an article published in both the WCB Newsline and the Braille
Forum.  I post it here to ask for reactions...positive or negative...but
honest.  
Thanks.  
Carl
*****

LOST IN SPACE

by Carl Jarvis

            Have you ever wondered how it is that one blind person can be
dropped off in the middle of a strange city and find his way home, while
another blind person can't find his way out of a broom closet if he has both
hands on the doorknob?  For more than 32 years I have been working with
blind people of all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities. During those years I
have compiled a pile of mostly unscientific, useless information. But one
most puzzling question keeps recurring. Why is it that some blind people get
lost in their own shoes, while others seem to have a built-in sonar system?

            It appears to have nothing to do with when they became blind,
their age or education or whether they are left-brain, right-brain or
no-brain. So, for many years I concluded that it was a matter of developing
the correct teaching technique.  My early indoctrination was
straightforward. The average blind person, with proper training and
attitudes, could do just about anything. 

            So, when I applied my magic to my students and nothing happened,
I considered that it was my failure, not theirs. I just had not found the
right combination of teaching tools to successfully complete the training.
Remember the old saying, "A doctor buries his/her mistakes"?  Not so for the
rehab teacher. Our mistakes/failures keep bumping into us at meetings,
conventions, and knocking at our doors requesting more training.  Since many
of us rehab teachers are rescuers by nature, we roll up our sleeves and try,
try again, invariably ending up with the same results.  People were coming
to us, lost in space and seeking help. And our inability to resolve this
problem began to impact all phases of their rehabilitation training.
Instead of aiming them toward success, we were pointing them to the door
marked, "Destination: Failure."

            Over the years I was absolutely certain that somewhere, somehow,
there existed the right approach for teaching spatial awareness to blind
people.  My wife, and fellow rehab teacher, had never shared my belief.
Despite discussing and debating this issue many times, my mind was made up.
I simply could not accept that there are some skills that cannot be taught.
Finally the light clicked on when Cathy, trying to illustrate her point,
said, "You know, Carl, you have no sense of rhythm. And despite all these
years of trying, you still can't follow the beat. You sing just fine but
you're totally lost in the song, which is better, and safer, than turning
you loose on the dance floor."  This brought to mind my mother. She was
tone-deaf. We always said that Mother sang the tune the old cow died on. She
had about three notes, and yet she loved music. And I loved music, too. How
was it that Mother and I could be serious music lovers but not be able to
hum or dance to the tune?

            Of course the answer is that humming and dancing are not central
to music appreciation. And then it hit me: I was focused on the wrong goal.
Regardless of whether it could be taught, spatial awareness is not central
to leading a successful, independent life. Not only was I busy trying to
teach people to develop a skill which they did not possess, but worse yet, I
was implying that without this skill they could not be successful,
independent people.  Just because a kangaroo can hop doesn't mean I can
teach him to fly. Nor does he need to fly to reach his goal.  And just
because a blind person can get from point A to point B does not mean that I
can teach him spatial awareness. Some of our brains are simply not set up to
work that way.  

            This was a hard concept for me to wrap my mind around. Over the
years I watched many blind people travel about and arrive at their
destination. Some did it with ease, while others did it by trial and error.
I figured that the trial and error folks just needed to practice harder and
pay closer attention to what they were doing. It never occurred to me that
just getting there was a major success for the spatially challenged.  The
truth is I had no clue as to what these folks were struggling with. Think of
trying to teach a blind man to see. We could put him through the same drills
that we use for all sighted folks. Over and over we could force him to peer
and strain, finally giving up in frustration. We might feel that we had not
pushed him hard enough. He would be left with the feeling that he was
incompetent.  In the end, we had programmed him for a life of failure.

            But of course we know that a blind man cannot be taught to see.
Even if his eyes move, and he blinks and sheds tears, he is missing
something that cannot be taught. This absence must be accommodated if he is
to function independently in life.  This is exactly the same course of
action needed for the spatially challenged. Trying to teach them techniques
that work for the spatially aware will only frustrate them. What is needed
is a set of alternative techniques that will assist them in accommodating
their different approach to space.

            Whether we are blind or sighted, I believe that there are great
differences in how our brains process spatial information.  Sighted people
accommodate this difference, unaware that it even exists. But without sight,
this difference becomes a major problem for the spatially challenged. It is
essential that we develop positive alternative techniques which will enable
people to function successfully in their environment, allowing them to
fulfill their goals to live productive, independent lives.

 

*****



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