I agree with you Robert... I think. That's part of why I believe that this
is more of a congenitally blind issue, rather than just a totally blind one.
Most congenitally blind children aren't exposed to spatial concepts, tactile
drawings, pictures, etc. If they are, then I imagine they don't have this
problem. In fact, I know some life-long totally blind individuals who don't
have this issue. They were exposed at an early age and frequently.
However, most congenitally blind kids just aren't exposed, that's just how
it is. They aren't bombarded with visual images, they aren't shown how to
touch and view things spatially, they don't get tactile drawings til late in
life, etc. This isn't limited to just totally blind kids. It happens to
any kid who misses out on all, or some, visual information important to
understanding spatial concepts.
Now what to do about that? Well, there's a discussion topic for another
list and another time. <smile>.
Allison
Hello Allison, and friends:
I take the view that understanding pictures is more of an exposure issue. We have to remember that sighted children see two, and three dimensional objects from soon after birth. A child watching an hour of television could be exposed to literally thousands of images per hour whereas we might only see a few thousand images in a lifetime. Blind people can learn how to look at tactile images, but we must be shown what the image is. We have to start with simple images, and compare them to the actual three dimensional object in order for things to make sense.
Regards,
Robert Jaquiss
