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Fact or Myth? People's Senses Get Heightened After Vision Loss
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| As We See It! Fact or Myth? People's Senses Become Heightened After Vision Loss By Lynda Jones | 
| | Two coworkers stand in front of a vending machine. Jack pulls three quarters out of his pocket, glances at the coins verifying their denomination, drops the money in the coin slot, looks over the drink choices and makes his selection, then retrieves his drink when it appears. Paul reaches in his pocket for three large coins with rough edges, finds the coin slot with his fingers and drops them in, reads the Braille on each button and makes a selection, then retrieves his drink when he hears it drop. Both men are able to quench their thirst, but one uses his vision and the other one uses his senses of touch and hearing. | 
| | Many sighted people believe that people who are blind naturally possess an extraordinary sense of touch, hearing, smell, taste, and so on to compensate for their vision loss. Actually, this is a myth created in literature, television and movies. Scientific research shows that some sighted individuals are better at recognizing things by touch and sound. Although some blind people appear to have “super senses,” the truth is over time they have simply become more efficient at using their other senses through experience and training. In the scenario above, Paul identified coins by there shape and size. He is as confident in using this knowledge and his sense of touch to find the quarters as Jack is identifying them visually. Paul not only uses his hearing to tell where to find the soft drink can, but also to listen for the traffic surge for crossing streets safely, to locate the telephone when it rings, to listen for the opening and closing of an elevator door, and so on. | For the person who is blind, each sound, each shape, each smell represents something or provides meaningful information for performing a task or getting around in the environment. Sighted people often perform tasks without looking but never think about it. When driving a car, no one looks at his feet to move from the gas to the break. Others type without ever looking at their hands. And, no one sets a mirror in front of his dinner plate so he can see himself eat. | 
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Lynda Jones
Public Awareness Specialist
Lighthouse of the Big Bend | The Lighthouse wants residents of the Big Bend who may be dealing with vision impairment to know that there is life after vision loss--exciting, meaningful, independent life--just a phone call away! For more information contact the Lighthouse of the Big Bend (850) 942-3658 or check-out the website www.lighthousebigbend.org. |
Tags: Tallahassee Blind Vision Loss Help Services
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