[bksvol-discuss] Re: Spacially impaired
- From: "Allison" <alwaysallie@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2004 21:06:03 -0400
You may have something there Cindy. Sometimes, we, as blind people, forget
that some of our own issues are just "people" issues, not all
blindness-related. If in fact, women are less spatially aware than men,
then this would be true of blind persons as well. This is because we are a
cross-section of society.
I do think that perhaps blindness can be a contributing factor in one's
perception of space or image perception. It is maybe an example of exposure
and experience. Perhaps women are less often given space-understanding
experiences than men. For example, boys being given erector sets and
encouraged to take apart mechanical items, while girls being given dolls,
stuffed animals, or house-play type items.
A parallel can be drawn with blindness I think. sighted children (male and
female) are exposed to visual concepts more often and earlier than blind
children. Too many blind kids aren't encouraged to explore their
surroundings on their own, thus they don't learn how to determine the layout
of an area. Sighted kids are able to glance around and take in a room or an
outdoor area, but a blind kid has to learn to explore and be aware of
his/her environment in other ways. It's not that blind kids can't do it,
it's that they aren't so often taught how to do it.
Blind kids also aren't often given chances to explore things tactually.
It's hard to obtain tactile pictures, maps, drawings, charts, anything!
It's possible, but takes more time and effort on the part of
parents/teachers etc. Sighted kids just naturally become immersed in
spatial-related things by pure coincidence. Images, pictures, lots of
things are just everywhere for these kids to absorb. .
There are probably many factors that affect spatial awareness, one may be
gender and one may be sight, there are probably others to I'd think.
Okay, don't know if that made any sense. I'm kinda getting somewhere with
this, but it's not an easy thing to describe in a short email. Plus, I'm
not necessarily the best one to talk cuz I have really not done extensive
educational research. I have my own experiences with the blind kids I've
worked with, but these are still just my own guesses. I do find it
interesting though and some good points have been brought up.
Best,
Allison
----- Original Message -----
From: "Cindy" <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004 2:52 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Spatially impaired
I hate to sound sexist, but sometimes I think it's a
woman thing. A lot of women I know have a problem
judging distances and space accurately -- sighted
women -- including me. It's a family joke at our
house. None of the men I know have that problem. How
about you men on the list?
Cindy
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