Okay, I am normally sighted with my glasses on.  I'll tell you this, I
cannot hear people talking as well when they are off.  And, I'm sure of that
because it always surprises me.  This is also true only if the person
talking is present or on the TV.  On the phone, radio, or recorded book it
doesn't matter.  So, people do use vision as a function of hearing.  What
they are using is visual closure.  I teach both visually impaired and
deaf-blind students.  I always have a session about visual closure.  What I
do is ask half of an audience to close their eyes, then I drop a set of keys
on the floor.  I ask a few questions afterward.  The first is to those with
their eyes closed, I ask what did I drop.  They usually guess correctly.
Then I ask those who had their eyes open, how many of them looked at the
keys to make sure of what I dropped.  Every hand goes up.  You cannot ever
discount visual closure.  It may not be essential but it is definitely
habitual, and like all habits it becomes necessary.

Beyond visual closure, there is visual anticipation and that relates to a
concept known as body expression.  When sitting in a group of folks talking
to each other, someone may raise a finger or some other gesture that
indicates that they want to go next.  With my vision, I see this and direct
my attention to that person, I can hear better (because I have my glasses
on) with my focus there.  If I didn't have vision I could miss the beginning
of a person's point while I find my focus.  That ultimately could cause me
to get a little lost in the conversation.  Another important point here is
that individuals without vision, should know about these gestures so that
they can appropriately take their turns speaking.  Otherwise, they could
just blurt out their point right over the person who have gesturally
requested to be next.  It is a very complex thing to learn and the best way
to do it is with someone you care about that also cares about you to coach
you through it.

Now you know my 10 cents worth.

Karyl


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