I am legally blind and dependent on my glasses or contacts to give me
semi usable vision. I also hear better when my glasses are on. I always
thought that it was because my sense of sight was so accustomed to
having the glasses that all my senses followed suit. In other words, my
brain knows that my sense of sight is enhanced by glasses so when ever
the glasses are on all senses will be enhanced. I never taught but have
been a student at one time or another for many years. I always inform
any instructor of my legal blindness and one thing I ask is when I have
my hand raised could they please address me by name so that I don't
assume they are calling on me and speak over someone else. This works
most of the times except for when the instructor forgets and points to
me then there is that awkward silence until he/she calls my name :-)
Mick

Karyl Loux wrote:

>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
>
>
>VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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>
>
>
>
>

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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html