BLIND PEOPLE: THEIR BODY, THE SPACE AND MENTAL REPRESENTATION

Abstract

As an interdisciplinary group of investigation and university extension we are looking for an answer for the challenge of space level and mental representation that blind people have to face in order to develop their life with dignity.
The methodologic lay-out is focused on the heuristic, that means, in the aknowledgement, projection and process of maturity in the development of individual strenghts to search expression as a member of society.
The blind child has to make a huge effort in his process of achievment of skills and this process must be oriented to the development of movement capacity, space orientation the recognition of objects.
As a method, we deal with the knowledge of space based on the body and the aim of this method is trying to help blind children and teenagers to obtain mental representation.
For this objective, we use representations in scale as mock-up models and puppets. This job is done exploring close suroundings, things that have access to the sense of touch and also by means of a ladder that allows us to reach on many ocassions what it is unaccesable: the ceiling.
Our goal is to work for space education for blind kids and teenagers. We also want to help them to build their own cognitive tools to move in the different spaces of their lives.
We hope this method can allow them to compose a global image of the relation between body and space as well as with people and objects. The cognitive contents will imply for them a bigger range of intellectual skills and comprehension of the enviroment.
As a conclusion, we think our work will provide new possibilities for blind people to become active members of society. For us, as sighted people, the opportunity to learn from difference.