Structural Brain Damage
Blindness and the Reconstructing of the Brain
NEUROPLASTICITY
The study of how the brain changes its function and structure is called neuroplasticity. Researchers have begun to focus on blind people and how their brains differ from those who have sight. As an example, the brain of a person who is not blind will function on a normal level. The visual cortex of the brain of a blind person will continue to act the same as a sighted person when touch reading. This doesn't happen with a sighted person.
Zoltan Torey, who became blind as a student in an industrial accident wrote a book on his experiences. Zoltan says he changes the visual concept of the world around him. He talks about how his blindness is the way he combines thoughts or images in his brain, but takes away all the eye sight distractions.
"Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide"
( University of California - Los Angeles.(2009). Researching the circumstances of the heightening of other senses of a blind person does happen in some cases. That some blind people have learned to adapt to being blind by using thought images and sounds around them.
"Recent research has demonstrated the power of neural plasticity in adults to allow one deprived of one sensory modality to receive that missing input through another, intact sensory modality" (Proulx, 2007). Proulx's research, he feels as a psychiatrist, has provided him and his patients the opportunity to work on the senses that a person has left and make them stronger. We are all still alike with or without sight. We all have needs and wants and challenges.
Zoltan Torey, who became blind as a student in an industrial accident wrote a book on his experiences. Zoltan says he changes the visual concept of the world around him. He talks about how his blindness is the way he combines thoughts or images in his brain, but takes away all the eye sight distractions.
"Visually impaired people appear to be fearless, navigating busy sidewalks and crosswalks, safely finding their way using nothing more than a cane as a guide"
( University of California - Los Angeles.(2009). Researching the circumstances of the heightening of other senses of a blind person does happen in some cases. That some blind people have learned to adapt to being blind by using thought images and sounds around them.
"Recent research has demonstrated the power of neural plasticity in adults to allow one deprived of one sensory modality to receive that missing input through another, intact sensory modality" (Proulx, 2007). Proulx's research, he feels as a psychiatrist, has provided him and his patients the opportunity to work on the senses that a person has left and make them stronger. We are all still alike with or without sight. We all have needs and wants and challenges.
The Blind man and the Elephant
Take the quiz at .......http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=blind-men--elephant www.proprofs.com
What a Caretaker needs to Know
That blind people work, eat and live just like anyone else. So this is when a caretaker becomes important in their lives to show them how to manage their life on their own.
!) How to help a blind person learn daily care such as showering, shaving and grooming.
2) How to help them choose what to wear.
3) How to cook for themselves.
4) Daily house work such as dishes, laundry, vacuuming and dusting.
5) How to use the phone.
6) How to use public transportation.
7) How to tell paper money and coins apart.
8) How to use a debit/credit card.
9) How to grocery shop.
10) How to take care of a pet.
!) How to help a blind person learn daily care such as showering, shaving and grooming.
2) How to help them choose what to wear.
3) How to cook for themselves.
4) Daily house work such as dishes, laundry, vacuuming and dusting.
5) How to use the phone.
6) How to use public transportation.
7) How to tell paper money and coins apart.
8) How to use a debit/credit card.
9) How to grocery shop.
10) How to take care of a pet.
REFERENCES
University of California - Los Angeles. (2009, November 19). Blindness causes structural brain changes, implying brain can re-organize itself to adapt. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118143259.htm
Proulx, Michael, 2007, American Psychology Association, Blindness: remapping the brain and the restoration of vision, Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/blindness.aspx
Videos
How a Blind Man Sees with Sound, 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLPEcu6523Q
Proulx, Michael, 2007, American Psychology Association, Blindness: remapping the brain and the restoration of vision, Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/blindness.aspx
Videos
How a Blind Man Sees with Sound, 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLPEcu6523Q
Do the Remaining Senses of Blind or Deaf People Become Super-Sharpened? Don't Be Dumb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xwni9VKQj0
Images
Great Minds Think Alike, www.dreamstime.com
Show what you have understood from the story. You can take the quiz ...http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=blind-men--elephant
www.proprofs.com