DIDACTIC DEAFBLINDNESS! BY: ALEX GARCIA – DEAFBLIND PERSON FROM BRAZIL!
IN DEAFBLINDNESS YOU MUST BE SURE ABOUT SOME SPECIFIC AND BASIC QUESTIONS. FIRST OF ALL, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO ARE THE DEAFBLIND. WE ARE IN TWO GROUPS: - PRE SYMBOLIC DEAFBLIND PERSON: IT´S THAT PERSON WHO BECAME DEAFBLIND BEFORE STRUCTURING HIS OR HER NATIVE LANGUAGE. NORMALLY, THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS CONGENITAL DEAFBLIND PERSONS. THE USE OF THE WORD “CONGENITAL” IS INCORRECT BECAUSE THIS WORD MEANS "BE PRESENT AT BIRTH", BUT NOT ALWAYS BEING PRE SYMBOLIC MEANS "BEING PRESENT AT BIRTH", BECAUSE THESE PERSONS MAY BE PRE SYMBOLIC OF "YOUNG" AGE. A PERSON CAN BE A CONGENITAL DEAFBLIND ONE, BUT HE OR SHE CAN PRESENT GOOD TRACES, SPECIALLY A GOOD AUDITORY TRACE AND THEN, WITH A LITTLE MORE EFFORT, CAN LEARN HIS OR HER OWN LANGUAGE AS ANY OTHER PERSON. - POST SYMBOLIC DEAFBLIND PERSON: IT´S THAT PERSON WHO BECAME DEAFBLIND AFTER HAVING STRUCTURED HIS OR HER NATIVE LANGUAGE. NORMALLY, THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS ACQUIRED DEAFBLIND PEOPLE. CLASSIFICATION: - BLIND PERSON WITH LOW HEARING - DEAF PERSON WITH LOW SIGHT - LOW SIGHT AND LOW HEARING PERSON - TOTAL DEAFBLIND PERSON AN IMPORTANT FACTOR: THERE ARE MANY DEAFBLIND PEOPLE THAT, BESIDES THE DEAFBLINDNESS ITSELF, PRESENT OTHER KINDS OF DISABILITIES, THAT CAN BE PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL OR AUTISM. IT´s certain that, being deafblind and having multiple disabilities, everything will be more difficult, All deafblind people are inserted in these groups. It means that it´s not always complete darkness and silence. They can have low sight and hearing traces. MANY OF THEM ARE LIKE THESE, BUT CHOSE TO RUN AWAY FROM THEIR PROBLEMS AND, DOING THAT THEY GOT INTO A HOLE WHICH IS DIFFICULT TO GET OUT FROM. THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO FACE THE PROBLEM AND CONTINUOUSLY ADAPT THEMSELVES. ANOTHER ISSUE: TODAY I AM FORTY-ONE YEARS OLD, I AM A DEAFBLIND PERSON, I HAVE MULTIPLE DISABILITIES AND I ALWAYS FELT THAT WE, THOSE WHO HAVE MORE THAN DEAFBLINDNESS, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO ARE TOTAL DEAFBLIND, ARE MORE EXCLUDED THAN THOSE WHO PRESENT SIGHT AND HEARING TRACES. AS TIME GOES BY, I STARTED TO ADVOCATE THAT IN FACT THERE ARE DEAFBLIND PERSONS WHO ARE MORE EXPOSED AND OF LOWER COMPLEXITY. HERE THERE ARE THOSE WITH FUNCTIONAL TRACES AND LACK OF ANY OTHER DISABILITY. AND THERE ARE DEAFBLIND PERSONS WHO ARE LESS EXPOSED, THOSE WHO ARE MORE INVISIBLE TO SOCIETY AS WELL AS OF MAJOR COMPLEXITIES. HERE ARE THE TOTAL PRE AND POST SYMBOLIC DEAFBLIND PERSONS OR THOSE WHO PRESENT NON FUNCTIONAL TRACES AS WELL AS THOSE WITH OTHER DISABILITIES. THEREFORE, IN PRACTICE, THE EXCLUSION AND BARRIERS ARE MUCH BIGGER FOR THE LESS FREQUENT DEAFBLIND PERSONS. TO ME, ALEX GARCIA, THERE IS NO COMPARISON BETWEEN A MORE FREQUENT AND A LESS FREQUENT ONES. IN OTHER WORDS, THE ABANDONMENT AFFECTS MUCH MORE THE LESS FREQUENT DEAFBLIND PERSONS. THE CONCEPT OF DEAFBLIND – THIS IS A FUNCTIONAL CONCEPT: A DEAFBLIND PERSON IS THAT ONE WHO DOES NOT COMPENSATE ONE SENSE BY ANOTHER. WHAT DO I WANT TO SAY WITH THIS? LET´S IMAGINE BLIND PEOPLE. HOW DO THEY COMPENSATE THEIR BLINDNESS? BLIND PEOPLE COMPENSATE THEIR BLINDNESS BECAUSE THEY HEAR PERFECTLY WELL. HOW DO DEAF PEOPLE COMPENSATE THEIR DEAFNESS? DEAF PEOPLE COMPENSATE THEIR DEAFNESS BECAUSE THEY SEE PERFECTLY. AND NOW? HOW DO DEAFBLIND PEOPLE COMPENSATE? THAT IS THE HEART OF THE MATTER, I MEAN, IN THE COMPENSATION. THAT IS WHY THERE ARE DEAFBLIND PERSONS WITH TRACES, BUT THESE PERSONS CAN NOT COMPENSATE THE LOSS OF THE OTHER SENSE IN ITS TOTALITY. A BLIND PERSON WITH HEARING TRACES CAN PRESENT COMPENSATION LAPSES. A DEAF PERSON WITH SIGHT TRACES CAN PRESENT COMPENSATION LAPSES. AND THEN, PEOPLE WHO HAVE AUDIO VISUAL TRACES, FOR SURE, PRESENT COMPENSATION LAPSES. THIS IS TO BE DEAFBLIND, BUT IN MY COUNTRY, BRAZIL, THESE QUESTIONS ARE RARELY TAKEN IN CONSIDERATION. YOU CAN REFLECT THAT WE HAVE MILLIONS OF DEAFBLIND PEOPLE IN BRAZIL, EVEN THOUGH THEY DON´T KNOW THEY ARE DEAFBLIND. IT IS A VERY COMPLICATED SITUATION WE FACE HERE IN BRAZIL, WHICH IS AGGRAVATED BY THE LACK OF PUBLIC POLICIES THAT COULD COLLABORATE WITH OUR EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. ANOTHER CONCEPT OF DEAFBLIND PEOPLE – ALSO A FUNCTIONAL CONCEPT. THIS CONCEPT WAS DEVELOPED BY ME, ALEX GARCIA. DEAFBLIND PEOPLE ARE THOSE WHO NECESSARILY RECEIVE THE RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION THROUGH WAYS AND METHODS (TOGETHER OR SEPARATED), PROXIMAL (NEED TO BE NEAR), TACTILE (INVOLVES TOUCH) AND KINESTHETICS (INVOLVES MOVEMENT). IT WOULD BE A SERIOUS FAULT OF ME IF I WOULDN’T HAVE MADE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN TWO KEY POINTS, I MEAN, THE LINK BETWEEN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND DEAFBLINDNESS. HOW DOES THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT OCCUR? THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT OCCURS IN THE FOLLOWING WAY: “UNDERSTANDING PRECEDES EXECUTION”. IN PRACTICE, FIRST OF ALL, A HUMAN BEING HAS TO UNDERSTAND AND AFTER THAT, HAS TO CARRY OUT. THIS IS THE HUMAN BEING DEVELOPMENT. BY POINTING OUT THE WORD “UNDERSTANDING”, WHAT DOES IT MEAN? IT MEANS THAT THE RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION IS THE “ENGINE” OR THE “SOUL” OF DEVELOPMENT. EXACTLY, THAT IS! WELL, IT IS HERE THAT THERE IS THE LINK WITH DEAFBLIND PERSONS. WHERE IS THE OBSTACLE IN A DEAFBLIND PERSON? IT IS PRECISELY IN HIS/HER RECEPCTIVE COMMUNICATION. YES, YOU THAT IS READING THIS NOW CAN UNDERSTAND! THE BARRIER OF DEAFBLIND PEOPLE IS PRECISELY THE RECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION THEREFORE, IT AFFECTS DIRECTLY HIS/HER DEVELOPMENT. BESIDES THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THAT: DEAFBLINDNESS IS AND MUST BE CONSIDERED A UNIQUE DISABILITY CONDITION, A UNIQUE DISABILITY AND NOT THE SUM OF DEAFNESS AND BLINDNESS. DEAFBLINDNESS BY ITSELF HAS A STRONG TREND OF MULTIPLYING DISABILITIES. YOU MUST PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION. IF A DEAFBLIND PERSON DOES NOT RECEIVE MOTIVATION, IT IS QUITE LIKELY THAT OTHER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS MAY APPEAR, OTHER DISABILITIES. SO, A VERY CLOSE ATTENTION MUST BE PAID TO THIS TRACE WHICH IS A DEAFBLIDNESS MULTIPLIER. I HOPE THIS BRIEF REFLECTION MAY BE USEFUL! ALEX GARCIA – DEAFBLIND PERSON FROM BRAZIL. Deafblindness is the disability which "affects" most the essence of the society because it takes to a distance imposed by the visual and auditory losses as well as the impatience which is generated by the difficulties in communication. So, what concerns to Deafblind persons, the most feared condition lived by us: "being alone" as a synonymous of abandonment, which is different from "loneliness", because this state you can choose and enjoy it when you are not afraid of yourself. Alex Garcia. Alex Garcia's profile clik here! 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