The development of complex cognitive processes through literacy when you don’t see.
“On the world wide web, the images often dominate” Bolter (2011) p. 47
Ong (1982) and others have emphasized the increased complexity of human internal thought as mankind has developed from an oral society to a text based society. He states that even small children and adults who are not literate are exposed to written print and therefore understand visual references to words.
How do individuals who do not see, develop the cognitive literacy skills that are comparable to their sighted peers? What types of cognitive processing do they experience?
My colleagues and I were making travel plans to go to a restaurant for a staff celebration. We discussed the location of the restaurant, and while talking, I visualized the street sign and the tidy rows of restaurant signs at the end of the street- even though I had not been to the exact location. My colleague, who is a Braille User and travels with a white cane was inputting the address into her iPhone GPS app. She asked for the spelling of the street name- stating that she was a terrible speller. I realized she had no visual reference.
If one sees words and images in our head, what cognitive images do blind people have of familiar names and places? Brain imagery studies with congenitally blind people indicate that the visual cortex area of the brain “lights up” when they read Braille This is the same area that reacts when sighted individuals read print. (Cohen et al, 1997, Reich et al. 2011). The researchers feel that this could indicate that the “neurons” associated with visual recognition have been “reprogrammed” for tactile reading recognition skills for congenitally blind people.
Do blind individuals conceptualize the tactual “feel” of a word when it is mentioned? What will the affect of digitalization of print be on individuals who are text reliant, and in many cases depend on the predictable linear format of print? How will they be affected by the digital mediums that are changing frequently?
A blind friend of mine notes the webpage designers of Facebook are constantly changing their layout through upgrades that make it more difficult for non-sighted individuals to navigate, therefore she refuses to use it. As the introductory quote from Bolter (2011) indicates, the printed text is no longer isolated from icons and visual imagery of the screens, but imbedded within it.
How can this complexity be transferred to text dependent individuals?
Electronic text has provided a wealth of information to blind individuals, in comparison to the hard copy editions of Braille that were expensive, bulky, with limited availability. It has also created some complex questions, as far as the skill set that is required to access digital print. What areas of the brain will be activated when a blind individual reads/accesses digital text? Will it be comparable to the new ways of reading that are being acquired by their sighted peers? I guess we will have to wait and see!
Bolter, J.D. (2011) Writing Space, Computers, Hypertext and the Remediation of Print (2nd ed) Routledge, London.
Ong, W. J. (1982) Orality and Literacy, Routle
Reich L., Szwed M. , Cohen L. , and Amedi A. (2011) A Ventral Visual Stream Reading Center Independent of Visual Experience. Current Biology 363–368, 21.
Cohen, L.G., Celnik, P., Pascual-Leone, A., Corwell, B., Falz, L., Dambrosia, J., Honda, M., Sadato, N., Gerloff, C., Catala´ , M.D., and Hallett, M. (1997). Functional relevance of cross-modal plasticity in blind humans. Nature 389, 180–183. 15.
Lynn, these are fascinating insights that are completely new to me. I visualize on a routine basis. I think if I were to keep track of how many times a day I do visualize, I would be blown away by the number. It is one of my primary tools and strategies for making sense of and understanding the world around me. Taken away from me, how would or how significantly would this impact the way I “see” (horrible pun NOT intended) the world?
Furthermore, what is the impact on the digital literacy for blind people? In one of my posts regarding digital literacy, I and those who commented, discuss how digital literacy as well as oral and literal et al. aspects of literacy need to be integrated. All facets contribute to being a literate person in the 21st century. Your post leads me to wonder how significant visualization or lack thereof, is on being literate in the 21st century. Is this an obstacle that can be overcome or compensated for by other aspects? Or is it one of the most integral parts of being digitally literate?