[Blindmath] Spatial Abilities

Thu May 29 16:09:29 UTC 2014

Fascinating conversation. My partner and I were talking about this a
few days ago. Like me, he has been totally blind since infancy (well,
actually, he had a bit of light perception in one eye for a while, and
honestly he is not sure if he still has this or not). But while I have
the same spatial issues as some others have identified, Chuck is
phenomenally good at spatial thinking. I do think a combination of
nature and nurture is at work. Chuck got excellent O&M instruction
from a very young age. I got phenomenal braille instruction, but myO&M
was lacking. This is partly because of where I lived--there really
weren't that many places to go. LOL! Also, I've seen my sighted mom
and sister struggle with navigation. I think my sister has improved
somewhat now that she des more driving. All of this is to say that
Ithink I suffered from (a) a predisposition to be spatally challenged
and (b) lack of experiences to help me overcome this challenge.

On 5/29/14, Pranav Lal via Blindmath <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi Amanda,
>
> Thanks for this explanation and my experience is similar to yours. For me,
> everything is indeed 3d.
>
> Pranav
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Amanda
> Lacy via Blindmath
> Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 11:43 PM
> To: sabra1023; Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
> Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Spatial Abilities
>
> I think it has to do with the fact that those of us who are blind from
> birth don't experience the world as being flat. Sight involves the
> projection of light onto a flat retina, so for sighted people it seems
> natural to go from there to representing real things on flat surfaces.
> Flat pictures are everywhere for them since birth, but I can't think of
> one single example of anything in the real world that's flat. Our hands
> are designed to grasp and rotate and examine real objects, and then we
> come to school and have to learn what seems like a new language. So when
> people say that my hands are like their eyes, I have to disagree. I'm
> speculating as someone who has never been sighted, so any of you can
> feel free to correct me with more accurate information.
>
> Amanda
> On 5/28/2014 12:46 PM, sabra1023 via Blindmath wrote:
>> I wonder if being blind from birth has to do with it. If I'm remembering
> how to get somewhere, I just imagine myself walking there. A map doesn't
> help. I can imagine three-dimensional things very well and make them out of
> clay. Also, I can remember a two dimensional shape like a circle or square.
> However, it's difficult for me to imagine and manipulate graphs in my head.
>>
>>> On May 28, 2014, at 12:07 PM, Susan Jolly via Blindmath
> <blindmath at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> There have been a large number of conferences about and studies of the
> use of tactile maps and diagrams by blind persons.  This has been going on
> for more than 40 years.  What I got out of reading many of the studies is
> that different people are different.
>>>
>>> There is, however, a lot of evidence that men have better spatial
> abilities than women.  I know this is controversial but I think there is
> some truth to it.  I can see the sun come up east of my house and go down
> west of my house.  Nonetheless, no matter how hard I try, I cannot imagine
> that my son who lives 1000 miles west of me lives in the direction where
> the
> sun goes down.  I know that it is true logically but when I think about
> him,
> he's always somewhere off to the east in my mind.
>>>
>>> As for graphs, it took me years to understand why it is not necessary
> when laying out a two-dimensional graph to use the same spacing for both
> axes.  I mention this here for two reasons.  First, it is an example of
> different people being different.  Second, it points out that the shape of
> a
> graph is to some extent arbitrary.  Of course, the general shape is
> independent of the exact choice of layout. (I'm talking about linear axes;
> you can dramatically change the shape if you use non-linear axes such as
> logarithmic ones.)
>>>
>>> SusanJ
>>>
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