How To Encourage The Orientation Of Blind People? 5 Keys
Orientation and mobility are fundamental skills for the development of autonomy, which are especially relevant in the case of people who are blind or have low vision Among other things, these skills facilitate the use of the cane and other important technologies for movement, in addition to strengthening self-awareness and recognition in relation to the environment.
In this article we explain How can we stimulate orientation and mobility in people with blindness? and what is the relevance of these functions in psychomotor development.
Orientation and mobility are two psychomotor processes of fundamental importance for our development and autonomy. Being psychomotor processes, they include elements of two different, but interrelated orders: elements of the psychological order, and elements of the motor order
The first are those that are related to the processes necessary to execute actions, to perceive and interpret world phenomena, to plan actions, make decisions, etc. The second are those that have to do with the motor system, that is, with our voluntary and involuntary movements, our balance, our posture, our limbs, among others.
Both orders are linked through the participation of our senses : touch, smell, taste, hate and vision. Thus, according to the functioning of the latter, our psychomotor skills can also function in one way or another. Both psychomotor skills, orientation and mobility are processes that are related to our body awareness. Specifically, orientation is the process by which we use our senses to establish a position and relationship with objects in the world. And mobility is the ability to move between these objects.
Sensory scheme, orientation and mobility
As we have seen, the participation of the senses is essential for the development of orientation and mobility, and in the case of the total or partial absence of vision, its stimulation (that of the senses) becomes even more important. Likewise, and being fundamental skills for the development of autonomy, the development of orientation and mobility take on special relevance in the case of people with blindness or visual weakness. In fact, they are two of the skills that are an important part during training for the use of the cane and other support technologies.
Beyond being the fundamental acts to move from one place to another, orientation and mobility They give us the possibility to organize and familiarize ourselves with the world through physical contact, knowing where we are and where we are going.
How to stimulate orientation and mobility in people with blindness?
Stimulating the orientation and mobility of blind people depends on many factors that may be different according to the needs and circumstances of each person. For example, the process may be different between an adult who has acquired blindness and a child who has been born blind.
In the latter, orientation and mobility can be pre-stimulated through gross and fine motor skills, as well as through the acquisition of different concepts. This is because until 2 – 3 years old the child will be ready to begin his or her movement process. In the case of adults, the process may not require motor pre-stimulation, but it does a restructuring of the perception of space in relation to one’s own body
Likewise, blindness in many cases does not occur completely, but only partially, or with reduced vision, and in these cases, the strategies for stimulation may also be different.
In any case, it is not only about skills and processes, but orientation and mobility are two needs that the person themselves develop by themselves, through physical contact with outside elements In this sense, professionals or family members who intend to facilitate the autonomy process must be aware of and remain respectful of the rhythms of each person, as well as be flexible regarding the individual need to explore and locate oneself physically.
5 strategies
Broadly speaking, some dimensions that we can stimulate to promote the orientation and mobility of people with blindness are the body schema, concepts related to space and time, concepts related to the environment or the city, fine motor skills and thick, and sensory perception.
All of them are part of psychomotor skills, they are related to each other and have the common characteristic that They allow us to relate our body to the material and semiotic elements that surround it and place it in a certain position.
1. Body scheme
The body schema is the representation that we build and acquire about our own body. It refers to both its parts, as well as its functions and movements. It includes the personal exploration of the body, and its relationship with external elements.
It also entails a social element, since the acquisition of the body schema occurs in correspondence with the social norms that tell us what it is like and what the parts of our own body are, and that allow us to establish different relationships with ourselves. And also with external objects, because they allow us to establish spatial relationships, identify stimuli that we recognize are not part of ourselves
2. Spatial and temporal concepts
Spatial concepts are what allow us to establish relationship and position schemes. They refer to the surfaces and the terms with which we can refer to them. They are also related to notions such as magnitude, distance, size, quantity, weight or volume ; and with concepts like left-right, up-down, recognizing one side or the other.
We know that there is a development of spatial concepts such as position categories, shapes and measurements when the person has established an idea of a reference point and systematic search patterns through the hands. This usually occurs from 2 or 3 years of age, and can be stimulated later.
In the same sense, notions such as yesterday, today, tomorrow, day, night favor, among other things, the spatiotemporal appropriation of the environment and the location of one’s own body in this
3. Environmental/urban concepts
Spatial concepts are basically the names of the objects that surround us. Above all it is important reinforce the recognition of objects that are used most frequently They also include concepts related to what exists in the immediate environment. For example, elements of the environment, such as the floor, the room, the hallway, the traffic light, the cars, etc.
It is about identifying salient elements of the environment, learning what places exist and where they are located, and subsequently establishing routes or sequences that connect all these elements together. In addition This allows the identification of obstacles and generate avoidance tools (protection techniques).
From there, the walker can identify a path that directs him or her along a specific trajectory or route, then update his or her positions with respect to signs along the way and finally use general concepts about space.
4. Gross and fine motor skills
It is about promoting elements such as posture, gait and balance, on the one hand, and on the other, skills related to the manipulation of small objects, which helps to estimate distances and coordination. Gross motor skills and fine motor skills are essential for reinforce cognitive processes as well as the perception of one’s own body and understand its relationship with large-scale external objects.
Depending on the age of the person, many different activities can be carried out that promote these skills, and they can range from driving a tricycle and stringing small beads, to doing complex physical activity.
5. Sensory perception
Sensory stimulation is of fundamental importance because it allows us to establish reference points and discriminate between different stimuli in the environment as well as relationships with it. Specifically in the case of hearing, it is important to take into account concepts such as identification, discrimination, tracking, and detection of “sound shadow” areas.
In the case of touch it is important the direct experience of the skin in contact with objects , although there can also be intermediate contact (for example, the recognition of a fruit with a fork). The olfactory and gustatory senses can receive stimulation from the discrimination and identification of different stimuli, even the most everyday ones.
