I'm jealous! I'm a blind person who can echolocate pretty well but has no actual sense of direction despite extensive mobility training. I tried hard to develop one but with extremely limited success. I often think how independent a blind person becomes with Kane or dog will depend greatly on their sense of direction and ability to mental map. Those who can do it well will find independent travel far easier than those like me who completely suck at it! Trying to compare where I am to where I'm supposed to be takes 110% of my concentration, and on a lot of days I just can't manage it at all. Of course, this doesn't apply to familiar environments where I do just fine unless my hearing is compromised.
A good example of why I try to emphasize that my experience is one of many in the world of blindness. Yes, mental mapping is quite natural to me and makes getting around a lot easier. And also I suck at making sense of echolocation data unless I'm somewhere sound echoes at roughly the volume of an empty indoor pool. I had one job in a federal building with huge marble halls. That place was amazing. I was like "I know where everything is!"
I think I would've been completely overwhelmed by competing echoes in that marble building! One thing I wish that the sighted public understood is that the experience of blindness is as individual as the experience of vision. In fact, some people in the blindness community could improve in this understanding as well. I've had friends who were good at mental mapping basically say that those who aren't good at it just aren't trying hard enough. It reminds me of how teachers mocked dyslexic children in generations passed for their struggles with reading. Thanks for including nuance while Sharing your interesting experiences.
I'm jealous! I'm a blind person who can echolocate pretty well but has no actual sense of direction despite extensive mobility training. I tried hard to develop one but with extremely limited success. I often think how independent a blind person becomes with Kane or dog will depend greatly on their sense of direction and ability to mental map. Those who can do it well will find independent travel far easier than those like me who completely suck at it! Trying to compare where I am to where I'm supposed to be takes 110% of my concentration, and on a lot of days I just can't manage it at all. Of course, this doesn't apply to familiar environments where I do just fine unless my hearing is compromised.
A good example of why I try to emphasize that my experience is one of many in the world of blindness. Yes, mental mapping is quite natural to me and makes getting around a lot easier. And also I suck at making sense of echolocation data unless I'm somewhere sound echoes at roughly the volume of an empty indoor pool. I had one job in a federal building with huge marble halls. That place was amazing. I was like "I know where everything is!"
I think I would've been completely overwhelmed by competing echoes in that marble building! One thing I wish that the sighted public understood is that the experience of blindness is as individual as the experience of vision. In fact, some people in the blindness community could improve in this understanding as well. I've had friends who were good at mental mapping basically say that those who aren't good at it just aren't trying hard enough. It reminds me of how teachers mocked dyslexic children in generations passed for their struggles with reading. Thanks for including nuance while Sharing your interesting experiences.
Of course! And I second all of that