ninjirate

How are people taught if they are born blind and deaf?

I can understand trying to teach someone via visuals or by talking to them but I can't figure out how you would teach someone multiplication or about government services or scammers without either.

https://kbin.social/m/nostupidquestion[email protected]/t/159338

How are people taught if they are born blind and deaf? - nostupidquestions - kbin.social

I can understand trying to teach someone via visuals or by talking to them but I can't figure out how you would teach someone multiplication or about government services or scammers without either.

Jul 8, 2023 at 4:28pmWeb
Show threadborkcorkedforksJul 8, 2023
I think the first step is generally establishing communication first. Like they might learn signs by touch. Later they could be taught braille in order to read.
Show threadneuromancerJul 8, 2023
How would they learn any language, there is no one who can explain to them the meaning of the words?
Show thread3lawsJul 8, 2023

There is no one

Why make such claim? It’s really a stretch to assume the individual lives in a social bubble by themself.

That being said, the same way you were taught you language(s); consistency.

Show threadneuromancerJul 8, 2023

How are you going to teach them braille, how are they going to know what they symbols mean?

You can’t show or tell them the meaning, saying that “consistency” is going to do the job doesn’t make any sense.

Show threadfknJul 8, 2023
Touch based communication is a thing that exists. Some cultures count based on where they touch, for example, not by showing some number of fingers. The basics, however, involve consistency in the language taught. While there is no common, to my knowledge, touch based language it is possible for the basics of communication to be performed through touch alone and as long as the language was consistently used the individual would be able to learn it the same as sign language or spoken language. From that point it would be possible to bootstrap braille, and from there a more complex language model.
Show threadtjJul 8, 2023

By that logic, how do you learn to talk? Before you understand language, no one can explain the meaning of words to you.

I imagine this happens the same way. You "bootstrap" language by introducing a few touch signs and go from there.

Show threadjocanibJul 8, 2023
That’s true for all of us. We work it out from context and eventually become fluent in whatever language(s) we are exposed to.
Show threadderf82Jul 8, 2023

Teach them tactile signs and go from there.

Watch The Miracle Worker for a notable famous example.

Tactile signing - Wikipedia

Show threadscarabicJul 8, 2023

Helen Keller naturally came to my mind as well. She was not born blind and deaf though. She lost those sense at 19 months, so about a year and a half in. That is still quite young, but enough to establish the basis for things like object permanence and 3 dimensional space. In the climatic scene of The Miracle Worker, the main character says a word she learned as a baby, underscoring the importance of her early months.

To truly be born deaf and blind I think would be another degree more challenging.