Making sense of our world

What has society lost through its avoidance of the tactile, and how and why should you make the best of what you have?

Perception is a complex process that essentially creates a meaningful picture of the world around us by linking what we see, hear, taste, smell and touch with what we are becoming aware of. But what happens when one or more of these senses is deficient or absent? Much of what we learn about ourselves and the world around us comes through our sight and hearing. Lacking these two ‘distance senses’, dual-sensory impaired (deafblind) people find that their mobility, communication and access to information is usually greatly affected. Conversely, might it be that deafblind individuals have better touch sensitivity due, in part, to touch taking over the visual part of the brain? Join David and Mark as they use interactive demonstration to explore the link between perception and sensory development and take a particular look at CHARGE Syndrome – multi sensory impairment in its most extreme form. What do behaviours mean – self-stimulation or self-regulation? Just what happens when all the senses go wrong?
David Brown has worked as an Education Specialist since 1983 and for California Deaf-Blind Services in San Francisco since 2000. He has a special interest in the role played by the tactile, vestibular, and proprioceptive senses in the development of children with deafblindness.

Mark Lythgoe is a neurophysiologist and lecturer in radiology and physics at the Institute of Child Health, London. Mark has special interests in the interplay between art and science and in encouraging the public to share in the world of science.

This event is in association with Sense.

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