Our Dominant Sense

I think we depend WAY too much on our sense of sight.  Have you thought about how everything we do is conditioned for it?  Look at this,  check it out!, a must see, hey watch this!, don't miss this in HD, and so on.  Of our 5 senses (some argue there are 6) I feel we are sight dominant, a sense that would be extremely difficult to go without in our everyday society.  Even people who are simply color-blind feel somewhat handicapped getting around.  Sure, I depend on my other senses for smelling, feeling, hearing and touching and appreciate them greatly... but I know people personally that go without some of their senses on a daily basis and they make do.  In fact, their other functioning senses compensate and are heightened as they are more keenly in tune with them (almost like they get turned up a notch).  For example, my deaf friend in high school was so observant and could sense when people were in the same room without even looking, she could read lips from across the gym and she also had the most incredible sense of smell and knew people and objects by their scent.  Many animals in nature are the same way (think of insects, moles, bats, etc).

As many of you know, my 3 year old daughter Nora is legally blind without her glasses.  In fact her prescription is so incredibly strong that more times than not, the Optometrist and Lab Techs can't get the lens thickness accurate for such small glasses.  Recently, we had to go back 4 different times for fittings and adjustments on her lenses because they couldn't get them right for her condition (and technically, they still aren't right).  Nora is extremely dependent on those glasses too.  They are the first thing she looks for when she wakes up and the last thing she takes off at bed (do you blame her?).  She is known to go into "freak-out mode" if she doesn't have her glasses on.

So last night I did an experiment...

After I tucked her into bed, turned the lights out and took the glasses off,  she announced she had to go potty (big surprise).  So instead of giving her the glasses which she was comfortable with, I asked her to try and go potty tonight without her glasses on.  Of course she protested and complained simply, "But I can't see, Mommy!"  I replied "Yes I know, Sweetie, but lets just try to do it without them this time. I will help you OK?"  She hesitantly agreed and off we went.  She got out of bed herself, stumbling a bit but then started feeling around for the door.  Then I helped her understand that she was now in the hallway because she was off the carpet and could feel the hardwood on her bare feet.  She proceeded until she felt the cold tile floor in the bathroom.  She did manage to feel her way to the toilet and do her business with little help (it was a game to her now). Then she only wanted to wash her hands by herself.  She made her way to the sink, found her step stool, climbed up and turned the water on.... "ouch, too hot!"  so she adjusted the water temperature.  I stood there watching in amazement that my little girl was adjusting and using her other senses to lead her through a task where her dominant sight sense always takes over.  It was a fascinating experiment.  And I was most pleased when she made it back to her bed and exclaimed in pride:  "I did it, Mommy! All by myself!"

Did the whole going potty process take twice as long?  Sure it did, but I feel like it was an exercise that gave her confidence and helped her understand that the glasses are great, but she could manage without them (with more practice) if she had to.

Something to think about... how sight dominant are you???