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"The world comes towards us and we come towards the world. We can touch and get to know each other."
The meaning of haptic pictures for blind people
Blind children are offered a new dimension of discovery through haptic (typhlographical) pictures. They enable the blind to explore even those things that are unreachable for them. They can touch objects that are far (the sun, the moon, clouds), too big (houses, cars) or too small (a ladybird, a butterfly).
In blind children the haptic pictures develop their touch.
Through haptic pictures they get to know simple shapes, learn to distinguish size, recognize planes, lines, find out what is the same and what is different. They encounter various material properties – hard, soft, smooth, rough etc. The development of touch in blind children is a perfect training and necessary preparation for lessons of Braille system. They train themselves in soft movements and recognition abilities. They learn to examine both the whole and the details.
By examining relief (haptic) pictures the children are trained also in micro orientation (orientation in plane). They learn to distinguish what is up and what is down, what is to the left, to the right, next to, above, under, far, near. They will use these pieces of information in the future for orientation in space and independent movement. By investigating the haptic pictures with their parents a child trains and widens its vocabulary. The child learns to assign names to specific symbols and thus to create imaginations of the world.
Touch also brings aesthetical experience to the children. They realize what is pleasant, what is unpleasant, what is interesting and what do they like or dislike. By spending time with a blind child with a haptic book we satisfy the child’s important need – sharing, interest and support.
The abilities listed above can be developed with the help of haptic books and toys in my offer.