Exploring Senses with Kai
Our senses are very important to us to live as humans. We listen to music, drive our cars, pet our dogs, etc. But what happens when we no longer have our senses? How does that change the way we live? How can we use our senses to enhance other ones?
When a sense is weakened or impaired, people rely on their other senses to enhance the others. A person with impaired vision tends to use their hearing and some maybe use their voice to aid them. According to WebMD, people can use finger snaps, mouth clicks, and humming as a way to figure out how far they are from an object or person. They can also distinguish what textures objects are by tapping things and listening for the sound. For example, tapping a piece of metal has a distinct sound.
Kai (pronounced “Kay”) Roseburgh, 10, is a visually impaired student here at SJHS. With the help of her cane, she is able to get through her day at school.
“There is a method I use with my cane, I tap from side to side on the ground. If the taps sound more echoey, I am probably in a not-very-busy hallway. If sounds are not echoey, that tells me that hallway is more full.”
Kai also shared another instance where sound is crucial for her– when crossing the street, she can use the relative sound of cars to determine whether they are closer or farther away from her.
As students at St. Joe, we should be aware of Kai and her impairment, so it’s important to listen to the advice she can give us to make both of our lives easier.
“The best thing you could do is move out of the way when I am walking. I like to walk fast, but it might be hard for me to move out of the way. One of the things that makes me roll my eyes is when people walk over my cane. When walking through the halls, I do not tap, I sweep. If people walk over it, I usually hit them and it’s frustrating.”
Through music, Kai is able to express herself. While not having a specific genre or artist, she prefers to listen to soundtracks, specifically the “Steven Universe” soundtrack.
She also noted that music has a different experience for her than others, saying “I perceive music in a different way than others. As soon as I hear music, it puts me in this atmosphere, like in a synthetic way. A certain kind of music has a color to it.”
With her impairment, accommodations are needed for Kai to go throughout her day. She wants us to know, though, that she does not want to be treated differently because of them.
“Sometimes I feel bad about the accommodations I receive in class, like using my phone. I use my phone as a tool to help me, I take pictures and zoom in with my camera. I don't want that to come across as ‘special treatment’,”
Throughout her life, Kai has seen different behaviors, both inclusive and exclusive, portrayed by society.
“Out in the community, I get stared at a lot when I bring my cane outside. When I was younger, I would tell kids I was visually impaired, and they would always hold their fingers up and ask how many fingers they were holding up,” Kai expressed.
She feels that the facilities commonly found in the general public, like crosswalks and grocery stores, are inclusive and helpful to the disabled community. However, society still has a long way to go to be non-discriminatory towards impaired persons.
Kai wanted to leave us with the fact that being flexible is the key to being more inclusive, and that “Not all people that use canes are blind, I do have sight. I learned how to read, and I know how to read braille. I am not completely blind, but there are things I have to work with.”