Amman — A gifted blind person is not merely someone who possesses talent despite a visual impairment, but a human being who may have exceptional abilities worthy of being discovered, nurtured, and given the right opportunity to grow and develop. Visual impairment does not mean an absence of the capacity to create, and losing the sense of sight does not mean losing the ability to understand the world or even contribute to changing it.
اضافة اعلان
This is why it is important to shift from a perspective focused on what a person has lost to one that looks at what they possess in terms of capabilities, and from the question "What can he not do?" to the deeper question: "What could he create if given the opportunity?"
From visual impairment to talent
Talent is a complex human phenomenon in which mental abilities, individual predispositions, and experience intertwine with the surrounding environment. It can appear in a blind person across a range of fields, such as mathematical reasoning, language, music, written expression, verbal ability, problem-solving, and technical innovation.
However, discovering talent among people with visual impairments can face challenges, especially since some traditional measurement tools rely on images, shapes, and speed in processing visual information. Using these tools without adapting them may produce an inaccurate picture of the individual's real abilities. A blind student may have an exceptional capacity for abstract thinking, yet be unable to demonstrate it in a test that relies on drawings they cannot access. They may be creative in solving problems, yet the way a task is presented doesn't allow them to express their answer appropriately.
Here lies the responsibility of special education to develop assessment methods that take the nature of visual impairment into account, and separate, as much as possible, the impact of the impairment on task performance from the mental or creative ability being measured.
Talent should not be measured only by what an individual can do in the usual way, but by what they can achieve when unnecessary obstacles in their path are removed.
How does talent manifest in blind people?
Talent in blind individuals can appear in many forms, and no single trait applies to all blind people, since each person has their own abilities, interests, and predispositions.
Intellectual and cognitive talent: Some blind students may show excellence in verbal reasoning, analysis, auditory memory, or abstract thinking. These abilities can be developed through activities that challenge thinking and encourage inference, interpretation, and problem-solving, without assuming that the loss of sight automatically grants these abilities.
Linguistic and literary talent: A gifted blind person may have a striking ability to formulate ideas, build arguments, and write poetry, stories, and essays, with assistive technologies such as screen readers and electronic Braille displays helping to support this.
Musical and artistic talent: Talent can appear in musical composition, performance, artistic appreciation, and vocal creativity. However, musical talent is not an inevitable result of visual impairment; it requires discovery, training, and practice, just like any other talent.
Scientific and technical talent: A blind person may excel in mathematics, programming, data analysis, or developing assistive technical solutions, provided they have access to suitable digital tools and accessible educational materials. This field is particularly important given the rapid and comprehensive technological development underway.
Source: Al-Ghad. Reporting by Dr. Ibrahim Bani Hamdan
Special education specialist
