Objective
The project looks at using insights and
learnings from the visually impaired and transpiring that to create art
installations or products.
Report
Our first interaction at the Rakum School was
with Mrs. Vasantha, who is second in command for the Indiranagar school after
Sri Achraya Rakum himself. She teaches English to the students preparing for
IAS and it was here where we met Mahendra, Vivek and Bhavya. All three have
completed their Masters in English and Sociology.
Our attention were drawn to the sheer speed
with which all three could write and even keep up with the Mrs. Vasantha; she
wasn’t making things easy for them. This strict disciplined schedule that is
followed is made and abide by is for preparing them for the life they wait to
face outside Rakum.
The students used a special Braille tablet and
stylus to create braille impressions. Their method of writing reminded us
of sewing machines and how they were embroidering their words on to the used
newspaper, which was converted into notebooks. It was astounding to learn that
they write from right to left and read from left to write, what amazed us was
how effortlessly they could accomplish this.
We also observed the students in math class,
where they were at the level of solving complex calculus problems. After
sitting through the class it seemed as though math was a harder subject, yet
they confidently told us that it’s actually very simple. For math they have a
particular grid, which looks similar to the one they use for writing in
braille. However here they use it to work out calculations by inserting plastic
chips that have to be angled particularly to denote each number.
The only difficulty is that they have to retain
a lot of their calculations because the grid only holds a certain number of
chips at once. It seemed very complicated to us, but they were able to solve
the math sums with ease and mentally calculate within minutes.
After spending the entire day observing the
behaviour of the students at the school, we could see that the visually
impaired students are extremely well behaved and respectful. They are always
helpful to one another be it holding each others hand to navigate through the
campus or adjusting their seating arrangement to accommodate us in their class
room. The attitude with which they were eager to learn, share with us and their
always-smiling nature really filled the school with happy, positive
energy. We noticed while sitting in on the classes, was that each
student is different in the manner in which they touch and feel objects. Some
are gentle when using their tools to write, while others are a bit more
aggressive and use more force. Some could find their way across the campus with
minimal help and just by feeling the walls and counting their steps, while
others needed a guide. Though each student’s is very different from one
another, they are all extremely perceptive and could even notice when one of
our students was a bit apprehensive when the school’s dog approached her.
Our two days at Rakum School have given us a
lot of insight into how the visually impaired sense the world around them and
have clarified several assumptions that we had before our visit. We are looking
forward to incorporate our learnings into our project.
