working with children: June 2013

Cooking is one of the best modes of expression which, like many Pakistani ladies, is also used by my sister. Like my sister, we all have our own methods of expression. While working at “Ida Rieu: School and College for Blind and Deaf,” I realized that visually impaired children are comfortable using music to express themselves, while hearing impaired children prefer painting.

Visually impaired children are fond of singing. When I was helping them with their public speaking skills, asking them to sing a song was the best way to make them take the floor and face the audience. They are always ready to form a choir and sing for you. The following praise does wonders for them. Not all teachers, however, are supportive which can have a negative impact on their personalities. Both, teachers and parents are responsible as their words are of tremendous impact. A normal person can tell by seeing into the eyes of the audience that magic has been created, but for a visually impaired, the only evidence is the audience’s generous applause.

Speech Craft: The New Stage : http://professionaltoastmaster.blogspot.com/2011/11/speech-craft-new-stage.html

Hearing impaired children, on the other hand, are comfortable expressing themselves through their artwork. Paint brushes and colours are not only cheap but also allow them to be creative on a piece of plain paper. Their expression can stretch from a simplest idea to the most complex concept. However, this does not mean that they are imprisoned within these limits: The visually impaired can draw and the hearing impaired can sing, too.

Artwork by the hearing impaired children at Ida Rieu

In China’s southern Guangxi province, Zeng Bailiang has spent almost 40 years teaching art to the visually impaired, most of whom are orphans. There are also other institutions in the world which teach art to the visually impaired, but Zeng’s techniques are quite different as he uses brush strokes on a special paper, letting the students feel the wet and dry areas of the paper. Instead of viewing art as an “aesthetic form,” he views it as an “emotive form.”

China's blind painters: http://www.aljazeera.com/video/asia-pacific/2011/01/2011117184521277375.html

In China, Blind Students Learn Art and Self-Esteem: http://www.care2.com/causes/in-china-blind-students-learn-art-and-self-esteem.html

Coloring the darkness: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2011-02/16/content_12023942.htm

In the eleventh episode of the first season of the American T.V. series, “Glee,” a new perspective was shared with the world with respect to singing by the hearing impaired. The name of the episode was “Hairography” and a choir of deaf children was shown performing over John Lennon's "Imagine." The hearing impaired child with developed speech was singing by using both, his speech and sign language, while the rest were singing only through sign language.

"Glee" Hairography (TV episode 2009) - IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1442933/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

Christine Ha, aged 34, became the first visually impaired contestant in the third season of the “US MasterChief” in 2012. She not only won the contest but also amazed the world with her culinary skills. She gradually lost her vision but proved to the world that it wasn’t a hurdle in her expression and creative skills. She is now looked up at as an inspiration by many such children in Pakistan.

This Blind Cook Just Took Home $250K After Winning 'MasterChef': http://www.businessinsider.com/blind-contestant-wins-masterchef-2012-9

In the edition of June, 2012 of Toastmasters Magazine, an article, “Tara Miller: LACKING SIGHT, BUT NOT VISION” by Julie Bawden-Davis was published. It was about a visually impaired photographer who used her senses while taking the photo. However, she has to enlarge that particular photo by 400 percent on the computer screen afterwards. In 2012, she won several awards for her picture, “Fortuitous Twilight.”

Tara Miller: LACKING SIGHT, BUT NOT VISION: http://magazines.toastmasters.org/display_article.php?id=1058142&id_issue=110955

Singing and painting are not the only creative ways which hearing and visually impaired children use to communicate. When it comes to non-verbal communication, body language is considered to be one of the best ways to express oneself, especially during the interpersonal communication and public speaking. Most of the hearing impaired children exercise and appear confident because they have command, not only on their body language, but also over their motor skills. Their face is full of countless expressions and emotions. On the other hand, slouching of shoulders by the visually impaired children makes them appear less confident. Children who are partially sighted copy others’ body language and improve. It is also very easy to explain the proper use of the body language to those children who were never visually impaired by birth but gradually lost their sight.

Comfortable using body language because he became visually impaired later in life

Comfortable using body language because he is partially sighted

Visually impaired child will often slouch.

Visually impaired children can, however, win your hearts through their command over speech. They are well equipped in properly formulating beautiful words and phrases while carefully judging the circumstances and the environment around them. They are able to present themselves more sophisticatedly in this manner. This also reveals another aspect of their personality which is their emotional fragility. They can easily be hurt, and therefore, anyone who is working with them, needs to take extra precaution.

To perceive world through one’s senses is a gift which almost everyone enjoys, but to be able to express is not. Not everyone is blessed with this endowment. Even though these children are not fully equipped with all the senses, they are still able to put to good use those available to them.

working with children

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The Gift of Expression