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Forum  > Cognitive Enhancement  > Blindness and the brain
Questions of \"modalities\" and familiar mechanisms of apprehension
Author Message
louderback
posted on July 17, 2005 11:33:15 AM
One of many who lost their sight in middle age, I find myself divorced from many familiar mechanisms for the apprehension and understanding of my surroundings. I have been a \"book a day\" reader for some 30 years. I find now that reading via braille or audio books is unbearably tedious. I formerly read in excess of 1500 words a minute. I did this easily, \"automatically\", and with little effort of concentration. The fastest braille readers seldom approach 400 wpm, and few not blind from birth ever achieve 100wpm. Audio books can be speeded up to over 300wpm, but who wants to listen to Wuthering Heights read by Alvin the Chipmunk. In both cases I find the level of concentration involved, even after a couple of years of practice is prohibitive. Have you encountered any similar problems in your studies? I am unable to find a substitute for reading and it seems to me that there is little expertise out there for retraining readers to listeners (or braillers).
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