It has been said that the loss of one sense leads to the others becoming heightened as a natural response to help an individual navigate the world. A 2010 study revealed that visually impaired children are far more likely than fully sighted children to take a ‘significant interest’ in everyday sounds, with 48% of blind children displaying this trait in comparison to 13% of their fully sighted peers. The study also found that blind children were 4,000 times more likely to have perfect pitch, and consequently, a larger percentage of them play an instrument compared to fully sighted children.
‘The way we make sense of the world is through our senses – it’s how we gather data, and visually, it’s very hyperstimulated,’ explains Sandra Schembri, CEO of music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins. ‘If that’s removed, your other senses attune more. It’s not necessarily that they become “stronger”; it’s that you’re tuning more into that sense.’
Read more at: https://www.prsformusic.com/m-magazine/features/access-all-areas-improving-inclusion-for-visually-impaired-artists
