In class we have discussed sensory impairments before and the vision simulations seemed very similar to those we have done in the past. I did find the hearing simulations extremely interesting as I feel we have not discussed those nearly as much as the vision ones. I also have personal experience with someone with a hearing impairment, as my father is legally deaf due to fighting in Vietnam and an accident at work. The simulations gave me an appreciation to what he hears when he is in certain situations. He has always complained about background noises before but until I listened to the simulations of the party I could not imagine what he meant. I can now see how background noise could drown out any conversations that are happening and how it could make a person want to avoid noisy situations. I also now realize why he misses so many things during group conversations because everything must sound so muffled. I have always though that just talking louder to those with hearing impairments would allow them to hear you but if they can only hear muffles, I imagine that they will just hear louder muffles.
The simulations also made me realize how much a little extra noise in a classroom may affect students with hearing impairments. So many students shift in their seats, tap their pens and fiddle with whatever is in front of them that they are constantly making noise. This excess noise could be very detrimental to a student with hearing impairments and could ensure that they miss what is really going on in the classroom.
The refreshable braille reader could be very helpful to those with vision and hearing impairments. Originally when I looked at it I didn’t think it was necessary. I didn’t understand why students couldn’t just have the screen read to them. Now I realize that it is another tool to help them and if a student is both visual and hearing impaired that they would not be able to hear the screen reader. This machine would ensure that students would still be able to access information on the computer
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