Tactile images don’t give sight to a blind person; they give insight.
By: Dorine in ‘t Veld and Hoëlle Corvest
‘’To be able to read tactile images makes one leave the general impression, the vague notion; the information becomes structured, comprehensible, virtually palpable. And that is a great delight to many blind people!’ (Hoëlle Corvest).
The world of touch
As we know, the world of touch is very different from the world of sight. The world of touch is much more intense and direct, intimate almost.
The picture shown here, of a young blind lady exploring a replica of a nymph, illustrates this in kind of a lovely way. The head of the nymph is bent to the young lady, the young lady is full of admiration and wonder. Both seem to like the encountering.
The possibilities of knowing reality through touch and especially through touching 2D pictures, are not really well known or researched. In the present situation in most coutries there is a lack of good and quickly easily available tactile images, as well in education as for adults. A lot of blind adult people never learnt to use tactile images and therefore think it is too difficult and not worthwhile.
This situation makes it difficult to do reliable research; it takes both good images and trained people to explore the potential of the use of tactile images. Yet there are pioneers who have understood the importance, need and possibilities. These pioneers are invited to share their experience here, which hopefully will lead to more cooperation.
FAQ’s about tactile images; read them as an introduction or pick specific questions
Workshops in the Musée des Sciences and the Louvre on reading tactile images