For the past six months I have been working with a woman who is both deaf and blind. The amount of vision and hearing she has is undetermined. We just don’t know how much she sees and hears the world. As her Intervenor I have focused on opening up the world of art for her and she amazes me in each of our Sensory Art sessions.
I’ve had to draw on all my knowledge and experiences gained as a Preschool Resource Teacher and Occupational Therapy Aide in order to support her in developing her art process…At times I worried when I got caught up in the left analytical mode of my thinking that the art process was somehow getting left behind. I also felt at times that my role as an artist was falling to the way side. I saw the challenges involved in creating a format for her to experience the art process from a developmental and therapeutic perspective. All I knew was that we had to overcome some rather large barriers together for her to experience the art process, not as me putting her through the motions of an experience but with her leading the way from her intrinsic desire to connect with the world. My heart simply spelled it out that Trust was a huge issue and I focused on establishing that first while my brain went into hyper speed sorting and digging for the solutions, the keys to unlock her from her limited world.
I have followed her lead patiently waiting for her motivation and desire to connect with myself and the art materials to become stronger then her tactile defensiveness. Her automatic response to touch is to instantly pull away. She has made remarkable progress and clearly expresses her excitement and love for the Sensory Art process. Currently she enjoys Tap painting and Vibrational Painting. As she is just starting to tolerate the feel of paint on her hands we use a textured mat and place the paint on the paper with another piece of paper over top she then rubs the paper, taps it and scratches it we imitate each other communicating with our gestures. Often when she feels the textured mat she moves her hands independently back to the paper and continues to tap and rub the paper, I can feel her waiting for me to join back in the imitation game. When I open up her work and show her what she has created she gazes intently at it. Shifting her head into what we consider unnatural positions while blinking her eyes. I can see her processing her picture and she smiles at her creation and then directly at me…
Below is the same image of her original Tap painting from above. As I played with it digitally I found the freedom and space I needed to connect with her as an artist too…I can only imagine how she sees the world, and as I blurred the background transforming it into black and white. I realized this is a huge part of the Intervenor role. As an Intervenor when I communicate with her I am focusing on and observing keenly which sense she is utilizing. I use concrete cues for her to touch, the spoken word and exact sign language. In a way I blur all the unnecessary information from the environment and help bring to focus the pertinent information that she needs to understand in her own unique way in that moment. It always changes…but my goal is to help her anticipate what is coming next so she can make choices in her life and feels a sense of control and is empowered.
In the course of these very short six months I have not only come to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the complexity of the barriers to a person who is both deaf and blind. But also I have developed a deeper understanding of my own artistic heart. As I watch her leading the way in overcoming fears, and conditioning in order to risk, and take chances while innocently and humbly giving and receiving love unconditionally without any limitations or barriers. She profoundly reminds everyone who has the privilege to know her that…What is essential is invisible to the eye. ~Antoine de Sainte-Exupury~
