Characteristics
Blindness, in itself, does not seem to be an impediment to learning mathematics. Indeed, history shows that there have been a number of very successful blind mathematicians, perhaps the most well known being Euler (1707–1783), who became blind in the latter part of his life, and Saunderson (1682–1739) who lost his sight during his first year. Jackson (2002), in his consideration of the work of these and more contemporary blind mathematicians, suggests that the lack of access to the visual field does not diminish a person’s ability to visualize – but modifies it, since spatial imagination amongst those who do not see with their eyes relies on tactile and auditory activity. This would suggest that to understand the learning processes of blind mathematics learners, it is important to investigate how the particular ways in which they access and process information shapes their mathematical knowledge and the learning trajectories through which it is attained.
Vygotsky’s work...
Keywords
- Blind mathematics learners
- Perception and cognition
- Visualization
- Auditory representations
- Tactile representations
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Fernandes SHAA, Healy L, Martins EG, Rodrigues MAS, Souza FR (2011) Ver e ouvir a Matemática com uma calculadora colorida e musical: estratégias para incluir aprendizes surdos e aprendizes cegos nas salas de aulas. In: Pletsch MD, Damasceno AR (eds) Educação Especial e inclusão escolar: reflexões sobre o fazer pedagógico. EDUR = Editora da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Seropédica, pp 97–111
Healy L, Fernandes SHAA (2011) The role of gestures in the mathematical practices of those who do not see with their eyes. Educ Stud Math 77:157–174
Jackson A (2002) The world of blind mathematicians. Not Am Math Soc 49(10):1246–1251
Leuders J (2012) Auditory teaching material for the inclusive classroom with blind and sighted students. In: Proceedings of the 12th international congress on mathematical education, Seoul
Marcone R, Penteado MG (2013) Teaching mathematics for blind students: a challenge at the university. Int J Res Math Educ 3(1):23–35
Vygotsky L (1997) Obras escogidas V–Fundamentos da defectología [The fundamentals of defectology] (trans: Blank JG). Visor, Madrid
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Healy, L., Fernandes, S.H.A.A. (2014). Blind Students, Special Needs, and Mathematics Learning. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4978-8_171
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4978-8_171
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4977-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4978-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law