psy 101

1. What would your world be like if you were unable to experience external sensory stimulation? Be sure to include vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, and pain in your response. Include your thoughts about how culture affects the way individuals with sensory impairments, such as visual and hearing impairments, are viewed and treated.

Living in this day in age, knowing how to use technology has become extremely important. Everything we do now days using a computer, tablet, smart phone or some other advanced gadget. To be without external sensory stimulation in today’s technological world would depend on if I was born without or if it was a belated loss.
If I lacked my sense of smell, it would affect my taste, as they are linked; there are surgical advancements that can help alleviate the “handicap.” Similarly, touch and pain are linked.
To be without the ability to see, there are technological aids to make up for it. A machine, Scriptalk, reads prescription bottle labels to let the patient know what is within and how to take it and audible books would allow for enjoying books without sight, just to name a few ways to adapt in today’s society. Likewise, to be deaf has adaptations.
If I was blind, I know I would miss the joy of seeing my wife’s smile, a beautiful sunset, or even the beautiful view on the top of a mountain after a hike. If I was without my hearing, I would miss out on music, which touches my heart and gives me bliss or being able to hear my wife telling me she loves out loud. I would miss the sense of smell the least, only because it is sensitive right now and can trigger a migraine; sadly, it would cause my taste buds to be affected. Many cultures see the loss of senses as handicaps that lessen a person. If I was without all external stimulation, it would be a very closed off world for me, especially if I lost my senses as an adult, but I don’t think it would make me less of a person.