Concepts constitute the foundation of our world. Senses introduce us to that world. Hearing. Smell. Taste. Touch. Vision. When one is lacking we train the others to compensate.

Imagine an O&M lesson with a 5-year-old bombarded with transportation sounds. Suddenly he says, "What's that sound?" Unexpectedly, a seemingly insignificant sound is the only sound he heard. You stand there dumbfounded, hearing the plane overhead, the passing car, the nearby train. You ask, "What sound?" "That sound!" You turn and see an empty pop can rolling down the street….

Had you never been exposed to a blind child or had any formal education in the blindness field you would be unfamiliar with the importance of the remaining senses utilized daily when travelling or engaging in activities of daily living. "Exposure to sensory stimuli is important to the development of the [child's] ability to take in information about the world around him…" (Pogrund & Fazzi, 2002, p.331). As professionals we must be knowledgeable about and aware of the senses that a blind child uses daily, "be sensitive to the developing [child's] ability to organize sensory information" (p.331), and determine "how the [child's] sensory skills can be used for orientation purposes within the daily routines" (p.332).

People ask, "Can you hear better because you are blind?" As professionals we must facilitate and enhance the knowledge of and appropriate interaction with blind children of the family, educators, and the general public. We can provide them with interactive in-service training and challenge them to discover how their own senses are connected/interrelated.

Participants will be challenged to rediscover their own senses, moving through a series of stations, simple to complex, representing each sense, concluding with a discussion of their experiences and how to develop their individual "road shows" to benefit their respective organizations and clienteles.