An Individual Uses Vision as a First Responder

At the beginning of my talk at the KISS meeting a couple of years ago, I slammed my hand on the table and shouted Listen Up! As I watched each of those in attendance, to a person all LOOKED up to me to determine what was coming next. Not a single person turned their ear to “LISTEN” without first engaging through the process of looking.

A loud sound does not initiate only listening. In fact, vision becomes the initial response to determine the origin of the sound. Vision becomes engaged as soon as the sound is made to give direction and identification. Once an individual begins listening, they are already in the process of looking – the action to determine Where and What. Once location is determined, the What is next initiated through the action of LOOKING. Thus, vision is a first responder.

Listening is not eliminated; it simply that vision must be used to determine Where and What. A barely audible sound might involve closer listening than with a loud sound, however vision still becomes immediately engaged as the locator and identifier. There are many options used in response yet through vision is initiated as a first response to a disruption. It may be a response as simple as intentionally looking toward a sound versus intently attending in the direction of the sound. When any disruption occurs, the Gesell Cycles of Development engage and are led through the processes of vision. One DISRUPTS their current engagement to SORT THINGS OUT, INWARDIZES and then EXPANDS as they look toward the sound, and FITS TOGETHER the sound with their understanding.  

How does a developing baby write their own story? EVERY baby writes their own story. They do it through developing their internal curiosity. What whets their internal curiosity? This curiosity may occur naturally in a few but in most it is a developing process. Each baby must learn through the developmental processes to work within their expanding environment which then shapes their overall development.

Babies do not sit around waiting for something to happen. Babies are naturally curious and engage in everything around themselves. They are instigators of action, and the processes of VISION emerge as the primary explorers, instigators, and influencers. It is a daily expansion of their surrounding environment.

I was conducting a retinoscopy workshop in Thorkild Rasmussen’s office in Denmark in 2012 and saw the book, Developmental Diagnosis by Gesell and Amatruda on his bookshelf. I though I had seen all of Gesell’s books and had a copy of most but this was not one I had seen. When I turned to the third page in the Blindness chapter, the words below struck a chord that sent my mind into a tailspin. I began thinking about that comment throughout the rest of the workshop.

“**The infant is born with visual hunger.**”1

Introduction

I started thinking about this type of communication during the pandemic. I would go into my office periodically and write down thoughts and ideas that came to mind. The more I did this, ideas came forth from many places and I began doing this every day. It may have been a sentence, a paragraph, or even a page, but I was motivated to move my ideas to the written word. I have spent many years developing an understanding of what vision is for, what vision development means, and the critical importance of vision in all aspects of development. My mentors were John Streff and Dick Apell and through them, I was exposed to the landmark works of Arnold Gesell, MD. I would be remiss to not include others who had indirect influence on my thinking and understanding these broader concepts of HOW an individual uses vision throughout life such as Jerry Getman, Bob Kraskin, Paul Harris, Greg Kitchener, and Steve Gallop. But the basis for my understanding of the importance of vision in all of development always goes back to Arnold Gesell.