Coming to Our Senses: A Boy Who Learned to See, a Girl Who Learned to Hear, and How We All Discover the World
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-06-20 03:19:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Susan R. Barry
- ISBN：1541675150
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
A neurobiologist reexamines the personal nature of perception in this groundbreaking guide to a new model for our senses。
We think of perception as a passive， mechanical process， as if our eyes are cameras and our ears microphones。 But as neurobiologist Susan R。 Barry argues， perception is a deeply personal act。 Our environments， our relationships， and our actions shape and reshape our senses throughout our lives。
This idea is no more apparent than in the cases of people who gain senses as adults。 Barry tells the stories of Liam McCoy， practically blind from birth， and Zohra Damji， born deaf， in the decade following surgeries that restored their senses。 As Liam and Zohra learned entirely new ways of being， Barry discovered an entirely new model of the nature of perception。 Coming to Our Senses is a celebration of human resilience and a powerful reminder that， before you can really understand other people， you must first recognize that their worlds are fundamentally different from your own。
We think of perception as a passive， mechanical process， as if our eyes are cameras and our ears microphones。 But as neurobiologist Susan R。 Barry argues， perception is a deeply personal act。 Our environments， our relationships， and our actions shape and reshape our senses throughout our lives。
This idea is no more apparent than in the cases of people who gain senses as adults。 Barry tells the stories of Liam McCoy， practically blind from birth， and Zohra Damji， born deaf， in the decade following surgeries that restored their senses。 As Liam and Zohra learned entirely new ways of being， Barry discovered an entirely new model of the nature of perception。 Coming to Our Senses is a celebration of human resilience and a powerful reminder that， before you can really understand other people， you must first recognize that their worlds are fundamentally different from your own。
Reviews
Pat Brown
，
The author of this book focuses on two people--Liam McCoy and Zohra Damji who obtain intraocular lenses and a cochlear implant respectively as teenagers--and how they adjusted to their new worlds of sight and sound。 The author was intrigued by studies of adults who had undergone operations and were able to see or hear for the first time， and instead of it improving their lives， the patients became depressed and their health deteriorated。 The author herself had been cross-eyed since she was a bab The author of this book focuses on two people--Liam McCoy and Zohra Damji who obtain intraocular lenses and a cochlear implant respectively as teenagers--and how they adjusted to their new worlds of sight and sound。 The author was intrigued by studies of adults who had undergone operations and were able to see or hear for the first time， and instead of it improving their lives， the patients became depressed and their health deteriorated。 The author herself had been cross-eyed since she was a baby and only as a middle-aged adult did therapy allow her to see in stereo。 In essence， the older a person is， the harder it becomes for them to adapt。 For Liam， things that sighted people learn from a young age and take for granted--mirrors， windows， reflections， shadows and judging height， depth and size--were very difficult for him。 For Zohra， she had no context of what objects made what sounds and how to locate sounds。 The author posits that rehabilitation programs and training are essential for patients to learn to adapt to their new senses。 The author did a good job of making the medical jargon accessible to the lay reader。 。。。more
Kristine
，
Coming to Our Senses by Susan R。 Barry is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early June。This book is about the problematic effect of returning a sense to someone who had gone without it for most of their lives， while gaining fear， uncertainty， and many new parameters with which to gauge and navigate the world。 Barry draws from research on physiology， real data， and outcomes of testing， but it's far less the book than I thought it would be （not meeting its full potential， nor well-roundedness） Coming to Our Senses by Susan R。 Barry is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early June。This book is about the problematic effect of returning a sense to someone who had gone without it for most of their lives， while gaining fear， uncertainty， and many new parameters with which to gauge and navigate the world。 Barry draws from research on physiology， real data， and outcomes of testing， but it's far less the book than I thought it would be （not meeting its full potential， nor well-roundedness）。 。。。more
lucía
，
*i received and ARCs of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*"by year eight， it was thought， the brain was not plastic enough to allow for the development of a new sense。"despite how informative this book was， it did not feel like info dumping for me。 we get to follow liam and zohra's stories from the beginning， through all the hardships and successes。 didn't expect butloved the mention of 2020 and how mask—wearing shifted our way of communicating， both for hearing people and *i received and ARCs of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*"by year eight， it was thought， the brain was not plastic enough to allow for the development of a new sense。"despite how informative this book was， it did not feel like info dumping for me。 we get to follow liam and zohra's stories from the beginning， through all the hardships and successes。 didn't expect butloved the mention of 2020 and how mask—wearing shifted our way of communicating， both for hearing people and those with auditory difficulties。 the book is accompanied by really helpful images of optical illusions and great explanations on why they do work， or not。sensory perception is a fascinating subject i knew little about but i knew i was deeply interested in because of my human language class。 this book felt like an extension of that and just solidified how fascinating i found the way our brains work， how they adapt to any circumstances， how crucial the very first years of life are in our future。 。。。more
Akindle
，
I got this book on NetGalley as an ARC。 Getting it as an ARC doesn’t affect my review。I liked this book。 It talked about blind or deaf people regaining hearing or sight， respectively。 It was interesting how it wasn’t easy for them to use the implanted lenses（in the case of the blind boy） or the implant（in the deaf girl）。 I learned that blind people don’t always embrace the sense of sight great in the long term as they end up being confused with things like lines and angles and shadows。 The whole I got this book on NetGalley as an ARC。 Getting it as an ARC doesn’t affect my review。I liked this book。 It talked about blind or deaf people regaining hearing or sight， respectively。 It was interesting how it wasn’t easy for them to use the implanted lenses（in the case of the blind boy） or the implant（in the deaf girl）。 I learned that blind people don’t always embrace the sense of sight great in the long term as they end up being confused with things like lines and angles and shadows。 The whole “belongingness” is hard for people who gain new senses。 With the author’s vision issue that made her have to have therapy as an adult to finally be able to have stereo vision， it helps us understand the issues that blind and deaf people face in their lives。 I think I would read more like this on NetGalley from this author。 。。。more
Melise
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