Deafblind Insights - Joe Gibson
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Dr. Joe Gibson
Outdoor Activities Coordinator; Sense Scotland, Glasgow, Scotland

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Joe Gibson: I think... the outdoors is a... fantastic place to work with the deafblind it's- it's... so sense- sensory laden. It's tactile, you know, tactile-- it's so interesting. The activities are very physical, and lend themselves to be recreated it in signs, in a very- in a very tactile and gross physical way. 

There is lots of equipment to talk about. And none of these benefits, the health, the learning, and the leisure activities, are mutually exclusive. They can all happen at the same time. So, you can be going with a... very communication develop focus-- communication development focus, and still it's healthy, your being active. And it's still fun. While you can go just for leisure, but there's still all the health benefits, and the learning benefits. 

It's a great place for leisure activities, to just go and do activities you enjoy. 
And I think that, in some respects, should be enough. That people, if they like, being outside cycling, or climbing, or canoeing, or whatever the activities, that should be enough. But it can also help them develop their identity as a climber or a cyclist or-- So, there's that leisure activity side of things, and then there's the health... side, where there's benefits, a broad range of benefits to their physical health; cardiovascular, skeletal muscular... benefits. The same as for any of us doing physical activities, but particularly for people who are more sedentary, to be able to get out and do these activities. And then there's mental health exercise. Mental health it's not-- it's well recognized now that there's a... connection between physical activity and mental health. 

And then there's something about nature, and the healing effects of nature. There's research on that of just being outside in the natural environment has a positive effect on our bodies. Don't quite understand how- how that works, but it certainly as has been demonstrated it does work.

And then the third category I would- I would put of the benefits is... broadly learning from a more formal education point of view. It's a great place to learn about the environment and... about the environment, and using the environment to learn more formal subjects. But also, you can learn about yourself. 

And for the deafblind, my research was all about learning to communicate, and learning to develop communication, and using the activities in the environment to develop... communication beyond very functional signs. 

The most crucial aspect is to sort of not expect to do the activity, necessarily, on the first- on the first day. You might not do the climb, or the kayak... session one. But to spend that time scaffolding that concept, of building up from very small- small parts, whether it's the signs. So, for climbing, one of the first time I took... one of the guys climbing, we spent the first few sessions crawling up grassy slopes, getting steeper and steeper, to introduce the sign climb. He'd never seen anybody climb, and so why would that sign mean anything? But when we started to walk on a grassy slope, and then it got steeper, and we had to go down and use our hands, and then we could start to introduce the sign climbing. And then, maybe, try and find a rocky bit that was-- we could still crawl over, easily, but using our hand, so that it tactilely felt like it would when we went to the rock.

There was one young guy who came to the climbing wall with me from a school. And they came on a four week block. And the first week, three of the guys were climbing, and he ran around the climbing wall. The next week, three of the guys climbed, and he ran around with the helmet on. And the third week, he ran around with a helmet and a harness on, while the other three were climbing. And then the fourth week, he ran around with the helmet and the harness on, and as the third person was finishing their climb, he came into the wall and started to climb it. I was like tying the rope on as he was climbing up the wall. And it had taken him those three weeks to get comfortable in the place. So, at that time for that build up and the understanding.

So, that's the introducing the sign concept of it. And then the equipment side; getting used to the equipment. Some of the guys, putting harnesses on and straps, because of their histories and helmets might not be a good thing; it might take time to develop. Okay, this is not a bad helmet. This is a... this is okay to wear this helmet, it doesn't mean I've done something wrong. Or this, I'm not going to be restrained with this strap thing, it's just to protect me. And then the contact to the rope, so that-- I can- I can jump off this thing and be held, and swing around. Or it might be to explore the canoe, before you get in it, and sit on it, in it-- on the land and feel okay this rocks, but I can touch the land the side. And then go into the shallow water, and I can feel the bottom, even when I'm rocking, and put my hand through the water. So, there's a building up of the concept of the... of the equipment, and the signs that might be might be needed beforehand. 

It's going with... the likes of the individual. So, if you've got an individual who likes swimming and likes water. I would start- start there. Start on the boats and the rafting, or even simply like a stand up paddle, or you can use an old surfboard, or old windsurf to get out on the water. There's less things to worry about... equipment wise. So, I would certainly start with the... interest and likes of of the... person you're thinking of. 

Also, sometimes, you know, I talked a lot about the climbing, and people like to see the videos of the climbing, and the skiing, and the big activities. For me as a facilitator, they're great, and they are the sort of the show reel activities that people like to see, but often there's a lot of thought, you're having to think about the safety, there's equipment involved. There's a lot of things that's not the relationship with the deafblind person, and their experience that you have to think about, all the time. 

So, sometimes it's the... walking in the woods type activities, the simple things, where you can really focus on the relationship between the two of you, and... how it's going to how it's going to pan out, and what things you might find, and how you can explain things that you find. So, sometimes I think... the simpler things are a better place to start, and it certainly helps build up that level of trust. So, then, when you go caving, together, and they get a bit agitated, and they feel you're there. Oh, okay, I can calm down, because your-- and I trust you, beacuse we've done- we've done stuff.

And I think we also have to think about how we frame the activity itself. So, it's it's very typical in the UK to-- and certainly in the older... centers, or in the past, you would have your climbing day, and you would drive to a crag climb, up come back down again, and drive away again. Or you'd go on a canoeing session, and you would canoe go out, and canoe back, and then drive away. What's the point of that? Why are you doing that? It's really-- it really makes no sense. And the climbing wall is a... good example of that, for people who cant see, because you never get to the top. You know, when you climb outside, you climb and you come over the top of the crag, and then you're at the top, and you maybe have a cup of tea, and sit down and talk about it. And the climbing wall you touch the roof or the pulley at the top. But you don't get anywhere. You then come back down to the bottom and... beyond practicing the skills, this- this-- we've not have gone anywhere!

So, I think that how we frame the activities, how we... sell it, is a crucial... is a crucial aspect. And I've started to use the idea of a journey, as a way of fitting the activities into a story. And then you can- you can talk about it beforehand. We're going- we go for a walk in the woods, and we-- I might have planned, okay, but we're going to come across a river. And when we're in the woods, and that's a big surprise, and I think we'll have the equipment either in the bag, or I'll have left the equipment that we need to cross the river. So, that becomes the big high point of the journey; that we walk and then come back... on our journey. 

And we've got this story, then, to talk about. We're walking, we did this, and then we did that, and then we came across the river, and we had to-- and they're real, authentic feelings that come up, in a sequence that's easily understandable as to why you've done this activity, why you've done this thing. It doesn't have to be a wild, wild wilderness place, because if you cant see or hear. When you're outside your regular... place and off a path, you're in the wilderness. You can you can step off the path, you know. Nick's on the road here, and you'll be in the wilderness, if you are deafblind. 

And sometimes I wonder what the climbing-- for some people it might be a completely different activity, especially those you can't see at all. One of the guys... I did a lot of work after his first time, about the helmet. He was very focused on talking about the helmet. And when you look at the videos, the first climbs, all the way through his first ever climb. He's touching his- his helmet, or his hat, and I didn't notice it, as I'm climbing with him. And I keep taking his hands and putting-- this is how you climb. This is not the time to be talking about the helmet. But he had a history of being restrained with a helmet. And when we had the conversation, again, that's what he wanted to talk about. And eventually, I realized this is what he wanted to talk about, and we started to work on... when he got me to buckle the helmet up, and then didn't let go of my hands, and then slowly that increased the amount of time that he would leave. 

And on reflection, and talking to people, we realized, okay this is about this- this past history of helmets, and bad helmets. And it became his signal to finish climbing. And then when he would go climbing-- whenever he took my hand, to the buckle, we would finish and come down. And then he started to sort of test that, at different levels. And right at the beginning, "Would you still- would you still let me finish?" And then-- I started to wonder, maybe, this is a different thing for him. Maybe climbing is the activity where, "I have control." And that frame it as important, because it's the one time of the day that I can control exactly when it stops. Because I can take those hands, and put them to the buckle, and I know we will come down and take the helmet off. Or it may be, because he can't see the top, maybe, he likes swinging on the rope, and we have to climb a little bit. But I know that taking Joe's hand, and the buckle, means well then let go of the wall and swing. And that's when we have our swing, on the way down, you know, as a way to finishing. But it's maybe-- it's the swing for him that's the... fun bit about climbing.

And then, definitely, I do a lot of work... after. Whether it's using art work and liaising with the art tutors to tell the story, or using the art to do a bit more learning, to understand why, and to categorize things, and sort things out; different environmental things we've collected, or to have a conversation afterwards. So, I think there's definitely those elements of before, during, and after.

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