Completing this trust walk was a very revealing and somewhat humbling experience for me. While guiding my partner who was completely blindfolded, I realized that so much of how we interact with others relied on sight. I often found myself pointing at things in her line of sight to lead the way, only to remember that she couldn’t see. Overall, I found it difficult to instruct someone’s movement because it felt like such a huge responsibility to be completely responsible for where she went. I felt almost like I was granted too much power, and nothing was stopping me from leading her completely off trail. It was also difficult to lead her because she was understandable nervous about walking forward, and took very short and slow steps, perhaps due to my lackluster instruction.
I think that the purpose of this activity was to not only realize how much of social connect is tied to eye contact and visual stimulus, but also how to be an effective leader. While leading someone who is literally blind, you have to make a lot of executive decisions for the person who cannot see, and make choice for them that are in their best interest. If you do not do this, than the blind person will not successfully completely the trust walk. Therefore, it shows that having a good leading strategy can impact those who lack power.
B. Without your senses, you can know that where you’re going is where you’re meant to be. I think that frontal lobe is in charge of this general decision. For example, while walking forward completely blind, although having no idea where you are and where you’re going, I was still aware that my partner was leading me where I was supposed to go, and that compelled me to step forward. My trust in her helped me to be confident in my actions despite my visual impairment.
