Due to her visual impairment, or perhaps her higher intelligence, Maggie does not watch television. If we are watching television she will use her talker to say “I don’t like tv” over and over again. Sometimes we turn it off and sometime we say, “Too bad, we do.” She finds that hilarious.
Maggie’s visual impairment makes it difficult to process the movement of the images on a screen. She can see it but she cannot keep up with the changing images. She will simply turn her head away. There are certain camera angles and tricks that bug me, rapid fire image changes or the panoramic shots moving 360 degrees around an object that stays in the center. I always look away from that type of thing. I’m not sure if it’s right, but I imagine every image on the screen creates that feeling in Maggie.
When we are watching television, I position Maggie so that she is not facing the screen. She is either at right angles to the screen or has her back to it. She can hear the television and spend time with us without being visually assaulted. It isn’t perfect, but it seems to work.
The other night we were watching an old episode of Glee. It featured the music of Lady Gaga. As you may know, Lady Gaga is one of Maggie’s favorites. She was sitting with the screen almost directly behind her when the Glee kids started singing “Bad Romance.” The first chords of the song make her stop and sit up very straight. I motioned for Steve to watch Maggie. When the song started she was trying with all her might to turn her head around.
We laughed and put her right in front of the screen. She was going wild with excitement. I got some of it on video.
I guess Maggie is willing to sacrifice for the arts.
Love it! Pure joy!
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