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Quick question on blind people and "face touching" (self.Blind)
submitted 7y ago by istara
Just to note: I understand from some research I've done that the "face touching" thing is largely a myth in terms of how it is presented in movies, but that some blind people may do it.
I am writing a novel, and one character in it is a very elderly lady who has age-related blindness.
A possible plot point hinges on her being able to recognise some physical similarity between a young woman she knew from her sighted days, many decades ago, and that same woman's great-granddaughter whom she doesn't meet until she is blind, so is only able to see through touch.
Is the above scenario plausible in any way?
The line of dialogue I imagine her saying is something like: *"I think you must look rather like her"* - like it's not an exact thing, but a general impression.
Thank you very much if you are able to help with this.
I am writing a novel, and one character in it is a very elderly lady who has age-related blindness.
A possible plot point hinges on her being able to recognise some physical similarity between a young woman she knew from her sighted days, many decades ago, and that same woman's great-granddaughter whom she doesn't meet until she is blind, so is only able to see through touch.
Is the above scenario plausible in any way?
The line of dialogue I imagine her saying is something like: *"I think you must look rather like her"* - like it's not an exact thing, but a general impression.
Thank you very much if you are able to help with this.
God-Macabre 2 points
I think it also has to do with memory. I doubt this is plausible but if she had extremely good memory, her brain could interpret the feeling of her face through her memory. However, it could also be a trick as sometimes you force yourself to believe in something you recognise. Basically, that's my theory. Other than that, I doubt she can unless somehow she touched her face before but I think you can only tell through the nose as it's the easiest part of the face to feel how different shaped it is compared to others.
EDIT: thought you were reading the novel, not writing. Whoops. I agree with others, sound is perfect. Unless you somehow make up a possible explanation like I did XD
EDIT: thought you were reading the novel, not writing. Whoops. I agree with others, sound is perfect. Unless you somehow make up a possible explanation like I did XD
istara [OP] 1 points
Thank you! I'm going by the voice. She touches the face to verify that she may well look like her great-grandmother (as in there are no outstanding features to suggest that she doesn't) and then she is going to comment how similar the tone of their voices is. Not the accent as that would differ, many decades apart.
God-Macabre 2 points
That's actually a very good combination in my opinion and more plausible compared to the Dare Devil face touching scenario. :P good luck on the novel! :D
istara [OP] 1 points
Great thank you! I don't mind a bit of "artistic licence" here and there, but I know it's annoying when an author includes something that is just blatantly wrong, and I didn't want to do that.
God-Macabre 2 points
Fair enough! :P I think if novels get too creative with certain things, (unless they know the world is very different from our own like Harry Potter), then people won't take the book seriously. You have to be very careful and I think what you're going to do is going to work nicely.
0mgitsrachel 2 points
I think you should stick with sound. They have similar voices or way of speaking. That would be more likely and be less annoying. Why would this old lady be touching the girls face? I'm legally blind/visually impaired, but I'm pretty sure random face touching isn't a thing.
istara [OP] 1 points
Thanks - she does request to touch, but I have decided to to with the voice thing, having the same unique and beautiful tone as her great-grandmother.
colorshow 2 points
I think it would depend on what physical similarity it is. If it's just that their faces look similar, no, I don't think it would be possible through touch. However, if it's something pretty prominent like large nose, or long hair, tall with broad shoulders, or something like that that is allowing her to make that connection, then I think it could work.
[deleted] 1 points
[deleted]
istara [OP] 1 points
Thank you for your response! It was going to be mainly faces, they're both supposed to be quite beautiful so unfortunately no massive noses or chins. Not that you can't be beautiful with a massive nose, but you get what I mean!
I might use extra vagueness and artistic licence to get around it. Perhaps I can have something unusual about the shape of her face somewhere, or her hairline (like a widow's peak?)
I might use extra vagueness and artistic licence to get around it. Perhaps I can have something unusual about the shape of her face somewhere, or her hairline (like a widow's peak?)
colorshow 2 points
A widow's peak would be good! And combine it with some of the suggestions below, and I think you've got yourself a plausible scene. :)
thatsnotgneiss 2 points
Could it be the same voice? That would make a lot more sense. Otherwise maybe a small defect like a crooked pinky finger would be pretty plausible.
istara [OP] 1 points
Yes I think I will do the same voice. There's a thing about the heroine having a particularly lovely voice (she gets voice over work) so that could be good.
I'm absolutely not going to Google if voice tone is genetic. If it isn't, then so be it. For the purposes of my novel it will be ;)
I'm absolutely not going to Google if voice tone is genetic. If it isn't, then so be it. For the purposes of my novel it will be ;)
fastfinge 2 points
I don't know if it's genetic, but I do know families sound similar to one another. Accent, of course, is the big one. But families will often speak with a similar inflection (how far in pitch do they go up for questions, how long do they pause between sentences, how emphatic are exclamations and in what way, what volume do they usually speak at), and make similar word choices (folks vs. people, soft drink vs. soda, choice of curses/surprised exclamations etc). I can often make a good guess that two people are related, or at least lived together for a long long time, even if they have totally different vocal sound, based on intonation and word choice.
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