Hands that See, Hands that Speak: Investigating Relationships Between Sensory Activity, Forms of Communicating and Mathematical Cognition

Abstract

This contribution explores the role of the body’s senses in the constitution of mathematical practices. It examines the mathematics activities of learners with disabilities, with the idea being that by identifying the differences and similarities in the practices of those whose knowledge of the world is mediated through different sensory channels, we might not only become better able to respond to their particular needs, but also to build more robust understandings of the relationships between experience and cognition more generally. To focus on connections between perceptual activities, material and semiotic resources and mathematical meanings, the discussion concentrates on the mathematical practices of learners who see with their hands or who speak with their hands. This discussion centres around two examples from our research with blind learners and deaf learners and, in particular, analyses the multiple roles played by their hands in mathematical activities.