The Foundation of the SEE BEYOND Method: Fashion Design and Neuroeducation Applied to the Teaching of the Project Methodology to Students with Congenital and Acquired Blindness

The SEE BEYOND teaching method is designed to include people with visual impairment in higher education fashion-design courses. This method employs a wide range of teaching material that is commonly used in Brazilian higher education institutions. Neuroscience is regarded as a field of knowledge that is essential for creating instruments and carrying out activities aimed at the sensory-motor stimulation of students, whether blind or with normal sight, and encourage them to be involved in the teaching methodology of the Fashion Design project. This article addresses the first of the three modules that structure the SEE BEYOND method: Foundation. The undertaking is combined with the following neuroscientific concepts: Identification, Abstraction, Appropriation and Consolidation. It examines the various ways the module can assist students with congenital and acquired blindness, particularly with regard to the following: (a) the recognition of contours and surfaces; (b) spatial perception based on the relation between two-dimensional and three-dimensional planes; (c) the creative process; (d) the links between the mould and garment; (e) the consolidation of skills; (f) and the exercise of self-criticism.