If you had to choose between losing your sight or your hearing, which one would you choose? Take into account your present interests, future interests, ability to communicate, and society's perceptions of people with these challenges. Compose an essay in which you explain your decision. Add a paragraph explaining what, if any, effect this exercise has on you.

Find a partner and learn the first five letters of the manual alphabet. Then put on a blindfold and earplugs of some kind and have your partner take you to a room that is unfamiliar to you. How do you feel in this strange environment without the benefit of seeing or hearing? Once you have explored the room a little, sit down with your partner and have him or her spell words in your hand using the letters you have learned (bed, bad, cab...