Find a place you feel comfortable and will not be disturbed to sit or stand.  Once you get comfortable, start the podcast.

See, hear, touch, taste and smell. (Pause 2) Each of these senses have an important function independently, but they also work together to connect us with our surrounding world.  (Pause 2) Throughout this course, you have gone to the woods to explore with your 5 senses. (Pause 2) You were not using each sense independently; you were using them in combination with each other because all our senses are connected.  For example, when you sat down with your eyes closed to listen to the forest, you were also feeling the air on your body and noticing other sensations around you.  (Pause 2) Even though you could not see, your body was picking up signals and information from the world around you.  (Pause 2) When you explored through your sense of touch, you were also using your sense of sight and smell to obtain information about what you were touching.(Pause 5)

Have you ever thought about how your senses interact with each other? (Pause 2) When you have a cold, you may lose your ability to taste food. This is because flavor is a combination between taste and smell.  With a cold, mucus covers your olfactory bulb preventing smell from being detected by your nerves and transmitted to your brain.  (Pause 4) Balance is controlled in the inner ear.  As you age, structures inside the ear start to change and their functions decline. Your ability to pick up sounds decrease, and you could have problems maintaining balance.

We people – of all backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities, often overlook how much we rely on a combination of our senses to navigate and interpret the world around us. (Pause 2) Think about what would happen if you had one of your senses taken away. (Pause 2) If you lost one of your senses, it would probably change how you experienced and interacted with the world.  It would take a while for your body to adjust to, but eventually it would adapt.  

Think about individuals with sensory disabilities. When one sense is lost or limited, their body adapts, and their other senses may become stronger.  (Pause 2) For example, someone who is blind may have a heightened sense of hearing and smell.  While someone with hearing loss may have a stronger sense of sight or observation skills because they rely more on reading lips and body language.  

When we experience a significant change or loss of one of our senses, technology can sometimes help restore or compensate for the loss. A Cochlear hearing aid can bypass a damaged ear and transmit sound to the brain through bone vibrations; Laser surgery can restore sight, and emerging exoskeleton technology can restore movement to someone who has lost the use of their legs. We can use technology to restore a lost sense, but it is usually a different version of what we originally had. 

Even though we can fix something, should we? (Pause 6) Some people who are born with or experience a sensory loss prefer to navigate their world without trying to restore the lost sense. Would you choose to bring back your sense if you lost one or choose to live with it?  (Pause 6)

 In nature we have similar connections and similar questions.