Without the distance sense, the world would be limited to information received directly by touch. We already have our concepts of things around us so, touching would trigger off clues to an object's identity. To be solely dependent on touch and taste from birth is something totally outside our experience. The world conveyed to such a person would differ radically from ours. We now know that at birth a new born infant will react to light and, within afew hours has been observed to sustain gaze in spite of poor focusing skills.
Hearing is also present at birth and responses to loud sounds have been recorded in the womb.
The senses may function from very early on but the child does not have the ability to interpret the meaning of all this sensory information. This can only be achieved by experience of the world. The important aspect of both seeing and hearing is the ability to recognise and classify the essential characteristics of what is seen and heard. Newly born infants appear to possess some pre-programmed powers of discrimination and preference but on the whole this ability is learned and the distance senses play a major role in this learning. Being presented with the same face at these times will motivate the child to discriminate.