A sighted person frequently wonders what blind people see. However, blind people frequently wonder if their experience is the same as that of others with sight. There are various levels of blindness, so there isn’t a single response to the query, “What do blind people see?” It is also important if a person has ever had sight because the brain perceives and processes information.
Blind is a pretty general phrase. A set of corrective lenses may help a person who is legally blind to see somewhat better. The phrase “legally blind” is more of a legal expression than a descriptive one. A person who qualifies for certain aid and services due to their vision impairment is referred to as “legally blind” by the U.S. government.
Therefore, many individuals with a wide variety of visual impairments may fit under the broad category of blindness or even the slightly more specific category of legal blindness. However, their perceptions of sight could be very dissimilar. The question arises regarding this point: What do blind people see?
Let us check out the list of the top 5 five inconceivable things that blind people see:
Blind People Can See Everything
What do blind people see? Almost everything! Some blind people have mastered the use of echolocation as a navigational tool. They make a sound and then wait for it to reverberate to them after hitting a wall or other object. By determining their size and location, they may carefully avoid obstacles via the returning echo.
Dolphins and bats both use this technique to navigate their surroundings. However, there is a catch. Humans demand that the object be at least the size of a glass cup, unlike bats, which use echolocation to find tiny insects.
Blind Daniel Kish has mastered the use of echolocation to “sight.” He was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastomas, a form of cancer that attacked the retinas of his eyes, while he was a young child. He lost both eyes before turning 13 months old since the doctors could not treat the malignancy without damaging his eyes.
Ben Underwood similarly lost both eyes at age two due to bilateral retinoblastomas. He spontaneously learned how to use echolocation to supplement his vision. Ben was so skilled that he didn’t need a cane, guide dog, or even his hands to play games, walk, ride a bike, or skateboard. It almost appeared as though he was not blind. However, cancer came back, and he passed away in 2009.Â
Blind People Can See Light
Harvard University student Clyde Keeler was searching for the answer to the question, “What do blind people see?” He discovered in 1923 that blind mice’s pupils shrank when exposed to light. According to previous research, the retina contains two retinal photoreceptors, which are responsible for detecting light in mice and humans. However, since the mice were blind, the photoreceptors shouldn’t have been functioning in their instance.
The “intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells” are the third type of photoreceptor shared by humans and mice, as Keeler quickly discovered (ipRGCs). ipRGCs send information about the light to various brain sections, but they do not contribute to vision as retinal photoreceptors do. It sends information to the area of the brain that processes images to generate what we call vision.
Researchers from the University of Montreal tested three blind subjects in a different investigation. The researchers held the subjects in a room while the team, under the direction of Gilles Vandewalle, alternately turned on and off lights. The subjects were then questioned on whether the light was on or off.
They found that blind people typically provided the right response. But there was a catch. Their minds have to be actively working for them to notice the shift in brightness.
Blind People Can See Movement
Milena Channing lost her sight at 29 after suffering a fatal stroke. She believed she had permanently lost sight until Channing noticed she could see moving water while bathing her daughter. She told her doctor, who assumed she merely had a dream. “You’re blind, and that’s it,” he said.
Channing did not believe her doctor when he said as much. Over time, she discovered that she could see the raindrops, the steam rising from her hot coffee, and her daughter’s ponytail swaying. Channing could not see her daughter, the coffee cup, or anything else. Later, medical professionals explained to Channing that she was suffering from “Riddoch’s phenomenon,” which leads blind persons only to see moving objects.
It was made feasible since Channing’s brain’s ability to process moving objects was unaffected by the stroke. Channing soon found that her “vision” was better whenever she moved. She then purchased a rocking chair.
Blind People Can See Nightmares
The stress and emotions we experience when awake cause nightmares. Thanks to studies from the Danish Center for Sleep Medicine, we now know that people born blind are four times more likely than the average person to have nightmares because they feel greater stress and emotions while awake. Nightmares are something that blind people see.
The study includes looking at 50 people’s dreams. Twenty-five people were blind, while 25 had perfect vision. Of the blind, eleven were born blind, and the other fourteen developed blindness during their lives. The study’s findings indicated that those born blind had nightmares 25% of the time. However, just 7% of those who became blind over their lifetimes and 6% of those who could see experienced nightmares.
The investigation also showed the discrepancies between people’s dreams in the three categories. First, most blind people frequently dream about being in difficult social situations and car accidents, regardless of whether they were born blind or developed blindness later in life.
People who were born blind, however, did not dream of seeing anything with their eyes. Most of their dreams involved sensations like taste, smell, sound, and touch. People who could still see experienced nightmares where they could see with their eyes. Even those who lost their vision during their lifetimes experienced dreams they could see with their eyes, although this tendency gradually faded.
Blind People Can See Near-Death Experiences
What do blind people see? They can see everyone else, including themselves (during near-death experiences). People who have been on the point of death are where we learn about near-death experiences (NDE). Some claim to have seen themselves moving through a pitch-black tunnel toward a light, while others assert that they have encountered strangers or acquaintances. The third group claims to have left their bodies and even seen others, including themselves, in the living world.
Some have even continued to explain their surroundings and what transpired while they were supposed to be asleep and dying to show that they weren’t just bluffing. This third group includes some blind people. Many even claimed to regain their vision during an NDE immediately after leaving their bodies.
Dr. Kenneth Ring, a psychology professor at the University of Connecticut, studied accounts of blind people obtaining sight during NDEs in the 1990s. Fifteen of his 21 case subjects, all blind, claimed to have regained their sight during an NDE. The first three claimed to have seen nothing, while the final three were undecided.
One individual claimed that he suddenly found himself in a massive library with billions of books and could view them all. Vicki Umipeg was a different patient who required surgery after a severe vehicle accident that left her with a cracked skull. She claimed to have seen the surgeon perform surgery on her while she was outside of her body. She then entered a tunnel and came face-to-face with some luminous beings. At the time, she was 22 years old and had been blind since birth.
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