Do Blind People 'see' anything when they dream?

[Desert Sleet]

I'd be interested to here some replies, preferably from the mouth of a blind person.


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If I could... Then I would... Turn back time!!

[farazthegreat]

But if a person was born blind, their brain wouldn't have any idea what "seeing" is. So their dreams would probably be limited to sounds and smells etc.
Just like since we can't see infra-red light, we can't even see it in our dreams.





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A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

Edited by - farazthegreat on Jan 30 2005 114024 PM

[sajjad_dar2000]

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I'd be interested to here some replies, preferably from the mouth of a blind person.


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If I could... Then I would... Turn back time!!

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" Yes, blind people do dream. What they see in their dreams depends on how much they could ever see. If someone has been totally blind since birth, they only have auditory dreams.


I considered answering your question myself, but decided that you might prefer an answer straight from the source. So I passed your question on to my friend, Laurie, who has been blind since she was fairly young. Here's what she had to say



If someone such as I, has had a measure of sight, then that person dreams with that measure of sight. I still dream as though I can see, colors included. For people I've met since, their faces are just blurs or how I imagine they look. To me, someone like my mother looks forever 30. "


Sajjad Dar

[Desert Sleet]

Without getting into it too much, you can't doubt that your mind renders images, predominantly images of recent events, although this doesn't have to be the case. My question is based on those that were born blind, so have never seen. I have had a think about it, and come to the conclusion that our dreams our drawn mainly from are visual or iconic sense. I wouldn't be surprised if blind people have dreams utilising their other senses such as a dream with sound or smell.

In general, it appears that those who have been blind from birth or
very early childhood have just as vivid dreams as the rest of us.
However their dreams centre upon the non-visual senses particularly
smell and sound, but also to a surprisingly large degree the sense of
touch. Whilst most of us usually view things before we feel them, the
blind often "see" with their fingertips and hence tactile dreaming is
not uncommon.


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If I could... Then I would... Turn back time!!


Edited by - desert sleet on Jan 31 2005 123838 AM