Blind people - how do they???

[PinkFizz]

How does anybody blind imagine anything ?? I mean,if somebody is blind from say an accident then they would be able to visualise colours,shapes etc in their head,but what if you were blind from birth?
If you told a blind person they were patting a dog,what would they picture in their head? Or if you said something was round,or yellow,or dark,what on earth do they see in their mind?

I'm probably not getting this across very well but do you see what I mean??

[redcrx]

i would say that their images of things are made up of shapes, texture sounds etc
all these combined will them give them a recognisable idea in their minds of what things 'look' like to them

[PinkFizz]

Morning Red.Yes,but they can't feel colours can they so I wonder what they 'see' in their minds,if anything.Can they actually imagine shapes at all when their eyes have never seen anything? All too deep for a tuesday morning buit it just fascinates me.

[Pippa68]

I agree with redcrx. In the movie 'Mask' the main character Rocky meets a girl who has been blind from birth ~ he describes colours to her with objects eg something hot for red. He places a oiece of ice in her hands to describe blue.

[Pippa68]

*piece*

[Champagne]

I saw this on a film once, where a girl was teaching a blind boy about 'visualising' colours etc. She used fluffy cotton balls to describe how clouds look; an ice cube to describe white; a hot stone to describe red.

Shapes like 'square' or 'round' or 'dog' are easy because blind people can visualize with their hands.

They never see things quite the same way as we would, but then who is to say that you and I see things the same? For example, some people see orange as red, and vice versa. I�ve had many an argument with people over colours!! Another example is that I may be able to distinguish more shades of colours than you. We�re all different.

[PinkFizz]

Yes I agree to a point,but then we could only describe things to a certain degree to somebody blind couldn't we?I mean,does a blind person who has never really seen anything be able to imagine what it looks like? All very interesting!

[redcrx]

how do you know that the colour red that you see is the same as what i see for red? :)

[IggyB]

there is no real need for a blind person to visualise clolurs so i would imagine the majority don't - as for shapes these can be easily visualised from feeling them e.g. ask a blind person to draw a circle on a bit of paper and they will be able to quickly and easily even though they can't and never have seen one simply because they have held a ball or something similar

[PinkFizz]

Exactly - I don't. I often disagree with Mr Fizz about green and blue things! lol

[Toureman]

To give you some idea ......

I met a lady who had been blind from birth but at around age 45 she regained her sight.

Soon after regaining her sight she had the media at her house and one of them asked her if she could see a factory chimney which was in view from her house window, but she did not know what a chimney looked like.

She was alone in her kitchen when she saw something black about 6 inches long on her white kitchen table, she was frightened of it and pointed it out to her husband when he came home, it was a knife which of course she had been using all her life.

For a long time she was terrified of walking downstairs but found it a lot easier if she closed her eyes.

The strangest thing she told me was her first trip along the motorway in a car, it is hard to imagine if you have always been sighted, she wondered why the motorway had barriers across it every few miles and why these barriers lifted out of the way as cars approached them. Have a look next time you drive along a motorway.
All it was was bridges, when you are some distance from them they blend in with the surrounding scenery but as you get closer they rise up above you!

For quite a long time she found life easier to understand when she closed her eyes.

So if you have never been blind you cannot answer your question.

I had an uncle who was blind from birth but when I was a young boy he could sharpen pencils better than any one else!

[chicklin]

I'm intrigued as to how you imagine a blind person will be able to read this question and answer it??!!

[PinkFizz]

lol@chicklin

[PinkFizz]

That's really interesting Toureman.Thankyou.Imagine getting your sight at 45!

[Hellion]

Hi Pink sorry you may not get this but I've been busy today try this book it explains a lot (and it will make you cry) I read it donkeys years ago

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emma-I-Sheila-Hocken/d p/0751506745/sr=1-98/qid=1162921512/ref=sr_1_9 8/026-7457576-5426064?ie=UTF8&s=books

[sophie_1003]

that is such a good book hellion! i read it in middle school and recently bought it in a charity shop to read again! redcrx--- i think i know what you mean, i always think this, if someone is told all their life that a certain colour is red then theyre always going to see that colour and say its red....but what if someone else sees it as different, but because theyve always been told its red thats what they think red looks like....if anyone gets what im on about?