MY CURIOUS MIND: What Do Blind People Dream About???

There are dreams we run out of, never to return; from others we wish we never woke. These experiences make up our dream-world story. But my curiosity is, are the blind denied these moments?

                     

I remember vividly one of the dreams I had many years ago. For some reason I do not know, this readily comes to mind. I was preparing for my high school final examinations. I was in the examination hall, questions were served and just then I realised I had not prepared for the subject. How did time fly by without my notice? As I sat there wondering and lamenting over an inevitable failure, I woke up. 

I was front of an announcement board, passers-by would think I was looking at the information it displayed. What kept me there was not the contents of the board, rather was the company of the friend beside me. We chatted about things we had mutual admiration for. As I was relishing this moment, the scene became vague, then faded into oblivion. My eye lids opened and I realised it was only a dream. (Years later the dream became reality).  

How Do The Blind Experience These Moments?? 

Though, it’s impossible for a sighted man to identify with the experience of the blind, yet many have put in lots of work to help us understand how these special set of people cope with their dream life.

                   

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Research Results 

A research was conducted for four weeks, study authors monitored 50 individuals. 11 of them were born blind, 14 were blinded later in life and the remaining 25 have their sight intact. After each dream, all were expected to fill a questionnaire to identify various features of their dreams. The dreams of the blind participants (those born blind and those blinded later) were predominantly made up of smell, touch, taste and sound. However, none of those born blind reported a visual impression. 

Also in 1999, dream researchers at the University of Hartford analysed 372 dreams of 15 blind people. It was discovered that both those born blind and those who went blind before five years old did not have any visual dreams at all.  

Experience shared by a Victim

Kuusisto, a blind poet explained;  

Let’s say your dream is like a Martin Scorsese movie. A blind person’s dream will be more like a Monet painting. It will have people in it and it will have places in it, but it’s going to be abstract or impressionistic — less moored to a faithful, or photographic replication of what a visual person might see.

Sensory Compensation

      

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Even life plays the equity game. “[The blind participants] didn’t have that visualization, so the other senses took over,” says Dr. Raj Dasgupta. This suggests that because of lack of sight, their brains automatically compensate by putting more emphasis on the remaining sensory data. Therefore, the blind can build up a highly detailed perception of the world and these senses create a vivid dream world.  

Conclusion

Though the ability to have visual dreams decreases with number of years they had their sight and how long they had been blind, nevertheless, blind people in no way miss the beauty of dreams. It is amazing that blind people actually do perceive colour, just in their own way (Kuusisto). We should give kudos to the one who carefully orchestrated life and brings balance to all things.  

References: 

• “The sensory construction of dreams and nightmare frequency in congenitally blind and late blind individuals”, Meaidi, Amani et al. Sleep Medicine, Volume 15 , Issue 5 , 586 - 595  · 
• https://vanwinkles.com/what-do-the-blind-dream-about
• http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/07/how-the-blind-dream/
• http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/what-do-blind-people-dream-about.html  

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