Can a blind person dream ?

To answer the question above, we must first define the word « Blindness . Blindness can be defined
as the state or condition of being unable to see because of an injury, a disease, or a congenital
conditions. However it can also be the lack of perception, awareness, or judgement in a person.
According to the latter definition we can all agree that even the blinds dream. But if we take the first
definition of blindness being a medical condition, the question becomes unclear. In addition to that,
a blind person is more than a person who can’t see. Blindness comes in different types. Some are
blind to light, others to a certain color and others are completely blind. However our Question only
concers the last type. So can a person who has only seen darkness since their birth also experience
dreams? If yes what would it be like ?

To begin with, lets better understand our topic starting with its symptoms. Globally, at least 2.2
billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion – or almost half – of
these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. Hence,
knowing the Symptoms that you may have while vision loss develops becomes a must. Be aware of :

• Seeing floaters or “spider webs”.

• Seeing halos or rainbows around lights.

• Seeing what looks like a curtain coming down over one eye.

• Blurry vision.

• Sudden black spots and flashes of light.

• A sudden decrease in vision.

• Sudden sensitivity to light and glare.

• Sudden eye pain.

• Itching or burning eyes.

• Red eyes.

• White areas in the pupil.

• Changes in the color of your eye.

Vision loss can have drastic consequences on a person’s quality of life. Young children with sight loss
experience delayed motor, language, emotional, social and cognitive development. Nevertheless,
Adults with vision impairment can experience lower rates of employment and higher rates of
depression and anxiety ( according to a U.S CDC study 1 in 4 adults with vision loss reported anxiety
or depression ).

Even though Many conditions that cause sight loss cannot be cured; there are treatment options that
can slow the progression of the disease and preserve your sight for longer. That’s why eye exams
with your ophthalmologist should be scheduled each year. Correspondingly, the leading causes of
vision impairment are :

• refractive errors (Nearsightedness (myopia) makes far-away objects look blurry. Farsightedness
(hyperopia) makes nearby objects look blurry. Astigmatism and presbyopia.

• cataracts

• diabetic retinopathy

• glaucoma (when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid increases the pressure
in your eye, damaging the optic nerve).

• age-related macular degeneration.

Sight is a gift and a blessing , that not all of us has been granted. We should always be grateful and
thankful to god.

Going back to our main question , now after we understood what blindness is. I suggest we listen to
what blind radio host and film critic Tommy Edison has to say :

“Since i have never seen in my life, my subconscious doesn’t know what it would be like to see. So no
i dont see in my dreams”

“The way it works for me is the same way my life occurs so .... in my dreams it’s all smell sound taste
and touch “

Tommy’s statements highlights the second key

Word of our question which is : dreaming!

What is dreaming ?

dreaming according to the Oxford English dictionary is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations
occurring in a person's mind during sleep.

Here lays our answer, dreaming is not bounded by the ability to see. Dreaming is a full sensation that
includes all the 5 senses in correlation with our minds and thoughts.

So our answer is yes. But what do they dream about ? Chances are they include a mix of strange
things that don’t make a ton of sense, regular things that happen in your daily life, or potentially
embarrassing scenarios. But overall, the content of a blind person’s dreams is likely the same as
yours. They just experience their dreams a bit differently throughout smell ,sound , taste and touch.
To keep in mind, It is difficult for blind people to accurately convey how they experience their
dreams, especially if they have little to no experience of sight which limits all the studies that have
been made. Beside , it’s worse having sight without vision. As the first is just the function of the eyes,
but the second comes from the mind.

Adnane Ahmed Nedjmeddine