The term “blindness” is relative because governments—not doctors—decide who qualifies as “blind.” In many cases, being labeled “blind” doesn’t mean a total lack of vision; it merely signifies a range of visual abilities that differ from typical sighted experience.
10 Fascinating Things: A Quick Overview
10 Nothing
“What do you see?” is perhaps the most over‑asked question by sighted folks. The honest answer from many blind individuals is simply “nothing.” Not black, not a shade of gray—absolute nothingness. Trying to explain this void to someone with full vision is as futile as describing the taste of a color to a person who has never seen it.
Imagine attempting to convey color to someone who has been blind since birth; it’s impossible. In the same way, someone who has never experienced visual input cannot truly describe the sensation of seeing nothing. The concept remains elusive on both sides of the visual divide.
There is, however, a practical way to simulate that emptiness. Close one eye, focus intently on something with the other, and keep your concentration. While the closed eye remains shut, it registers absolutely no visual information—not even the darkness that appears when both eyes are covered. That void is the closest approximation to what totally blind people experience.
9 Light
Back in 1923, Harvard student Clyde Keeler made a surprising discovery: blind mice’s pupils contracted when exposed to illumination. At the time, scientists believed that only the two classic retinal photoreceptors handled light detection, and those should have been inactive in blind animals.
Keeler’s observations led to the identification of a third type of photoreceptor—intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs). Unlike the classic photoreceptors that feed visual images to the brain’s image‑processing centers, ipRGCs relay light information to other brain regions without forming pictures, allowing blind individuals to sense light without “seeing.”
More recently, researchers at the University of Montreal placed three blind participants in a controlled room, toggling the lights on and off while asking them to indicate the change. Most participants correctly identified the lighting state, provided their brains were actively engaged at the moment—a clear demonstration that light perception can persist without conventional vision.
8 Facial Expressions
Humans are wired for emotional contagion: we instinctively mirror the facial cues of those around us—smiling when we see a smile, yawning when someone else does. Blind individuals share this uncanny ability, even without visual access to the faces that spark these reactions.
Neuroscientist Marco Tamietto from Tilburg University investigated this phenomenon with two participants who lost vision in one eye due to visual‑cortex damage. By presenting pictures of smiling and frowning faces to the eye linked to the damaged cortex versus the healthy eye, Tamietto found that the participants responded more rapidly to images processed by the impaired side.
The takeaway? Even without sight, the brain can pick up on facial expressions, leading blind people to instinctively mimic a smile when you smile at them—a subtle yet powerful reminder of shared humanity.
7 Death Experiences)
Near‑death experiences (NDEs) often involve vivid visual narratives: tunnels of light, encounters with familiar faces, or out‑of‑body observations. Surprisingly, some blind individuals report comparable phenomena, claiming that they “see” during these moments despite lifelong visual deprivation.
Psychologist Kenneth Ring at the University of Connecticut examined 21 blind case studies from the 1990s. Fifteen participants described regaining sight during their NDE, reporting clear visual detail. Three reported seeing nothing, while the remaining three were uncertain about any visual component.
One striking account describes a man who found himself in a library brimming with billions of books, each crystal‑clear. Another, Vicki Umipeg, recounted watching herself and surgeons operate on her after her soul left her body, then traveling through a tunnel to meet luminous beings. These narratives suggest that, under extreme physiological stress, the brain may generate visual experiences even in those who have never seen before.
6 Nightmares
Nightmares stem from the emotional and stress‑laden moments we experience while awake. A study by Denmark’s Center for Sleep Medicine revealed that people born blind are four times more likely to endure nightmares than sighted individuals, likely due to heightened emotional processing.
The researchers compared 50 participants—25 blind and 25 sighted. Among the blind group, 11 were congenitally blind, while 14 lost vision later in life. Results showed that those born blind reported nightmares in 25 % of their sleep cycles, compared with only 7 % for those who became blind later and 6 % for sighted controls.
Dream content also diverged. Blind participants, regardless of when they lost sight, frequently dreamed of awkward social scenarios and vehicular accidents. However, those born blind never described visual imagery; their dreams centered on sounds, textures, tastes, and smells. In contrast, sighted dreamers reported vivid visual scenes, while those who became blind still retained some visual dreaming, which gradually faded over time.
5 Up Ads
You’re reading this article on the web, and like every other net‑user, you’ve encountered online advertisements. Among the many formats, pop‑up ads are the most intrusive—suddenly leaping onto the screen and wrecking an otherwise smooth browsing experience.
Ethan Zuckerman wrote the original pop‑up code over two decades ago, later dubbing it the Internet’s “original sin.” Whether blind users can forgive him is uncertain, as these ads have become a unique nightmare for them.
For a screen‑reader user, a pop‑up appears as an unexpected burst of spoken text. If the ad lacks a clear “close” command, the user may wander through the ad for minutes before realizing something’s amiss, disrupting the flow of the original page.
This problem intensifies because many pop‑ups are not properly labeled for assistive technology, forcing the screen reader to restart from the top of the page after the user finally dismisses the ad, replaying the entire article.
Ad‑blocking extensions could eliminate this annoyance, but some sites block such tools to preserve ad revenue. Moreover, developers have devised ways to bypass blockers, ensuring that pop‑ups continue to intrude on blind users’ browsing experiences.
4 Movement
When Milena Channing suffered a massive stroke at 29, she assumed her vision was gone forever—until she noticed moving water while bathing her daughter. Her doctor dismissed it as hallucination, insisting, “You’re blind, and that’s it!”
Undeterred, Milena observed that she could perceive falling rain, steam rising from a hot mug, and the sway of her daughter’s ponytail, yet she could not see static objects. Doctors later identified her experience as Riddoch’s phenomenon, a condition where only moving stimuli are consciously perceived.
The stroke spared the brain region responsible for processing motion, allowing her to “see” anything that moved. Realizing that motion enhanced her perception, Milena even acquired a rocking chair to keep herself in gentle motion, thereby improving her limited visual experience.
3 Visual Hallucinations
Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) describes vivid visual hallucinations that occur in people who have recently lost their sight. Those affected recognize that the images are not real, yet the hallucinations can be strikingly detailed and last from a few weeks up to a year and a half, sometimes even five years.
One 69‑year‑old man reported seeing bizarre shapes, people, and animals—including a spider he tried to swat—six months after becoming blind. He also claimed to see acquaintances sitting beside him, despite knowing they were not physically present.
Researchers suspect CBS results from the brain’s attempt to compensate for missing visual input. Supporting this theory, an experiment blindfolded 13 participants for five days; ten of them experienced visual hallucinations after just a single day of sensory deprivation.
2 Color
While those born blind may never experience visual color, individuals who lose sight after having seen can sometimes retain vivid chromatic sensations. BBC journalist Damon Rose, who became blind following a childhood surgery, now perceives an overwhelming cascade of colors that flash like lights, constantly shifting in shape and intensity.
Rose describes the colors as so abundant that they become a distraction. They can appear as solitary hues or layered, with one color overlaying another. Intriguingly, the one thing he never perceives is darkness—a void he deeply misses despite his colorful internal world.
1 Everything
Some blind people have mastered echolocation, a technique where they emit a sound and interpret the returning echo to gauge the size, shape, and location of surrounding objects—much like bats and dolphins navigate their environments.
Unlike those animals, which can detect tiny insects, humans need larger obstacles—roughly the size of a drinking glass—to generate a discernible echo. Nevertheless, with practice, echolocation can become a powerful substitute for sight.
Daniel Kish, who lost both eyes as an infant due to bilateral retinoblastomas, learned to “see” using echolocation. He now navigates complex spaces, rides a bicycle, and performs daily tasks relying solely on sound reflections.
Similarly, Ben Underwood, who also lost his eyes to retinoblastoma at age two, independently honed echolocation skills. He could walk, skateboard, and play without a guide dog or cane, effectively operating as if he weren’t blind. Sadly, he passed away in 2009 after his cancer returned.