If someone was born blind, do they dream at night, and if so what are their dreams about?
480108
I do not believe that a persons ability to see would have anything to do with their ability to dream.
1073166
Only if they can hear. There different degrees of deafness. Some can hear a little to not being able to hear at all. Some were born that way while other happen over time.\n\nThe same is true with dreams of a deaf person they do not dream voices the dream in sign.\n\nThey have a complex language that takes usually 8 years to master. The same area in the brain that is used for spoken language is also used in sign. \n\nHere are some links to help you better understand ASL American Sign Language.
1031827
I'm in Middle school and I'm blind in one eye and have limited vision in the other. There are a few hard parts 1 not being able to do somethings your friends and peers can, 2 not having teachers get papers enlarged so you can read them # having people hear "disability" and think you are mentally handicapped. But every day gives you new hardest things and you learn to work around them. My impairment has given me a lot of patients and helps me understand other people with disabilities.
546324
This a question I answered once!\n\n1. Blind born people aren't able to visualize because the visual area is not developped\n2. People that blind during their life ... is possible if visual area is intact ... ask someone in this category ...
1150917
thats interesting ..i never thought about that before ...can a blind person dream of something that they have never seen ? i think maybe they would dream more of the things they experinced while not being able to see ...since the theory is , when u lose one sense another one gets stronger .(.touch , smell , and taste ...)
37102
I agree.  I have a multi-handicapped daughter who was transported to heaven in a dream.  She saw lions and lambs.  children,  Bright blue sky (but no sun) all kinds of trees growing side by side.  and a Man, walking with her.  yea,  i believe that this is a vision of heaven.
617297
As the mother of a blind child, the answer is definately blind. My 16 y.o. son was born blind. It was heartbreaking. But we have taught him he can do anything except drive and fly a plane. And that's the truth. To see the world would be fantastic. He so wishes he could. But, to be deaf, you cannot communicate except through sign language or by reading lips. Either way you have to be looking towards the person. One would never hear music. Hear the world, noises, and the people around us. Sometimes this is a blessing with the words being used today! But, it is so much better to hear that puppy growl and hold it, feel the softness than just see it run around. We have allowed our son to touch everything we can think of and explore it with his hands, hear it, feel the texture and the temperature, taste it if possible. No he cannot see a rainbow. But a deaf person can't hear one either. Our son can't draw well or sign his name very legibly. But, I'll bet you it is a heck of a lot better than 1/2 of the people on this earth. Many whom are illiterate and some who are not and are just too stupid or ignorant to write. \n\nOur son has felt and heard dinosaurs, birds, horses, dogs, lions, elephants, snakes and much more. How many people have got to touch a real dinosaur skeleton and explore it with their hands. Other objects have been bought as stuffed or in minatures and he allowed to feel it. We arranged for a New Mexico zoo to allow it. Our son started learning braille when he was about 4 y.o. He was proficient by age 9. This includes the 26 letters of the alphabet, all the punctuation symbols used in writing, all the Math symbols, and 180 contractions such as ing, th ie, ar, ph. He has had to learn 4-5 times as much as all other kids his age and memorize it all. He is gifted musically and plays the piano beautifully. He has learned to play by ear with lessons taught and practiced with by using a tape recorder. Can a deaf person do this? And now we have books on tape. No good for a deaf person. There is a State Library in Austin where he can order and receive books in braille-many other places in the country, also for free. Sure a deaf person can read normally. But can only discuss it with another deaf person unless he writes it all down.  No he can't play sports, but there is not a sports commentary on the radio he cannot keep up with. They are so detailed. He does weight lifting, running, and goalball-a sport specifically for visually impaired kids instead. It has gone pro and has been an international game for years. It may soon be included in the Olympics. It is not a sport for wimps. There are some real hard hitters. Yes, our son has many struggles and challenges ahead of him. But for now he is an  A-B student planning on attending UT. His parents and close friends will be there to assure that he succeeds and becomes a productive, working member of society knowing how to utilize the resources around him to do what he cannot. How many sighted people have such a supportive backing?
1028585
why not, do u dream with ur eyes open?\n\nPeople who are visually impaired from birth appear to lack visual imagery in their dreams. It's believed that the parts of their brains that register visual information remain dormant. \nAccording to this fascinating article by Diego Kaski in the International Medical Students' Journal, even people who lose their sight early in childhood retain visual imagery in their dreams well into adulthood. However, this imagery fades over time. \n\nNevertheless, blind people do dream and often describe their dreams in terms of places and surroundings. An article from the University of Santa Cruz notes that blind dreams feature a "very high percentage of gustatory, olfactory, and tactual sensory references," something very unusual for sighted dreamers to experience. \n\nFor some intriguing and descriptive quotes on the subject, read Richard Catlett Wilkerson's article "Dreams of the Blind."
618977
Yes. My grandmother is blind from a disease known as maculuar degeneration.  She dreams in full color.  She doesn't know if the colors look like what everyone else sees, according to her.  But she dreams about an apple and it is what she thinks red should be.  She can "see" what an apple looks like by feeling its shape and texture.  She imagines the rest.
333205
Ditto.  My dreams are always vivid color with Smell-o-Vision, Texture-Vision, and even Sexual-o-Vision.  I am amazed at the clarity and realism.  I agree: The claim that most people dream in black-and-white must be a myth.
146733
My guess is that this person would learn to experience life without vision at all, and thus would dream sounds, tactile sensations, etc. but would see very few visions in their dreams at all beyond those they would see during the course of a day (most blind people are not 100% sightless).
359580
Nothing.\nThey have no visual component to their dreams.  Their dreams are much like their waking sensory perception.\nSee the reference below:
136863
Our brain keeps track of everything we ever see or hear, whether or not it's important to us. I've had some very strange dreams sometimes involving things I've never in my life thought of doing. Your brain can only compartmentalize everything it's seen when it's not being distracted by everyday life. During the day we're busy interacting with people, working, doing chores, even now as I'm typing, Im distracting my brain. When we sleep, it gets to deal with everything that's come our way. So what I'm saying is, don't worry about your dream. It's just a big ol' jumble of things you've encountered in your life, whether on tv or for real. I do empathize with your problems sleeping though. That's happened to me when I've had strange, bad or weird dreams. It'll go away fairly soon though.\n\nGood luck and sweet dreams tonight! :)\n\nP.S. I included a link to a show archive from Dr. Phil that you might find interesting. Last week he had a show dealing with sleep problems. One of the women on there had a HORRIBLE dream for the last 18 years.
532106
First what are dreams? Second, why do we have them?\n\nPeople born blind do dream, but those dreams are based on what they have sensed before -- textures, sounds, smells and tastes. (I surmise in that order too).\n\nI'll answer the first question, but scientists are still figuring out the second one. Dreams coincide with your brain being active while you sleep. Neurons, the cells of the brain, sends and receives nerve impulses, almost like a cascade or a "random" screen-saver.  Why?  There might be a hint in the fact we go crazy and die if we don't sleep. And we sleep to dream. It may be like re-booting your computer now and then. It puts all the files back in their respective folders, resets all the registers, and organizes your information.\n\nOoops, its getting late, I need to reboot my computer.
542533
Is that where you re color blind? I suggest going to a college that people study to be an eye doctor and ask if that is in their curriculum. Its cheap and they can fix you blindness. also you are helping a student achieve their dreams
418873
I feel sure that someone who has lost their sight later in life dreams just like you and I.  But blind from birth not sure. What visual references would they have?  Good question?
973083
obviously not. Its like asking if deaf people dream sounds and whatnot..\n\nHow can u dream in color if you've never seen anything other than shades of grey? How can you dream in sound if you're deaf? How can you dream of a EKanee if you've never seen one before?