Do blind people dream in picture form, or just hear voices? And do deaf people hear themselves think?

Question

I wasn't trying to offend anyone with my questions, and I don't think being blind of deaf makes you dumb at all. Its just one of those things people have to deal with. If anyone has this misconception, I reccommend you look up Helen Keller, a wonderful woman who was both blind and deaf. Shes always been a very inspiritational person to me.

Answer 1

Excellent question!! I am not deaf, but have some insight into this because I have a deaf stepson and I have gone to considerable effort trying to understand, help, and communicate with him.

Before I say anything else, let me highly recommend an outstanding book to you or anyone interested in this subject. It is about deafness specifically, not blindness, but I'm sure you could extrapolate and apply the same understanding to blindness.

The book is "SEEING VOICES" by Oliver Sachs (the same man who wrote "Awakenings"). It's available for as low as $5.50 on Amazon.com. Sachs spent a year living among the deaf community, learning how they think, how they socialize, etc.

According to Sachs - and think about it, this makes sense... There are two types of deaf people: Prelingually and postlingually deaf. That is, those who lost their hearing before they developed oral/verbal language skills, like a baby born deaf, and those who became deaf later in life, after having experienced hearing and talking (like Marc, above).

Those who become deaf later in life can indeed think in words, just like the hearing. You and I might think, "Gee, I'd like to go to the store now..."

But suppose you'd never heard those words, or any words, like those who are prelingually deaf. How would you experience that same thought?

If you have learned sign language, you would literally think in word-signs. Rather than hear the words in your mind, you would actually see the hand signs for the words in your mind.

Here's an interesting example. My stepson actually became deaf at two years old, just as he was learning to talk and understand words, and thus knew only a few words. Today, as a young adult, he communicates in ASL and thinks and even dreams in ASL too! Sometimes when he thinks no one is noticing, I will look over and see him signing to himself, just as you and I would talk to ourselves. I have also seen him signing in his sleep. I find myself wishing I could peek into his mind and understand him better, but it is obvious that he is thinking and even dreaming in sign language.

I am sorry for Marc, who answered your question above, that he was hurt by his perception of your question. I know meant no disrespect to the deaf, but I can also understand his hurt and sensitivity. Unfortunately, many deaf people are sensitive in this way and that is part of the reason they tend to associate with other deaf people rather than the hearing. Fellow deaf persons can understand them better, not only in communications, but also understand their mutual needs, problems, desires, etc.

Let me make a point here, or rather expand on a point that Marc made. One reason deaf people are sensitive is that for years they were called "DEAF AND DUMB." That is a very insensitive and inaccurate description of deaf people. Deaf people are NOT DUMB!! Most deaf people, in fact, are very intelligent and bright. I hope that everyone who reads this will be understanding and never use the phrase "Deaf and Dumb" again, and even correct anyone they hear using it.

The answer from MIKE FREEWAY, above, gives an excellent insight into your question, regarding blindness and deafness. Good job, Mike!

I do hope you will consider reading the book I mentioned. Thank you for your interest in the blind and deaf, and I hope this helps you and others understand them better. And perhaps even learn ASL or Signed Exact English (SEE) so you can communicate with the deaf yourself!

Answer 2

You want this answer? Yes, I do hear myself think. I have been deaf since 1972. That's when I was disabled out of the Army. I now speak ASL, am a graduate of the national technical institute for the deaf in Rochester NY for my first college degree, and have two more from the regular public university system in Texas. I am working on two specialized technical AAS Degrees right now and will then go for a masters degree. Probably an MBA. So are we deaf and dumb? Or can we hear ourselves think? And are we just as capable as you, idiot? Or not? I have close to 500 college credit hours and between 3.0 and 3.5 Gpa at all I have attended. So can I think? And hear myself think or not? Same as all you that still hear?

Answer 3

They will dream in the same way they experience life. If somone has never been able to see then they won't have visual dreams because there is no record of it in their brain. If someone is deaf from birth then they they won't be using a "speaking" voice in their mind because of the same reason. If someone became blind or deaf later in their life, after they have experienced the sense of sight or hearing, then it is possible for them to have those senses in their dream.

Answer 4

There is more to seeing/hearing than eye balls perceiving lights or ear drums perceiving sound waves. To answer your question, one consideration has to be given first; if a person was blind/deaf by birth.

If a person is blind/deaf by birth; meaning he has never experienced 'seeing' or 'hearing,' he would never 'see' dreams in picture form or 'hear' themselves think. It is because 'seeing' or 'hearing' is more often than not an active process in which a person has to have prior knowledge of what he is seeing or hearing. With this 'prior knowledge,' you can identify what you are seeing as what. This seeing which requires prior knowledge comes after one experiences it; or simply in a posteriori sense. This seeing in a posteriori sense would never occur if a person is blind/deaf by birth. In a more trivial level, a person with normal vision can see, say, an x-ray film on chest. A nove cannot see what's really in the film, but doctors can. In both cases, both have the same visual, but one does not see something, while the other sees something. In short, there is a sense in which what one sees is not what he sees.

Suppose that neuron firings can give certain 'visual patterns' or 'sound patterns' in him. (I do not know if anyone could positively conclude that those patterns do not exist.) It would be very implausible to think that he who is blind/deaf by birth can experience the visual pattern which serembles, say, cars or certain objects. Similar goes for hearing as well. Whether or not such visual/sound patterns can be generated by neuron firing, he will most likely cannot and would not recognize them as visual or sound and he may not even be aware of it.

In regards to "hearing themselves think," it requires a few ideas from Philosophy of Language. When we use a language, (writing for example), we use symbols to represent our ideas, thoughts. Those symbols (written words or verbal sounds) follow certain rules called syntax and those symbols have meaning called semantic contents. The most important one is 'semantic content' the meaning of a word because 'semantic content' is what ultimately enables communication or understanding. When you think, you are dealing with semantic contents, which are expressed by use of symbols. Back to the issue of if deaf people (by birth) hear themselves think; if you mean 'hear' in a literal sense, the answer is no. But if you mean it metaphorically to include the state of being aware of semantic contents, the answer is yes.

If a person was not blind/deaf by birth, they dream in picture form and they hear voices just like you can 'see' your friend's face even if your friend is not present before you or just like you can 'hear' your favorite music in your head when you are not listening to it.

Good Questions!!

Answer 5

I have been blind since birth. Looking at this question from my perspective I would answer it this way. When I was a child, I would see light in my dreams. If the sun were out or if there were lights on in a room things like that. Now that I am older, and haven't the light perception that I used to I don't usually see light in my dreams anymore.
Looking at this question from someone's point of view whom had sight and then lost it I would say that perhaps they may still visually picture things in there dreams.
I liked this question... Please ask more questions about blindness if you like.

Answer 6

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Never thought of that one and never thought to ask a deaf or blind person that question. But I sure would like to know the asnwer.

Answer 7

Marc, while we all can appreciate your intelligence, I think you took this a bit too personally. In my opinion, the OP had no intention to insult you, she was merely being ironic.

Answer 8

I don't know if this counts, but when I lost sight for about 6 months I dreamt in "pictures".