Being able to see is something that we all take for granted. And it’s probably one of those things that you wouldn’t fully appreciate until you have to do without it. But with blindness there is a lot more to it than meets the eye (sorry, we had to). Some blind people, like Helen Keller have left an incredible mark on society, in large part because of the fact that they were blind. Other blind people don’t even want to be labeled as having a handicap. They see it as a gift! We know, that might be hard to imagine, but there is some scientific validity to that notion. If you lose one sense, your other senses strengthen slightly in order to compensate. This means that if someone cannot see, then their sense of hearing may be stronger than for a person with normal vision. In fact, there are some blind people that use echolocation to navigate. This means that they make noises with their mouths and listen for the echoes bouncing off of objects to tell them where they are. If you are thinking that this is how bats navigate, then you are absolutely correct! These are 25 things you didn’t know about blindness!
Featured Image: Ken Teegardin via Flickr
Guide dogs (for blind or visually impaired people) learn to poop on command. This is so that the owner can clean it up
Source: pets4homes.co.uk, Image: wikipediaThe US military once used colorblind people to identify camouflaged colors that would have been hard for people with regular vision to identify.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaSome blind people have learned to navigate using echolocation by clicking their tongues.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe WHO estimates that that are about 280 million visually impaired people in the world. Roughly 40 million of them are blind.
Source: who, Image: pixabayPresident Theodore Roosevelt went blind in one eye from a boxing injury while he was still serving as president.
Source: history.com, Image: wikipediaIn the United Kingdom, blind people get a 50% discount on TV licenses (for non Europeans - in Europe you often have to pay an extra fee in order to own a television that funds public broadcasting).
Source: wikipedia, Image: pixabayOriginally, braille was a technique used by Napoleon's spies so that they could read messages in the dark.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaAccording to the WHO, 80% of visual impairment cases worldwide are treatable, but 90% of people with impaired vision live in low-income countries with limited medical care access.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe reason that the popular Redwall series of books for children is known for its descriptive imagery is that the author, Brian Jacques, originally wrote the books for blind children.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaMonkeys have actually had their colorblindness cured when doctors injected cones into their eyes. One day, this could potentially be done in humans as well.
Source: livescience.com, Image: wikipediaDuring one of the first nuclear weapon tests in New Mexico (trinity) a blind woman named Georgia Green saw a bright flash...from 50 miles away.
Source: abqjournal.com, Image: wikipediaThose who are blind overcome difficult obstacles every single day. Check out who else have overcome incredible obstacles due to their handicap in these 25 Amazing Photographic Depictions Of The Human Spirit.
Since JD Salinger died without giving up the rights to audiobook version of The Catcher in the Rye, the only way to get a legal audiobook version is to receive confirmation from a doctor saying that you are visually impaired and then taking that to the Library of Congress. This is because US copyright law allows the Library of Congress to make copies of any work available for the visually impaired.
Source: usatoday.com, Image: wikipediaIt was only after having made nearly 2 billion crayons that the chief crayon maker at Crayola, Emerson Moser, admitted to being colorblind.
Source: The Telegraph, December 8th 1990, Image: wikipediaBlind people have more night mares than people with regular vision...up to 4 times more!
Source: sciencenordic.com, Image: pixabayIf a blind person is afraid of dogs, or allergic to them, then he or she can be issued a guide horse!
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaGuide dogs can't actually tell if the walk signal is red or green so visually impaired people have to rely on auditory cues to cross the road. If a car is coming, however, their guide dog will refuse to move
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaSalty and Roselle were two guide dogs that received medals for leading their blind owners out of the World Trade Centers on 9/11
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaMatthew Weigman was a blind 19 year old who was arrested for hacking. He had used his ultra sensitive hearing to hack phones and make calls to the SWAT team whom he would direct to the houses of people he didn't like.
Source: dailyobserver, Image: wikipediaAll pens bought by the US government are Skilcraft pens assembled by blind people.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaStatistically speaking, blind people are more likely to find love than people with normal vision. 65% of blind Americans are married or live with a partner and their divorce rate is only 16.5 percent.
Source: afb.org, Image: wikipediaMr Rogers once received a letter from a blind girl asking him to say out loud on his show whenever he was feeding his fish. So he did!
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaPeople who are born blind do not develop schizophrenia but they are at risk for autism.
Source: psychologytoday.com, Image: wikipediaIn some countries there are specific textures (tactile pavements) in the sidewalks that blind people can sense with their canes and use for guidance. These are especially useful near crosswalks and metros.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaWhen they take LSD, blind people can still experience hallucinations.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipediaThe fact that blind people display the same facial expressions as people with sight (smiling, frowning, etc), implies that facial expressions are innate. That is to say, we don't learn them...we're born just knowing them.
Source: psychcentral.com, Image: wikipediaLists Going Viral Right Now
