“The Best Books on Blindness and the Brain” at Shepherd.com

The Best Books on Blindness and the Brain on Shepherd.com is a grateful nod to the authors that deepened the sciencey bits of There Plant Eyes! Oliver Sacks, John Locke, Lawrence Rosenblum, Jason Roberts, & @DavidEagleman—whose book Livewired came out after I’d finished TPE but surely would have been in there. Why I wrote this Blindness and the Brain list… Read more

Colorful Hallucinogenic Pixelated Snow Fuzz & Other Things Blind People See

When I had central vision loss I never saw a black hole—any more than sighted people “see” their blind spots… Now that I’m totally blind, I see colorful hallucinogenic pixelated snowfuzz–still no black! I was curious to know what other bplindkind see, so I asked Facebook and here are some responses—consider adding yours in the comments below! What some blindkind… Read more

What I See/Saw I: Hallucinations (Essay 2 of #52essays2017)

I am blind, but that does not mean I live in darkness, and I’m not just talking metaphor here. These days the visionscape confronting me sparkles and undulates, with greater or lesser intensity, constantly, veiling the world beyond with simple and complex hallucinations. The brilliance of my visionscape is not less intense in a dark room than in a brilliant… Read more

A Blind Person’s Notes on Notes On Blindness and Touching the Rock

Upon entering the Film forum, where Notes on Blindness, an innovative documentary centered around the voice of John Hull recorded in the early years of his complete vision loss, is playing, I was offered a headset, but told that I should only wear it over one ear. It turned out that I could not mix the audio description track with… Read more