As a blind person who has been that way since birth, I’ve often been asked how I perceive colours since I’ve never seen them before.
I have no idea what colours look like, but I’ve built my own perceptions based on other people’s descriptions.
For instance, I picture blue as cold and I associate it with the clear blue water of a mountain pool, or the ocean. And trust me, if you’ve ever swam in a mountain pool before, you’ll know that it is breath-robbingly whole-body-numbingly cold.
I associate yellow with brightness, warmth and sunlight. For that reason it’s also my favourite colour. I’ve also been told it looks good on me.
Colour-matching when I get dressed: I usually go the safe route. I try to buy colours that can go with anything. And whenever in doubt: Wear my black pants. That way, I know I’m presentable. š
There are also other methods that you can use to colour-code your clothing. Many blind people use differently shaped buttons that you sew on somewhere on the inside of your clothes. For example: Squares are black, hearts are blue, etc. So where there is a will, there is a way.
A little myth about blindness is that we only see black. I often hear this one. I guess it is a way that sighted people try to identify what it is like to be blind. But I do actually not see black all the time – although I couldn’t tell you what it is that I see. I have seen total black before on a really dark night, but what I see is not totally black.
Maybe it’s because I have a little bit of perception of light and dark. So there’s something to wrap and scratch your brain about.
Leave a comment please :-)