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Очень интересный отчет

Recovery from Early Blindness: A Case Study

Подробный рассказ о пациенте, который почти полностью потерял зрение в возрасте 10 месяцев (мог только показывать на яркие белые объекты, но не мог ничего различать, узнавать итд.),
и восстановил полностью в 52 года в результате операции. Рассказывается о том, что он мог и не мог делать после возвращения зрения (узнавал многие большие предметы, мог распознать цифры, по-видимому, пользуясь тактильной памятью, но не мог распознавать людей по лицам, не воспринимал глубину объектов, итп.). Зрительные иллюзии по большей части на нем "не работали".

Перед тем, как его повели в зоопарк и впервые показали животных, его попросили нарисовать, как он представляет себе слона:



(но когда увидел слона, сразу его узнал)

Еще несколько цитат:

• ...about three days after the operation he saw the moon for the first time. At first he thought it a reflection in the window, but when he realised, or was told, it was the moon, he expressed surprise at its crescent shape, expecting a “quarter moon” to look like a quarter piece of cake!
  
  
• ...Mr. Winn told us that on the drive down S.B. had been almost completely unresponsive, accepting quite calmly what must have been unfamiliar visual scenes. He complained that the world seemed a drab place, though when the sun appeared he could see more clearly, and he was disappointed when it set.
  
  
• We took him round London, and showed him several of the “sights”, but he was almost uniformly bored. He found all buildings dull, of no interest. His only signs of appreciation were to moving objects, particularly the pigeons in Trafalgar Square... He found the traffic frightening, and would not attempt to cross even a comparatively small street by
  himself. This was in marked contrast to his former behaviour, as described to us by his wife, when he would cross any street in his own town by himself.
  
  
• Six months after the operation... talking to him now he seemed dispirited, and we formed a strong impression that his sight was to him almost entirely disappointing. It
  enabled him to do a little more, and he had a strong desire to drive a car, but it became clear that the opportunities it afforded him were less than he had imagined. We found a still active middle-aged man of fairly high intelligence, but with a labourer’s job and unable to read more than a few simple words [...] He described the world as rather drab; he still to a great extent lived the life of a blind man, sometimes not bothering to put on the light at night, and he still made little of the normal visual occupations of the cinema or television. He certainly relied a great deal on vision, but we formed the impression that this very reliance cost him his self-respect, for he had been proud of his abilities when
  the handicap was obvious, but now his previous achievements seemed paltry and his present position almost foolish. He was not a man to talk freely, but was obviously depressed, and we felt that he had lost more than he had gained by recovery of sight.
  
  
• His story is in some ways tragic. He suffered one of the greatest handicaps, and yet he lived with energy and enthusiasm. When his handicap was apparently swept away, as by a miracle, he lost his peace and his self-respect.
  
  (я нашел ссылку на эту книгу в статье "The world that only formerly-blind people can see", но книга показалась мне более интересной, чем статья)