Does being blind (or deaf, or in any way missing a sense) give insights that the rest of us don't have?

My wife is deaf (and has no sense of smell, either). Her deafness caused her no to learn some of the ways hearing people bullshit others.
I have noticed this all over the deaf community. There is a total absence of bullshit among them.

My son is slowly losing his eyesight due to some genetic disorder, and so he has learned to accept his fate and work with his slowly blurring world. I have seen him go through anger and depression and now he is warm and pleasant towards everyone. There is nothing that can be done and so he says that as long as he can see as clearly as he can he is going to enjoy life to the fullest. He is a self taught Bass guitar player and he has dyslexia and has had to deal with all that intails also. I can see what you say about there being now negative verbage towards any othe fellow citizen amongst the deaf community; which is so refreshing and, I sure wish that the hearing community that I belong to would be more cordial and forgiving. Thanks for sharing.

I think my girlfriend’s blindness is possibly somewhat helpful in her role as a psychotherapist. Any minority which is discriminated against can become more empathetic, so it may be difficult to tease out whether this is a product of blindness or of social ostracization.

My mother is deaf. this has caused her vision to improve at least 20%.

I am on my way to deafness myself, caused by my job. my sense of smell has also increased.

Hmm…@john65pennington so what do you know of this condition? Maybe this is the reason or has a connection for my son being able to teach himself to play a string instrument, I know that his hearing is very sensitive?

I think it probably does, all that stuff that must come with adapting, and dealing with other senses that may rise in its place, or if you were born deaf, or blind, you probably grow up to cope with it in ways that are unique to the situation, but what these psychological factors are, I wouldn’t know.

If nothing else though, Japan seems to have a thing for blind swordsmen.

@filmfann I’m curious, do think that thats inherent in the psychology of being deaf? Or is it a part of being deaf in a mostly non-deaf world?

@roundsquare I have seen this in those who are mixed with hearing kids, and those who stick to the deaf community. I very much prefer their company.

@filmfann you have given me something to think about and research. I shall get back at you all just as soon as I find something. Thanks for the insight. ;-)