Recovery from early blindness : a case study

Photograph: Tobias cures his father's blindness-Bernardo Strozzi 1581–1644 [The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase 1957 Mary Wetmore Shively Bequest, in memory of her husband, Henry L. Shively] Recovery from Early Blindness-A Case Study 2 Foreword Although it is nearly 300 years since Molyneux posed his celebrated query, interest in the problem of recovery of vision after early and long-standing blindness is of comparatively recent origin. In 1932, Dr. M. von Senden carefully reviewed the literature on the perception of space and shape in the congenitally blind before and after operation and arrived at some important conclusions. In particular, he stressed the slow, laborious and imperfect way in which the perception of form is acquired by these patients and their liability to emotional " crises " as they come to discover the true extent of their disability as sighted persons. Unfortunately, Dr. von Senden's monograph remained little known to psychologists, at all events in this country, and it was not until 1949, when Dr. Donald Hebb published his fascinating book on The Organisation of Behavior, that its significance came to be at all widely appreciated. As every psychologist knows, Dr. Hebb placed considerable weight on Herr von Senden's evidence and believed it to throw important light on the nature of visual perception and its development in infancy. Although there is disagreement regarding the interpretation of this evidence, there can be no doubt as to the fresh and stimulating influence which Dr. Hebb's ideas have had upon contemporary psychological thought. One of the main obstacles to informed discussion of Dr. Hebb's theories has been the inaccessibility of the clinical evidence. This, it is true, has been remedied to some extent by the publication, in 1960, of an English translation of Dr. von Senden's monograph but even so the position is far from satisfactory. It was never the author's intention to assemble detailed case reports and it is not always easy to distinguish between the facts as recorded by others and the interpretation which Dr. von Senden has placed upon them. If for only this reason, the addition of a fresh and well-studied case to the widely dispersed literature will be warmly welcomed. The authors of this monograph have provided a full description of the history and progress of a man, effectively blind almost from birth, who underwent two operations for corneal grafting at the age of 52, as a result of which …