Man’s vision gives insight on seeing - Blind for 43 years Michael May can see again.

Associated Press ^ | 08/25/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

After 43 years of blindness, Michael May can see again.

HE CAN play soccer with his sons, enjoy movies and, for the first time, gaze on the Sierra Nevada slopes he has expertly skied — sightless — since the late 1970s.

But May can’t recognize his sons, Carson, 11, and Wyndham, 9, by their faces alone. The same goes for identifying Jennifer, his wife of 15 years.

People “can’t fathom that,” said May, who owns a company in Davis, Calif., that makes navigational software for the blind.

Three years after surgery restored sight to May’s right eye, researchers say May’s case shows how vision is more than just eye function. Blindness has long-term effects on how the brain processes information and constructs one’s view of the world.

May lost his sight to a chemical explosion when he was 3½ years old. He eventually lost his left eye and remained blind in his right until the surgery in 2000.

But testing since that surgery has showed that May’s ability to interpret what he sees through his good eye is decidedly mixed, said Ione Fine, lead author of a study appearing in the September issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

May can identify simple shapes and colors. He can interpret objects in motion. He can spy faraway peaks. He marvels at the vibrancy of plants and flowers unseen since he lost his vision.

But three-dimensional perception and the ability to recognize complex objects such as the faces of family and friends remain severely impaired. He strains to tell the difference between a man and a woman. He describes a cube as a square with extra lines.

FEW PEOPLE REACQUIRED VISION

Written history mentions perhaps 30 people who reacquired vision after protracted periods of blindness, said Fine, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego. She and her colleagues leapt at the chance to study May and began testing him just months after his cornea- and stem cell-implant surgery. The stem cells formed a protective layer over his new cornea to prevent clouding.

[jlogajan]

So if it doesn't work out perfectly, then of course it is God's fault...I see. ~yawn~

Once again, how is this testament to God?

[bedolido]

"He strains to tell the difference between a man and a woman."

lol... If he lives close to San Francisco he's in real trouble.

[taxcontrol]

A testament can be provided either by positive or by negative. You are focusing on the negative. I chose to realize that GOD the engineer has design an excellent tool (the brain)

And further recognize that when we humans muck up the design (the article did mention a chemical explosition) and the stumble around and try to fix it, we still do not come anywhere near close to the original.

What a wonderful container for our souls GOD has created.

[dogbrain]

"...lost his sight to a chemical explosion when he was 3½ years old."

Well call me slow, I couldn't read at 3-1/2.

[Hatteras]

"lol... If he lives close to San Francisco he's in real trouble."

Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand
why she walk like a woman but talk like a man
Oh my Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola, lo lo lo lo Lola...

[Hatteras]

Does he have to close his eye now to read braille? Suddenly, those dots get a little confusing...

[saminfl]

Is this thread full of DU members?

[Gunslingr3]

Besides, who cares if someone wants to eschew the intellect in favor of ancient mythology - as long as they keep it out of our courthouses and stay out of the way of the stem-cell research which enabled this man to regain his vision.

I have to admit to getting angry when their irrationality results in this: Autistic Boy Dies at Wis. Prayer Service

[bedolido]

Is this thread full of DU members?

Not unless freeper user ID "Concerned about politics" is posting here (actual DU member currently posing as a freeper since May 8, 2001.)

[myself6]

I agree with part of what you said. "who cares" (ok I agree with two words and the general meaning of those words)

I am not a religious person. I do not have faith in a supernatural being. I view religions to be illogical simply because they replace reason with faith.

That being said, I know right from wrong. I do not mind that the commandments are there. I would not care if my sons football team said a prayer before every game. I wouldn’t have a stroke if my daughters school choir sang some of the beautiful yet deeply religious songs.

As long as the message is in agreement with my values I could care less if others believe a supernatural being is the creator. Actually I find it quite charming and almost wish I had been blessed with faith. I know I wouldn’t have the worries and weight on my shoulders that I currently do.

As far as the argument of separation of church and state... That is so much B.S. The founders of this nation didn’t want CONGRESS creating any laws that established a national religion or writing any laws that restricted the free exercise of religion. As long as CONGRESS doesn’t do either one of these I have no problem with what people do in there own homes, towns, counties and states. That includes local, state and federal government buildings. If that means that there is christian stuff at all the courthouses in a certain area or catholic stuff in an other... SO WHAT? As long as the constitution and constitutional laws ( written by CONGRESS not judges to the letter of the CONSTITUTION not what some judge thinks it should mean TODAY) are followed I just don’t see a damn problem.

People feel left out the problem? So damn what?! this isn’t kindergarten. If you worship chicken sh!t your probably going to feel left out. If you believe that you can please your god by never washing your clothes or bathing, your going to feel VERY left out. Again, so F---ing what?! If you feel that the infidels must bow down before allah or die, then you will have company ( in the form of some bad ass dudes with guns who want to ask you some questions). That’s fine with me too.

There is no right to be included outside of grade school. There is no right not to be spiritually or otherwise offended.
There is no law that says you must be able to understand the concepts of individual freedom and liberty. I just hope that there are not too many people that believe the way you do.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

The brain is an amazing parallel processor. With time, this guy's visual processing might kick in again.

Relearning to use a sense that had died is a long process that cannot be rushed. I have a cochlear implant and am one of the fortunate majority of implantees who can use a phone, but it took me some months of immersing myself in sound. I'd drive around with Rush Limbaugh playing on the radio and not have a clue, but eventually one day it snapped into focus, and I've been a radio news junkie ever since.

So my advice to this guy is to never say never.

[babble-on]

God made the trees
God made the lakes
God made Gephardt...
We all make mistakes.

[SengirV]

What a bitter little person you must be

Not at all. Like I said, it was just an observation. I did not say all, and I agree that there are other sources. It's just that some here would turn their backs on all of the research because of one source. Don't forget, God says it's OK to have slaves, as long as you are nice to them =) Just something to think about.

[billhilly]

What brought that stupid remark on?

[SengirV]

I bring that up for many reasons. Something that is abhorrent to us today is mentioned in perfectly acceptable terms in the bible time and time again(don't take it literally, but as an example of twisted logic based on the times). I'm just saying that line of reasearch should not be thrown away when it shows such great promise(in this case it makes the blind see). It's true that the primary source is unacceptable, but do not turn your back on it if at all possible. Which is a counter position to a number of freepers.

[Walkingfeather]

unfortunatly there are no documented cases of people being blind from birth recovering site.... I may be wrong but I read that..... except the few that the nazarine healed.

[rmmcdaniell]

So if it doesn't work out perfectly, then of course it is God's fault...I see. ~yawn~

Yes, I agree. Its also just as illogical and tiresome stating that everything good can be credited to god, and everything bad to man or the devil.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

I'm sure some people here would rip the stem cells off of his eyes if they could =) Just an observation.

If it were my eyes, and I knew that a person's life was taken to give me vison, I would refuse it. My eyesight is not worth another's life. Especially knowing it is an excuse to justify mass murder of innocents.

However, haven't you heard of Adult Stem Cells? They acutally work better because they come from the body of the donor.