In 1999, May founded the Sendero Group in Davis, California, United States, which employs many individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

Consequently, it was anticipated that he would experience difficulty describing the outside world in comparison to a normal-sighted person, for example, it would be difficult for May to differentiate between complex shapes, dimensions, and the orientation of objects.

Hannan (2006) hypothesized that the temporal visual cortex uses prior memory and experiences to make sense of shapes, colors, and forms.

Cohen's study proposes that May's long term blindness affects his ability to distinguish between faces of males and females, and to recognize pictures and images.

Thinus-Blanc and Gaunet (1997) suggest that people who are blind early in life show a limited ability in the area of spatial representation.

Cohen et al. (1997) propose that, during their early years, blinded subjects develop a strong inclination for tactile discrimination tasks.