It’s important to define awareness as it relates to the visual field. While a person may be cognitively aware of the fact that they have a visual field loss condition, it does not mean they are acutely aware of its effect on their life from moment to moment. We react to visual stimuli. Our visual field provides detection of objects of interest. In contrast, our visual field loss does not provide detection of objects of interest. The absence of visual stimuli in the area of visual field loss leads to the absence of a reaction to stimuli in that area.
The best example to help a fully sighted person understand this is the area behind your head. You are aware that you cannot see behind your head. However, you rarely make any effort to look into that area unless triggered by a sound or physical contact coming from that direction. There is no visual stimuli coming from that area.
