Outside Sensations

I read a story about a man who was in a car accident and was rendered completely color blind. It deeply upset him...until he got used to it, at which point he didn't want to have it fixed. I thought that was interesting, but the story went on to ask an even more interesting question. The question was posed about whether, if someone has lived their entire life without ever having had the opportunity to see color, would they even be capable of comprehending it if the impairment was fixed? Or if someone was to go from being completely deaf or blind, to being able to hear or see, would they ever be able to adapt and make intelligible the sensations they are newly experiencing?