Saturday 1 May 2010

Dolphin Clicks Help Blind Boy See!

Four year old, Jaime Aspland is blind and he has been taught to "see" by clicking his tongue and and listening to the way the clicks bounce off objects nearby!

This technique is called echo-location and its the same technique that dolphins use to navigate through the ocean. Echo-location helps Jaime build up a mental image of the world around him.

Jaime is one of the few children to be learning the technique from Daniel Kish.

Kish is blind himself, he pioneered the technique and has been touring the world, teaching it to others. Jaime's family had to raise £2,500 to pay for the lessons but said it is worth it. The boy can walk downstairs with no help and can distinguish between objects in front of him.

His mum explains, "We could see him walking towards a fence and my heart stopped. But literally without using a stick or anything he just knew it was there and walked around it. I was so amazed." It looks like this works and can help many people so that they don't become dependent on "seeing" sticks or guide dogs.

However, I wonder how people will feel about having someone "click" near them on public transport?

No comments:

Post a Comment