Echo Location For The Blind

I watched a show last night on the Discovery Health channel about Ben, the boy who sees with sound. As a young child, Ben was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in his head that resulted in the removal of both eyes to prevent the tumor from entering his brain and killing him.

Because of his young age, he adapted rather easily, teaching himself to use a series of clicks bounced off things around him to locate obstacles and maneuver around them with ease. At the time of filming for this show, Ben was fourteen, and living the life of a normal teenager without a disability. He wears prosthetic eyes, and anyone would be hard pressed to know at a glance that he was blind. Except for the constant clicking sounds he makes to direct himself, he doesn't consider himself disabled.

He rollerblades in the street, he walks to school, and he hangs out with his friends. He even plays video games! The story is just amazing!

Imagine the possibilities if every blind person could learn this skill. Except for the occasional obstacle that doesn't reverberate sound, such as a large hole or drop-off, a person could navigate their way through a busy street with ease. The only drawback would be that occasional hole or drop-off since sound cannot bounce back. A person has no idea just how large the hole is or how high the drop-off would be. In this instance, a white cane would be needed.

The echo location skill that Ben uses was compared to the ability of a submarine to find things under water. Or a dolphin that uses a series of clicks to communicate with and locate other dolphins.

I was just amazed at the life this boy leads. It gives hope and inspiration to the many other visually impaired people in the world. I know that when a person loses one sense, the other senses pick up the slack and become more intense. It's happened for me to an extent. While I'm not completely blind, my hearing has become more sensitive. I can hear much softer sounds, and I can hear individual sounds in a noisy situation a lot easier. Raindrops on a window during a storm becomes quite beautiful when you can't see the rain. You can hear each individual drop hit the glass.

Anyway, my hope is that if and when I ever lose my eyesight completely, I'm able to be as confident and self-sufficient as Ben. He is truly an inspiration.