[blindza] FW: Blind can learn from bats

From: "Jacob Kruger" <jacob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "BlindZA" <blindza@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 10:23:46 +0200

Birmingham Mail , UK

Blind can learn from bats, expert tells Birmingham students
by Diane Parkes,
May 5 2009

IT is well known that bats and dolphins use sonar for navigation - but this
method of using sound to
identify objects is also the latest area for research and teaching for
people who are blind and
partially sighted.
Known as echolocation, it enables people with reduced visibility to use
their own voices to
recognise objects which could form barriers.
It may sound like the stuff of science-fiction but in fact echolocation has
long been identified as
a resource for blind people - it is only now that its benefits are being
monitored and recorded.
One of the leading proponents of the system, Californian Daniel Kish,
himself blind from birth, has
just held two teaching days at Birmingham City University for students
aiming to work in
rehabilitation for people who are blind and partially sighted.
Daniel, who at 43 has been using echolocation since childhood and teaches it
across the globe, held
workshops for around 50 students on the Rehabilitation of Blind and
Partially Sighted People diploma
course.
He says: "Research has shown that, without teaching, around ten per cent of
blind people develop the
skills of echolocation to an advanced degree while around 50 per cent
develop some rudimentary
degree. That may be something like knowing they are in a corridor or
enclosed space.
"But with teaching echolocation can be developed and refined much further."
In humans, echolocation depends upon the person developing a series of
clicks which then bounce off
the object and can be picked up by the trained human ear. By recognising
these sounds, the blind or
partially sighted person is then able to detect objects around them.
"Instead of using light in a visual way they are using sound in the shape of
clicks which then
bounce off the object and enter the ear," Daniel explains.
Daniel was lucky. Growing up in a family who supported his echolocation, he
was able to develop it
to an advanced degree and there are videos on the internet of him happily
cycling down the road. But
he says many children are not as fortunate.
"In an ideal situation, a blind infant or child who is supported will be
able to develop the skill
to a high level but in many cases this does not happen."
Daniel teaches people of all ages and he also teaches those who work with
people who are blind or
partially sighted - teaching the teachers.
Which is why he visited BCU on one of his rare visits to the UK. As a
leading light in courses for
rehabilitation for blind and partially sighted people, the university
attracts students from across
the country, many of whom are already working in the field.
"The most important issue here is not the wow factor in the fact that people
who are blind can do
things like ride bikes," says Daniel.
"The point is that it can be taught, this ability can be imparted. And that
is still a developing
process.
"I have trained others and they are training others but we are still in a
pilot process really.'' he
said.
''We are amassing a pool of people who can teach this but it is still a
fairly new development.
"I would hope this is the future.
''It has definitely caught on in a broad way in a short time so I am hoping
it can only keep
expanding and continue to offer opportunities for blind people."

SOURCE
http://www.birminghammail.net/lifestyle/family-life/education/2009/05/05/blind-can-learn-from-bats-expert-tells-birmingham-students-97319-23540259/

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[blindza] FW: Blind can learn from bats

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