Blind Man Uses Echolocation to See
Daniel’s technique works a lot like bats use sound to navigate in the dark. And it caught the attention of bat biologist, Cynthia Moss.
“There are a lot of similarities between what Daniel Kish does and what bats do. Daniel makes a click and uses the click sound to perceive the presence of the object. Bats in most parts use their voices instead of their tongue to produce high frequency sounds that result in echoes.” Said Moss.
Cynthia Moss and Daniel Kish worked together in an experiment to see the extent of his echolocation skill. And during the study, several pipes were placed in front of him and he had to pass through them and distinguish the objects he is passing through. He easily recognizes the grouped pipes easily, but individual ones are more difficult for Daniel to detect. Likely meaning the image that bats see are more detail than Daniel’s. “The bats don’t have this problem, they can detect fishing line, and this is really not fair!” Daniel exclaimed.
But, Daniel’s ability to distinguish objects with the use of sound is still remarkable. Kish was born with an aggressive form of cancer called retinoblastoma, which attacks the retinas. To save his life, both of his eyes were removed by the time he was 13 months old. Since his infancy – Kish is now 44 – he has been adapting to his blindness in such remarkable ways that some people have wondered if he's playing a grand practical joke. But Kish, is truly and completely blind.
Echolocation has been further developed by Kish, who works with the blind, leading blind teenagers hiking and mountain-biking through the wilderness and teaching them how to navigate new locations safely, with a technique that he calls "FlashSonar”, through the non-profit organization World Access for the Blind. He now trains other blind people in the use of echolocation and in what he calls "Perceptual Mobility". Other notable individuals who employ echolocation and some have been taught by Kish are: Ben Underwood, Tom De Witte, Dr. Lawrence Scadden, Lucas Murray, Kevin Warwick and Juan Ruiz.
Comprehension Questions:
1. What is special about Daniel Kish?
2. Who was especially interested in his special talent?
3. What was Daniel Kish born with?
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you have any special talent that you are proud of?
2. What do you think makes you special and unique?
3. Tell me about a person you know that you feel has a special talent.