Ears Used to See for Blind Child

[Cody]

7-Year-Old Blind Boy Uses Ears to See

Updated: Tuesday, 06 Oct 2009, 11:09 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 05 Oct 2009, 12:59 PM EDT

By MIKE BRODY
(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A 7-year-old British boy, nicknamed "Batboy," has learned how to
"see with his ears" and is now able to play basketball and even go rock climbing.

Lucas Murray is able to visualize his surroundings by using a form of sonar that reflects
back the world around him, The Sun reports .

He clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth and is able to know where objects are
based on how the sound bounces back. Murray is also able to estimate the size of an
object by the intensity of the echo, with a smaller object reflecting less of the sound
wave.

The technique, called echolocation , is similar to that used by bats and dolphins.

Murray was taught the technique by Daniel Kish, founder of the World Access for the
Blind charity, after his parents saw Kish on TV and asked him to work with their son.

Although it is rare for humans to use echolocation, experts say the basics can be learned
in just a couple of weeks .

Ben Underwood, a Sacramento, Calif., teen who had been blind since he was 3, had
also mastered using echolocation to see . Tragically, Underwood died of cancer earlier
this year.

LINK

[Sean_]

That's pretty amazing. I didn't know human hearing was good enough to do that.

[Maverick]

I've seen a clip of a boy doing this on television. It was pretty amazing! He knew to avoid objects by clicking his tongue.