Blind boy ‘sees’ by using dolphin clicks
Success for 4-year-old blind boy after learning a method used by dolphins
A 4-year-old boy has learnt to ‘see’ again after being taught a clicking technique used by dolphins to detect where objects are, reports the Telegraph.
Jamie Aspland from Ashford uses an echo location method that helps him form mental maps of his surroundings. Dolphins do this by producing high pitch clicks to penetrate objects and reflect off their internal structure. Jamie mimics this by flicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. When these sound waves hit an object, it reflects energy back to the ear, helping him work out an objects size, shape and distance away.
Jamie’s mum, Deborah, said she watched nervously at Jamie’s first session where he was heading towards a fence, but was amazed when he steered himself around it. “We thought he was going to go straight into in. But he just went round it. He was born blind but this therapy has given him a new lease of life.”
Jamie’s treatment costs £2,500, with the money for it raised by well-wishers in the family’s town.
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