The Boy Who Sees with Sound

Blind since age 3, Ben Underwood skateboards, shoots hoops and plays video games. How does he do it? Just like bats and dolphins

There was the time a fifth grader thought it would be funny to punch the blind kid and run. So he snuck up on Ben Underwood and hit him in the face. That's when Ben started his clicking thing. "I chased him, clicking until I got to him, then I socked him a good one," says Ben, a skinny 14-year-old. "He didn't reckon on me going after him. But I can hear walls, parked cars, you name it. I'm a master at this game."

Ask people about Ben Underwood and you'll hear dozens of stories like this – about the amazing boy who doesn't seem to know he's blind. There's Ben zooming around on his skateboard outside his home in Sacramento; there he is playing kickball with his buddies. To see him speed down hallways and make sharp turns around corners is to observe a typical teen – except, that is, for the clicking. Completely blind since the age of 3, after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes (he now wears two prostheses), Ben has learned to perceive and locate objects by making a steady stream of sounds with his tongue, then listening for the echoes as they bounce off the surfaces around him. About as loud as the snapping of fingers, Ben's clicks tell him what's ahead: the echoes they produce can be soft (indicating metals), dense (wood) or sharp (glass). Judging by how loud or faint they are, Ben has learned to gauge distances.

The technique is called echolocation, and many species, most notably bats and dolphins, use it to get around. But a 14-year-old boy from Sacramento? While many blind people listen for echoes to some degree, Ben's ability to navigate in his sightless world is, say experts, extraordinary. "His skills are rare," says Dan Kish, a blind psychologist and leading teacher of echomobility among the blind. "Ben pushes the limits of human perception."

"One time a CD fell off his desk and I was reaching for it when he said, 'Nah, I got it,'" says Kalli Carvalho, his language arts instructor. "He went right to it. Didn't feel around. He just knew where it was because he heard where it hit." Haase took walks with Ben to help him practice locating objects. "I said, 'Okay, my car is the third car parked down the street. Tell me when we get there,' " she says. "As we pass the first vehicle, he says, 'There's the first car. Actually, a truck.' And it was a pickup. He could tell the difference."
Read more

Amazing... Reminds me of the Ray Charles movie, part that he just turned blind and he's trying to catch a cricket at home. Ray's mom pretending she's not there even Ray kept calling her, but then Ray still caught the cricket on his own... That was really touching...

Echolocation, I'm trying right now but I really can't notice much change... Snap snap..

Last edited by Cloudy on Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

reminds me of daredevil.

its pretty amazing and... breathtaking to see/read amazing things like this

DAREDEVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Adaptation.. that's what it is. This guy's obviously not emo but full of confidence to embrace his "difference" and do almost what everyone else can do. Props to him.

reminds me of daredevil.

its pretty amazing and... breathtaking to see/read amazing things like this

how does it remind you of Daredevil, I know he was blind but this is completely different

Why is it different? The basic concept was that they can sense things through sound

Amazing, well worth the read.

There was the time a fifth grader thought it would be funny to punch the blind kid and run. So he snuck up on Ben Underwood and hit him in the face.

That's just pathetic, though it's good to know that kid got his come-uppence.

The clicking thing would probably drive me insane if I was around him.

I'd second that, yet It is amazing what he can do. Wow, nice job for that kid.

That's just amazing. A prime example of evolution which people are so naive to deny.