[nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind

Mon Feb 11 20:59:37 CST 2008

What about glass?  Well, glass is nothing to worry about really.  If your 
feet are tough because of going out barefooted a lot, broken glass is really 
nothing to worry about in general.

Sincerely yours,
The Constantly Barefooted,
Ray
Home phone and fax:
(985)360-3375
E-mail:
rforetjratcomcastdotnet
Skype Name:
barefootedray

God bless President George W. Bush!
God bless our troops!
and God bless America
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "dmgina" <dmgina at qwest.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 8:51 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind

Ray,
You are telling me you go out to the trash in your bare feet?
Dreadful that is what it is dreadful.
What about glass.
Oh me dreadful that is what it is dreadful.

--Dar
www.mypowermall.com/biz/home/5779
Every Saint has a past
Every Sinner has a future

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ray Foret jr" <rforetjr at comcast.net>
To: "NFB Talk Mailing List" <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind

> Well, Sherri, in such a case, if you happen to be barefooted while taking
> out the garbage, there's two things working for you;
> 1.  The feel of the ground under the soles of your bare feet.
>
> 2.  You can use the sound of the tapping of your feet on the ground too.
>
>    This reminds me of an article about a blind teen-ager who did much the
> same thing.  With him though, he thought the cane was for the "super
> blind"
> or something like that and he'd rather use his tongue anyhow.  Let me give
> you an example of how he really exhibited some mighty poor judgment
> though.
> In a video of him, you can see him use the technique of using his tongue
> to
> make sounds and find an object.  then, he reaches out with a bare foot and
> identifies the object as a car; when, in fact, it was a garbage can.  Now
> y'all, I can easily tell the difference between a car and a garbage can
> with
> my bare feet; and, it really doesn't take much effort.  However, to tell
> the
> truth, I'd rather use a cane or my hands to do that.  What that boy did,
> in
> my opinion, is not only poor judgment, it's also a sign of his lack of
> good
> training.  Yet sadder is the fact that he knows better training is out
> there
> and refuses it.  We've got our canes to tell sound with.  IF our hands
> happen to be full at the time; well, there's other ways too.  But, that's
> my
> two cents worth anyhow.
>
> Sincerely yours,
> The Constantly Barefooted,
> Ray
> Home phone and fax:
> (985)360-3375
> E-mail:
> rforetjratcomcastdotnet
> Skype Name:
> barefootedray
>
> God bless President George W. Bush!
> God bless our troops!
> and God bless America
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sherri" <
> flmom2006 at gmail.com>
> To: "NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List" <
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 11:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] British using sound to assist the blind
>
> However, there are times when you aren't using a cane. Sometimes, for
> example, I take my garbage out and my hands are full and I sometimes need
> to
> get an audible cue as to where I am. However, the echolocation can
> certainly
> be accomplished handily with a cane and it should by no means be used to
> discourage cane travel or promote inappropriate behaviors
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "seville allen" <
> ceoallen at verizon.net>
> To: "'NFBnet Blind Talk Mailing List'" <
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 11:35 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] British using sound to assist the blind
>
> Too bad that article assumes inappropriate behavior is okay for the blind
> kids.  What does that do for their self image or their own attitude about
> their blindness?  It would be more appropriate for these kids to have
> canes
> in their hands and tap the cane to get the sound from the tip tapping on
> the
> ground.  Sometimes we've made progress and then we are reminded just how
> far
> we have to go when articles like this make the papers.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Sherri
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 7:36 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of NFBnet Blind-Talk Mailing List;
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Blindtlk] British using sound to assist the blind
>
> Does anyone use a similar technique for echolocation as mentioned in the
> below article? I sometimes will quietly snap my fingers if I am trying to
> locate where an object is and that helps. To me, it's interesting that as
> blind people, we have developed techniques that are now being taught by
> people who think they've discovered some great idea that has never been
> tried before.
>
> Sherri
>
>  From The Sunday Times
>
> February 10, 2008
>
> Blind taught to 'see' like a bat
>
> Mark Macaskill
>
> BLIND British children are to be taught a pioneering bat-style
> echolocation
> technique to visualise their surroundings.
>
> The children are learning how to build up detailed images of the world
> around them by clicking their tongue and interpreting the sound as it
> echoes
> back.
>
> The technique is used by animals such as bats, dolphins and whales to
> navigate and hunt in the dark.
>
> Bats are able to manoeuvre around caves and catch tiny insects on the wing
> by emitting short bursts of high-pitched noise and reading the sound waves
> as
> they bounce back to their highly evolved ears.
>
> There is emerging evidence that blind people can harness their sense of
> hearing - which is often more acute - to interpret reflected sound and
> create detailed
> mental images of their surroundings, including the distance, size and
> density of objects.
>
> The technique is being piloted in Glasgow, where 10 children aged five to
> 17
> are being taught by staff from Visibility, one of the city's oldest
> charities
> for the blind. The children are learning how to make the clicking sound
> and
> how to use the technique even in noisy urban areas, including the
> underground
> system.
>
> Blind people in America, where human echolocation was pioneered, have
> learnt
> to differentiate between people, trees, buildings and parked cars by
> interpreting
> the pitch and timbre of the echo they produce. Practitioners say they can
> determine the height, density and shape of objects up to 100ft away.
>
> People using echolocation can determine the distance they are from an
> object
> by the length of time it takes for the sound to travel back. Its position
> can
> be established by whether the echo hits the left or right ear first. The
> size of an object can be determined by the intensity of the echo. A
> smaller
> object
> reflects less of the sound wave. The object's direction of movement can be
> established by the pitch of the echo, which is lower if it is moving away
> from
> the source.
>
> Echolocation has been endorsed by Professor Gordon Dutton, one of
> Britain's
> leading paediatric ophthalmologists, who wants the technique to be taught
> to
> blind and visually impaired people across the country. There are about
> 385,000 registered blind and partially sighted people in Britain.
>
> "It's very exciting," said Dutton, of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
> in Glasgow. "I have seen echolocation being used - it's quite stunning. It
> has
> been demonstrated to me that it absolutely works.
>
> "Of course there will be scepticism and doubt but the benefits are without
> question. It will make a massive difference to the lives of blind and
> visually
> impaired people."
>
> The project in Glasgow follows a visit last year by Dan Kish, a
> 41-year-old
> blind man from California, who pioneered the technique. Kish, who runs the
> not-for-profit
> organisation World Access for the Blind, has also been commissioned by the
> charity Common Sense to present his method to the families of blind people
> in
> Poole, Dorset.
>
> His command of the technique is such that he can ride a bicycle on public
> roads and distinguish between different types of fruit on trees merely by
> clicking
> his tongue. A video on the website YouTube shows Kish and a number of his
> friends demonstrating their skills.
>
> Ben Underwood, a teenager who lost his sight when he was three, has also
> become a celebrity in America because of his ability to use echolocation
> to
> ride
> a bike and to go skateboarding.
>
> Although there have been no scientific studies of echolocation, supporters
> say it can hugely improve the lives of blind and partially sighted
> children.
>
> While using a cane allows blind people to identify obstacles in their
> path,
> echolocation is said to provide 360-degree "vision" and can give them far
> greater
> freedom.
>
> "It's a type of seeing in its own right, which probably uses similar brain
> imaging mechanisms to eyesight," Kish said.
>
> "Students almost invariably become more confident, move faster and
> participate in more activities," he continued. "They show improved posture
> and regard
> themselves as more able to direct themselves through their environment
> with
> less need for others.
>
> "They are freer, and better able to choose the quality of life they wish
> to
> achieve, rather than have this chosen for them."
>
> Fiona Sandford, chief executive of Visibility, added: "This is a
> pioneering
> technique that will transform the lives of young blind children.
>
> "We have trained four visually impaired adults and they are now using
> their
> skills to train children. We hope to roll this out to adults. I have seen
> it
> being used and it works."
>
> Belgium's federal police use a unit of blind officers specifically for
> their
> acute sense of hearing, in analysing phone taps and bugged conversations
> in
> investigations of terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.
>
> The detectives can separate the voices of different speakers and pick up
> sonic clues such as whether a suspect is in a railway station or a
> restaurant or
> whether the caller is using a land-line or mobile phone. Some officers
> have
> even identified the make of car suspects are using.
>
> A detective in Antwerp, Sacha van Loo, 36, who is trained in echolocation,
> correctly identified a drug smuggler as Albanian from his accent when
> sighted
> colleagues thought the man was Moroccan.
>
> Hollywood has also depicted the heightened senses of the blind. In the
> 2003
> film Dare-devil, Ben Affleck plays a New York lawyer, blinded in
> childhood,
> who transforms himself into a masked crime-busting superhero by night,
> using
> his acute hearing as a "radar sense" to "see" through the dark.
>
> ___________________________________________________
> PLEASE NOTE: Florida has a very broad public records law (F. S. 119). All
> e-mails to and from County Officials are kept as a public record. Your
> e-mail
> communications, including your e-mail address may be disclosed to the
> public
> and media at any time.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
>
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> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
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> 12:21 PM
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindtlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk
>
> _______________________________________________
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> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
> To: "Multiple recipients of NFBnet Blind-Talk Mailing List"
> <BlindTlk at nfbnet.org>; <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 6:36 AM
> Subject: [nfb-talk] British using sound to assist the blind
>
>
> Does anyone use a similar technique for echolocation as mentioned in the
> below article? I sometimes will quietly snap my fingers if I am trying to
> locate where an object is and that helps. To me, it's interesting that as
> blind people, we have developed techniques that are now being taught by
> people who think they've discovered some great idea that has never been
> tried before.
>
> Sherri
>
>
>  From The Sunday Times
>
> February 10, 2008
>
> Blind taught to 'see' like a bat
>
> Mark Macaskill
>
> BLIND British children are to be taught a pioneering bat-style
> echolocation
> technique to visualise their surroundings.
>
> The children are learning how to build up detailed images of the world
> around them by clicking their tongue and interpreting the sound as it
> echoes
> back.
>
>
> The technique is used by animals such as bats, dolphins and whales to
> navigate and hunt in the dark.
>
> Bats are able to manoeuvre around caves and catch tiny insects on the wing
> by emitting short bursts of high-pitched noise and reading the sound waves
> as
> they bounce back to their highly evolved ears.
>
> There is emerging evidence that blind people can harness their sense of
> hearing - which is often more acute - to interpret reflected sound and
> create detailed
> mental images of their surroundings, including the distance, size and
> density of objects.
>
> The technique is being piloted in Glasgow, where 10 children aged five to
> 17
> are being taught by staff from Visibility, one of the city's oldest
> charities
> for the blind. The children are learning how to make the clicking sound
> and
> how to use the technique even in noisy urban areas, including the
> underground
> system.
>
> Blind people in America, where human echolocation was pioneered, have
> learnt
> to differentiate between people, trees, buildings and parked cars by
> interpreting
> the pitch and timbre of the echo they produce. Practitioners say they can
> determine the height, density and shape of objects up to 100ft away.
>
> People using echolocation can determine the distance they are from an
> object
> by the length of time it takes for the sound to travel back. Its position
> can
> be established by whether the echo hits the left or right ear first. The
> size of an object can be determined by the intensity of the echo. A
> smaller
> object
> reflects less of the sound wave. The object's direction of movement can be
> established by the pitch of the echo, which is lower if it is moving away
> from
> the source.
>
> Echolocation has been endorsed by Professor Gordon Dutton, one of
> Britain's
> leading paediatric ophthalmologists, who wants the technique to be taught
> to
> blind and visually impaired people across the country. There are about
> 385,000 registered blind and partially sighted people in Britain.
>
> "It's very exciting," said Dutton, of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children
> in Glasgow. "I have seen echolocation being used - it's quite stunning. It
> has
> been demonstrated to me that it absolutely works.
>
> "Of course there will be scepticism and doubt but the benefits are without
> question. It will make a massive difference to the lives of blind and
> visually
> impaired people."
>
> The project in Glasgow follows a visit last year by Dan Kish, a
> 41-year-old
> blind man from California, who pioneered the technique. Kish, who runs the
> not-for-profit
> organisation World Access for the Blind, has also been commissioned by the
> charity Common Sense to present his method to the families of blind people
> in
> Poole, Dorset.
>
> His command of the technique is such that he can ride a bicycle on public
> roads and distinguish between different types of fruit on trees merely by
> clicking
> his tongue. A video on the website YouTube shows Kish and a number of his
> friends demonstrating their skills.
>
> Ben Underwood, a teenager who lost his sight when he was three, has also
> become a celebrity in America because of his ability to use echolocation
> to
> ride
> a bike and to go skateboarding.
>
> Although there have been no scientific studies of echolocation, supporters
> say it can hugely improve the lives of blind and partially sighted
> children.
>
>
> While using a cane allows blind people to identify obstacles in their
> path,
> echolocation is said to provide 360-degree "vision" and can give them far
> greater
> freedom.
>
> "It's a type of seeing in its own right, which probably uses similar brain
> imaging mechanisms to eyesight," Kish said.
>
> "Students almost invariably become more confident, move faster and
> participate in more activities," he continued. "They show improved posture
> and regard
> themselves as more able to direct themselves through their environment
> with
> less need for others.
>
> "They are freer, and better able to choose the quality of life they wish
> to
> achieve, rather than have this chosen for them."
>
> Fiona Sandford, chief executive of Visibility, added: "This is a
> pioneering
> technique that will transform the lives of young blind children.
>
> "We have trained four visually impaired adults and they are now using
> their
> skills to train children. We hope to roll this out to adults. I have seen
> it
> being used and it works."
>
> Belgium's federal police use a unit of blind officers specifically for
> their
> acute sense of hearing, in analysing phone taps and bugged conversations
> in
> investigations of terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime.
>
> The detectives can separate the voices of different speakers and pick up
> sonic clues such as whether a suspect is in a railway station or a
> restaurant or
> whether the caller is using a land-line or mobile phone. Some officers
> have
> even identified the make of car suspects are using.
>
> A detective in Antwerp, Sacha van Loo, 36, who is trained in echolocation,
> correctly identified a drug smuggler as Albanian from his accent when
> sighted
> colleagues thought the man was Moroccan.
>
> Hollywood has also depicted the heightened senses of the blind. In the
> 2003
> film Dare-devil, Ben Affleck plays a New York lawyer, blinded in
> childhood,
> who transforms himself into a masked crime-busting superhero by night,
> using
> his acute hearing as a "radar sense" to "see" through the dark.
>
>
>
>
> ___________________________________________________
> PLEASE NOTE: Florida has a very broad public records law (F. S. 119). All
> e-mails to and from County Officials are kept as a public record. Your
> e-mail
> communications, including your e-mail address may be disclosed to the
> public
> and media at any time.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.2/1270 - Release Date: 2/10/2008
> 12:21 PM
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfb-talk mailing list
> nfb-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk
>
>
>
> -- 
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.20.2/1271 - Release Date: 2/11/2008
> 8:16 AM
>

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