The Boy with Daredevil Like Vision
People magazine profiles Ben Underwood, a blind 14-year-old who uses echolocation to "see" in a fashion not unlike the Daredevil©. Ben, who has been sightless since the age of 3, makes loud clicking noises with his tongue and then listens for the echo. From the People profile: 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."
Link to People
Ben learned how to read Braille and walk with a cane, but when he was 3, he also began teaching himself echolocation, something he picked up by tossing objects and making clicking sounds to find them. His sense of hearing, teachers noticed, was exceptional. "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."