A book review from Roger Wilson-Hinds of:
It is a sad fact that the term echolocation is little known amongst blind people, never mind the main population. Johnson Is passionate about his subject and rightly so. To maximize the use of our senses is great and this is especially so if you lack an important one like sight. Echolocation is about getting the best from your ears. Hearing or sensing the detail of what is around, hearing there is a lamp post before you bump into it or being able to judge the size of the room you are in and knowing
how far off a wall is in front of you.
how far off a wall is in front of you.
Those of us who have been privileged to work closely with blind infants know that they use their native wit and make clicking sounds within their mouths to help them understand their surroundings via the echos they get back in their ears. Johnson goes into the detail of the best way to click, the best frequency of the sound to make and later delivers an echolocation teaching programme. The fact is that anyone concerned to improve the lives of blind people should read this book and learn from it. And furthermore, as Johnson often says, the rest of us too can do much to enhance our own control over the mind and senses by spending time and effort developing our echolocation skills. After all, we as humans have massive redundancy of abilities which our ancestors needed but which have fallen into disuse or under-use.
A good read for anyone inquisitive about stretching human limits and overcoming disabilities.
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