Dolphin clicks help blind 4-year old ‘see’

Medics and researchers are continually looking for ways to restore sight for people with visual impairments. But a unique technique has recently helped a four year old from Kent.

The boy, who has been blind since birth and previously needed to be guided, can now walk unaided to his local park, and navigate around his house including using the stairs independently.

He has learnt an ‘echo location’ technique from an expert in the practice from America, Daniel Kish, who himself lost his sight at 13 months old.

The technique involves making high-pitched clicks by flicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, to mimic dolphins. The sound bounces off objects close by, and lets the boy know where they are so he can safely navigate around them.

At the moment the boy can ‘find’ objects like fences and hand-rails. In the future, he should be able to understand the size and shape of objects and buildings, and the distance they are from him - up to 100m (330ft) away.

Let's all hope this continues to work well for him!

Source: Metro, 30th April 2010

Last chance to win a £20 Gift Card

A2i is offering £5, £10 and £20 Tesco Gift Cards in a prize draw taking place on Tuesday 1st June. Send, or call, with your responses to our Braille paper questionnaire by 31st May for your chance to enter.

Braille is one of A2i’s main products, and we therefore use a lot of thick paper for production every day. A2i wants to start using recycled paper for our Braille, but we need to ensure that we do not loose anything in quality if we do change.

The A2i user group is reviewing Braille documents that have been sent to them on a range of paper types and thickness. Each member of the group will then complete a questionnaire and give their opinions about which paper they think is best.

Responses to our questionnaire that are received by 31st May 2010, will be entered into a prize draw to win a £5, £10 or £20 Tesco Gift Card.

If you would like more information or to get involved please go to our website and sign up at www.a2i.co.uk or email usergroup@a2i.co.uk

Our next review will be to do with our audio products - so please get in touch if you would like to be involved.

You don’t need to be visually impaired to give your feedback on audio!

Accessible chat room for the visually impaired

The Accessible Friends Network (TAFN) is a great resource for visually impaired people that A2i wants to let people know about.

TAFN is a national independent UK charity providing social networking, online activities, computer technical support, training and entertainment via the internet.
It is run by, and for, blind and visually impaired people, and hopes to address some of the exclusions that visually impaired people can come across on a daily basis.

The site includes valuable information such as tips for gardeners who are blind, a cookery guide for visually impaired people and an online shopping guide.

Why not visit the site and have a look for yourselves? Visit www.tafn.org.uk