ABSEIL SPACES ARE FULL UP!!!!!!!!!!!

I am excited to tell you that all of the abseil space have been filled, so if you want to show your support now, please offer sponsorship! I am trying to duck our of it, so if you sponsor me, I can't chicken out ;-) To support more generally, and for details of where to send a cheque, please email Iain

Watch this space for details of how we all get on!

Sarah (Chair)

Boy 'youngest' to get guide dog

Brad says being blind gets easier as you get older

A teenager from County Durham has become one of the youngest people in the UK to own a guide dog.

Brad Ranson, 14, of Belmont, who lost his sight when he was seven, now relies on labrador Lance who was trained by Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Usually, blind people have to be 16 to get a guide dog because of the responsibility involved but Brad is taking part in a pilot training scheme.

Brad said people forget Lance is a working dog and feed him polo mints.

He said: "People are always coming up to us and saying 'good boy, pretty dog' or they feed Lance polo mints and treat him like a pet, forgetting he is a working dog.

"He has made a huge difference to my life and I really love him.

"Things get easier as you get older. The only thing I can't do is drive a car - and the amount that would cost I'm glad I can't."

Trainer Paul Corner said: "Brad is taking part in a pilot project to see how feasible it would be to expand our service to younger people.

"To train a guide dog and keep it throughout its life costs £35,000 so it is expensive.

"We are a charity and do not get any government funding. We have a huge army of volunteers who, without which, we could not do our job."

 

Sourced from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/7544783.stm

 Hi all,

 It is with deep regret that I have decided to step down as Trustee and Fundraiser, due to personal reasons. However, I look forward to seeing everyone at future Common Sense events. Hope to see some of you at Moors Valley tomorrow (Sunday 3rd August).

 

Mel (Abigail's Mum)

Extraordinary Animals. "The Dolphin Who Can See With His Ears

This edition focuses on a dolphin with impressive powers of sonar that enable him to locate objects using just sound waves. Milo the dolphin is helping scientists in Belgium better understand the technique of 'echolocation'. The film also meets two blind people who have adopted similar methods to help them navigate obstacles in everyday life"

Channel 5, Sunday June 15th 8:00pm 

Programme features Dan Kish, and a member of Common Sense! 

 

Damon Rose is editor of Ouch! the BBC's disability magazine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7446016.stm

The arrival of a blind contestant in the Big Brother house has already sparked a great deal of interest. But Damon Rose (right), who is himself blind, says he will be under great scrutiny.

Even in the run-up to the Big Brother launch, with national papers reporting the rumours, there was internet buzz between blind people.

A young blind woman posted to the messageboard of the BBC's Ouch! disability website: "I hope he or she is aware that they are representing the visually impaired community and give us a good name. I hope that they don't have awful blind habits, such as rocking or not looking at people when talking to them. I would like to hope that they will be normal."

She was hoping for a good portrayal, one that wouldn't negatively affect what others think of her when they meet her in the street or see her in front of them at a job interview. The worry is that that becomes the prevailing public view.

What's your name again? Blind contestant Michael rounds off an interminable argument with a house mate

There are very few blind people in television. If there was a "good" one one week and a "bad" one the next, it just wouldn't matter as much. If it is a bad portrayal that is the last chance for another five years.

On the mainstream messageboards, among Big Brother fans, the reaction went along the lines of "let's all vote him out now, we know he'll get the sympathy vote if he stays in" or "as I suspected, yet more weirdoes. What will the producers do next?".

Michael, 33, from Ayrshire, was thrown into a house with eight other excitable contestants, with new people being added every five minutes as the launch show continued.

Five days in, if he's been able to track and remember the voices of the other 15 housemates, he's a better man than me - I've certainly not achieved this as a viewer.

Albino contestant

In fact, blind friends and I have often commented that it's not worth trying to listen to the first week of Big Brother as you just can't tell one person from another - all loudly clamouring for airtime at that early stage. And Michael is in the midst of it whilst also trying to orientate himself in the house without injuring people with his cane. I don't envy him.

And then there is Darnell, a black British albino man originally from Ipswich. It isn't universally known that if you have albinism, the preferred term in the community, it also spells sight loss. So there are two people with significant vision problems in the house. Count them. It's never been heard of before.

What a great format to throw disabled people into. I'm now able to sit at home and inspect others as they come to terms with their own lack of knowledge around blindness. But perhaps more interestingly, I'm sitting there watching Michael, who I suspect could well be over-egging the situation, taking advantage of the fact they assume blind people can do very little. People don't realise a blind person can hold down a job.

I loved the way he dodged cleaning up the kitchen with a swift: "What's that smell? Ugh, I hate Dettol." He wasn't questioned and no ill feelings were held against him.

He could get away with blue murder. Personally, I'd have gone for the "cleaning fluid hurts my eyes" approach, and "show me this strange thing you call coffee?"

Gamut of opinion

But he will be capable of independent living. He can cook, we should see him washing his clothes, there is no reason why he couldn't find his way around independently. I'm looking for the moment he strikes out and starts getting around on his own.

Michael with his cane, accompanied into the house

We have already seen a range of opinions about our blind man. In the diary Room, Kathreya was overjoyed Michael was able to use the swimming pool. Mario railed against a fellow housemate who attacked Michael for wearing her knickers, saying: "He's got a disability." And Alexandra, who involved herself in the knickers argument, used some very choice language to describe Michael, saying she didn't care whether he was blind or not.

We went from cuteness to patronising to contempt all in one show. It was beautifully topped off, with Michael finally asking the girl who he'd seemingly been arguing with for hours "what's your name again?" Classic blindie. I both cringed and loved his honesty.

But will Michael and Darnell get on or clash? Darnell, 26, has already admitted he has a disability, for those of you who didn't guess after watching him walking into other people on Thursday night's launch show. He has said he has a downer on himself because of his lifelong condition. On the other hand, Michael is positive about who he is, although he's only been blind 10 years.

Fellow housemate Mario has taken it upon himself to be Michael's carer. Though his heart is in the right place, and Michael is clearly appreciating the help at this stage, if he had heard all of Mario's slightly precious and patronising comments, he might not be as happy.

'This is real'

Thousands of blind viewers round the country are screaming at their TV sets right now. "Michael, be more independent. Show what blind people can do." But it's difficult. He knows he's being watched by millions and doesn't want an embarrassing situation or fall so he's happily staying close to his new-found friend.

Darnell has admitted he has been staying away from Michael. "I'm so miserable and bitter about [having albinism]. I don't want to poison you with the fact that I feel this way," he said.

It's worth repeating that Michael has an MPhil. He's a radio producer who has interviewed me, is an online war memorabilia trader, and a very aware news junkie. His "little boy lost" approach could wear thin sooner rather than later. They housemates will realise he's capable of much more.

Following the programme this summer, it's almost like hearing what other people say about me when I walk out of a room. Rarely has blind life been reflected in this way and I don't know if it ever will be again.

I don't care how brutal or schmaltzy it turns out to be, whether the portrayals are good or bad, it's real people and real opinions, and it's speaking directly to me.

Damon Rose is editor of Ouch! the BBC's disability magazine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7446016.stm 

Thanks to Sarah & Laine for such an enjoyable afternoon, Abi hasn't stopped talking about it since we came home & is asking when we are going again!

Mel 

BBC Radio 4 In Touch 22 April 2008

Listen to this programme Factsheet of this programme Transcript of this programme Print this page Factsheet ECHOLOCATION Guests: Fiona Sandford, Chief Executive, Visibility Daniel Kish, World Access for the Blind Using clicks and sounds to judge distance and obstacles by the echo that bounces back is something Peter White says he has used since he was 5 or 6 years old. It is called echolocation and it is being taught to a test group of schoolchildren in Scotland by a charity called Visibility. Peter visits Scotland to find out more about the techniques, how it works and whether it really is something new. Later in the programme he talks to Daniel Kish the man who has formalised echolocation training and inspired the project in Glasgow. CONTACTS VISABILITY 2 Queens Crescent Glasgow G4 9BW Tel: 0141 332 4632, Email:info@visibility.org.uk http://www.visibility.org.uk/ For further information on echo-location WORLD ACCESS FOR THE BLIND http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org Email: daniel.kish@worldaccessfortheblind.org World Access for the Blind is a non-profit organization employing unique teaching strategies to help blind and sighted people throughout the world improve their quality of life, and dedicated to the conviction that blind people can learn to see without sight, and sighted people can learn to see better. GENERAL CONTACTS RNIB 105 Judd Street London WC1H 9NE Helpline: 0845 766 9999 Tel: 0207 388 1266 (switchboard/overseas callers) Web: www.rnib.org.uk The RNIB provides information, support and advice for anyone with a serious sight problem. They not only provide Braille, Talking Books and computer training, but imaginative and practical solutions to everyday challenges. The RNIB campaigns to change society's attitudes, actions and assumptions, so that people with sight problems can enjoy the same rights, freedoms and responsibilities as fully sighted people. They also fund pioneering research into preventing and treating eye disease and promote eye health by running public health awareness campaigns. HENSHAWS SOCIETY FOR BLIND PEOPLE (HSBP) John Derby House 88-92 Talbot Road Old Trafford Manchester M16 0GS Tel: 0161 872 1234 Email: info@hsbp.co.uk Web: www.henshaws.org.uk Henshaws provides a wide range of services for people who have sight difficulties. They aim to enable visually impaired people of all ages to maximise their independence and enjoy a high quality of life. They have centres in: Harrogate, Knaresborough, Liverpool, Llandudno, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Salford, Southport and Trafford. THE GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND ASSOCIATION (GDBA) Burghfield Common Reading RG7 3YG Tel: 0118 983 5555 Email: guidedogs@guidedogs.org.uk Web: www.guidedogs.org.uk The GDBA’s mission is to provide guide dogs, mobility and other rehabilitation services that meet the needs of blind and partially sighted people. ACTION FOR BLIND PEOPLE 14-16 Verney Road London SE16 3DZ Tel: 0800 915 4666 (info & advice) Web: www.afbp.org Registered charity with national cover that provides practical support in the areas of housing, holidays, information, employment and training, cash grants and welfare rights for blind and partially-sighted people. Leaflets and booklets are available. NATIONAL LEAGUE OF THE BLIND AND DISABLED Central Office Swinton House 324 Grays Inn Road London WC1X 8DD Tel: 020 7837 6103 Textphone: 020 7837 6103 National League of the Blind and Disabled is a registered trade union and is involved in all issues regarding the employment of blind and disabled people in the UK. NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND (NLB) RNIB Customer Services on 0845 762 6843 Email: cservices@rnib.org.uk Web: www.nlb-online.org The NLB is a registered charity which helps visually impaired people throughout the country continue to enjoy the same access to the world of reading as people who are fully sighted. Trustees from the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) and the National Library for the Blind (NLB) have agreed to merge the library services of both charities as of 1 January 2007, creating the new RNIB National Library Service. EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DISABILITY HELPLINE (England) FREEPOST MID02164 Stratford upon Avon CV37 9BR Tel: 08457 622 633 Textphone: 08457 622 644 Fax: 08457 778 878 Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9:00 am-5:00 pm; Wed 8:00 am-8:00 pm. Enquiry: englandhelpline2@equalityhumanrights.com www.equalityhumanrights.com Equality and Human Rights Commission Helpline Wales Freepost RRLR-UEYB-UYZL 1st Floor 3 Callaghan Square Cardiff CF10 5BT 0845 604 8810 - Wales main number 0845 604 8820 - Wales textphone 0845 604 8830 - Wales fax 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday to Friday (an out-of-hours service will start running soon) Enquiry: waleshelpline@equalityhumanrights.com www.equalityhumanrights.com Equality and Human Rights Commission Helpline Scotland Freepost RRLL-GYLB-UJTA The Optima Building 58 Robertson Street Glasgow G2 8DU 0845 604 5510 - Scotland Main 0845 604 5520 - Scotland Textphone 0845 604 5530 - Scotland – Fax 9:00 am-5:00 pm, Monday to Friday (an out-of-hours service will start running soon) Enquiry: scotlandhelpline@equalityhumanrights.com www.equalityhumanrights.com DISABLED LIVING FOUNDATION 380-384 Harrow Road London W9 2HU Tel: 0845 130 9177 Web: www.dlf.org.uk The Disabled Living Foundation provide information and advice on disability equipment. The BBC is not responsible for external websites  General contacts Back to top Transcript IN TOUCH TX: 22.04.08 2040-2100 PRESENTER: PETER WHITE PRODUCER: CHERYL GABRIEL White Hello. I'm at Knowetop Primary School in Motherwell and I've come to see a group of children learning echolocation. Now a lot of visually-impaired people will know about echolocation, the idea really that you receive sound waves off things, rather like a bat. And so I put my cards on the table - I'm coming with a bit of scepticism because this is now being taught with the implication that it's almost a new thing, it's certainly been described in some of the newspaper reports as "revolutionary". So I'm very keen to find out what exactly is going on and what is so new about this echolocation. Actuality So we've just started, you'll hear David and Alex working with the kids in the background, so you might like to just [indistinct words]... What we call this is tickling your brain because it's getting you to think about echolocating and what you're listening to. I want you to click to your left, to your right and straight ahead of you and by doing that you have to tell me where the panel is. Okay? Right. One's to the right and one's straight ahead. Perfect. White So what exactly is going on here? Well the trainers - Alex and David - are holding up wooden panels in front of or to the side of the children testing whether they can locate where the panels are by the sounds reflected from their clicking tongues or flicking fingers. Sounds a bit bizarre I know but as I said many visually-impaired people are familiar with the phenomenon that much of the information we get about where we are comes from using such techniques. But what's being claimed here is that there's much more to echolocation than that, it's not just about finding and avoiding obstacles but, at its most sophisticated, telling you more about your immediate environment, even down to the kind of bush you're just about to walk into. The training is being offered by Visibility, a West of Scotland charity committed to helping visually-impaired people, and based on a course designed by an American, Dan Kish, who we'll be talking to at the end of the programme. Actuality What we're going to do probably is go outside because it's a wee bit sunny just now and we'll make the most of the good weather. And we'll see if we can find some corners in the playground. Okay? Brown My name's Kerry Brown. I lost my sight just before the age of two to a retinal blastoma. I can remember from early childhood saying to my mum I can hear that car or I can hear that gateway, I could hear things, I could hear if there was something to my left hand side or if there was an opening beside me and my mum would test me and say okay tell me what you're passing now and I would be able to say well it's an opening or it's a car because it's quite long, it's a lamppost because their sound isn't lasting for so long. I didn't click at all until I was taught to do it just a few months ago but I found if I had an umbrella up or if I had a hood up I just couldn't walk around as well basically. White So tell me about the effect of actually formally learning echolocation. Brown I probably click maybe about every 15 seconds or something when I'm walking along and if it's a less familiar environment then maybe slightly more often. It gives me information all the time about obstacles that I might be about to hit, so that's probably what I use it for primarily at the moment. White Having not clicked and flicked your fingers do you feel self-conscious doing that now? Brown I thought I was going to do and I just concluded well I'm holding a five foot white cane in my hand, I think that's probably - attracts slightly more attention than a small click, so I don't feel self-conscious now about doing it at all. White Come into the school playground and there's going to be some training here. I'm just actually using what is echolocation to get a sense of my own background and I can hear that there's a wall over there, probably about - I don't know - 10 yards, perhaps a bit less, to my right. Anyway we'll eavesdrop on what they're doing. Actuality It's a bin, that's right, it's a pencil shaped bin isn't it. Yes. Well that's a hard one to find. White Hi Jake, have you used this kind of thing before, did you realise that if you flick your fingers or click your tongue that you get echoes? Jake No, no. I didn't realise that. White Do you get around on your own outside very much because you're not all that old yet - what are 10? Jake Ten. White Do you walk about at all on your own outside? Jake No. Mainly I'm walking about school with my class and going downstairs and things. I only really go about on my own in the playground when there's nobody out like now. White But for this to be useful I guess what you'd really like is to be able to go in the playground with the other children isn't it? Jake Yes. White Do you think you'll get to that point? Jake Yes I think I will. White That's great. David Logan, you've been training Jake, can you explain what point at the training you are? Logan We're still quite early stages with Jake, this is really about the fourth or fifth session that we've had with him and the area we're in just now is a small enclosed area, an alcove off the playground, Jake was aware that there were two doors and also one thing which he thought was a door but was actually a notice board, it's quite difficult to make that fine judgement at this stage. Now some of this is probably because he knows the playground very well, that's why we try to confuse him a little bit by spinning him round and not telling him where ... White Spinning him round? Logan Spinning him round and not telling him where he is in the playground. I think like all training - like all education - you can actually make this fun and if you make it fun then the children enjoy what they're doing and they learn the lesson. White You'll be aware that some people - I mean I know obviously a lot of other blind people and they're saying to me and I'm saying look I've been doing this kind of thing since I was a kid, you know, and no I wasn't taught it. Logan Yes, I think what we can do here is we can train people to do it more effectively. White I suppose that's what worries people that in some of the coverage are phrases like "revolutionary new technique" and so forth but it isn't is it? Logan Human beings have probably been doing this for tens of thousands of years. White Do you think you could teach me anything new? Logan I don't know how good your echolocation skills are Peter at the moment, I would hope that I could at least tweak it a little and improve it a little, yes. White Well we might try that out before the end of the morning. Actuality What are you experiencing? In the left it's [indistinct word], on the right it's more echoey. Do you think there's an obstacle in front of you? Yeah. It's a chap from the radio with a microphone in front of you. Can you tell the difference between the wall and the person? There's a wee bit of difference but I don't know how to describe it. Well what I would get would be very hard sharp echo, that's how I would describe it, coming off a person it's kind of soft and spongy. That was very good, you picked that up, will we head back alone? And we'll turn you round again. White Well we've come inside for a coffee because it is getting more and more blustery. But I'm with Daniel. When you were outside can you just explain what you were doing? Daniel I was like using my echolocation click to go along walls and find corners and what direction to turn in. White You know this environment pretty well? Daniel Yeah. White Have you tried using it yet somewhere you didn't know well? Daniel I went to [indistinct word] Park School a couple of weeks ago and I used it a couple of times in there to see what the area was like. White Do you think this is something you will use as time goes on? Daniel Yeah definitely. White Well I'm with Fiona Sandford who's the chief executive of Visibility. Just explain how this whole connection with echolocation came about. Sandford One of our members of staff, Kerry Brown, knew someone who had been trained by Dan Kish. We did a bit of research, looked at echolocation, and we thought this is something that would fit quite well with a lot of the work that we do. So we funded him to come from California to work with our guys for a week. What we're doing is honing down a skill and a technique that's already there. White So what do you say to people like me and it's not just me, I've talked to quite a lot of people about this, who say yeah echolocation, always done that, so what, why do you need to teach it? Sandford Well there's always cynics out there but what I would say is that's fantastic that you're doing that but sometimes some people need their skills to be a bit more honed and just a bit of expertise and often people need the language to be able to describe what they're already doing. White How will you judge whether this is worthwhile or not? Sandford It's really not for us to judge whether it's working or not, it's up to the people who use it and who are trained and who are the trainers and they can tell us whether it works or not. White Is this a good use of money, I mean you won't need me to tell you how much demand there is for funds in visual-impairment, we know there are a lot of older blind people not getting the help they need when they first lose their sight, is this a good use for funds? Sandford Yeah, obviously it's always difficult as a charity to know what is the best use of your charitable income. Echolocation is one aspect of our work, Visibility delivers a wide, wide range of services. White Do you now do things that you didn't do before? I'm just trying to get a sense of how this has changed Kerry Brown's life. Brown I think the main concept that it's introduced for me is the ability to explore. So now instead of - traditionally I would say, as a blind person, I've been taught routes, so it's a prescribed route from A to B and then you reverse it and come back. But now I feel that I can actually quite easily go off the path that I've been taught and go and have a little explore round about and use my orientation and my echolocation skills to come back on track after that. So I feel like it's much more freeing. White Specifically what do you think about it being taught formally as a separate skill, wouldn't you actually incorporate this into mobility training anyway? Brown Absolutely, I would say yes but currently I don't think that happens. I think that generally rehab and mobility professionals are not particularly aware of how to train echolocation, they may be aware that it exists but actually developing a training package is something that's fairly unique and I'm really pleased to be part of that. White That's not quite how Susan Hartley sees it. Susan's been a mobility trainer in South Yorkshire for over 25 years and she believes that this has always been part of her stock in trade. Hartley I use it as part of the tool bag of teaching mobility and orientation, I certainly know it isn't anything new. The bible, if you like, of mobility, which is Foundations of Orientation and Mobility by Blash, Weiner and Welsh, which was available in the '80s when I was training and there's a new version now, there's a whole section on echolocation. So I just assumed that everybody else is doing the same as me. White Just finally, where do you think it comes in the armoury, as it were, of things that blind people can make use of? Hartley I think it's a good tool to use and should be encouraged. I do think you have to be taught to recognise what you are hearing but as the whole, as you say, armoury, if you like, the tool bag of mobility and orientation it's an important part but it isn't everything and you certainly couldn't do without whatever your primary tool of mobility would be - a long cane or a guide dog. White Well earlier on I challenged David Logan to teach me something I didn't know already about echolocation, so David the moment has come. Logan Let's hear your click. Soft click, medium and a fairly loud click. White Oh that was a bit pathetic. Logan What we'll do is we'll use this panel exercise to detect whether the panel is to one side or other. Sit comfortably. I'm going to drop the panel down in front of you. Now can you hear that sound coming back at you? White I can but I tell you what else - I think echolocation is partly facial, it's not just ears, so I think I can detect that facially as well as ... Logan Actually the heat of your breath reflected from the tray, even the noise of your breath is enough to detect. So that's a useful skill to know and understand if you're walking up towards a wall. White It can be enough to detect a lamppost. Logan It can be yeah. So I'm going to remove the tray. Click. Again. These trays are quite hard and quite reflective but if you're walking up to a bush, for example, we would be looking for people to be able to tell the difference between a bush and a tree. But if you think about it perhaps - a juniper bush has very fine needles and a holly bush has larger leaves which are harder and more reflective, so actually different bushes sound different. So what echolocation is about is teaching people to understand ... White Because this is something I have never done - I've never gone up to bushes thinking what kind of bush are you, if I wanted to do that I'd feel it, I must admit. Logan Yeah, there we go Peter, that's you've learned something you didn't know before. The object of the exercise completed. White You're not getting away with it as easily as that. Logan Now click to your right then click ahead, then click to your left and tell me where it is. White It's there on my right. Logan Are you quite sure about that? White There's one on both sides. Logan Yes there's one on both sides. White You cheat, you cheat. Do you know I thought there was, I thought he wouldn't do that not this early in the game he wouldn't. Logan Absolutely, we do it to the children from very early on as well. White No I knew there was one there but I was - no, no well you got me there. David Logan ending that report compiled for us by Joe Kent. Well Daniel Kish is a name which has appeared a couple of times in that report. Daniel is an exponent of echolocation himself and through World Access for the Blind he was invited over to Britain to set up the Glasgow experiment. He's joining us on the line from Anaheim in California. First of all Daniel, I mean can we clear this up once and for all, echolocation is not new is it? Kish Echolocation is not at all new, David is correct that humans have been doing this for many, many, many thousands of years. White But it has been quite hyped, I mean words like "revolutionary" have been used, "pioneering", whereas you know you hear people like Susan Hartley, a regular mobility officer, saying it's in the bible, it's in the textbooks, we've all been teaching it. Kish What is new is a systematic, comprehensive way of teaching it. The Foundations of Orientation and Mobility that Susan refers to devotes one third of one chapter to echolocation with a mere sprinkling of mention of echolocation throughout some of the other chapters. Many of the orientation and mobility training universities may devote less than one class session to echolocation. I'm very pleased to hear that Susan teaches echolocation as part of her curriculum and many orientation and mobility specialists struggle to introduce their clients to echolocation but without a formal systematic way of doing it because it simply isn't taught. White So when you say, as I've heard you quoted as saying, well some people practise echolocation but they practise it passively, by which I suspect you might mean someone like me, what do you mean exactly? Kish Well I actually heard you clicking and from what I can hear you have actually quite a nice click. Passive echolocation refers to the non-use of a deliberate actively produced signal. Active echolocation or flash sonar, as we've coined the term, uses a specific active signal and I don't have the time to go into all of the advantages of that but one of the key advantages of that is that your brain has the opportunity to tune into that signal and the amount of information that one can gather from active echolocation is a great deal more than passive echolocation. White So you're saying that some people - okay they might just hear something, almost not know whether they hear it or feel it and that's passive, as opposed to sending out a signal, as I admit I do, but you don't need a big course to teach someone to do that, do you, I mean when I learnt ...? Kish You don't need a big course to teach someone to play the piano either but most people benefit from it. I have worked with hundreds of students from all over the world, I've worked with thousands of instructors, I have never encountered a student, including my own self, who didn't benefit from specific attention to that skill. White And how big the claims would you make because there have been television programmes, they've shown you doing things like riding bicycles? Kish All of the claims that to my knowledge have been made are correct except one. The London Sunday Times stated that I could tell the difference between different kinds of fruit. White Ah I've been worrying about that. Kish No, that is not possible. I can tell the difference between one tree from another but I cannot tell the difference between one kind of fruit from another. White So what would you say is important about this and to what extent, in your experience, is it being taught to most blind people? Kish Who wouldn't improve their capacity to see? People get glasses, people get eye surgery, people don't go around saying oh yeah I see well enough, people usually work to improve their vision. There's no question that with attention to this skill students, in my experience, have improved their skills enormously, I'd say 90-95% of our students have been extremely pleased with the results of our course. And it's no accident that I'm invited routinely all the way around the world to teach this and we don't promote, we don't self promote, every single engagement that we have had has been brought to us by word of mouth and reputation. White Can I just finally ask you about the publicity because does it concern you though that perhaps words are sometimes used like "revolutionary" and "pioneering" when you yourself have admitted this is simply using something that probably we've been able to do since we came out of the caves? Kish It's always a risk when you allow yourself to go into the public eye. And we allowed ourselves to go into the public eye for several reasons, one of the key reasons was exposure, this skill simply is not being taught to its potential. In the orientation and mobility official handbook that is produced by the main certifying agency in the US echolocation is not mentioned once. It's taught barely as a peripheral skill and most instructors know very little about it. White And you would say it's much more than that? Kish I would say that it's - I don't know that I would call it a primary skill just because it doesn't detect drop off ... White You mean before you go down a kerb or a step? Kish Before you go down a kerb or step but it detects so much more, so much more than a cane will ever, ever give you, so much more than a guide dog will ever, ever give you. So the definition of primary skill is a bit fuzzy to me. White Daniel Kish, very interesting to talk to you and it'll be very interesting to see how people react. We will, of course, welcome your comments and experiences, you can call us on 0800 044 044, you can e-mail In Touch via the website. From me Peter White, my producer Cheryl Gabriel and the rest of the team goodbye. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/intouch_20080422.shtml

 We are thrilled to have more interest and support from the Bournemouth Echo. Click here to see the article and photo on the Echo website (www.bournemouthecho.co.uk).

Tackling sight issues with Common Sense

CAMPAIGNING: Abigail Pike and mum, Melanie, Connie Perks and her mum, Laine, and Sarah Murray with new-born Isla, who does not suffer from any visual impairment

WE all know what it's like to come out of a dark room and blink in the sunlight.

Fortunately, it only takes a few seconds for our eyes to adjust. But for little Connie Perks, the experience is permanent.

When the two-year-old was registered blind at eight months old, it was tough for her parents Laine and Ed.

But, thanks to the help and support of a new organisation, the future is looking brighter for the whole family.

Connie has been diagnosed with Albinism, which means she has no pigment in her hair, skin and eyes. She had no vision at all for the first five months of her life and, while some sight is developing as she gets older, she remains severely sight-impaired.

Her physical development is delayed and she has to be protected from the sunlight at all times.

"She's a full-time child," said Laine, of Charminster, Bournemouth.

"We had to get a rear-facing buggy so she wasn't facing the sunlight, she has to wear sunglasses, we have a special dark shade for the buggy and for the garden and we have to have blinds throughout the house.

"She has to use a cane for mobility because she has no sense of perception and she has to wear suncream all the time."

Although it was evident when Connie was born that there was a problem, it was initially thought to be Down's Syndrome, and it took a while for her condition to be diagnosed.

"You don't believe it almost," remembers Laine, who is also mum to Paige, six.

"You always think something night go wrong in pregnancy, but when it does you think oh my goodness'."

Connie now sees a professional every six months to check on her progress and also works with a team of qualified teachers to aid her development.

But Laine found she still needed help with the more day-to-day issues. So when she met up with a fellow parent who was keen to start a local support group, Laine offered to help.

Common Sense was born and, 18 months later, is offering help, advice and support to 14 visually impaired children and their families across Dorset and Hampshire.

The group arranges outings for the children and their parents and siblings including bowling, ice skating, teddy bears' picnics and music workshops, to name a few.

There are also coffee mornings, talks by professionals, advice about who else to contact for help and guidance on claiming benefits.

"We want to do stuff that parents would not necessarily assume their children could do," explained co-founder Sarah Murray, who is mum to five-year-old Lucas and nine-week-old Isla.

"Lucas is totally blind, but he loves bowling. It's about normalising. It's about making things less frightening.

"We want our children to have other visually impaired friends because we don't want them to feel like they're the only one. You have to go out there and get them, because they don't come to you."

Just being involved with Common Sense has been invaluable for the whole Perks family.

"By their own admission, the professionals only see them for ten minutes every six months," aid Laine.

"You do come away feeling a bit disappointed. I found the support better through other friends because everybody has been in the same situation, more or less, so they can say what works for them.

"Paige gets to make friends with other siblings as well and see that they can all go ice skating and bowling - they can get involved and do everything that we do."

Common Sense wants to offer even more support for families, and is currently organising a sponsored abseil to raise the £5,000 it needs to become a registered charity.

But the most important thing, agree Laine and Sarah, is raising awareness.

"We know there are more families out there because we've been told by the specialists at the hospital," said Laine.

"A lot of people are not aware of the help or support that's there. Common Sense is about having that information and support.

"Also, just being able to ask the daftest of questions and the most complex of questions."

Sarah added: "It's also about raising awareness. It's about people recognising that our children can do all the things that other children can do."

l To find out more visit commonsense.me.uk or call Sarah Murray on 01202 676388.

Hi all. We are attempting to purchase canes for the Common Sense cane bank, and would like to hear from anyone interested in borrowing a cane from us, and what height their child is, or what size they might want. We are going to purchase canes from the NFB (www.nfb.org), as they are the best ones (in our opinion), and then cane tips from the Rnib. We will order some NFB type 2 canes and some type 10. Please get in touch with Sarah with details. We look forward to helping every child involved with Common Sense, (whether blind or partially sighted,  fully mobile or more physically challenged) having the chance to develop their independence with the help of a long cane - an essential tool in every blind childs life.

 We are hoping to have a CANE PARTY, give each child their cane and invite the press to raise awareness of the importance of long canes.

 I look forward to hearing from you!

Sarah

Chair 

 We are pleased to announce that Isla was born on Friday the 7th March, weighing in at 7lbs 9oz!

 We look forward to showing her off at a Common Sense event in the future, but until then here is a picture of her and her proud big bro!

 

 Sadly the uptake for the proposed session tomorrow has been only one family, so it will not be going ahead as planned.

 

If however you had planned on coming but had not yet given your RSVP then feel free to email me this evening elaine@commonsense.me.uk .

If enough people respond then I will gladly host the session. 

 

The next toddler session is planned for Tuesday the 8th April, and I would love to see as many of you there as possible, so get checking those diary's! 

Advanced echo location hits the press!!! 

We have been approached by various people about the use of advanced echo location and long canes for children, and are thrilled to get a chance to spread the word. We are happy to talk to anyone about these subjects, so please email sarah@commonsense.me.uk 

We also have recommended reading and websites, which can be viewed here.

Here is a story that has already been published.

Here are some photos of one of Common Senses children learning advanced echo location. 

We will update this space with any press information, and have our members tell their stories, but if anything you have read or seen in the press has sparked your interest in the 'No Limits' mobility approach, then get in touch. We at Common Sense believe this is the best choice for our children, and would love to share what we are learning.

As always, our huge thanks go out to Dan Kish, Brian Bushway and World Access for the Blind for changing the way we view our children's future!

Many thanks,

Sarah. Chair. 

There is more information about these events in our contents page "events held by other people", or click here.

As some of you will know, we have applied for charitable status to help us raise funds and apply for more grants, but a change in the system has meant that a groups income needs to be at least £5000 a year for an application to be sucessful. Therefore, we are desperately asking for DONATIONS to help us reach our £5000 goal. Please, if you have anything to spare, email iain@commonsense.me.uk to find out about how to donate, or have a think about some fund raising activities which you could do - every little helps!!!

We see the future of Common Sense as bright and busy, but if we can't get charitable status, it will be harder to achieve our goals. Your money will go directly to running workshops and play sessions for the children, parents and carers of Common Sense.

Many thanks,

Sarah. Chair and Founder. 

Click here for the link.

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.