Ben Underwood is blind. Both eyes were removed when he was just three years old, leaving him with no vision at all. So how on earth does he play basketball, rollerblade and cycle his bike? Ben lost his eyes to retinal cancer but, unbelievably, he’s taught himself to see; with sound.
Ben, the boy who sees without eyes, uses many common aids for the blind, like speaking software for his computer so he can jot down his rap lyrics. He’s also written a book and does his schoolwork on a hi-tech Braille writer. But what’s unusual, what’s totally unique, is what he doesn’t use. Ben has no guide dog and never uses a white cane. He doesn’t even use his hands. Instead he sees with sound, he makes a sharp click, with his tongue, which bounces back off nearby objects. Amazingly, Ben’s ears pick up the echoes and he can precisely locate where things are. Ben is the only person in the world who sees using nothing but echolocation.
