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The problem with echolocation is that it degrades as you age. My mother was blind from infancy--as a child she could run along the sidewalk, able to sense the
by LorenPechtel 5y ago
The problem with echolocation is that it degrades as you age. My mother was blind from infancy--as a child she could run along the sidewalk, able to sense the curbs. As an adult she could walk through a familiar room accurately enough you would have no idea she was blind. In her old age she couldn't hear the room anymore, she had to move slowly and likely would go off course even then.
Growing up knowing it was possible as a child I was able to move about slowly except I couldn't sense stuffed furniture. As an adult, nothing--but I have some pretty major high frequency hearing loss, origin unknown.
- meepmorp 5y agoI learned to echolocate as a kid, and to me our living room couches sounded like black holes. We had wood floors, and I think the way they reflected sound made the absence more obvious. I can still do it, but like you say, high end frequency loss is a major factor. My accuracy is nothing like it was.
- helph67 5y ago> As an adult, nothing--but I have some pretty major high frequency hearing loss, origin unknown. I believe that's normal in old age.
- LorenPechtel 5y agoI said "as an adult", not "old age". I'm not aware of any hearing tests as a child, as an adult I know I have the portion required to understand speech but major loss both above and below that.