مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت ب

Active Speaking - Part B

Daniel Kish is – technically speaking – blind.

Is Daniel Kish blind? Well, technically speaking, he is blind.

Daniel was born with reticular cancer, which affects the eyes.

What does reticular cancer affect? Reticular cancer affects the eyes.

At the age of 7 months he had his left eye removed and at the age of 13 months his right eye.

How old was he when his left eye was removed? He was 7 months old when his left eye was removed. How old was he when his right eye was removed? He was just 13 months old when his right eye was removed.

He now wears artificial glass eyes, but this hasn’t stopped him from navigating and understanding his environment.

What kind of eyes does he wear? He wears artificial eyes. Has this stopped him from moving around? No, this hasn’t stopped him from moving around.

In fact, he says the first thing he did after the operation on his eyes was to crawl out of his crib and explore the hospital room.

Did he fly out of his crib? No, he didn’t fly out of his crib. He crawled out of his crib. Did he explore the hospital room? Yes, he explored the hospital room.

In his childhood, Daniel taught himself to visualize the world around him by making clicking noises with his tongue.

How does he make clicking noises? He makes clicking noises with his tongue.

Daniel sends these clicking sounds out into the world hundreds if not thousands of times a day.

They bounce off the surfaces of things around him and return to him, allowing him to make mental images of the world.

What do these sounds allow him to make? These sounds allow him to make mental images of the world.

This is similar to how bats ‘see’ the world.

Is this similar to how polar bears see the world? No, this isn’t similar to how polar bears see the world. This is similar to how bats see the world.

They use sonar to bounce sound waves off of the environment to measure distances and shapes.

What do they measure with sound? They measure distances and shapes with sound.

Daniel’s ability to use clicking sounds to sense the world is why some people call him the batman.

What do some people call Daniel? Some people call Daniel the batman. Why do they call him the batman? They call him the batman because of his ability to use sounds to sense the world.

Although using these clicks - also known as echolocation - isn’t what most of us would recognize as seeing, Daniel is forming images in his mind.

What is Daniel forming in his mind? Daniel is forming images in his mind.

These images are similar to a normal person’s peripheral vision: they are fuzzy and lack color, but shapes and objects in motion are visible images in the mind.

Are these images similar to a normal person’s peripheral vision? Yes, they are similar to a normal person’s peripheral vision. Do the images have color? No, they don’t have color. Are the images fuzzy? Yes, the images are fuzzy. What is visible? Shapes and objects in motion are visible.

Daniel’s ability to form mental images of the world around him using his mouth and ears to create images in his mind, allow him to do things he “‘shouldn’t”’ be able to do.

Do people think he shouldn’t be able to do these things? Yes, people think he shouldn’t be able to do these things.

He can ride a bike. He goes hiking alone. He has traveled around the world unassisted. He can even go rock climbing.

Can he ride a bike? Yes, he can ride a bike. Does he go hiking alone? Yes, he goes hiking alone. Can he travel to other countries alone? Yes, he travels to other countries alone too. What else can he do? He can also go rock climbing.

Daniel says that he can do all of these things because of the positive expectations that were placed on him by his mother while he was growing up.

Who had positive expectations placed on him? Daniel had positive expectations placed on him.

Who placed positive expectations on Daniel? Daniel’s mother placed positive expectations on him.

When Daniel first returned from the hospital after having his eyes removed, his grandmother told his mother to wrap him in cotton to protect him from getting hurt.

Was Daniel’s grandmother worried about him getting hurt? Yes, his grandmother was worried about him getting hurt.

At this moment, Daniel’s mother knew she was at a crossroads.

Who was at a crossroads? Daniels mother was at a crossroads.

She needed to decide whether she would protect him or let him be free. She chose freedom.

What did she choose? She chose freedom. What would you choose?

Daniel was an adventurous soul from the beginning, and his mother let him freely explore everything.

Did his mother place limits on him. No, she didn’t place limits on him. She let him explore everything.

He learned to climb bookshelves before he could even walk.

Did he learn to run before he could walk? No, he didn’t learn to run before he could walk. He learned to climb before he could even walk.

And once when he was only a toddler, the police picked him up trying to climb an outside fence.

What did the police catch Daniel doing? The police caught Daniel trying to climb an outside fence.

They returned Daniel to his mother and warned her that it was dangerous to give Daniel so much freedom, but this didn’t stop her.

Did this stop Daniel’s mother? No, this didn’t stop Daniel’s mother.

She was committed to not letting Daniel’s life be controlled by her fears or the fears of others.

What was she committed to? She was committed to not letting Daniel’s life be controlled by her fears or the fears of others.