Skill of dolphins clicks with Caleb

A six-year-old Geelong boy has learnt a skill of dolphins to overcome blindness, according to his mother.
Lovely Banks’ Danielle Neyenhuis said son Caleb had “amazed” observers with his ability to navigate using echoes from clicking his tongue.
Caleb was using the technique, called echolocation, to confidently find his way around spaces and obstacles, she said.
“It works really, really well. If he works out something is in front of him he will just turn 90 degrees and go around it,” Ms Neyenhuis said.
“It’s incredible to watch him do it. People are just amazed.”
Dolphins and some other animals use echolocation to hunt for food and communicate. The animals emit sounds and use the echoes to determine the location of prey or process other information.
Caleb began developing echolocation skills after losing both eyes by the age of three to retina blastoma, a childhood cancer.
“He began clicking his tongue and I just thought it was some sort of annoying habit. I said ‘Don’t do that, Caleb’,” Ms Neyenhuis said.
“Then I spoke to an early childhood educator from Vision Australia and she said it wasn’t a habit, it was echolocation. She told me it was very rare among blind people.
“Some blind people who can do it use clapping or clicking fingers but there aren’t many.”
Ms Neyenhuis said Caleb relied on echolocation mostly when in unfamiliar surroundings.
The technique was also handy in the family’s backyard, she said.
“When he’s out in the yard he might lose his sense of direction, so he just clicks his tongue a couple of time and gets back on track.
“It’s quite funny to watch, actually. It’s very clever.”
However, objects and obstacles sometimes flew under Caleb’s radar.
“He’s pretty good at it but he does get the odd knock. He’ll just go flat out and go bang into something,” Ms Neyenhuis said.
Caleb’s skills had helped him successfully negotiate his first year of primary school at Geelong West’s St Patrick’s.
Ms Neyenhuis said Caleb’s ability to move around and interact had surprised his teachers.
“He would get on the monkey bars and the teachers would be like ‘Oh, Caleb shouldn’t be up there’. They were amazed how he could play just like the other kids,” she said.
“That’s just the way we want it.”