Enroll in the Hive course
Course Description: Discover how the brain can rewire itself to utilize auditory information in ways that allow a learner to truly visualize with sound. Through application of brain plasticity science, individuals will learn techniques and strategies for helping learners move through four steps of stimulus discrimination in order to achieve a freedom of movement.
(Note: This course was developed in collaboration with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Special thanks to Christopher Tabb.)
ACVREP Credit Hours: 2.5
Objectives
- Identify 3 outcomes of echolocation.
- Discriminate between passive and active echolocation.
- Identify 4 steps of stimulus discrimination
- Describe areas of the brain that are repurposed for using sonic information for visualization.
Echolocation can help a person who is blind or visually impaired:
- Detect the presence of objects — recognizes that an object is nearby.
- Determine the location of objects — helps identify where an object is in relation to the person.
- Determine characteristics of objects/environment — can provide information about an object’s size, shape, distance, and surface.
Passive echolocation
Uses sounds that already exist in the environment
Does not intentionally produce a sound for echolocation
Examples: traffic, footsteps, running water, fans
Person listens to how environmental sounds are altered/reflected |
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Active echolocation
The person creates a sound.
Intentionally produces a sound and listens for its reflection
Examples: tongue clicks, finger snaps, tapping a cane
Person listens for the echo/return of the sound they created
1. Detect → 2. Discriminate → 3. Identify → 4. Interpret
- Detection — determine that a stimulus is present.
- Discrimination — distinguish the stimulus from other stimuli/background information.
- Identification — determine what the stimulus is.
- Interpretation — determine what the stimulus means and how to respond.
O&M example:
A student hears a sound → determines that there is a sound → distinguishes it from background noise → recognizes it as a vehicle → interprets its direction and decides how to respond.
Occipital cortex
- Normally associated with visual processing.
- In people who are blind, portions of the occipital cortex can become active during auditory processing, including echolocation.
- This is often described as cross-modal plasticity or cortical reorganization.
Other areas involved can include the:
- Auditory cortex — processes incoming sound.
- Occipital/visual cortex — may process spatial information derived from sound in people who are blind.
- Parietal areas — contribute to spatial processing and determining the location of objects.