I started using echolocation spontaneously as a child. Mobility instructors don’t teach
it, because continually clicking your tongue or snapping your fingers looks unnatural
to sighted people. I worked with Edward in two phases. First by giving him an idea of the feeling of echolocating things in different environments, e.g. trying to catch a hand close to his face, walking along corridors and finally moving through open spaces like parks and streets, and later, working directly on the movie scenes, checking and testing all the tricks that Ian uses in his daily life. We also gave him a cane to move independently
and without being guided in open spaces.
The noise of the cane itself is useful for echolocation.
We worked hard and after the whole training was over Edward was able to guide us through narrow paths across gardens and parks, deciding when to cross or not to cross a street, etc. He got to be very popular, very quickly, with shopkeepers. Edward’s understanding of the character was simply amazing and helped us a lot to progress quickly with his “blind skills”.
He also wanted to watch me in daily living situations, so some of the time I was just acting naturally: eating, walking in the street, etc, showing my most typical gestures. The main idea was to make the character as real as possible.
The noise of the cane itself is useful for echolocation.
We worked hard and after the whole training was over Edward was able to guide us through narrow paths across gardens and parks, deciding when to cross or not to cross a street, etc. He got to be very popular, very quickly, with shopkeepers. Edward’s understanding of the character was simply amazing and helped us a lot to progress quickly with his “blind skills”.
He also wanted to watch me in daily living situations, so some of the time I was just acting naturally: eating, walking in the street, etc, showing my most typical gestures. The main idea was to make the character as real as possible.