Do you know Ben Underwood? The amazing boy who doesn't seem to know he is blind.
It is to observe a typical teen to see him speed down hallways, make sharp turns around
corners, play basketball with his pals, ride horses at camp as well as dance with girls
at school events, except, for the clicking.
However, completely blind since the age of 3, after retinal cancer claimed both his eyes,
Ben has learned to perceive the world by making a steady stream of sounds with his tongue.
He listens for the echoes as they bounce off the surfaces around him. About as loud as the
snapping of fingers, Ben's clicks tell him what's ahead: The echoes they produce may be
soft (indicating metals), dense(wood) or sharp(glass).Judging by how loud or faint they
are, Ben has learned to gauge distances.
This technique is manipulated by many species, such as bats and dolphins and is called
echolocation. But for a boy from Sacramento? It is amazing!
I was shocked by the 14 years old boy 's perception for the first time I knew him 4 years
ago. I still remembered his bright eyes and curly hair which showed his overwhelming
energy.
I arranged my old magazines yesterday, accidently I read the article which introduces Ben
again. Then it occurs to me that I haven't heard any news about him in recent years. So I
googled him, and I didn't know he had already passed away until I saw his Personal Home Page.
Like what has been said from his PHP, "Ben Underwood went to be with our Lord and Savior
early in the morning, on January 19th, 2009. He was praising Jesus until the very last
minute, and he had no fear of what was going to happen. He knew that God was preparing to
bring him home."
A big part of the reason Ben succeeded is his mother, who always treated him as though he
could see and spoke visual. Everywhere they went she put his little hand in her back pocket
to keep up with her. And this was her way of being his sighted guide. She told his son "you
can't use your eyes anymore, but you have your hands, your nose, and your ears". I believe
it is the love that give the strength to Ben, enable him to say" I tell people I'm not blind,
I just can't see".
It is obvious that we are so lucky compared with him or many people like him. People always
say that keeping healthy is the most important thing. But what it has brought us? You see,
we have good eyesight without seeing beautiful views, we have sharp olfaction without smelling
the scent of flowers, we have sensitive hearing without appreciating the birds' singing......
When Ben hears someone say that someone else is ugly, or anything negative towards someone else.
He says, "That's whats wrong with sighted people, you all look at one another and judge what
you look like." How ironic it is! Some of us have eyesight but never know how to look at
the world. Maybe it is not a defect to him being blind because only he has the chance to
judge people from spirit but not appearance.
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