sound (pitch, etc.) without formal instruction because he has had his hearing tested so extensively since birth. The task of identifying, interpreting, and describing the sounds emitted by the
K-Sonar is not wholly unlike the tasks an audiologist asks a patient to perform. Thus, the student's
experience with hearing assessment may have
benefitted his ability to identify and interpret
sounds make by the K-Sonar.
Next, we had the student navigate an obstacle
course to see how the student did without any
training on the device. We set up common objects from the school in a hallway and had him tell
us when he detected an object. We noted
whether he found the object with his cane, with
the K-Sonar, or not at all. Then we proceeded to
teach the student how to use the device. After
teaching him how to use the device, we had him
navigate the obstacle course again. After instruction on how to use the device, he did much better.
He found more of the objects with the K-Sonar
than he did with the cane After finding an object
with the K-Sonar, he was able to confirm what he
found and learn more about the object with his
cane.
After some basic instruction in how to use the device, we had the student practice walking down
the hallway identifying open doors/intersecting
hallways using the K-Sonar. We thought this
could be a useful skill for the student. That way,
he could count the number of openings on the opposite side of the hall when traveling down the
hall with the flow of traffic. The student was pretty
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