Adam writing back...

Below is a response from Adam:

HOW DO YOU WALK AROUND WITHOUT CRASHING IN TO THINGS?

Well, actually, I don't always walk around without crashing into things. That is to say, I sometimes do crash into things, but for the most part, I use a combination of my hearing and touch. With my ears, I "hear" objects as I pass them. This might include posts, signs, overhead branches. Every object causes sound energy to be reflected and refracted in all sorts of directions. My ears pick up these subtle changes in sound energy and let me know that I've past a post, even if the post is three feet away. Or my ears will tell me that a very large object, such as a wall is coming up in ten feet. I don't actually get distance measurements sent to my brain, like data going to a Borg drone (Star Trek), the reflection in sound is subtly different, and over the years of using this technique, I have come to be a decent judge of distance. All sound bounces off objects, and if you can pick up the way the sound is being reflected or refracted, you can tell where objects, and even people are. I also use my sense of touch, in combination with a white cane, which is a stick made of metal or graphite with red reflective tape towards the bottom. This white cane tells me where objects are before I encounter them. I use the cane by sweeping it left and right in front of me as I walk. If I come up to a wall or a curb, the cane will let me know that the object or change in height of the walking surface has changed before I crash, or my feet go flying out from under me. If a route is too complicated, I just use a technique called sighted guide, where I will hold on to the elbow of a sighted person and allow them to guide me.