Batman and Ethan
4 Extra Debut. We follow Ethan, a 10-year-old blind musician, as he learns echolocation from Daniel Kish. With Helena Merriman. From 2016.
Ethan was born blind.
He's now a 10-year-old boy who collects sounds on his 51 dictaphones, composes music, and performs on stage in concerts.
Until now he's been home-schooled, but last year he was offered a place at St Mary's Music School in Scotland - one of the best in the country.
The problem is he struggles to get around.
This is where Batman comes in. His real name is Daniel Kish and like Ethan he's blind. He's a master of echolocation. He makes clicking noises - like a bat - to build a picture of the world around him.
Neuroscientists have done experiments on him and found that he's managed to activate the visual part of his brain. He's taught people all over the world to "see through sound" and he's so good at it that he goes hiking, cycling and rock-climbing.
"Batman" (Daniel) comes to Scotland to spend 10 days with Ethan, to teach him echolocation and help him prepare for his new school.
Follow Ethan's progress as he learns from Daniel Kish about the principles of echolocation, hear him practising at home, on the train and at his new school.
Discover Ethan's world, through music composed specially by Ethan
Hear him celebrate his birthday, taking long walks in the Scottish hills - as well as his experiences at school.
Join Ethan up to his final day of term to find out how he's done, and see how he copes with his biggest challenge yet: playing an accordion solo with the orchestra at the school concert.
Produced and presented by Helena Merriman.
First broadcast on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 in March 2016.
Last on
Clips
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The man who sees like a bat
Duration: 02:39
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Ethan’s musical gift
Duration: 02:19
Broadcasts
- Sun 14 Feb 2016 13:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 FM
- Mon 19 Sep 2022 21:00ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Wed 21 Sep 2022 11:00ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4
- Mon 17 Mar 2025 10:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra
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- Tue 18 Mar 2025 00:30ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 4 Extra