Daniel Kish

Daniel Kish (born 1966 in Montebello, California^[1]) is an American expert in human echolocation and President of World Access for the Blind, a non-profit founded in 2000 to facilitate "the self-directed achievement of people with all forms of blindness" and increase public awareness about their strengths and capabilities,^[2] which has taught echolocation to at least 500 blind children around the world.^[3] Kish, who has been blind since age 13 months, holds Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) and National Blindness Professional Certification (NOMC) credentials,^[2] the first totally blind person to be so qualified.^[4] He also holds Master's degrees in Developmental Psychology and Special Education.^[2]

Kish's work has inspired a number of scientific studies related to human echolocation. In one, a 2009 study^[5] at the University of Alcalá in Madrid, Spain, ten sighted subjects were taught basic navigation skills within a few days. The study aimed to analyze various sounds which can be used to echo-locate and evaluate which were most effective.^[6] In another study,^[7] MRI brain scans were taken of Kish and another echolocation expert^[8] to identify the parts of the brain involved in echolocation, with readings suggesting "that brain structures that process visual information in sighted people process echo information in blind echolocation experts."

Bibliography

• Kish DC (1995) "Evaluation of an Echo-Mobility Program for Young Blind People [Master's thesis]. San Bernardino (California): Department of Psychology, California State University. 277 p.

References

1. ^ "The Blind Man Who Taught Himself To See". Men's Journal. http://www.mensjournal.com/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see/. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "World Access for the Blind Web site". http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/. Retrieved November 9, 2011. 
3. ^ "Blind man uses his ears to see". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/09/tech/innovation/daniel-kish-poptech-echolocation/. Retrieved November 9, 2011. 
4. ^ "Scientists Develop Echolocation In Humans To Aid The Blind". ScienceDaily. June 30, 2009. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630075445.htm. Retrieved November 10, 2011. 
5. ^ Rojas et al. (March/April 2009). "Physical Analysis of Several Organic Signals for Human Echolocation: Oral Vacuum Pulses". Acta Acustica 95 (2): 325–330. doi: 10.3813/AAA.918155. 
6. ^ Ravilious, Kate (July 6, 2009). "Humans Can Learn to "See" With Sound, Study Says". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/35464597.html. Retrieved November 10, 2011. 
7. ^ Thaler, L; Arnott, SR, Goodale, MA (May 25, 2011). "Neural Correlates of Natural Human Echolocation in Early and Late Blind Echolocation Experts". PLoS ONE 6 (5). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020162. http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0020162. Retrieved November 9, 2011. 
8. ^ "The brain on sonar – how blind people find their way around with echoes". Discover Magazine. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/05/25/the-brain-on-sonar-%E2%80%93-how-blind-people-find-their-way-around-with-echoes/. Retrieved November 9, 2011. 

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Name	Kish, Daniel
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Date of birth	1966
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