{{Short description|Expert in human echolocation}} {{infobox person | name = Daniel Kish | image = Daniel Kish - PopTech 2011 - Camden Maine USA 3.jpg | caption = Daniel Kish in 2011 | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1966}} | birth_place = Montebello, California, U.S. | alma_mater = University of California Riverside | occupation = Founder and President of {{nowrap|World Access for the Blind}} | known_for = Human echolocation | website = {{official website|https://visioneers.org/}} }}
'''Daniel Kish''' (born 1966 in Montebello, California)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mensjournal.com/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see/ |title=The Blind Man Who Taught Himself To See |last=Finkel |first=Michael |date=May 4, 2012 |website=Men's Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511191403/http://www.mensjournal.com/the-blind-man-who-taught-himself-to-see |archive-date=May 11, 2012}}</ref> is an American expert in human echolocation and the President of World Access for the Blind (WAFTB), a California-registered nonprofit organization founded by Kish in 2000 to facilitate "the self-directed achievement of people with all forms of blindness" and increase public awareness about their strengths and capabilities.<ref name="WAFTB">{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/ |title=World Access for the Blind Web site |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009042430/http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/ |archive-date=October 9, 2011}}</ref> Kish and his organization have taught a form of echolocation to at least 500 blind children around the world.<ref name="CNN">{{Cite web |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/09/tech/innovation/daniel-kish-poptech-echolocation/ |title=Blind man uses his ears to see |last=Sutter |first=John D. |date=11 November 2011 |website=CNN |publisher=Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929015950/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/09/tech/innovation/daniel-kish-poptech-echolocation/ |archive-date=29 September 2013}}</ref>
Kish, who had to have his eyes removed before he was 13 months old because of eye cancer, is the first totally blind person to be a legally Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) and to hold a National Blindness Professional Certification (NOMC).<ref name="WAFTB" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Plataforma SINC |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630075445.htm |title=Scientists Develop Echolocation In Humans To Aid The Blind |date=June 30, 2009 |work=ScienceDaily |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112181858/http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630075445.htm |archive-date=January 12, 2012}}</ref> He also holds master's degrees in developmental psychology and special education from University of California Riverside.<ref name="WAFTB" />
Kish's work has inspired a number of scientific studies related to human echolocation. In a 2009 study 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 echolocate and evaluate which were most effective.<ref name="AA">{{Cite journal |last=Rojas |display-authors=etal |date=March–April 2009 |title=Physical Analysis of Several Organic Signals for Human Echolocation: Oral Vacuum Pulses |journal=Acta Acustica |volume=95 |issue=2 |pages=325–330 |doi=10.3813/AAA.918155}}</ref><ref name="NatGeo">{{Cite news |last=Ravilious |first=Kate |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/35464597.html |title=Humans Can Learn to "See" With Sound, Study Says |date=July 6, 2009 |work=National Geographic News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707215133/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/35464597.html |archive-date=July 7, 2013}}</ref> In another study, MRI brain scans were taken of Kish and another echolocation expert 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."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Thaler |first1=L |last2=Arnott, SR |last3=Goodale, MA |date=May 25, 2011 |title=Neural Correlates of Natural Human Echolocation in Early and Late Blind Echolocation Experts |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=5 |article-number=e20162 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...620162T |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0020162 |pmc=3102086 |pmid=21633496|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Discover">{{Cite web |url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/05/25/the-brain-on-sonar-%E2%80%93-how-blind-people-find-their-way-around-with-echoes/ |title=The brain on sonar – how blind people find their way around with echoes |last=Yong |first=Ed |date=May 25, 2011 |website=Discover Magazine |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103084523/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/05/25/the-brain-on-sonar-%E2%80%93-how-blind-people-find-their-way-around-with-echoes/ |archive-date=November 3, 2011}}</ref>
Kish was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2017. Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs recognized for their innovative solutions to social problems and potential to change patterns across society.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kish|first=Daniel|date=|title=ashoka.org|url=https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/fellow/daniel-kish|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205103229/https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/fellow/daniel-kish |archive-date=2019-12-05 |website=}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * {{Cite thesis |last=Kish |first=Daniel |title=Evaluation of an Echo-Mobility Program for Young Blind People |publisher=Department of Psychology, California State University |url=http://worldaccessfortheblind.org/thesis.txt |place=San Bernardino, CA |page=277 |year=1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020202195520/http://worldaccessfortheblind.org/thesis.txt |archive-date=February 2, 2002}} * Kish, Daniel, and Hook, Jo (2016). [https://books.google.com/books/about/Echolocation_and_FlashSonar.html?id=hqpGuwEACAAJ Echolocation and FlashSonar]. American Printing House for the Blind. p. 508.
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * {{official website|https://visioneers.org/|Visioneers}} * {{TED speaker}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121030235400/http://poptech.org/popcasts/daniel_kish_blind_vision Poptech demonstration]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kish, Daniel}} Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:American educators Category:American blind people Category:People from Montebello, California Category:American social entrepreneurs Category:Blind educators