In The News
World leading expert on human echolocation visits NCW
To see the television coverage click here
Daniel Kish, a world leading expert on human echolocation came to the college on 30th April to share his expertise with staff and students.
Daniel, from California, who is blind himself, discovered echolocation by accident as a child and was raised to believe he could do anything. He quickly taught himself to 'see' the world by using clicking sounds with his mouth, similar to animal echolocation used by bats and dolphins. With this method he can ride a bike in unfamiliar surroundings, navigate in the wilderness and even play ball.
This exceptional talent is shared with Fritz Bisau, a totally blind, 14 year old student at NCW. When Daniel heard that the College had a student who had also taught himself echolocation, he jumped at our invitation to join us for the day.
Fritz could already use echolocation to navigate his way around unfamiliar environments. He could locate objects in a room and find his way to them without bumping into things or becoming disorientated. Meeting Daniel meant that Fritz could take these burgeoning skills to a new level. Daniel has pioneered efforts to combine sonic with ultrasonic sonar technologies and strategies to form a powerful and versatile approach to non-visual spatial perception and self directed movement.
Fritz acted as Daniel's 'buddy' for the day, showed him around the College and took him to dinner in the dining hall and generally spent time developing his echolocation skills under Daniel's expert guidance. Daniel also introduced the skill to other students and took time to train staff at NCW so they could pass on the skill to other students.
While using a cane allows blind people to identify objects in their immediate surroundings just beyond arms reach, echolocation is said to provide 360-degree 'vision' for dozens of meters or more and when combined with the long cane can give far greater freedom.
About Human echolocation
Human echolocation is the ability of humans to sense objects in their environment by hearing echoes from those objects. This ability is used by some blind people to navigate their environment. By actively creating sounds, such as by tapping with a cane or by making clicking noises with their mouth, then interpreting the sound waves reflected by nearby objects, a person using echolocation can identify the location size and density of objects and can use this information to travel from one point to another even in unfamiliar places.
About Daniel Kish
Daniel Kish is the lead founder and CEO of World Access for the Blind www.worldaccessfortheblind.org
He holds Master's degrees in Developmental Psychology and Special Education and is the first totally blind individual to obtain national certifications in Orientation and Mobility, COMS and NOMC.
Daniel refers to himself as a Perceptual Mobility Specialist, and has worked with students of all ages, cultures, and disorders including deaf-blindness, autism, and sensory integration. His expertise lies in developing aspects of human perception in sighted as well as blind people.
Perhaps best known for his expertise in echolocation, Daniel coined the term 'FlashSonar'. With research, collaboration and practical experience, he created the first systematic, comprehensive curriculum in advanced training for echolocation. His pioneering techniques enable blind students to navigate new locations safely, ride bikes independently through unfamiliar environments and other complex activities such as skating, ball play and solo wilderness travel.
See Daniel demonstrate echolocation on You Tube
- Worcester News article Read the article
