World Access For The Blind is a California-registered 501(c)(3) Non-Profit organization that facilitates, and advocates for, the self-directed achievement of people with all forms of blindness, and increases public awareness about the strengths and capabilities of blind people.
We are a dedicated team of orientation and mobility experts who lead by example, as most of us are blind!
Since 2000, we have been ‘liberating’ blind children and adults from marginalized circumstances and reduced expectations, as well as the resulting cycle of dependence and passivity in over 40 countries around the world.
We hope to ‘strike that match in the darkness’ to light-up the neural vision of a new generation of blind persons in the next 16 years.
Click here to learn more at our WHO WE ARE page.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
Our FlashSonar™ Echolocation teaches blind people to see in new ways by activating the brain to gain images of the world through sound and touch – lighting up the visual cortex much like lighting a match in the dark.
We are known for our No Limits attitude, as we do not settle for the minimum requirements of functioning, but instead challenge ourselves and our students to reach beyond their limits.
Through our approach, blind people can grow from being passive, dependent recipients, often marginalized and restricted, to active contributors free to achieve a self-directed quality of life and the dignity that comes with it.
But we need your help to meet the growing demand from people want to join our team and those who need our services.
Click here to learn more at our WHAT WE DO page.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
Through your financial support, we help more blind children and adults in the United States and around the world to improve their quality of life, to challenge poverty and social isolation, and to find the Perceptual Freedom to realize their dreams.
We most welcome and appreciate the contributions that you or your company / organization are able to make, allowing us to expand services while keeping them affordable or free to low-income students.
Whether you wish to donate monthly, one-time-only, or in memory of a loved one, or would like to volunteer your time, or company resources, there are many opportunities for you to support our mission and those we serve.
Monetary donations are tax-deductible in the United States.
Click here to make a secure online donation via PayPal or Square.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
World Access For The Blind provides many Personal Services for individuals and families dealing with any stage of vision loss.
We are also specialized in working with persons of any age who are living with additional challenges beyond vision loss, including persons diagnosed on the Autism spectrum.
Educational and Rehabilitation Programming
We offer comprehensive, detailed assessments of functional living and personal achievement. We do not poke and probe with a critical eye. Our assessments do not just highlight or innumerate student weaknesses. We learn who the student is by a process of respectful involvement, interaction, and exchange.
We believe assessment has three purposes – to learn who the student is, to communicate that knowledge clearly and respectfully, and to propose an effective program of positive action based on those findings.
Click here for more detailed information about the Personal Services we offer.
World Access For The Blind provides Group Services through Activational Presentations and FlashSonar™ Workshops.
We go where we’re invited; we stay where we’re welcome. We don’t try to sell, persuade, or convince. Our aim is to share what we learn.
We’ve delivered hundreds of workshops, presentations, and trainings directly to many thousands of participants in over 40 countries and about half the United States, whether they be groups of students, teachers / instructors / educational administrators or corporate and public organizations.
We also provide Perceptual Navigation training to groups of orientation and mobility instructors with other organizations for the blind around the world.
Most of our engagements are invited by word of mouth, and our services are overwhelmingly well received all across the globe, regardless of language or culture.
Click here for more detailed information about the Group Services we offer.
World Access For The Blind’s Academic Services include advisory consulting for school boards and districts (across all grade levels), colleges and universities, providing curriculum support, lectures and workshops, including the provision of scholarly reference materials, as well as developing and participating in collaborative auditory and vision research projects.
An example is Sonic Echolocation: A Modern Review and Synthesis of the Literature by Daniel Kish – 2003. This scholarly monograph presents an exhaustive review of the literature on human echolocation. These findings are discussed with relevance to the design of a systematic echolocation training program. The positive impact of echolocation on blind travel is thoroughly documented.
World Access For The Blind has been, and is currently, involved in academic research projects around the world as consultants, study subjects and co-authors.
Click here for more detailed information about the Academic Services we offer.
World Access For The Blind provides Enterprise Services to private and public businesses, corporations and organizations worldwide.
These services include:
+ FlashSonar™ Workshops and Activational Events
+ Accessibility (ADA) consulting, integration and awareness education of sighted and non-sighted employees
+ Seminars on dealing with the media about accessibility and blindness issues, building a corporate culture of inclusion, and how to reach blind consumers
+ Keynote Speakers for corporate events such as local, national and international conferences, we well as fundraising events
We’ve provided services for some of the biggest Fortune 500 names in enterprise, including:
+ Apple: Perceptual Consulting 2016
+ Proctor & Gamble: World Design Conference 2013; Keynote Speaker and Perceptual Consulting
+ PayPal: Mind and Sight Conference 2013; Keynote Speaker
Click here to see more examples of the Enterprise Services we’ve provided in the United States and around the world.
Click the Up arrow to close this text frame.
World Access For The Blind provides Media Services to private and public businesses, corporations and organizations worldwide, as well as consulting services for media corporations, movies and TV productions, in addition to providing Perceptual Navigation experts for documentaries, features, and talk shows on TV and Radio.
Our FlashSonar™ clicks have echoed to over 2 Billion people across all media platforms in more than 200 countries around the world via ABC, ABC Australia, BBC, CBC, CBS, CTV, CNN, Discovery, Fox, History Channel, iTV, NatGeo, NBC, Nine Network Australia, NPR, SBS, Space TV, Univision, The Weather Channel, ZDF and more.
We’ve been profiled and referenced in hundreds of print and online media pieces from the scholarly to the mainstream, and have been featured on the front page of The Los Angeles Times in the UK’s Daily Mail online, the guardian and The Telegraph, as well as magazines like Men’s Journal.
Here are some examples of our Media Consulting Services and some of the most popular media programs we’ve participated in:
Music Video: ‘Renegades‘ by X Ambassadors: Over 20 million views on YouTube & Vevo. Daniel Kish and Brian Bushway appear in it.
Click here for more detailed information about the Media Services we provide.
Click the Up arrow to close this text frame.
World Access For The Blind provides Tech Services that include consulting on the development of adaptive and assistive applications, devices, and web-based services for schools, colleges and universities, entrepreneurs and start-ups, private and public businesses and corporations , as well as presenting high profile Keynote Addresses on tech-related topics like we’ve done at TED and TEDx conferences.
We also take a lead position in ‘bringing the pieces together’ by mobilizing resources and expertise to move technology forward for blind people. We are drawing together people who really know about blindness, people who really know about human perception, and the people who know how to obtain the resources.
Here are a few of our projects and endeavors:
+ Partnerships For Seeing Without Sight:
World Access for the Blind, Alcon Labs Corporation, NEC Foundation, and JR Controls Corporation established a philanthropic partnership to address the needs of blind people whose vision cannot be preserved or restored.
Learn more about our partners and their contributions on Our Services page.
Click here for detailed information about our Tech Services.
Click the Up arrow to close this text frame.
Daniel Kish
President, Lead Perceptual Navigation Instructor, and high-profile Activational Presenter
Daniel Kish is the lead Founder and President of World Access for the Blind.
Daniel holds Master’s degrees in both Developmental Psychology and Special Education, emphasizing perceptual development, family dynamics, and children at risk.
He also holds two national certifications in Orientation and Mobility, COMS and NOMC. Daniel is the first totally blind individual to obtain both certifications.
He has collaborated extensively with very renowned therapists and specialists in the areas of neural science, communication, biomechanics, and perception.
Daniel refers to himself as a Perceptual-Navigation Specialist, emphasizing in his instructional practice the perceptual foundations underlieing navigation and environmental interaction.
He has particular experience with deaf-blindness, autism, and perceptual processing disorders.
Click here to go to Daniel’s page for more information, and to learn more about his ‘ultrasonic’ pursuits.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
Brian Bushway
Perceptual Navigation Instructor, and Activational Presenter Based in Los Angeles
Brian Bushway was raised in Southern California and became totally blind at age 14. He lost his sight to optic nerve atrophy.
Through strength and perseverance he continued his high school education, and graduated from Pepperdine University in 2005 with a degree in speech communications and a minor in non-profit management.
He was also instrumental in shaping the non-profit management course at Pepperdine. Brian worked hand-in-hand with the business professionals in the greater Los Angeles area, creating the first Community Partners Board.
Brian also studied abroad in Leone, France and then in London, England which provided a foundation of skill sets related to cultural sensitivities.
Presently, Brian serves as a Perceptual Navigation Instructor for World Access for the Blind, working with students and sighted mobility instructors on the use of FlashSonar™.
Click here to go to Brian’s page for more information, and to learn about his rock video appearance.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
Juan Ruiz
Perceptual Navigation Instructor, and Multicultural Specialist Based in Vienna
Blind from birth, Juan Ruiz was born and raised in México, later immigrating to California and becoming an American citizen.
Always athletic and competitive, Juan also became a California Interscholastic Federation Wrestling Champion in high school.
After graduation, Juan spent a year as an instructional assistant for primary children in the Anaheim City School district, in California. He also spent seven years as a part-time assistive technology instructor.
Juan started learning FlashSonar™ Echolocation at the age of 12 from Daniel Kish and went on to help found the TeamBat program, which led to the formation of World Access for the Blind.
Juan became the first Perceptual Navigation Instructor to be trained and hired by World Access for the Blind, and in his 12 years with the organization has logged over 2,500 hours service in the U.S. and over a dozen other countries on four continents.
Click here to go to Juan’s page to learn about his Guinness World Record and other ‘firsts’.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
J Steele-Louchart
Perceptual Navigation Instructor, and Activational Workshop Leader Based in Michigan
Justin “J” Louchart went blind at the age of twelve due to X-linked Retinoschesis and Retinopathy of Prematurity.
He began teaching himself Perceptual Navigation techniques from materials published by Daniel Kish on the Internet, and began working formally with Daniel and World Access For The Blind two years later.
J is well-versed in both the scientific and the instructional sides of our activational process, and strives to make the information practical for everyone, regardless of their individual backgrounds.
He has a background in bio-cultural anthropology and his professional experiences include profiles in magazine articles and television documentaries, co-authoring publications on Perceptual Navigation, and delivering various Keynotes and seminars.
J’s message is always one of integrity and strength: You will find a way or make one.
Click here to go to J’s page for more information, and to learn about his philosophical passions.
Click the UP arrow to close this section.
