Human Echolocation and Whole Body Sensorium: Reflections from the blind on what it means to see

In this talk, Daniel Kish offers a perception-based paradigm and framework for understanding the achievement and practice of self-determined freedom for blind people. The reach for freedom is foremost behind development and adaptation, especially in the formative years, driving every developmental stage throughout the lifespan toward self-determination, leading toward equitable and respected community inclusion, belonging, and achievement. While this process is largely supported and motivated by visual input for sighted people, Daniel presence a nonvisual perceptual basis for understanding how this process may be preserved and adapted for constructive development in blind people. We will understand what is meant by self-determination, the basic perceptual mechanisms around this process, and the pertinent environmental domains that affect this practice.

About the speaker

Blind Since infancy, Daniel Kish holds Masters degrees in Developmental Psychology and Special Education. He is the first totally blind Orientation and Mobility Specialist, teaching blind people how to get around. He is president of World Access for the Blind, which develops and mobilizes innovative approaches to help foster self-determination for blind people. In over 40 countries, he has taught over 3,000 blind students, and conducted professional development for tens of thousands of blindness service providers. Daniel has appeared in over 175 public outlets globally. He has authored over a dozen scholarly articles on brain plasticity and behavioral adaptations to blindness, and published the first textbook on human echolocation and self-determination. He is pursuing his PhD in neuro-anthropology at Macquarie University, undertaking the first anthropological study of blind people.