WELCOME TO VISIONEERS.ORG
WE’RE A GLOBALLY-RESPECTED, AWARD-WINNING U.S. NON-PROFIT
We are a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Corporation registered in the State of California, and we’ve been changing lives for almost 20 years.
We’re a group of blind and sighted professionals dedicated to teaching blind people of all ages to see with sound.
This, along with our pioneering high-performance Perception Cane training, gives blind persons the skills to become more self- confident, self-directed and self-reliant, for a life of purpose, achievement, and the dignity of independent Perceptual Freedom. Learn more on our WHO WE ARE page.
What Is FlashSonar?
FlashSonar™ (our advanced and activational form of active echolocation) is a blind person’s developed perceptual ability to determine where and what things are around them, and how to effectively navigate and interact with these surroundings.
This is done by a person making a discrete, quiet tongue click, which allows the ear and brain to work together to construct a 3-D image from the reflected echoes of objects. It is like seeing with sound, as if with dim flashes of light, but using flashes of sound instead. Learn more on our WHAT WE DO Page.
WE’RE A GLOBALLY-RESPECTED, AWARD-WINNING U.S. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
We are a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit registered in the State of California, and we’ve been changing lives for almost 20 years.
We’re a group of blind and sighted professionals dedicated to teaching blind people of all ages to see with sound.
This, along with our pioneering high-performance Perception Cane training, gives blind persons the skills to become more self- confident, self-directed and self-reliant, for a life of purpose, achievement, and the dignity of independent Perceptual Freedom.
NEWS: SPECIAL REPORT
VISIONEERING OVERVIEW
OUR VISION
Visioneering starts with “a click and a stick”
The “click” we call FlashSonar™, a refined form of echolocation that uses tongue clicks to send out sharp flashes of sound which reflect off near and distant shapes and surfaces, echoing acoustic imagery to the brain, like bats, dolphins and some toothed whales.
The “stick” we call the Perception Cane which is lighter, longer and more conductive than the white canes traditionally used for blind navigation, making them more effective and easier to use.
OUR METHOD
FlashSonar echoes activate the Visual Cortex
Our collaborative projects with research centers in the U.S. and around the world have led to the discovery that the echoes from FlashSonar clicks reflect off surrounding objects, sending acoustic imagery that is processed by the brain’s Visual Cortex.
Our echoes are processed into a spatial map by the part of the brain normally used for sight, appearing to activate the brain’s “Neuroplasticity”, training it to re-wire after sensory loss.
OUR RESULTS
We teach blind people a new way to “see”
We’ve integrated all this with data from early childhood cane studies and human biomechanics into the “Visioneering” of our model for movement and navigation, achieving greater impact for more blind people in less time, and at a much lower public cost.
Our unique, innovative Visioneering approach quickly enables our blind students to find unprecedented freedom from the previous indignities of dependency, passivity and isolation.
OUR CLASSROOM
Across the USA and 40+ countries
For over 18 years, Daniel Kish and our Team have taught our unique Perceptual Navigation to over 15,000 blind persons, their families, instructors and community members. Now, we re-engineer an expanded suite of High-Performance Visioneering Services.
Book Daniel Kish or our other Visioneers for Individual, Group or Community instruction, or as Speakers to make your next Corporate, Tech, Educational, or Service Conference Activational!
OUR MISSION
The basic human right of freedom
Freedom of movement and personal choice (self-determination) are usually regarded as basic human rights, but these personal liberties are often denied persons who are blind and/or face other ability challenges because of non-existent or outdated services.
Visioneers’ (WAFTB’s) methodology is uniquely led by qualified, skilled blind people allied with a cross-disciplinary network of scientists, psychologists, neurologists, educators and therapists.
OUR CHAMPIONS
Your donations fuel our Visioneering
In a world that is often not user friendly for blind people, we appreeciate champions like you who stand among the pillars that support our efforts to help blind persons claim their freedom of access to achieve and contribute as equal citizens in our communities.
Your generous support is an investment in a sound vision for change, building stronger communities and achieving human potential. Join us! Please Donate and/or Volunteer via info@Visioneers.org.
VISIONEERING SERVICES
VISIONEERING TEAM
OUR EXPERT INSTRUCTORS WALK THE TALK
Our Perceptual Navigation Instructors and Coaches are living embodiments of our pioneering and innovative teaching systems because they were once our students, and have grown with us. Their own life experiences with blindness provide powerful insights and inspiration for all our students as they teach them to
LIGHT-UP THEIR WORLD!
VISIONEERS MEDIA COVERAGE
MEDIA: PLATFORMS
OUR PEOPLE AND RESULTS ARE WORLD RENOWNED
Whether as the ‘real-life Bat Man’, or as co-stars with over 27 million views in X Ambassadors’ RENEGADES video, our FlashSonar™ clicks have echoed to over 2 billion global viewers via top international TV & Radio networks and well as in top international newspapers and magazines, and across the Internet via the major Social Media apps.
MEDIA: SPECIAL REPORT: LATEST STUDY CO-AUTHORED BY DANIEL KISH HITS THE MEDIA
MEDIA: ONLINE: THE LATEST FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
MEDIA: RADIO-PODCAST: TheNakedScientists.com on “Seeing With Sound”
MEDIA: TV-VIDEO: RECENT COVERAGE
MEDIA: SOME OF OUR MOST POPULAR REPORTS
TITLE: Echolocation and FlashSonar
Echolocation and FlashSonar provides research, case examples, instructional approaches, and practice exercises that can lead to mastery of echolocation skills.
This guidebook, written by Daniel Kish and Jo Hook, provides instructional strategies for teaching persons who are blind and visually impaired who are working independently. Although Echolocation and FlashSonar works well as an instructional manual for O&M specialists, it can also be used by adults who are blind and visually impaired and who are not working with rehabilitation professionals.
Note: A braille edition is available as a free download: http://www.aph.org/manuals/
Preview of Echolocation And FlashSonar
By Daniel Kish and Jo Hook
You can preview the book’s introduction at this link, and order it online at this link.
We hope you will enjoy this book, and find it helpful. Neither the authors nor Visioneers / World Access for the Blind receive any royalties from the sale of this book. If you find this book helpful, please consider helping us reach more blind students in more places with your tax deductible donation to World Access for the Blind on our Holiday Appeal page or on our Make A Donation page.
HOW TO HELP: Make an Individual or Corporate Donation below & share across Social Media
OUR CLASSROOM IS AMERICA AND THE WORLD
Our passports bear testament to the growing demand at home and abroad for our services. That’s why we need your financial support to train and hire more instructors, creating jobs in the United States to meet that global demand.
MAKE AN INDIVIDUAL DONATION
DONATE BY CHECK
Donations by personal check are also welcome. Please make the check payable to: World Access For The Blind and mail to:
World Access For The Blind
650 N. Rose Drive, #208
Placentia, CA 92870
MAKE A CORPORATE | ENTERPRISE DONATION
THANK YOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTFUL SUPPORT!
