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VISIONEERS ONLINE NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2017
World Access For The Blind Introduces Visioneers
Visionary Engineering of Activational Solutions
Visioneering is turning vision to action. It’s the fusion of “No Limits”, high performance perception and navigation processes engineered by Daniel Kish to teach blind persons to see with sound. This fusion also teaches blind and sighted people to see through challenges.
World Access For The Blind (WAFTB) launches VISIONEERS as our new division of ‘Activational’ services, activities and solutions across the USA and around the world.
Visioneers emerges out of our Team’s 140+ years of collective ‘blindness experience’, to build on our internationally acclaimed legacy of more than 17 years of teaching blind people to find more freedom in their lives, and to share their worthy achievements with others as equal citizens.
We’re very excited about the new possibilities in the coming New Year, and hope you are too and that you will show your generous support in our Holiday Fundraising Appeal.
WE TEACH BLIND PEOPLE TO SEE | WE TEACH SIGHTED PEOPLE TO SEE BETTER
Welcome to Visioneers!
Our Visioneering concept reflects emerging findings that blindness isn’t about not seeing; it’s about NEW ways of seeing.
Our expanded suite of Visioneering services reflects an emerging understanding of the many ways that anyone, blind or sighted, may be challenged by fear of the dark unknown, or by various forms of what’s known as perceptual or attentional blindness, whether at home, school or the workplace.
We help blind people learn to see. We help sighted people learn to see better.
Our innovation, experience and expertise in creating new protocols for blind navigation, has enabled us to amass a knowledge bank of solutions for overcoming and breaking through the various challenges and obstacles that we all encounter in life.
VISION to ACTION!
“Visioneering” is all about turning Vision to Action – it’s about being Activational.
The development, field-testing, refinement and documentation of our approach is uniquely led by our qualified and skilled blind Visioneers.
The majority of our Instructional Visioneers have Master’s Degrees in Special Education and other studies.
They are allied with a cross-disciplinary network of scientists, psychologists, neurologists, educators and therapists.
Lead Visioneer Daniel Kish has been named an Ashoka Fellow this year. That will open more opportunities for high-impact alliances in the activation of our expanded suite of programs that can benefit blind, vision-impaired and sighted people through individual and group instruction across many sectors.
Activational Futures!
Many children who are blind from birth follow developmental pathways that may seem different from their sighted peers. Our alliances will enable us to share our many breakthroughs we’ve achieved with blind children whose perceived conditions previously might have left them isolated or institutionalized.
We’re very proud that we are able to contribute to Activational Futures for our students because of our in-house expertise in Developmental Psychology, and dealing with blind children on the Autism Spectrum, or those diagnosed with language or communication challenges.
Such alliances will also benefit our Outreach and Community-building efforts as we develop our volunteer Social Visioneering Division. We do hope you’ll consider being a part of it, because “Our Champions Are You”.
A HOLIDAY GREETING FROM LEAD VISIONEER DANIEL KISH
A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT CHRISTMAS
As the holidays approach, much is often made about all the beautiful sights that blind people are believed to miss out on at this time of year.
Over the years, I vividly recall the joyful music of Christmas carols and the warm glow from a crackling fireplace, and the wonderful aromas emanating from a Christmas tree and a busy kitchen.
If I was curious about how something looked, I could click to learn what I wanted to know about it, or listen to sighted people chatting excitedly about what they see. Today, if I want more information, I can use a descriptive app. So, I’ve never felt that I was missing out on anything at Christmas.
Your thoughtful donation to our Visioneers Holiday Appeal will help us teach the special skills that can keep other blind children from missing out on anything.
Thank you, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Daniel
LOOKING FOR A HOLIDAY GIFT FOR A BLIND PERSON OR A BLINDNESS PROFESSIONAL?
GIVE THEM THE RESOURCE TEXTBOOK GIFT ABOUT LEARNING TO SEE WITH SOUND!
American Printing House for the Blind presents the definitive textbook on FlashSonar Echolocation written by Daniel Kish, considered the foremost expert on the subject, and Jo Hook, Attorney and Professor of Rehabilitation.
Here’s what APH says about it: 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. An extensive list of references and resources is provided for the reader. The cost is $77.00 and a braille edition is available as a free download.
We hope you will enjoy this book, and find it helpful. Neither the authors nor Visioneers/WAFTB receive any royalties for 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 Visioneers | World Access for the Blind.
Thank you kindly.
World Access For The Blind | Visioneers Social Media Highlights From 2017
LEAD VISIONEER DANIEL KISH NAMED A 2017 ASHOKA FELLOW
Friday spotlight on 2017 #AshokaFellow Daniel Kish of World Access for the Blind. Daniel has created a new model of perceptual navigation training which may be the most disruptive innovation since the guide dog.
As a child, Daniel realized (and has since scientifically proven) that by producing a clicking sound with his tongue and using its echoes to “echolocate”.
Read more at our Facebook Page.
HIGHLIGHTS OF VISIONEERS | WAFTB MOMENTS IN 2017
Facebook compiled a reel of of special moments from the activities of World Access For The Blind, and later, Visioneers in 2017.
It highlighted the third round of training with The Foundation For The Blind in Thailand where our trainee Visioneers earned Instructor Certificates at various rankings.
It also captured some images with our students in the U.K., as well as the USA. Click on the thumbnail to play the video and click the Sound icon for audio.
USC’s BLIND SNAPPER JAKE OLSON INSPIRES OTHER BLIND STUDENTS
World Access for the Blind has been teaching blind persons to see with sound for over 17 years.
We’ve been doing this long enough now that the inspiration is cascading across subsequent age groups, as is the “paying it forward”, sometimes without knowing.
Such is the case with three of our students: Jake, Humoody and Nava.
Read more at our .
KEEPING UP WITH HUMOODY SMITH
World Access For The Blind student Humoody Smith was busy iast Spring participating in the 5th annual ‘In Their Shoes’ 5K event in Alexandria, Virginia for the Iraqi Children Foundation.
An estimated 800k children have been orphaned over ten years of war and more than 1 million have been displaced by ISIS. Humoody himself was an early victim of the conflict after he and his Iraqi family were ambushed by insurgents. Humoody was blinded and suffered horrible wounds after being shot in the face for which he still undergoes corrective surgeries to this day.
He was airlifted for treatment in the U.S. and eventually adopted by his American sponsor family headed up by Randy and Julie Robinett Smith (WAFTB’s DONORS OF THE YEAR for 2016).
Humoody recently turned 15 (BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUMOODY!) and is now the long snapper and chief wisecracker for his school’s football team and is involved in many other sports and activities thanks to his incredible parents.
Read more at our Facebook page.
ASSIGNMENT DURHAM: OUR RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP PRODUCES NEW STUDY RESULTS
‘Seeing with Sound’ Study Chronicles the Science of Human Echolocation’
World Access For The Blind has been proud to be a research partner with Durham University in the U.K. as one of the many Academic Research programs we participate in with Dr. Lore Thaler. Read more at our Facebook Page.
ASSIGNMENT DURHAM: OUR RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP STUDY TOPS REDDIT SCIENCE JOURNAL
‘Seeing with Sound’ Study Chronicles the Science of Human Echolocation’
World Access For The Blind has been proud to be a research partner with Durham University in the U.K. as one of the many Academic Research projects we participate in. Read more at our Facebook page.
WAFTB STUDENT KEVIN RISES TO A HIGHER LEVEL
We’re always happy to hear from our current and former students on how they’re doing, and on what a positive difference learning FlashSonar™ Echolocation is making in their life.
So it is with Kevin Lowe. He’s a survivor of some tough circumstances, but he’s making the most of what he’s learned, as profiled in Plantation Living Magazine. Read more at our Facebook page.
“ANGEL OF MUSIC” FUNDRAISING HERO: ETHAN DAVID LOCH
World Access For The Blind/VISIONEERS has been working with Ethan since he was a wee toddler in Canada, and in his native Scotland as he’s grown into a very talented and caring young man. We’re wowed by Ethan’s incredible talent, and humbled by his generosity, as he held a charity concert at Lanark this year in support of our work. He even participated in the muddiest McTuff Mud Run you could ever imagine to raise funds so that other blind kids in Scotland can benefit from our FlashSonar instruction the way he has.
Thank you so much, Ethan! And Congratulations on your well-deserved awards at the Vatican, the Chopin Festival in Poland, and the James Waterhouse Prize in London and his performance at Steinway Hall.
A major part of these achievements is the wonderful support Ethan gets from his close-knit and loving family, including his Dad Fraser, and his first piano instructor – his Mum Larinda – herself, an accomplished concert pianist and Suzuki Method Instructor, his big brother Nathanael who fiercely slogged through the Mud Run with Ethan, even carrying him on his back after both his shoes got stuck in the mud, and little sister Hannah who’s always ready with the biggest hugs. And not to forget his Uncle Dave and the rest of the clan.
We’re so proud of you Ethan! All of us at Visioneers wish you many more musical successes in 2018!
Countries Served By World Access For The Blind | Visioneers In 2017
ASSIGNMENT THAILAND: PART III CONGRATULATIONS COACHING STUDENTS!!!!
Our top banner shows jubilation after the Certificate Ceremony for blind Perceptual Navigation Coaches at the Foundation for the Blind Under The Royal Patronage of Her Majesty, The Queen of Thailand.
This was our third sojourn to Thailand to teach blind mobility coaches our unique FlashSonar echolocation. Lead Visioneer Daniel Kish was joined by Senior Visioneer Brian Bushway, and our new Workshop Visioneer Thomas Tajo.
Our thanks to Dr. Taya Kitiyakara and all the staff and volunteers for their gracious hospitality and friendship, and to our new Perceptual Navigation Coaches for all their hard work and determination. And additional thanks to Warawat Bibb Sabhavasu for chronicling everything in beautiful photos every step along the way.
When the blind lead the blind in Thailand, they learn a new way to see with sound!
Read more on our website.
