World Access for the Blind has worked with over 1000 students in 15 countries worldwide. Here are just a few of our amazing students.
About World Access for the Blind
Guiding Philosophy
World Access for the Blind supports the idea that blindness is not as disabling as is commonly believed. Barriers to functioning associated with blindness arise more from poor interaction between blind people and society than from intrinsic deficiency. We characterize blindness as a condition of life style with specific challenges requiring a strong capacity to adapt. Blindness should not deny access to all the experiences and opportunities of the WORLD. In this spirit we proceed with two convictions:
Organizational Overview
Daniel Kish, Co-founder and President of WAFTB, lost his sight as an infant; yet, he grew as a normal child free to enjoy the world and learn by doing. Daniel accomplished this by teaching himself when very young to "see" with sonar by clicking his tongue, which enables identification of spatial relationships using acoustics (hearing) - similar to how a bat uses echolocation. Daniel holds Masters' degrees in Psychology and Special Education, where he emphasized the study of children at risk, perceptual development, and information processing.
Our Vision
World Access for the Blind strives to improve the quality of interaction between blind and sighted people by facilitating equal access to the world's resources and opportunities. We are interested in more than meeting the minimum requirements for functioning and life satisfaction. We believe in mutual respect, consideration, and accommodation of blind and sighted people by society. We expect to see the blind population on mass rise to levels of productive participation and achievement to equal that of sighted people.
Conquering the Challenges of Blindness
According to the 1995 census there are over two million people in the U.S. whose visual impairment is severe enough to cause significant impact on the course of their daily living. Specifically they cannot drive or read standard print, and their ability to move around may be compromised. About twenty-five percent (25%) of that group is totally blind or without usable vision. World wide, the visually impaired population is estimated to number in excess of 37 million people (World Health Organization, 2003).
In the U.S.
Board of Directors
Ram Aditya, Ph.D.
Retired Professor, Florida International University
Dr. Douglas Baldwin, OD, MA, COMS
Director, Founder, Institute of Innovative Blind Navigation
Bruno Dacquay, MS
Vice President Surgical Instrumentation
Research and Development
Alcon Irvine Technology Center
Prof. Rosemary G. Fahey, Ed.D.
Associate professor, Chapman University
School of Education, graduate studies
Carla Herrera
About Daniel Kish
President
World Access for the Blind
Daniel Kish is the lead founder and CEO of World Access for the Blind. This non-profit organization uniquely combines a self directed, no limits approach with expertise in perceptual development, positive psychology, person-centered instruction, and public education to develop and mobilize innovative, high impact, achievement oriented strategies to challenge all forms of blindness throughout the world.
