"We've got to reach out and shake life's hand, and it will shake back." - Brian Bushway
Mission Statement: Share the perspective and insight of navigating and capitalizing a fruitful life thru personal experiences from Seeing beyond Sight.
Brian Bushway facilitates active exchanges that explore attitudes of success, managing change, and learning to adapt and navigate the obstacles that seem to come with life. Brian's achievements associated with life adventures, help serve the basis for great stories of success, which he weaves into his speaking engagements and public appearances.
Brian 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.
While at Pepperdine, Brian produced and hosted a college talk radio show which included commentary on current events and featured comedy bits. Brian was also instrumental in shaping the non-profit management course at Pepperdine. He worked hand in hand with the business professionals in the greater Los Angeles area, creating the first Community Partners Board. Brian studied abroad in Leone, France and then in London, England which provided a foundation of skill sets regarding cultural sensitivities.
Presently, Brian serves as a Perceptual Navigation instructor for World Access for the Blind, a non-profit organization which teaches Perceptual Navigation and sensory awareness. In addition to working with Blind students from all backgrounds, he also serves as a teacher of sighted mobility instructors on the use of FlashSonar (a specialized form of Active Echolocation) and Perceptual navigation strategies. He designs and implements perceptual development plans for each client, and serves families by offering informational counseling and emotional support.
Brian has consulted with international organizations such as Calcutta Mercy Ministries in India. A book about distinctive individuals "Round Pizza in a Square Box" by Amitabh Singh was dedicated to Brian for the work he did in Kolkata. He also worked with other organizations such as The Armenian Eye Care project, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and Visibility Scotland. He has helped them create blind mobility programs and education courses on FlashSonar, Perceptual Navigation, and family coaching.
Brian delivers activational workshops and presentations to a broad educational, corporate, and nonprofit audience, focusing on embracing life experience and maximizing the opportunities that life has to offer, with an insight to personal growth. He engages and activates audiences with strategies to think and act like successful navigators of life. Through his life story and personal demonstrations, he shares his insight into finding the opportunities that are located in peoples "blind spots". "It is in our blind spots where lies the untapped potential of additional growth. Once recognized that there is more to gain in all of us, the trick becomes acting on and moving forward."
Brian has taught the "Power of Positive Thinking" for the past several years at the Braille Institute of America. In Feb 2010, Brian served as the Master of Ceremonies and Keynote speaker for the regional Braille Challenge, attended by over 200 participants and families.
Brian expresses himself in athletics by solo mountain biking. Among numerous Newspapers and magazines, including bicycle Magazine, LOS ANGELES SPORTS & FITNESS MAGAZINE, and The Free Library, Brian has been featured as "Certainly the world's best totally blind mountain biker" in Mountain Bike Action Magazine, and was selected as one of their most inspirational writers in a special issue. Brian was one of first riders and organizers of Team Bat, a group of blind, solo mountain bikers and self reliant athletes. In 2009 Brian completed the physically challenging 5K Camp Pendleton Mud Run, and also summited Half Dome in one day.
Brian has appeared in Men's Journal, Los Angeles Times, and an acclaimed popular science book, "See What I'm Saying" by Prof. Lawrence Rosenblum, about the remarkable aspects of human senses . He was also featured in full length documentaries produced by Joni and Friends ministries, BBC Switched for children and youth, Calcutta Mercy Ministeries, and Mosaic Ministeries, as well as featured subject in The Doctors, National Geographic's Brain Games, and Discovery Canada's Daily Planet. Among multiple television and radio programs, he has appeared on Ripley's Believe It or Not, Fox News, CBS Medical Minute, BBC's Extraordinary People "The Boy Who Sees without Eyes", Spiegel TV, CNN International, and NPR's This American Life, to name a few. Brian's explanations and demonstrations of FlashSonar have also been show-cased at the Museums of Science and Industry in Chicago and Oregon.
What people are saying:
Brian appeared at a John Wooden charity function where he was introduced by Jon Naber, a three time Olympic gold medalist, who indicated that if "Mountain Biking was an Olympic sport, Brian would definitely be there".
Captain J. Charles Plumb USNR,(Ret.), the distinguished and honored former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and P.O.W., referred to Brian as "his hero".
49th Annual Conference of CALIFORNIA TRANSCRIBERS AND EDUCATORS OF THE VISUALLY HANDICAPPED, INC. 2008
Featured keynote speaker, Brian Bushway Instructional Program Manager for World Access for the Blind.
"Brian Bushway is constantly on the move - his mantra is No Limits! People should be free to explore and discover their abilities. Transcribers, educators, O&M Instructors, parents, and agency providers have the unique opportunity to make an impact on 'the lives of people who are blind. You are half of the dynamic duo (transcriber/reader, teacher/student, parent/child, provider/client)-your goal is less about tasks and more about your attitudes and approach to life. We need to expand our horizons and challenge the potential within our readers/students/children/clients and within ourselves. Tap into your internal resources and you will be ready to go with the flow."