Daniel Kish: Top Ten TED Talks for 2015, Truth and Dare


"Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind - and the mind is adaptable." - Daniel Kish

A photo banner shows Daniel Kish, President of World Access For The Blind, projected on a large screen as he rehearses for his session called “What Are We Thinking”, which is depicted as a graphic on another large screen beside him. Both are suspended over a multi-colored, multi-panel light installation at TED2015 in Vancouver. The headline reads: Daniel Kish Wows at TED2015 Truth & Dare.

PLEASE DONATE NOW! Support our life-changing programs. Click to make a one-time or monthly sustaining tax-deductible donation. Thank you! A color photo of Daniel and students crossing their canes in the air in an “All For One” salute.

Daniel Kish: How I use sonar to navigate the world

TED: Truth and Dare, Vancouver - March 17, 2015
Streams from TED.com

Daniel Kish is listed as one of the top ten talks from the TED2015 main stage. He Delivers a warmly stirring and personal perspective on his own life, blindness, and helping others to navigate their challenges.
"Thank you for an extraordinary talk. You've got an amazingly compelling way of speaking -- curiosity and intelligence and interest oozing out of every phrase that you utter. It's so listenable to! Some speakers talk as if they're sleep walking. You talk as if you're alive and thinking through every word, and I absolutely love that! You have done a spectacular job of helping us all see the world in a different way. Thanks so much for that, truly." - Chris Anderson
Watch on Youtube

TED2015: 10 reasons why it's better than ad conferences

Campaign - March 31, 2015

"Kevin Chesters, the executive planning director at Mcgarrybowen, gives his top ten take outs from TED2015." "It’s an optimists dream. We can conquer blindness AND deafness, we can free the slaves, we can reach and live on Mars, we can redesign the entire global economy to save us all and it turns out laughter really IS the best medicine." "Daniel Kish: Occasionally in life you meet or see someone who reminds you just how amazingly resilient and inventive humans are. This guy went blind at 13 months old and taught himself to "see" by using a series of clicks of his tongue. It earned him the nickname "The Amazing Batman" and he’s now teaching FlashSonar to thousands of others."

Top 10 Things I Learned at TED

Money News 24
By Adrian Macovei

"I learned that a human can actually develop a skill of echolocation, almost like bats. Daniel Kish, who has been blind since he was 13 months old, learned how to navigate and understand the world by making clicks with his voice. Seeing him in action was absolutely amazing."

Top 6 TED 2015 Talks You Don't Want to Miss

Huffington Post - April, 2015
By Jack Hidary

"4. A living human sonar : Daniel Kish's talk is inspiring in many ways. Daniel is blind, but navigates the world with quick taps and clicks that give him a sonar-like picture of the world around him. He can "see" in 360 degrees and has taught this techniques to thousands of others. The next time you are down about a roadblock in front of you watch this talk again."

A walk with Daniel Kish, the real-life Bat Man

Ideas - March 17, 2015
By Kate Torgovnick May

"Woo hoo! you were excellent! I hope that you feel very, very good about your talk" - Kate Torgovnick May
“People are interested in the echolocation, in how and why it works, but most people will never use it,” he says. “So I hope that people come away with a takeaway that pertains to the challenges they face. We get so overwhelmed by challenges — and I do too, but I was raised without fear. There were lots of things to be afraid of, but the emphasis was on facing fear.” “I’ve always liked Batman. As a superhero, he is the most human,” he says. “His super-abilities do not come from magic, or the fourth dimension, or another planet. He’s not some divine being descended from a demi-god — he’s a human who has refined himself to be the best that he can. That’s really what we stand for at my nonprofit, World Access for the Blind — testing your limits. And standing up against the injustices of restrictions and restraints against blind people.” He tilts his head. “And bats are cool.”

‘We All Face the Dark Unknown’

SUCCESS Magazine - August, 2015
Shelley Levitt

"How Daniel Kish, who’s been sightless since he was 13 months old, taught himself to see through the blindness—to find vision in the echoes"
Daniel Kish and Brian Bushway illustrate the process of learning to see with sound for Success Magazine.

Daniel Kish - How Can You See Without Seeing?

NPR: TED Radio Hour - November 20, 2015
Guy Raz

A segment from an episode about adaptation, featuring an in depth interview with Daniel Kish in connection with his TED talk.

Daniel Kish at TED, Vancouver

AccessibleMedia (AMI) - May 15, 2015
By John Harris and Grant Hardy

Show-cases Daniel's arrival at the TED2015 conference, how he learns his way around, and his thoughts about his up-coming talk.
"Daniel Kish is completely blind and uses a cane to get around, However, he also uses a different method to learn about his surroundings. AMI's Grant Hardy learns more about echolocation."
Includes interview with TED's Kate Torgovnick May.

How a deaf musician and a blind activist experience the world

Ideas Magazine - June 18, 2015
By Karen Eng

"Born deaf, TED Fellow and artist Christine Sun Kim uses sound as her medium, so when she saw Daniel Kish (TED Talk: How I use sonar to navigate the world) explain how he uses the echoes from the clicks of his tongue to navigate the world without sight … she was intrigued. The two of them got together to talk about how they each perceive sound, and to share their thoughts on sight and sound"

The Ted2015 Conference In 30 Quotes

TED Blog - March 23, 2015
By Kate Torgovnick May

"TED2015 featured more than 90 speakers, and more than 20 hours of talks. ...In the end, this collection of quotes seems to encapsulate the incredible breadth of this conference." “Ignorance and fear are but matters of the mind — and the mind is adaptable.” — Daniel Kish

Daniel Kish Explains Flash Sonar at TED 2015

The Peacock Media Blog - Mar 31, 2015
By Kathryn Cartini, Peacock Media CEO + Multimedia Storyteller

"Raised by pragmatic parents, Daniel was taught to enjoy the same freedoms and responsibilities as any other child, understanding early on the difference between love and fear. By not allowing his fears to immobilize him in the face of challenge, his parents encouraged Daniel to face the dark unknown by putting freedom first, because that's what love does."

Daniel Kish: TED2015 Highlights

March, 2015

Daniel Kish's talk is featured in these TED2015 highlights.

TEDx Talks



Various TEDx talks given by our staff in various countries about what blind people can teach sighted people.

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