The brains of people who have been blind since birth or an early age rewire themselves to adapt to the lack of vision, resulting in enhanced compensatory abilities such as a heightened sense of hearing, smell and touch, as well as cognitive functions. The brain can be train to echolocation which is how bats and beluga whales can "see". Researchers have found that when echolocators listen to the echoes of the clicks they produce with their tongue, the part of the brain normally used to see lights up.

At one year old, Daniel was diagnosed with a rare cancer called retinoblastoma, which destroys the retinas. At age 14, his eyes were removed in order to save his life. Now 46, Daniel uses sonar vision by sending sound waves from his tongue that bounce off physical objects and allows him to gauge his whereabouts and navigate the world in remarkable ways. He has dedicated himself to teaching this technique that he calls FlashSonar to a new generation of blind children in America and throughout the world, with the organisation "World Access for the Blind" that he has founded in 2000. He has also earn a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology and another Master’s in Special Education.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx