[blindkid] School cane O/M issues

[Richard Holloway]

Lauren,

I have been told (and it makes total sense to me) that having an arm  
in the strap is an inappropriate and dangerous thing to do. The loop  
is to hold the cane on a hook or the like when it is not in use. (Some  
also hang something small on the loop to personalize it.) If something  
gets ahold of your cane, the last thing you want it to do is also get  
ahold of your arm (by way of that strap) and pull you into something,  
onto the ground, down a stairway, or worse.

What if a another kid grabbed the cane and pulled it? What if you're  
moving and the cane gets snagged and stops but people behind you DON'T  
stop, so you get pushed forward and the cane is pulling back? What if  
it went through the spokes of a wheelchair or a bike? What if the cane  
tip were closed into the door of a bus as it drove off while you were  
at a curb or the doors on a subway should grab it? What if a passing  
truck should hook it at curbside? I don't mean to be an alarmist, but  
if it were my child I'd have an immediate talk about that with the O&M  
Instructor. I've seen Kendra's cane fly across the room a number of  
times, generally when it gets kicked or caught by someone else's feet  
by accident. Each time I was glad it was just her cane-- As disgusting  
as it may sound, poop wipes off...

The cane in the locker sounds like a poor plan. Canes are not to be  
stored away. What message is this sending not only to your child but  
to all who are aware of this in her school? What if a child who uses a  
walker could actually make it to the next room without the walker  
because it was close by? Should they keep their walker in a locker and  
be at risk? The cane is a tool to facilitate travel. There's no need  
to hide it in a locker.

Why can't her cane be parked in the classroom, next to the door by the  
hallway? It can go classroom to classroom and be parked in each class.  
Even if the walk is short, it helps your child learn that practice.  
Our daughter is 7 and for years now has known to get her cane from  
next to the front door of our house as she leaves and to put it there  
when she comes in-- every time. She does the same at school with each  
class.

As to "properly using her cane"-- well, a month is not much time at  
all to have mastered that skill, especially with the amount of O&M  
time that most kids get in a month-- what does she get, surely no more  
than an hour or so each week? These things take time. My daughter has  
been getting some level of O&M with cane instruction for over five  
years and still has much to learn. It takes time and practice, but it  
is hard to practice when the cane is stored in a locker. It sounds to  
me like they are telling your daughter that "most of the time, it is  
fine to do your best to get around without your cane and to rely on  
others to help you find your way", however once in while we will give  
you a cane and you should immediately learn how to use it properly.  
Even a very young child who is dragging a cane behind himself  
(literally behind himself) is learning that the cane goes with him  
when he goes out, and as you keep getting it back in front of him,  
things begin to progress...

Sighted guide. Ugh... I guess there are times for that. First of all,  
I really liked Joe Cutter's thoughts on "paired walking" as a concept.  
The entire notion of "sighted guide" seems to be that the sight is the  
important thing which is guiding the blind person. I don't want my  
daughter growing up to rely on anyone else with vision (or without) to  
help her find her way, and I can tell you with absolute certainty  
that, as a typically sighted adult, I have been guided many places by  
blind people (including my own daughter as well as many blind adults).

I remember an NFB convention in Dallas a few years ago when one cane- 
traveling young lady had me completely out of breath trying to keep up  
with her as she whizzed across the hotel to help me find a particular  
room. It would never have occurred to me to think of any of these cane  
(or guide-dog) traveling people as "blind guides". They were simply my  
guides. I'm not trying to argue over terms, but mindset can be really  
important. I know this is a standard term, but the phrase is almost  
like a little IEP goal on it's own-- "learn to rely on a sighted  
person to find your way"-- is that a goal you want on your child's  
IEP? And if it belongs there, how should it be positioned? Primary  
skill? Backup skill?

Paired Walking (I like that term so much better) for us, is useful  
when exploring a new place when there is not a good way to let Kendra  
explore it on her own (usually because of time constraints) and we try  
to keep that to a minimum unless she just wants (for example) to walk  
and hold my hand. If a sighted seven year old wanted to walk with her  
dad and hold his hand, would that be okay? I would say certainly it  
would, so then there needs to be some other reason to say not to do it  
for a blind child. So then, maybe we need to ask if this is because  
she TRULY wants to hold hands or she wants to have help finding her  
way? So you see it can be complicated, but as a primary solution? I  
wold try and avoid that.

A better example that comes to mind is a class field trip with a lot  
of walking where there is no practical way to keep up with the other  
kids in the unfamiliar environment. (For a young or new cane traveler.  
Ultimately, expect cane travelers to stay with the group on their  
own!) Or say you need to help your child find the restroom in a time  
of urgency-- the benefit of her finding the restroom on her own may be  
offset by possibly having an accident due to extra time spent. I look  
at it like this-- if this is not the time to travel alone (as in with  
just a cane in hand), when is that time? What is going to change, and  
when, to make "sighted guide" less necessary later? Is the goal for  
your child as an adult to travel by sighted guide or alone with a cane?

Of corse, paired walking should ideally be a situation where EITHER  
person can take the lead. When time permits, I enjoy "paired walking"  
as I hold hands with my wife and we're both typically sighted. I guess  
what I am getting at is this-- "sighted guide" should be one option  
that a blind person can choose, not a practice that we teach kids to  
rely on as a first line solution. I did see where someone pointed out  
that canes can break and then someone may have to rely on a sighted  
guide. That may be true but that can be kept to a minimum if you keep  
a spare cane available all the time. Many blind people who travel  
often make a point to always pack a spare cane. I know we make every  
effort to have a spare available for Kendra at home or on the road,  
even though we've only broken one cane so far in over 5 years of cane  
use.

Here is another thing to remember about sighted guide-- With that  
technique, who is the guide generally going to be after the O&M lesson  
is over? Often, it ends up being a relatively untrained adult or  
classmate. Time and again, these well-meaning people (especially the  
young kids) loose track of what they are doing and guide blind people  
into poles. I have done it myself to my own child. (What a terrible  
feeling!) It is not intuitive to walk with a clear path for yourself  
and the person next to you all the time. And when your cane DOES  
break, what do you think the chance is that there will be a trained  
person nearby to assist you to your destination offering proper sited  
guide technique? Probably just about as good as this happening in  
front of a traveling white cane salesperson to sell you a replacement  
on the spot, right? Better off to pack a spare cane and be done with it.

Generally, I don't walk into things because I can see them-- that is  
my technique to avoid them; I use my vision to protect myself. A  
skilled cane traveler doesn't walk into poles because proper cane  
technique lets her find the pole just as effectively as my vision  
keeps me clear. Once in a while, the power fails. It gets dark  
suddenly and we all can walk into poles, except for those among us  
traveling with canes.

Back to the reading issues, one other thing to keep in mind-- is large  
print the best option for your child? Is she going to learn to read  
braille as well? There are many factors involved but often too much  
attention is paid to a person's limited vision. Is her condition  
progressive for example? As she gets older she'll need to read more  
and faster and generally vision issues do not improve over time.  
Reading large print can be exhausting for some people as compared to  
using braille. Learning braille early is often the difference in being  
a speedy braille reader or one who is frustrated in trying to keep up  
and reading large print is invariably a slow process. Determine what  
would be the down side about learning braille for her-- is there one?  
Does she qualify for braille services in your school system? These are  
good things to know in any case. That's a bit outside of my direct  
experience as my daughter has no light perception, but her having no  
vision also leads me to another point--

Having some vision can actually make it HARDER to do some things  
because people with low vision may rely on too little information to  
make decisions-- deciding to use a bit of vision instead of accurate  
information from a cane-- things like that. One very common training  
technique in O&M for people with anything from typical vision all the  
way to very low vision is to wear sleep shades to learn not to rely on  
cues from limited vision when traveling with a cane.

One final thought-- (sorry for the long post, BTW!) for having a young  
blind child (age 7) my wife and I have been at this for a while as far  
as IEP's. This is Kendra's 5th year in school and we seem to generally  
have a couple of IEP's each year (plus additional informal meetings as  
needed). Even with all those meetings we've had, there are always  
things overlooked and adjustments that need to be made to goals and  
strategies so don't beat yourself up for not getting everything  
perfect in your first IEP. This is a process and I have yet to hear of  
a perfect IEP. It sounds to me like you're actually off to a great  
start, addressing a host of concerns and trying to head immediately in  
the best possible direction for your child.

Now the disclaimer-- many people around this listserv have 10 or 20  
years more experience with this than I-- maybe even more than that,  
but those are my suggestions for what they may be worth.

Good luck,

Richard




On Oct 17, 2009, at 1:22 AM, L W wrote:

> Hi all. We got our daughter Joli’s IEP finalized last week. Monday I  
> went to her school to visit her vision teacher and discovered that  
> Joli hasn’t been using her cane.  She has been storing it in her  
> locker.  So I wrote a note in her communication book saying that I  
> wanted Joli to take her cane with her everywhere.  Joli came home  
> Tuesday saying that her O/M teacher told her that her classes are so  
> close together she could just leave the cane in her homeroom.  She  
> also told Joli to stick her hand through the strap and wear it like  
> a bracelet so she wouldn’t drop it in dog poop.  The O/M teacher’s  
> concern seems to be that Joli isn’t properly using the cane at  
> school. Is this normal / common?  Am I missing something?  I want  
> Joli to use the cane at school even though it is a familiar  
> environment because I want Joli to get into the habit of always  
> taking her cane with her.   Joli has had her cane for almost 1 month.
> Also I just noticed on her IEP it says she will learn sighted guide  
> technique.  I am not sure I see the point of that.  Joli is 8 and  
> her vision is 20/400.  Maybe I am not understanding what sighted  
> guide technique is, but as I understand it, it’s taking somebody’s  
> arm and letting them lead you?  If she were younger or her vision  
> were worse maybe I would see more of a point to this, but now I  
> would rather place more emphasis on cane travel and on things like  
> safely crossing the road. Must admit during the IEP process (it’s  
> our 1st time doing the IEP) I was so focused on getting the  
> technology she needs and the enlargements and getting extra reading  
> help as Joli also has dyslexia, that I sort of didn’t pay attention  
> to the O/M side of things as much as I guess I should have.  I am  
> wondering if this sighted guide technique is something I should  
> fight to have changed, which I guess would mean calling another IEP  
> meeting, or if it’s something
> Joli could benefit from.
> Thanks for any advice,
> Lauren
>
>
>
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