[blindkid] School cane O/M Issues

[holly miller]

Well doesn't she sound like a bright little ray of sunshine!

Lots of warning bells going off.  This woman sounds like a control freak.

Personally, I think *she* should submit in writing to *you* why her way is
the only right way to do things.
A quick thing you could send her about the tap technique is in "The Care and
Feeding of the Long White
Cane<http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/fr/fr15/Issue1/f1501tc2.html>
"
Chapter 3 describes it.  Send her that link and then ask her to send you a
link that substantiates her claim that it's only outdoor use.  Because you
are concerned mom and you want to educate yourself of course (smile)


I know what she means by the diagonal technique but I'm not sure how to
explain it. I"m sure someone here can.

She shouldn't use her cane at school because she doesn't know how to store
it?  It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to explain "This is how you
safely store a cane so you have it at hand but other people don't trip over
it"  Problem solved.

The nonsense about she needs to learn to use & trust her vision is the same
garbage we get for Hank.  If he could trust his vision, we wouldn't be
having this conversation.  I'm not pushing for O&M because I think a cane is
a snazzy accessory.  I want him to use a cane because his vision is not good
enough to trust.  When he "trusts" his vision, he trips and falls over
things he can't see.

To be ornery, I'd also ask the O&M person if Joli will need her cane in the
higher grades, should you be worried that her vision will be worse then?
If her vision is stable, why would she need a cane later but not now?

Holly
aka Hank's mom





On Tue, Oct 20, 2009 at 9:01 PM, L W <mama2sally at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Thanks all for the advice.  You guys rock. Today I got a phone call from
> the O/M instructor.  Basically she didn’t want Joli using the cane because
> Joli wasn’t using it “properly” and it was “more of a hindrance than a
> help.”  She didn’t want her using it because she was using a touch technique
> (tap, step, tap, step) and the O/M teacher wants her to use the diagonal
> (dragging?) technique & the Staff shepherd style carrying position.  The O/M
> was concerned because Joli doesn’t know how to store her cane or how to hold
> it while sitting. The O/M instructor said that the touch technique that Joli
> was shown at the NFB was only supposed to be used outdoors.  I told her that
> it might be true but I had never heard that before.  The O/M instructor
> wants me to get somebody from the NFB to put in writing that the touch
> technique Joli was shown there is suitable for indoor use in a familiar
> environment like a small elementary school.  I
>  don’t know who to ask for this, and I don’t think it should be necessary.
> The O/M did not want Joli using her cane till after she had learned the
> diagonal technique.  I am not familiar with this technique.  Is it a good
> technique?  Right now, after some discussion, she said she would allow Joli
> to use the touch technique until she learns the diagonal technique for
> indoor use.  At one point she said that for now Joli could carry her cane
> but shouldn’t use it indoors.  So I am wondering if I should resist this
> diagonal technique and insist that she learn the technique she was shown at
> the NFB or is the diagonal style useful indoors?  She also said Joli would
> be using her cane more in middle & high school.  And that right now she
> wants her to learn to use her vision to learn to trust her body so that she
> becomes more aware of her environment.  The O/M teacher said that she
> herself when blindfolded could detect how close she was to wall by
>  paying attention to sounds and because of awareness training. Not sure I
> see the point of that.
> I am so looking forward to the upcoming Maryland convention.  I hope Joli
> can do some cane training there.
> Thanks for any advice.
> Lauren Wibbe
>
>
>
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