[blindkid] School cane O/M Issues

Wed Oct 21 03:20:01 UTC 2009

        I am a 47 year-old blind adult and I certainly use my long white 
cane inside familiar areas. Yes, I may tend to remember how many hallways 
and doors there are in the schoolbuilding where I teach but I certainly do 
not know of the out of the ordinary things to expect as I travel to my class 
room--students everywhere, tables or desks in hallway, erected ladder to 
change light fixture, book cart, half open door, well you get my point. I 
even use my cane in a more confined familiar area such as the media center 
during staffings. I do this for the same reasons listed above.


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From: "Doreen" <doreenproverbs3 at bellsouth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2009 6:25 PM
To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)" 
<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] School cane O/M Issues

> Lauren
> I am just as new to this as you. I am the other mom being denied O&M. At 
> the NFB convention in Detroit, Torrie and I did a "cane walk" -- it was a 
> 1-on-1 session with a certified O&M instructor. I got the lesson because 
> as you know, most times the parents don't get the lessons and we are our 
> kids' first teachers. We used what I thought was a side-to-side technique. 
> And it is "timed" if you will with your walking -- I seem to remember your 
> right leg is walking and cane is in front of left leg. For now with Torrie 
> only being 5, O&M said not to worry about the stepping, just get her used 
> to using the cane with side-to-side (or maybe it was called the 2-touch 
> method). We used it in and around the hotel and used the same side-to-side 
> when we went outside. We were totally blindfolded so we could not "cheat" 
> to see. Throughout the walk, we were asked to listen and feel for ques to 
> tell us where we are, what was around us, etc. It was an awesome time! 
> That at least gave me some info on what to teach Torrie.
>
> Any other parents, please correct me -- my old gray matter is pretty gray 
> at this point!
>
> I don't even know what Torrie is going to be taught -- probably something 
> to totally confuse her. She has the side-to-side "down" -- she can do it 
> but definitely needs more instruction and a lot more practice.
>
> I am following your threads with all eyes and ears! Our turn is coming up 
> shortly.
> Thanks for all the help thru all these emails!
> Doreen
>
>
> L W 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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