[blindkid] School cane O/M Issues

[Richard Holloway]

Lauren,

One very effective ways to "hear" where things are is to tap the metal  
tip of an NFB cane on the ground; that was one of the design features  
of the NFB cane from the start. The technique of navigating by sound  
is called "echolocation". This is the same thing that bats use to  
navigate. Some people use this with ease and little, if any training.  
Most people can learn to use it to at least some degree. I would go so  
far as to say that we all use it to some small degree-- even sighted  
people. Blindfolds are often used with O&M training for all with any  
vision-- anything from light perception only, all the way to typical  
vision. Blocking out visual information helps many people focus more  
clearly on just sounds and tactile information for cane travel and  
echolocation. More than that though, it helps those with low vision  
learn NOT to rely on potentially inaccurate information from poor  
vision and to use instead accurate information from good cane technique.

The following is not particularly useful for cane travel, but if you  
want to hear a really clear example of sounds bouncing off of common  
objects, stand under an operating ceiling fan and make a hissing  
sound. Tip your face towards the fan for maximum effect. That odd  
flutter is the sound of the hiss hitting the blades and coming back.  
Keep making the sound and walk away from the fan continuing to listen.  
The effect will vanish. The effect is exaggerated by the motion of the  
fan actually shifting the pitch of the sound (called a doppler shift)  
as well as the variation in reflective properties between the blades  
and whatever the blades are near (generally the ceiling). If you are  
able, do that under a fan close to a ceiling and one on a long pole.  
The effects are very different.

If you drive with the windows down in a car, as you move between cars  
in traffic you will hear the sounds of your own car bouncing back when  
you are next to a car but then the sound is greatly reduced when there  
is no car next to you. Drive past a row of parked cars and listen to  
the sound that comes back. Very different than a deserted area. Those  
cars are parked-- the sound is all from your own car-- you are  
"hearing" objects that are making no sounds on their own. It works for  
building close to you and in some cases, you can even hear the curb  
next to the car. Again, not that useful for cane travel, but easy to  
make note of if you drive or ride in cars very much. I suggest these  
examples because they are common and easy to notice-- maybe a good  
place to start to understand the concept better.

In a building, one can navigate to some degree with sounds that are  
NOT echos of your own sounds as well. In your home, you probably have  
a refrigerator. Most of the time, it is running and while it runs, it  
creates a drone sound and a fixed reference point. (Most of us don't  
move refrigerators around too often.) If a TV is often on in one  
place, that is another audio reference point. Is there a road on one  
side of your home with more traffic noise than other directions?  
Another reference. Even a ticking clock can help you remain oriented.  
If you pay attention, you may notice that walking past the bathroom  
sounds quite different than walking past a bedroom-- if not in a  
silent house, then at least if you are talking for example. This is  
because the room sizes are different and one is full if bouncy tile  
and he like. Sing in your shower and compare it to singing in your  
den. Long narrow hallways are also very easy to recognize as opposed  
to big open rooms.

As to the cane carrying, If this were my child, I'd try to be polite,  
but I would make it extremely clear that I expect my daughter to be  
able to use her cane at any time and that there is never a situation  
where I expect her to be denied her cane or to carry but be told not  
use a cane. This seems like somewhat of a major red flag about this  
O&M person-- that such a thing could even be suggested. "Here, hold  
this tool for INDEPENDENT travel. Do not use it while you stand and  
wait for your sighted guide to assist you, and make certain you rely  
only on your sighted guide as you go to your next class. You are ONLY  
allowed to CARRY this cane." It sounds like a bad joke, and what a  
terrible message for a young person-- you're not allowed to walk on  
your own even though you're holding a tool for that??? I wonder also  
if this woman thinks that ANY child would actually comply with such a  
"rule".

Years ago, it was accepted "wisdom" by most in the O&M field that  
young blind kids should not have canes. I have heard about this over  
and over but the only reasoning I have found seems to come back to  
"learning bad habits that would have to be unlearned". I sometimes  
still read that middle/high school is the earliest age where some  
think kids can begin to master the cane and start using touch  
technique, etc. I'm not an O&M instructor, but I disagree. At least  
some kids CAN use touch technique MUCH earlier than that and even if  
(underscore if) the numbers are low, why should those who CAN use that  
technique be denied it? Blanket policies that are unfair to even a  
small percentage of kids are simply inappropriate and as far as I am  
aware they are also illegal.

What a terrible idea-- to deny freedom of movement to younger  
children. And then people wonder why such a blind kid's development  
may be slow in certain areas, and more than that, people sometimes  
assume that delayed development is related to some sort of cognitive  
limitations of blind people in general-- never thinking that perhaps  
ANY child denied freedom of movement for the first 12 or 14 years of  
life might adapt somewhat slowly to using a cane and moving  
independently once they finally were "allowed" to have one.

To answer your question, I believe that with diagonal technique the  
cane is held in front and slightly diagonally across the body. This is  
usually a constant contact technique as well-- that is, keeping the  
cane on the ground all the time. I assume this is to afford a simple  
way to gain at least some protection and get some information from a  
cane with minimal instruction and understanding-- to get up to speed.  
It does not work as well as touch technique for giving complete  
information about your full path. It is easier to learn and may be  
more effective at first than touch technique if the touch technique is  
not yet full mastered. I'm sure others here will have a lot more  
information about that, especially some of our cane travelers...

As far as touch technique being for outdoors only-- again, I have to  
wonder where this person is getting these ideas. Touch technique is  
for anywhere. Most all techniques for that matter are for anywhere.  
Use what works best for the individual and situation... There are  
thousands of NFB members who use touch technique INDOORS daily. There  
is no perfect technique and I don't know of any cane travelers who use  
one technique exclusively but I have spent many hours at national  
conventions over a number of years where there are cane travelers in  
all directions coming and going for a full week in a huge hotel.  
Thousands of people come, most seem to be cane travelers. From what I  
see as I look around,  those who are traveling most effectively (with  
canes) are using the touch technique and there are a LOT of them doing  
so. You also see many with guide dogs zipping around but that is not  
an option for kids. You have to be at least 16 (and generally 18) to  
get a guide dog for a list of reasons probably best left for a  
different thread one day...

Yet with that said, I suspect that touch technique is generally not  
what is taught to kids OR adults first. Certainly we did not start  
there. There is a logical direction to flow for most people which  
begins with certain constant contact techniques or perhaps tapping but  
not using the arc at first, but again, I'm not the one to tell you too  
much about that.

When this sort of thing comes up where the O&M person is telling you  
you need to prove it is "okay" to use a certain technique or to use a  
cane at all, I think I would be inclined to try and turn that around.  
Where is her research? We know (through the NOPBC and NFB and perhaps  
other places) of scores and indeed hundreds (at least over time) of  
children who have used and are learning to use these techniques. Also  
through the NFB, thousands-- literally thousands upon thousands of  
blind adults have made successful use of all manor of cane travel  
techniques. Where are the examples of kids who have been cause harm by  
any of these canes or cane travel techniques? Can she present  
information about thousands of people who have been HARMED in any way  
by these suggestions? Or hundreds? Maybe a dozen then?I suspect she  
cannot site a single example.

The good news is that you have support through fellow parents of blind  
children and that over time, all these concerns can and no doubt will  
be resolved!

Richard



On Oct 20, 2009, at 9:01 PM, 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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