[blindkid] School cane O/M Issues

Carol Castellano carol_castellano at verizon.net
Wed Oct 21 19:21:02 UTC 2009


Lauren,

You might want to get ahold of these books to guide you in your O&M journey:

Independent Movement and Travel in Blind Children
  by Joe Cutter

Modular Instruction for Independent Travel
by Doris Willoughby

both available here:
  http://secure.nfb.org/ecommerce/asp/prodtype.asp?prodtype=47&ph=&keywords=&recor=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=

Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane
by Tom Bickford

Techniques Used by Blind Travel Instructors
varous authors

both available here:
http://secure.nfb.org/ecommerce/asp/prodtype.asp?prodtype=49&ph=&keywords=&recor=&SearchFor=&PT_ID=

If you read these books, you'll be all set!

Carol

Carol Castellano, President
National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
973-377-0976
carol_castellano at verizon.net
www.nfb.org/nopbc

At 02:03 AM 10/21/2009, you wrote:
>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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>
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