[blindkid] introducing a cane

[Penny Duffy]

>
> A cane in the  hand is better then no cane at all. (even if its dragged
> behind. )  Its about learning to keep it with you and get in the habit. Its
> ok to have more then one cane too.. Like shoes (someone said that at the
> national convention and its stuck with me) Different canes can work better
> at different times.    Have your son work with all kinds of different kinds
> of canes..




> My daughter started using a cane in January.  She was given one of those
> handy folding aluminum canes with a rolling marshmallow tip.. (I said that
> with a bit of sarcasm)  You get very little feed back from those canes.  .
>  The NFB cane is so much lighter.  My daughter loves it.. We got an NFB cane
> at convention and I dont' think she is ever going to look back.  I don't
> think the medal tip gets stuck anymore then a rolling tip.  Those rollers
> get stuck a lot. There is also only one way to hold those kinds of cane.   I
> don't think my daughter has had a tummy poke once now with her NFB cane.  I
> am sure its going to happen. There is methods you can do with an NFB
> to completely avoid tummy pokes while still holding it to the middle.
>

My take is a the folding aluminium canes with a rolling tips seems more like
a piece of  medical equipment while a NFB long white cane is a TOOL.    Its
a preference though.. There isn't a wrong answer..

>
> On 7/20/11 9:09 AM, "Susan Vorsanger" <svorsanger at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >Hi, I know many of you have had much experience with kids & cane use...
> >My son is almost four but severely developmentally delayed (no talking,
> >very limited communication).  At my strong encouragement his O&M
> >instructor is going to start working with him with a cane.  (Some
> >background:  I have tried for a loooong time to gently introduce him to
> >an NFB cane, but so far he¹s shown no interest at all & only wants to put
> >it in his mouth).  I was wondering if some of you had any thoughts about
> >the following:
> >-          His O&M instructor strongly recommends a cane that comes up to
> >his chest, but I know the NFB canes are longer.  Can someone tell me
> >again what the rationale is for the longer length?  Do you think there
> >would be any harm to starting him out with a shorter length?
> >-          She wants him to use a cane with a ball on the end so it
> >doesn¹t get stuck.   Do you think there would be any harm to trying this
> >kind for a while since I haven¹t had luck with the other cane yet?
> >I am really glad to have some help encouraging my son to use a cane, but
> >I want to make sure we¹re taking the best approach possible.    Thanks!
> >-- Susan
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>
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-- 
--Penny
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