[blindkid] To Sign or not To Sign

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Sun Feb 24 05:04:34 UTC 2013


I have thought about this issue for years. I have seen street signs near a few homes which say something on the order of "Blind Child at Play". There are a number of variations. I'm pretty certain there are some that say something simpler like "Blind Pedestrians", near our state school for the blind. We only go there a time or two a year for special events (90 miles from here) so I don't recall the exact wording.

I think what might tip the scale is where you live. Are you at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac? If so, it probably makes less sense to have a sign posted. On the other hand, if you're close to a state highway, and your child has a reasonable chance of getting too close to 60 mph traffic, a sign makes a good deal of sense to me. 

In between those extremes, the choice gets tougher. There are various pros and cons. Among the other factors-- what is the chance that your child might ever (even just once) walk out of the house without her cane? Does that sound absurd? A few times, our daughter has decided to go exploring without her cane. I recall once, her announcing she doesn't care to be blind and dropping her cane and walking off... We caught her before she got too far, and we DO live on a quiet cul-de-sac, but if we didn't, such a sign might have saved her life. In our case also, once in a while, I have seen our daughter get mad and sort of stomp off without regard to where the street may be. It only takes one such mistake to cause a tragedy. Maybe such a sign alerts the right driver at the right time, or locals are more aware, so they react more appropriately when something like that happens. This is not an exact science. 

It is absolutely true that drivers should be careful, especially in neighborhoods where there are (any) children. But that sort of leads to the question of why there are laws that say people have to stop for a person with a white cane. Questioning that may sound silly, but stay with me for a moment...

I have checked in a few locations, reading about laws that say drivers have to stop for a white cane. In each case where I checked, the same locations also had laws which require cars to stop for ALL pedestrians. So why the extra law for the blind? My guess is it makes sense to underscore the need for drivers to be extra cautious when they see a white cane. Now that's not about just kids, it is about adults too. Some may argue it makes blind people look less capable. Perhaps, but it may also keep at least some less able blind people safer. How far should one take this anyhow?-- Maybe someone could paint their cane blue or black to avoid drawing attention to it so they will be more likely to be treated like everyone else. I'm certainly not aware of any legal REQUIREMENT for a blind person to use a WHITE cane. That would be pretty absurd, right? I mean, canes are a choice in the first place. So by choosing a white cane, we are all using "signs" of a sort (and by choice) to begin with. The question is how much we want to alert drivers and by what means...

Should our kids be able to know where the road is and to avoid traffic when they hear cars coming? Sure they should. But where's the harm in being extra careful? Maybe our kids all know what to listen for, except someone is approaching with a super-quiet electric vehicle, or flying down a hill pedaling on a bike. 

Some have suggested posting a sign makes others aware there are kids to be preyed upon. Well, that may be true, but then a child walking down the same road with a white cane may do the same thing, right? We can't keep our kids in bubble wrap for life... Could the signs be an embarrassment for the child? Sure, I can see that after a certain age, so again, back to pros and cons.

One final thought: My daughter is 10. I couldn't begin to count the number of people over the years, especially when she was a bit younger, who asked why she has a cane. It seems she doesn't "look" blind at all. These are all people who saw her standing or walking, and they were doing likewise. Maybe call each of these a "low speed encounter". Now replay that situation with someone in a car at 60 or 40 or even just 20 miles per hour. Assume the child always has a cane that can ALWAYS be seen... and how likely is that, for example... especially from behind? Will every single driver instantly think, "oh, that child has a cane and is blind, I must be careful and watch her". My guess is "no". Some, perhaps even MOST will, but it just takes one confused person trying to figure things out.

I know I seem to have the minority opinion here, and I am speaking more in general terms as I don't know (or have overlooked) the particulars of this situation, but I say there are absolutely situations where such a sign makes sense.

Sent from my iPad

On Feb 22, 2013, at 9:58 PM, Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Agreed, I can't possibly imagine what benefit such a sign could have
> and it could potentially do a lot of harm to how she feels about
> herself and how others feel about her and her blindness.
> Drivers should be careful in neighborhoods where children might be out
> and about, regardless of whether or not the kids have "special needs".
> Perhaps a sign would make drivers be more careful, but then, using
> that logic, maybe every family with young children who walk themselves
> to school should get a "special needs" sign?
> If she has appropriate O&M skills and age-appropriate supervision, she
> shouldn't be in any more danger walking to school than any other
> child.
> Arielle
> 
> On 2/22/13, Carly B <barnesraiser at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Merry-Noel,
>> 
>> I've thought about this, too. There are a couple of signs on streets near
>> our own. We have not pursued trying to get a sign for our neighborhood. I
>> haven't really thought that through, I think it's just a gut feeling that I
>> don't want to put more of a spotlight on my child than there already is.
>> Know what I mean? I'm not really sure the benefits of having a sign...
>> 
>> Thanks for bringing it up. I look forward to hearing what others think!
>> 
>> :) Carolynn
>> 
>> On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 7:40 PM, Merry-Noel Chamberlain
>> <owinm at yahoo.com>wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> My daughter, Ashleah, is working on a girl scout project and would like
>>> to
>>> know your thoughts about the "Special Needs" sign.  She is blind and
>>> walks
>>> to and from school independently.  Do you think having a Special Needs
>>> sign
>>> by our house is a good thing?  Why or why not?
>>> Thanks.
>>> Merry-Noel
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