[blindkid] The cane as "signage"

[Carrie Gilmer]

Three (chosen out of many) examples from my experience:
1. Working at the adjustment center I left work at the end of the day by car at the same time as my co-worker executive assistant who was/is blind. This woman crossed two streets to get to her bus stop home. She had already worked there a good six or seven years when I started, so how many times had she successfully negotiated those crossings twice a day to and from. She displayed "signage"...she used a white cane. She is "totally " blind. It happened regularly that a sighted person crossing at the same time noticed such "signage" physically would grab her and scoop her across...WITHOUT ASKING. i recall the first time, I was so shocked i stopped my car ad sat in stunned silence after initially resisting the urge to run out and grab the man that grabbed her. THIS needed to be added to my son's "protection from"...and was scarier to me than his ability to manage traffic.

2. One day a man came into the center with a young blind woman (who we knew) and was practically hysterical...."I DIDN' T WHAT ELSE TO DO! I BROUGHT HER HERE! I COULD NOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE LEAVE HER!"

In the next five minutes we discovered to our horror, that this woman was going to a doc appointment at one of our megaoplis hosp. centers. he was a doctor leaving his shift. she had crossed the street in front of him. somehow in her crossing she slowed, showed some sign of questioning or thinking or appearing to be uncertain or lost. what tipped him off? Her cane of course. Superman leaped from his vehicle...saving her life he supposed, and physically scooped her, and PUT HER IN HIS CAR AND DROVE HER 4 miles to our center...to the Blind people place. SHE was so stunned she did not resist!  

he was flabbergasted we were not thanking him! She was flabbergasted at suggestion she had some responsibility in not getting in the car.

my god, things I never thought of.

3.  At my firs NFB convention my son and I waited by the elevators, and a young woman with a cane found the elevator bay but could not find the buttons RIGHT AWAY...be fore anyone could intervene, she became HYSTERICAL...a doorman was stationed right there! He saw her cane, he tried to help. she freaked out screaming and crying...it was astonishing.

My god things I never thought of.

Add....every time I am with my son who is a normal excellent traveler and can manage public transport and new areas and backtracking upon leaving better than many sighted people I know...NOT unusual for me to follow him to where we parked the dang car...yet whenever wee go to a theatre, doc appointment, meeting, type of thing people reach out and try and try and lead him...and act so bizarre ""OKAY WE ARE GOING LEFT NOW" " I WILL TRY AND WALK SLOW SO YOU CAN HEAR ME FOLLOW MY VOICE"

how much worse would it be if they all wore pedestrian vests labeled blind for normal daily travel.
my efforts have been to get him experienced and trained to protect himself from all of the above plus traffic.

i think of all things, if we are honest, our kids traveling about independently in the world, scares the beegeezus out of us more than most things. i found it is better to be more scared my son canNOT do it.

carrie
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