[blindkid] The cane as "signage"

Albert J Rizzi albert at myblindspot.org
Wed Feb 27 21:09:56 UTC 2013


Carey,

Love, love, love the way you turned all those stories and horrible
experiences into a positive for you and your son.

Triage is a difficult concept to grasp and or effect, but preventative
medicine, is the only way to combat ignorance and  a lack of knowledge.


-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Carrie
Gilmer
Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 12:54 PM
To: empwrn at bellsouth.net; Blind Kid Mailing List, (for parents of blind
children)
Subject: Re: [blindkid] The cane as "signage"

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
P
> 
> 

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