[Blindtlk] To Cane or Not To Cane?

David Evans drevans at bellsouth.net
Mon Feb 28 02:39:34 UTC 2011 

Dear Mary,

The decision to carry a cane is a personal one and everyone arrives at that 
point in their own time.  I think that the fact that someone is wondering if 
they have arrived at that point is a pretty good indicator that you are 
approaching that point.
The answer to your question is that you are likely ready to do this now.
We carry the long white cane to help keep us safe and help us travel with 
confidence and safety.
Use of the cane can protect you in many situations, especially if you are 
not paying enough attention.  It can alert you to an object in your way, a 
unseen drop-off or snag that can trip you up.
I struggled with the idea of carrying verses not carrying a cane and found 
that it was false pride and not wanting others to know that I was blind was 
the real reason I did not carry a cane for many years.  I was in short, 
ashamed of being blind.
I put my own safety at risk by not carrying a cane.
It was not until I became a member of the NFB that I came to realize that , 
for the most part, the only one I was really hiding my blindness  from was 
myself.
I learned that it is respectable to be Blind and not carrying my cane, more 
often that not, just made me look clumbcy, and or maybe even high or drunk 
to others.
Learning to use your cane , while you still have vision can be a plus and 
easier.  You always have that little bit of vision to help, but you still 
need to learn, and use good cane skills to avoid using your vision, that can 
be fooled and depending upon that vision to save you from poor cane use.
The NFB, at it's training centers, uses sleep shade training so that you 
learn to depend upon your Blindness skills and thereby build the highest 
level of confidence in those skills.
They often take away any folding canes or canes that you can easily put away 
and hide when out in Public.  They give you a ridgid cane that you can not 
hide  and this helps new cane users get use to the fact that they can not 
hide their Blindness and therefore they learn to embrace it instead.

I learned good cane skills from my fellow NFB members and as a result, I am 
not afraid to travel anywhere or at any time.
I have now used a White Cane for over 25 years and am now using my first 
guide dog who is named Jack.
I have learned to travel all over again as travel with a dog is different 
that with a cane.
With the cane I needed to "bump" into objects to use them as guide post to 
navigate along a route.  With my guide dog, he just leads me around those 
things  and I do travel faster as a result.
Jack can also find certain things on command that my cane could not help me 
with now as I am very much total now.
He can find doors, elevators, escalators, curbs and ramps, a chair or seat, 
a table or even the urinal in the men's room.  He can even warn me of 
overhanging objects as well and alert me to other dangers that my cane might 
not.
I would say that if you are asking the questions about cane carrying, then 
you may have arrived at the point that you should get some instruction and 
begin carrying that cane with you.
It can only help.

David Evans, NFBF and GD Jack.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mari Hunziker" <marihunziker at gmail.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] To Cane or Not To Cane?


> Hello,
> Do partially sighted (legally blind) individuals use a cane?
>
> I am legally blind/visually impaired/ partially sighted. I can see pretty
> well to get around even cross a 4 way stop without needing to use my cane.
> Most people when they first meet me don't realize I have a visual
> impairment. Not until I need to read something or write something down do
> they find out. I have to use a magnifier or a CCTV to see the print. It
> makes life a bit easier and/or complicated.
>
> Is anyone on this list in this situation?
>
> Thank you,
> Mari Hunziker
> On Sun, Feb 27, 2011 at 7:36 PM, Bonnie Lucas 
> <lucas.bonnie at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hi Jessica,
>> I'd like to echo what most have said regarding your dilemma. I was single
>> until age 29. Of course, I used my cane when alone but when with anyone
>> else, I "folded it up" because that was the kind of cane I had back then.
>> Then I started dating and married my sighted husband. I totally got out 
>> of
>> the habit of having my cane with me. Sad thing. Eventually, after having 
>> a
>> blind daughter and realizing that I needed to join NFB, I changed my 
>> ways.
>> I
>> got an NFB cane and started taking it everywhere. At first, my husband
>> complained bitterly. We talked about it, and talked about it. Now, when I
>> occasionally leave it somewhere, he is amazed and so am I. I take it with
>> me
>> 99.9% of the time and and my 14 year old blind daughter takes hers as 
>> well.
>> That's not to say that we both don't go sighted guide (or something of 
>> the
>> sort) with him quite regularly. However, we both use our canes as we go 
>> and
>> sometimes we all occasionally laugh about our staffs if they are just 
>> being
>> held as we walk.
>>
>> I wish you the very best as you work out what really will work for you!
>> Bonnie
>> One last thing: I feel that my husband really has gotten past what people
>> are thinking. When it is a good idea to give directions, he does without
>> hesitation. If you would like to talk more about how to explain anything,
>> please feel free to email me off line.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Jessica Kostiw
>> Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 12:41 PM
>> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'; 'Pamela Allen'
>> Subject: [Blindtlk] To Cane or Not To Cane?
>>
>> Hello List,
>>        This is Jessica Kostiw.  I have been on this list for quite a 
>> while,
>> but do not post very often.  I am hoping to get some good advice on an
>> issue
>> that I am sure we have all faced.
>>
>> I am a Louisiana Center for the Blind graduate, and well appreciate the
>> important of the travel skills I acquired there.
>> If you are like me though, the significant majority of your time is spent
>> with other sighted people.  My longtime boyfriend Jon is sighted.  He has
>> actually purchased a cane from the NFB and wants to go under sleep shades
>> to
>> see what it is like.  The thing is on the one hand he is very supportive,
>> but more and more when we are together in a store or something would very
>> much rather that I just take his hand.  He says it's quicker and makes 
>> more
>> sense, but I want to be able to be independent.  I don't see why he can't
>> just walk by me and give me directions or something.  When we do that
>> though, he says he feels like he is just calling a dog.  He may as well
>> ring
>> a cowbell.  He can't keep up chatter all the time and becomes harder for 
>> me
>> to follow.  People give dirty looks like "why isn't that guy helping that
>> blind lady?"  Part of me understands what he is saying, I have heard the
>> same arguments from my mom.  My sister is so impatient and always just
>> insists that I take her elbow.  I live in Virginia.  There is no public
>> transportation where I live, and I am concerned that always being around
>> sighted people with this attitude will eventually cause me to lose my
>> skills.  This Email is focusing on the situation with Jon only because I 
>> am
>> concerned about our future.  We are definitely working towards marriage 
>> and
>> children and all that and I don't want to feel like I am completely
>> dependent on my husband and can't equally contribute when we take any
>> future
>> children out in public.  We have already agreed that we will live in an
>> area
>> with good public transportation so I won't feel dependent and can do 
>> things
>> on my own, but again what about when we are together?   Do I have to
>> sacrifice my independence to make it easier on him?
>>
>> Any incite would be greatly appreciated!!
>> Jessica
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of Chris Judd
>> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 2:31 AM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [PM] Facebook with jaws
>>
>> I tried accessing the facebook lite site, and it worked.
>> http://lite.facebook.com
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Bonnie Lucas" <lucas.bonnie at gmail.com>
>> To: "'Blind Talk Mailing List'" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2011 12:47 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] [PM] Facebook with jaws
>>
>>
>> Not sure what has happened but we discovered the same thing today as 
>> well.
>> Perhaps it is something that will be fixed soon. My daughter and I tried
>> everything to get it to let us click on things but it would not. Not sure
>> what's up!
>> Bonnie
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of humberto
>> Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 7:35 PM
>> To: gui-talk at nfbnet.org; nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: blindTlk at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: [Blindtlk] [PM] Facebook with jaws
>>
>> ---- Original Message ------
>> From: Michelle Abadia <michelle.abadia at verizon.net
>> Subject: [PM] Facebook with jaws
>> Date sent: Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:40:45 -0500
>>
>> Hi.
>>
>> I apologize for the unrelated topic.
>> I've been using Facebook successfully on my windows 7 laptop,
>> using (www.m.facebook.com), which I think our litt moderator
>> suggested because (www.facebook.com) wasn't very accessible with
>> jaws.
>> This morning, I come to find that now, m.facebook.com isn't
>> accessible either! Everything is preceeded by "same page link",
>> and when I click on something or try to write a message, the
>> system won't let me. This happened overnight, because I was able
>> to work on Facebook just 24 hours ago.
>>
>> Could someone please give me some assistance with this off list
>> at
>> Michelle.abadia at verizon.net
>> ?
>>
>> Thanks so much in advance.
>>
>> Michelle Abadia
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>
>
> -- 
> *Have A Blessed Day!
> Mari Hunziker
> 512-670-9950 home
> 512-587-1463  cell
> *
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