[Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane

[Nikki Wunderlich]

I agree. on the way to my chiropractor I have to walk for about a half block
with no side walk, for that part there is 3 driveways, 2 in to the parking
lot for the apartment complex I live in, and one for an old no longer used
schoo.  I have to use either constant contact or the 2 point touch method,
or I end up veering in to the street. It's not a very busy street, but I
still don't want to veer in to the street traffic or not, because you never
know when a car is going to come and weather they're paying attention to
their surroundings or not. At yet another point on my walk, the side walk
and a driveway to a business are the same color, and the drive way is very
short. So the only way for some one to differenciate between the driveway
and the sidewalk is to rely on their cane. so I agree if you don't have to
make yourself stand out more then you already do because of the cane or dog
then don't, but if it is unavoidable then so be it safty is more important
than looks

Nikki

On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 1:52 PM, Jim <jp100 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Bob, you are absolutely right in that sighted people notice the slightest
> things we do, especially when we're walking and using our canes.  They
> don't
> understand that sometimes, we have to go out of our way to feel for a
> sidewalk  or shoreline an edge or do as you did and put one foot on the
> street while another was on the driveway.
> The question sometimes arises, "How do I not stand out and how do I show
> confidence when walking with a cane?"
> Good question.
> I think that the fact that we simply have a cane will make us stand out
> already.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Robert J Smith
> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 8:27 AM
> To: BLINDTLK at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane
>
> Hi all.  My belief is that if you move your hand along a wall at your side
> versus sliding your cane tip along a wall, it makes no difference.  They
> both will be noticed whether we like it or not.  I believe that people will
> notice anything we do that they don't do and that one thing is no more
> likely to get noticed than another.  You might keep in mind that if you
> walk
> fast and trail, you run somewhat of a risk of banging your arm into
> something that would be sticking out.
>
> One example of being noticed no matter what, happened to me very recently.
>  I was walking to my bus stop.  On the way to the stop there are numerous
> driveways with a very slight drop-off to the street at the bottom of their
> slopes.  I check the drop-offs with one foot and my cane to make certain
> where the intersecting street is so I can turn left off the street I'm
> walking along and go west one street where the bus stop is.  On this
> particular day, I had found the intersecting street, crossed the street I
> was walking along and headed west to the bus stop.  About two or three
> minutes later, a man and woman came along.  She asked me if I was alright
> because she said that she had seen me almost trip.  I was so surprised that
> I didn't know what she meant at first.  I told her that I was fine, just
> waiting for a bus.  As I thought about it after she left, I realized that
> she had probably seen me dip down as I went across the slopes of a couple
> driveways, as well as putting my foot out to test for the slight drop-off
> and then bring it back again.  I was nowhere near tripping though, hadn't
> even been anywhere close to pitching forward, just checking things out.
>  I'd
> rather risk looking a little conspicuous though than die, as the street I
> turn down to go to the bus stop is very busy with no light.  So, in
> summary,
> try to be as inconspicuous as possible and when you honestly can't that's
> the way things go and so be it.
>
> Bob Smith
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-- 
I thank you for the emails
nikki