[Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane

Mon May 16 15:21:13 UTC 2011

yes, I do rely on my cane for a lot of information such as drive way vs
street or side walk, ect. I don't have the problem of getting cold easily,
but para transit is the safest most cost effective way to travel for me
besides walking when i can, and family or friends when they're able to
provide transportation. I think it is more convenient too, because they tell
you when you're at your stop and if it is an unfamiliar place they walk you
in to the building. I used to use metro mobility a lot, then I moved, and my
metro mobility ID expired, and so did my elegability, so I had to reapply,
and I was approved. The day I found out I was approved I had gone in for an
interview to see if I was elegable, and since I didn't know where I was
going the metro mobility driver walked me all the way inside the building,
even though they're only supposed to take you through the firs door. I was
very appreciative to the driver for all of his assistance. I made sure to
thank him and tell him to have a nice rest of the day. So that was my first
time using metro mobility in a few years, and it was a very pleasant
experience. So like I say if you can safely and effectively use the fixed
rouge system go for it, if not then use paratransit if it is abailable to
you.

On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 9:15 AM, Ron Poire <rpoire at comcast.net> wrote:

> I think Nicki, you have the right idea.
> Use your cane to differentiate between the street and the driveway. Forget
> the color contrast and rely on your cane. I 'm a pretty good traveler, I
> also decided to go for paratransit, because I get cold easily and it takes a
> long time to warm up.
>
> Ron
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nikki Wunderlich" <nikki0222 at gmail.com
> >
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 9:28 PM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] trailing with your hand or with your cane
>
>
> 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
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-- 
I thank you for the emails
nikki