[nabs-l] Cane Travel Training: Report Number 1

[Jedi]

Jim,

Here are some suggestions to help you in the future. These may also be 
useful to others, so I post them here.

First, regarding cane length. Yes, you will want a longer cane to fully 
cover the length of your stride. The longer cane will also make it 
easier to detect those down curbs you mentioned at a reasonable clip.

Let's briefly talk about cane composition. Length gives you the 
advantage of stopping distance and maneuverability. What I'm about to 
suggest is controversial for a lot of reasons, but the collective 
experience of many expert cane travelers suggests that you may want to 
consider a lighter cane, especially one that is fiberglass or carbon 
fiber. I would also recommend according to that same collective 
experience, that you don't use a folding cane because the elastic 
places a barrier between you and the sensations you could be getting. 
Folding canes are great, but not if you want maximum sensativity. As an 
option, consider a telescoping cane for collapsability. But for long 
walks on rugged terrain, consider a straight cane (one that doesn't 
collapse) and a collapsing one when you're mostly going to travel by 
plane, car, be indoors, etc. If echolocation is useful to you, you may 
consider a metal tip for maximum sound as an echolocator. But if 
echolocation isn't useful because of your hearing loss, still consider 
the metal tip as it's also quite sensitive and much lighter than the 
roller tip which means that you exert less effort lifting the cane to 
make an arc, thus saving your wrist and preventing blistering. Also, to 
prevent blistering, consider a smooth plastic handle rather than a 
grippy leather one. In short, think about getting an NfB cane as we 
tend to make them long, light, and with a center of gravity that's 
closer to the top of the cane itself rather than the bottom.

Now, as to orientation. That's another matter entirely. your instructor 
may not know how to orient in practice because she is a sighted person 
who doesn't use the knowledge on a regular basis and probably doesn't 
really believe that blind people can really travel anyway. This isn't 
true for all sighted instructors. the best sighted instructors are 
those who spent a lot of time under blindfold in the company of blind 
people, learning what the blind do through practice and guided 
mentoring from good blind travelers. Most sighted instructors get 
limited practice under blindfold and only see blind travelers on their 
lessons, so their knowledge tends to be more theoretical than 
practical. There isn't much you can do about that except to hang around 
blind people who are good at cane travel and who can really offer you 
practical suggestions on how to orient. Your teacher may be able to 
offer some help, but you will have to be the one to provide practical 
experience on your own unless you've actually observed your instructor 
actually get around with a blindfold. Knowing basic orientation skills 
(using non-visual information to discover your location) will negate 
the need for a flashlight. The more practiced you become, the more you 
can daydream on a midnight walk.

Much of what I tell you comes from collective experience and from my 
own educational background both in cane travel and in blindness 
studies. Nonetheless, it's fantastic that the cane skills you have, and 
the cane itself, gave you a measure of confidence even at the beginning 
stages of your cane travel journey. Just imagine how confident and how 
fluid you will become when you get to a level of true experience! 
you'll be movin' and groovin' before you know it!

Respectfully,
Jedi
Original message:
> Hey all,

> I just got through my first cane travel lesson, and I had the worst O/M 
> instructor ever, me! You see,  the VR O/M instructor came to my house 
> today, we talked for an hour, she gave me the cane and left. She told 
> me I might be able to get one lesson before the end of June. And she 
> also told me not to use the cane until I had a training session. I'm 
> sorry, but you dont give me a new tool or toy and tell me not to uae or 
> play with it. Of course I took the cane for a spin. It is a 64 inch 
> ambutech folding aluminum cane, with a roller tip. To test for length, 
> I did the test suggested by the author of "Care and Feeding of the Long 
> White Cane": I took my cane, swinging it as I normaly would, walking at 
> a speed I normally would, and I walked straight towards a wall. The 
> idea is to stop as soon as your cane hits the walll, and then walk to 
> the wall. Apparantly, if  the cane is the right length, you should be 
> able to take two full steps after your cane detects
>  an obstacle, without having your face or shin detect the obastacle. I 
> was able to manage maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a step between the cane 
> recognizing the wall and me running into it. I dont have the time or 
> patience to half-ass anything, I need a longer cane.

> My first impression of the cane: Ouch! Damn it my wrist hurts. I have 
> long legs and I walk fast. I tried maintaining  the "step left- swing 
> right, step right-swing lef"t rythm, but fairly quickly my wrist got 
> tired and my cane swings became less frequent, thus less effective. 
> Additionally, I developed a "hot spot" on my palm; I know from plenty 
> of hiking experience that "hot spots" turn to blisters very quickly.

> I walked 11 blocks total, to the gym and back;  some blocks had minimal 
> street light, some blocks had no light (I am totally nigh blind). I 
> felt confident and I walked fast. In between corners, the cane travel 
> was easy (althoug I did noit run into any obstacles on the sidewaljk). 
> The travel may have been a bit too easy, as I allowed my cane to lead 
> the way and my thoughts to follow and wander (much as thoughts should 
> wander on a pointless midnight walk). Anyhow, I very shortly lost track 
> of what block I was on, however I brought a flashlight with me, so I 
> was able to easily figure out where I was. Additionally, I missed 80% 
> of the downsteps on curbs that I was not able to first detect visually. 
> That little 4 inch drop just wasnt enough for me and my cane to regiser 
> that the curb was there.

>  Despite my newness to the cane, I felt myself being able to "stride 
> out", and it felt good to do so. I am not sure how much time the cane 
> knocked off my travel time, but what it did do was allow me to feel 
> more safe and confident traveling at night. Dispite the fact that I 
> dislike walking as a form of travel, I intend
> to make regular night walks a part of my routine. Hop[efully, if I walk
> enough blocks, I will run into situations that will test and expand my
> skills.

> I did notice that I felt much more comfortable and confident 
> "shorelining" along the non-curb side of the sidewalk. I lost 
> confidence when I felt myself nearing the curb, and I also lost 
> confidence when I was on an angled slope, such as a driveway. Oddlty 
> enough, I instinctivly found myself following my cane: if my cane 
> dropped off the edge of the curb and rode along the street for a while, 
> I found myself angling towards the street, even though I knew I did not 
> want to go that way, and I knew there was a rolled ankle in my future 
> if I continued that way.

> Oh, byu the way, I've used my cane on only one trip, and I damn near 
> broke the thing. The tip got caught in what I believe was a chain link 
> fence, and all of a sudden the cane sounder different. Fortunatly, the 
> tip of the cane had its own folding joint, and apparantly the fence 
> provided enough pressure on the joint to remove the tip from its normal 
> position. The internal cord held, and the tip retuned to its normal 
> position, but I have the feeling that I may need something as strong as 
> an aluminum cane.

> Other than the fact that my wrist is sore, it was a positive 
> experience, and I intend to do it again tomarrow night. It was really 
> nice to be able to walk at night, even if it was a bit loud. Do they 
> make a quiet cane? To me, it does not seem to me like the cane provides 
> any auditory feedback that can't also be detected via touch, and I'd 
> like to be able to hear myself think.

> A couple of questions:
> How do I better detect curbs and keep track of what street i'm on? How 
> do I stay focused on something as dull as cane travel? Since I still 
> have vision, is it ok to rely on a flashlight to check out street 
> signs? If I know that the main streets are 8th, 13th, and 15th, do I 
> really need to know that I am in between 9th and 10th, or is it ok to 
> find out exactly where I am once I hit one of those main roads?  Is the 
> wrist pain unavoidle until I become conditioned to using a cane? What 
> is the absolute strongest cane material for the lightest weight? I was 
> walking at max speed, I was walking as fast as I walk during the day, 
> is it reasonable and safe for me to expect myself to walk that fast or 
> should I take it down a notch? Is it a good idea for me to teach myself 
> cane travel, or should I really wait for the O/M instructor?

> Thanks,
> Jim

> "From compromise and things half done,
> Keep me with stern and stubborn pride,
> And when at last the fight is won,
> ... Keep me still unsatisfied." --Louis Untermeyer



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