[nabs-l] cane travel trip 2

Sat Jun 13 03:10:31 UTC 2009

I've done that before. I blaised  across 2 or three streets not paying any
attention to where I was and ended up 2 miles from the lcb. Not fun! That
was my fault though, not the canes.

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Rania
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 7:06 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] cane travel trip 2

When I was at BISM I went across a street and didn't even realize I had
crossed the street until someone walking passed told me!
Rania,
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Alawami" <marrie12 at gmail.com>
To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 6:25 PM
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] cane travel trip 2

> Oh lol. Yeah I've made that mistake too, especially when going to down 
> to tech drive. Those cars sound about 2 inches away from your foot. I 
> also use the tap slide methid to indicate what's gong on, or I will 
> once I get my ballence  back in order. I use a conbonation of both tap 
> slide and the constant contact. Good luck in your cane travel.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf Of Arielle Silverman
> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 1:17 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] cane travel trip 2
>
> Hi Jim and all,
>
> If you drag your cane along the ground rather than tapping it (also 
> known as "constant contact") it's a bit easier to feel the contrast 
> between concrete and asphalt. It's also much easier to detect this 
> contrast with an NFB fiberglass or carbon fiber cane (and a rigid cane 
> will give you maximum sensitivity). At the NFB training centers, they 
> teach you how to walk safely in the gutter between the curb and street 
> by following the curb with your cane ("shorelining") and making sure 
> not to get more than a step or so away from the curb. Many streets 
> also have a "crown" or a ridge between the gutter and street that your 
> cane will stick on. Once you cross the crown, you're in trouble, but 
> as long as you stay on the curb site of the crown, you're safe. Making 
> sure you can feel the curb with your cane with each step will prevent 
> you from wandering to the opposite side of the street (which, believe 
> me, I made that mistake more than once in Louisiana!)
>
> As for landmarks, as others have mentioned, anything you can hear, 
> smell or feel with your cane is a landmark-inclines, texture changes 
> like cobblestones on the sidewalk, echo changes (going from a covered 
> to an open area or vice versa), loud air conditioners, construction, 
> fountains, etc.
> are all helpful as long as they're consistently in the same place. If 
> nothing else, you can always count driveways or sidewalks between, 
> say, your house and the closest street corner. My boyfriend's 
> apartment building isn't really distinctive from the others at all, 
> but I always knew how to find it once I discovered that it was the 
> second sidewalk after the fourth driveway I crossed once I turn on his 
> street-and the sidewalk slopes up, so if I space out and turn in at 
> the first one instead, I'll know right away that I'm on the wrong 
> track. If you have a busy street that intersects the street you live 
> on, use that as a landmark-if you were walking toward it at the 
> beginning of your trip, you should be walking away from it on your way 
> back, etc.
>
> Best of luck and keep exploring!
> Arielle
>
>
> On 6/13/09, Ashley  Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> Jim,
>> For orientation, a few more comments on landmarks.
>> Something like the slope of the ground  is a landmark.
>> With practice you might feel the difference in texture from concrete 
>> to asphalt to indicate its a street.
>> Landmarks can also be  objects like poles or mail boxes.
>> Scents help too.  Maybe there's the smell of certain flowers near 
>> your
> home.
>> Everyone suggests compass directions.  You can try that.  But that 
>> didn't help me too much unless I was walking east or west during the 
>> daytime on a sunny day.
>> Cardinal directions were just hard to understand.
>> After high school I had an O M instructor come to my house to pick me 
>> up and practice mobility and get oriented to campus prior to the 
>> semester begginning.  After all in school I wanted to focus on 
>> academics not orientation.  Anyway, she talked about compass 
>> directions.  She also talked about landmarks and listening to traffic 
>> for orientation.  She was not in NFB using structured discovery 
>> officially
> but she was excellent I thought.
>> I just say this to show that a non NFB instructor can have positive 
>> attitudes and use concepts similar to those NFB instructors have.
>>
>> Ashley
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Jim Reed" <jim275_2 at yahoo.com>
>> To: "MAB List" <mt-blind at nfbnet.org>; "NABS mail list"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 3:15 AM
>> Subject: [nabs-l] cane travel trip 2
>>
>>
>> Hey all,
>> The mobility part is easy, its the orientation part that is going to 
>> be hard to master. I decided to wear my sunglasses at night to make 
>> it more challenging, I think sunglasses are a good compramize to 
>> sleepshades at night, at least for now while Im trying to learn the 
>> basics. With the sunglasses on, I got turned around once, and then 
>> overshot my house by two blocks. When I got lost I took off my 
>> sunglasses and was able to find my way. I'm still trying to figure 
>> out how
> I got turned around the first time.
>> I ended up heading west when I wanted to go east. I realized my 
>> mistake when I was walking past my gym in the wrong direction. If I 
>> hadn't passed the gym, I'd be one county over by now. Oh, by the way, 
>> large parking lots are a pain as well. As are streets without sidewalks.
> and very large sidewalks.
>> and wheel chair accessable curbs that allow you to breeze into the 
>> street without knowing your in the street until you run into the curb 
>> on the other  side (I was on quiet residential streets with no 
>> traffic at midnight, I was safe).
>>
>> I did get nervous when I heard some people somewhere near me; a cane 
>> make you an awfully big target. I'm a big guy, its not often I feel
> vulnerable.
>>
>> 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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