[nabs-l] mobility questions

[V Nork]

Hi Amy, Congratulations on taking on the adventure of making your way with 
your cane travel in an area new to you.  Even after learning basic skills as 
a cane traveler, each individual neighborhood, or campus, can be a set of 
different challenges to  deal with.  A few years ago, I was forced to leave 
an area that I had been in over twenty years as a result of a condo 
conversion in my town of San Diego California, for a partof town completely 
unfamiliar to me.   The change was to a part of town I had always wanted to 
live in, but the area was full of obstacles I had to work through, and it is 
still an on going process for me to move ffreely and with confidence.   I am 
right now totally without sight, after years of having ups and downs in my 
vision.  Intersections are something I am still mastering, and I miss the 
days sometimes when  as a partially sighted  person I could see the white 
lines of the pedestrian crosswalk.  But of course there are ways of lining 
up at  the angle to safely cross the street without vision, even for someone 
who tends to veer to the left  and right as I do. Just as an example, ,  in 
my case I was moving from a  part of the city where the blocks were laid out 
in a neat grid or series of squares, easy to conceptualize, to a street 
which is basically a semi circle with cross streets at odd angles.  In my 
case, the Department of Rehabilitation sent out an orientation and mobility 
instructor not  only to help me get a concept of the area, but I also ended 
up strengthening and updating my already pretty good cane skills. In a 
perfect world, it would be great if such services were consistently 
available when needed by visually inpaired people relocating, but funding 
can be unpredictable.  It is usually advised, from the reading I have done, 
that if possible someone sighted or a visually impaired person who is 
familiar with your area help you travel a proposed route initially, filling 
you in on obstacles, possible landmarks, and brainstrorming intersections . 
Again, some areas are trickier than others to master.  One thing that I 
really enjoyed in my early days here in my new neighborhood of  San Diego 
called Normal Heights, was using a talking compass worn around my neck. 
The one I used costs about seventy five dollars.  It is a great and I find, 
fun, tool for getting the big picture of a new place.  A volunteer from the 
San Diego center for the Blind also gave me her input about my new 
surroundings, and while she was not a pro, her thoughts were helpful as she 
described peculiarities of some streets and intersections.  Again, some 
areas of the city would have presented me with few problems, and I could 
have probably planned routes  mostly by myself with no fuss  or muss, but it 
can be a time saver also to have help Also, it is great, once a route is 
planned, to take notes in braille or a computer file so details, of say, 
turning right at the rose bush,  can be retained easily.  I have never tried 
tactile maps, but I am going to look into it.  Some of the new mobility 
tools, with GPS aspects, are probably great too.  Anyway, these are my 
thoughts, and I hope they relate to your situation, Happy Travels, Ginnie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Amy Sabo" <amylsabo at comcast.net>
To: "NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLIND STUDENTS" <NABS-L at NFBNET.ORG>
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 9:23 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] mobility questions


> hello all,
>
> well, some of you know that i moved from littleton, co to englewood, co 
> about a month ago or so and, it's been great so far but, for one thing 
> indeed! i'm having to learn new routes and find my way back and forth from 
> the bus stops and back to my place. my parents showed me when they were to 
> help us move in but, it was only one time. i thought it seemed easy but, i 
> have tried to do this successfully and, both times when i go on my own i 
> get lost!
>
> it's very frustrating that a person like me who is a confident traveler 
> and a good one to have this difficulity. and, i have lived in this area 
> for over 6 years. so, here's my question what do you do when you somewhat 
> know the area but, you still don't? do you have a family teach this to you 
> or have some mobility done through a state agency like dvr? what have any 
> of you guys do when learjning a new route or area after you have moved 
> there successfully and be confident in dioing this independtally?
>
> also, i have a very hard times on putting on my cane tipe since i don't 
> have strength ibn my hands so how can i put on my cane tips and replace 
> the old ones easily and independtally?
>
> thanks again and i will talk to you all soon!
>
>
> hugs,
> from amy
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