[nabs-l] Flying with a Cane

[Chris Nusbaum]

Hi Arielle,

Thanks for the information! This is great! I have a question on 
this for anybody who flies independently: how do you
retrieve the right luggage from the carousel? In other words, how 
do you know which luggage is yours? Thanks!

Chris
 Chris Nusbaum

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance." -- Kenneth Jernigan (President of the National 
Federation of the Blind, 1968-1986.)

  Visit the I C.A.N.  Foundation online at: 
www.icanfoundation.info for
information on our foundation and how it helps blind and visually
impaired children in MD say "I can!"


Sent from my BrailleNote

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:51:03 -0600
Subject: [nabs-l] Flying with a Cane

Hi all,
Since I travel to visit family a lot, and attend NFB and 
psychology
meetings on a regular basis, I have become a very frequent flyer.  
Over
the past two years I flew, on average, once a month and almost 
all
those flights were solo.  I have been flying alone for several 
years
and have never had any serious problems with airline officials 
beyond
the nuisance of being asked repeatedly if I need assistance.  
Although
independent air travel used to be rough, I do believe that things 
have
gotten much better with the passage of the 1986 Air Carrier 
Access
Act.
In security I do place my cane on the X-ray belt along with my
luggage, shoes and laptop.  A security official guides me by 
voice,
hand or both so I can get through the detector without bumping 
into
it.  I then retrieve my cane on the other side with my belongings 
and
don't think much of it.  The distance I have to walk without my 
cane is
very minimal.
Like others have said I will insist on keeping my cane during the
flight, however, for the simple reason that should I need to 
evacuate
the plane, I need to have my cane with me and I will not have 
time to
try to find it in the overhead bin.  If I am traveling with a 
folding
cane I will fold it up and stash it under the seat in front of 
me.  If
I am using a straight cane I lay it on the floor between the 
window
seat and the window, running parallel to the window.  If I don't 
have a
window seat and someone is already seated there when I board, I 
simply
ask this passenger to do this for me.  This has never caused any
problems.  It's important to remember that no matter what a 
flight
attendant might tell you, you have a legal right to place your 
cane
next to the window.  You also have a legal right to refuse any
assistance offered to you at the airport, including escorts,
wheelchairs, and pre-boarding.  I think there was only one time 
when I
actually had to remind an airport official about this
I have navigated airports throughout the country without an 
official
escort and have done so for the past five years with only one
exception (when I was flying back from Australia and had limited 
time
to make a connection).  Bear in mind, I am not a stellar 
traveler, and
I started navigating airports on my own before I had good travel
training.  The interior of an airport is a safe place to travel
independently even if you have little travel experience because 
there
are so many people from whom to gather information.  I have 
posted
before on this list about techniques I use in the airport and I'd 
be
happy to correspond with anyone privately if you want to know 
more
detail about how I do it or have specific questions.
Best,
Arielle

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/dotkid.nusbau
m%40gmail.com