[nabs-l] Extensive Cane Travel During the Summer

[Joe]

Andy,

A few suggestions while you figure out a good summer training program.

1. Slow down. You'd be surprised at how much smoother things will go if you
slow your pace and pay closer attention to your surroundings. Maybe you
already do this, but I have a feeling a lot of us are tempted to walk faster
to look more normal, but remember the basic laws of physics. The faster you
walk, the less time you have to correct an error, the harder the impact with
an obstacle, the greater the embarrassment, and the lower your
self-confidence. Soon enough you'll become so familiar with a route that
you'll be able to hit a good clip, but until then, leave a little earlier
and take good care to really process your environment.

2. It's okay to stop and study. When you get to a traffic intersection,
stand there for  a few cycles until you figure out the pattern of the
traffic. Is it a standard east-west, north-south pattern? Are there brief
lulls for left turns? How much time does each direction get before the light
changes? Yeah, you may feel foolish standing there, but invest a little time
to get to know the intersection before you engage it. After you get familiar
with the pattern, you'll be able to pay attention halfway down the block and
figure out if you have enough time to cross when you get to the corner.

3. Parallel traffic is your friend. Could a vehicle cross a red light?
Anything's possible, but the chances of an oncoming vehicle dramatically
drop when you're crossing with your parallel traffic.

4. When in doubt, turn into the corner. Every blue moon I screw up and lose
track of my straight line from corner to corner. If I turn into the corner,
or walk further into the block, I might look a little crazy missing the
corner altogether, but better that than to walk into the path of oncoming
vehicles. Parallel traffic can be your friend, but friends can also run you
over. Comforting, aren't I? Here in DC we have diagonal avenues that could
easily dump you into the middle of a lane if you keep a perfect straight
line, but then, if you study the intersection beforehand, this will never
happen to you.

5. It's okay to ask questions. I don't know what they'll teach you at one of
those training centers, never having gone to one myself, but I don't really
think anyone would discourage you from asking questions if you feel lost or
disoriented or just feel like asking. In fact, you could get someone to
spend a few hours with you one weekend going over common routes you use on a
regular basis. Pick their brain over what they see, what landmarks are
helpful, which is actually another good point.

6. Distinguish between landmarks and clues. Landmarks aren't likely to move
anytime soon: concrete planters, light posts, ramps, driveways, etc. Clues
look tempting but shouldn't be relied upon completely: bus stops, trash
cans, bicycle racks, and so forth.

I'm sure others can chime in with additional suggestions. A good training
program will help give you that extra boost, but no sense in waiting for the
summer to start tackling some of the goals you could set for yourself right
now.

Best of luck to you,

Joe

--
Twitter: @ScribblingJoe

Visit my blog:
http://joeorozco.com/blog

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Andy
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 6:26 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] Extensive Cane Travel During the Summer

All,
I'm a college student (freshman) and I've been blind since birth.
Unfortunately throughout the years, my mobility/cane travel instruction has
been sporadic, at best.  I'm finding that I lack a lot of skills: I have a
lot of difficulty crossing streets, for example, and don't really even know
basic traffic patterns.  I find that I get lost a lot, and in general I just
really need a great deal of instruction for mobility.  To get around now, as
much as it pains me to say it, I get a lot of help.

I'm looking to rectify this situation.  As I'm in college, I really would
prefer to not take a semester off, so some sort of summer training program
would be enormously helpful.  I already know braille, computers, etc -
really all I need is mobility, and if possible, basic cooking, housekeeping,
etc.  I did some research, but all I could find were camps, college prep
programs, etc, which isn't what I'm looking for.

If anyone has any suggestions on what might be out there during the summer
for training, please let me know.
Thanks.

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