[blindkid] blindkid Digest, Vol 60, Issue 14

[Leslie Ligon]

Dear Heather,

I read your reply to Marie regarding a can for her son. I just have to say...

I couldn't have said it any better!

The reasons you stated for early cane use are some of the reasons I'm 
going to begin the o & m certification program at Stephen F. Austin 
in Texas this summer.

With an extensive background dancing and teaching ballet, teaching a 
young man who's blind how to move through space was never the 
daunting part of living on the "planet of the blind." I felt 
completely comfortable letting my son (12 next week!) know how to 
travel safely and look for things around him. Every day in those 
early childhood days was another adventure in travel and opportunity. 
In the local malls, parks, and our own neighborhood.

When he was beginning walking at about 15 months, we were also 
advised to make him a pre-cane. It was fine and he did, in fact, use 
it just fine in those arenas. The week before his second birthday, 
the cane I'd ordered (without asking) for him arrived. Together, we 
pulled the cane (which I will always keep) out of the box. I'd 
ordered the shortest one with a smaller roller tip because it looked 
like it wouldn't get stuck in sidewalk cracks. Not knowing anything 
about proper cane technique, I was so excited. I wasn't really sure 
if this might not be another somewhat difficult emotional hurtle 
since it is such a clear visual message that a person is blind. (When 
strangers at the mall saw us with a pre-cane, they'd take second 
looks at us as if to say, "Is he...and I'd say over my shoulder as we 
passed, "Yes, he's blind.)

But when my son and I got to the sidewalk in front of our house with 
his new cane, I told him, Okay, now tap, tap, tap, and roll, roll, 
roll!,"  and he just trotted along the sidewalk, finding the crisp, 
clear edge, where the grass butts against the cement, and went all on 
his own to the other side off the house next to ours without me by 
his side. I knew then, like I knew he understood at 18 months that 
raised dots on a page are how you're supposed to read, that this cane 
would be what he used when you go for a walk.

We've been pretty lucky in our lives to have had some caring o & m 
teachers (COMS), but Heather, as you told Marie, even those with the 
best intentions will sometimes espouse fairly unfounded ideas, cane 
height being just the first of a long list. I think a lot of the 
training has to do with most sighted COMS providing instruction with 
safety as their underlying theme. Yes, of course, teach the need for 
safety, but when you teach dance, you don't teach kids how to do 
everything perfectly before trying to fly through the air in a grande 
jette, you just tell them a few basics, then encourage leaping. 
Therefore, I hope to approach teaching as a COMS the same way for 
kids who are blind or v.i. Maybe I'm wrong, but my gut tells me I'm 
on the right track. No, you should't do leaps and turns in unsafe 
areas, but oh, yes, you should do them!

So, here I go back to school to learn and digest, all the while 
knowing in most every muscle, a great deal of what is important in 
becoming a great o & m teacher. I hope I'll make my son, and others 
like you and Joe Cutter, proud, and eager to hear what I have to say 
about teaching people who are blind or v.i. to "Come to The Edge."

Thank you for your wise words. They're right for Marie's situation 
and just what I needed to hear this morning as I avoid working, 
trying to figure out how the heck I'm going to be away from my family 
for six weeks this summer as I do my blindfold work.

Come to the edge
But we'll fall.
Come to the edge.
Bight you might push us.
COME TO THE EDGE
So we did.
And he pushed ...

And we flew!

Sincere best,
Leslie Ligon



> > Yes I am. I am thinking that we are going to go ahead and request at least
> > the orientation and mobility evaluation so we can get him started with a
> > cane or pre-cane. I thought of just getting a cane ourselves maybe and
> > letting him have a go at it but I did not know if we might inadvertently
> > teach something wrong or improper use or something.
> >
> > As an aside, I have read your book regarding education of young blind
> > children and now your booklet that is sent out with the Readbooks! Bag
> > from
> > NBP. Thank you! Thank you thank you for taking the time to write all this
> > stuff and help me to think.
> >
> > Marie (mother of Jack, 3 yrs old with Apert Syndrome)

>Dear Marie,

>Since you said you're still considering opinions, may I respectfully
>share mine with you. I am an early childhood educator and a blind
>person who grew up blind. It is troubling to me why you would think
>that by giving your child a cane and letting him experiment with
>independent movement, you could be doing the wrong thing. The latest
>and most accurate and solidly documented information on the
>development of movement and independent travel in young blind children
>can be found in the book by Joe Cutter. Most orientation and mobility
>instructors are not experts in the area of early childhood
>development. This means that, in my observation, they are often unable
>to identify the differences between developmental/cognitive issues and
>specific blindness issues. There is some very good evidence showing
>why the idea of a pre-cane device does not do what proponents claim it
>does. If you really feel that you want to work with the o&m people in
>your district, I strongly encourage you to educate yourself in the
>area of o&m skills for young children. Joe's book has been quoted on
>this list before and can easily be found with a Google search.
>
>I'm sure you'll find lots of opinions out there on what is best for
>your son. But, you are the one who will live with the consequences if
>a particular opinion you adopt turns out to adversely effect him. Many
>times the particular professional who advised you on this or that
>approach will be transfer the next year and will never see your child
>again.  Your opinion is the only one, as his parent, that truly
>matters. Thus, your opinion needs to be based on the facts which you
>have discovered for yourself, and not on what some well-meaning
>professional tells you. The more I work with young blind children and
>their parents (and I've been doing it for over 25 years now) the more
>I am convinced the parents cannot rely on the opinions of the various
>professionals they meet. No one will consider your child's specific
>needs and characteristics, his preferences and special abilities,
>fears etc. like you will. You cannot expect a professional to have the
>same grasp of your child's situation that you will have.
>
>Also, it is important that you have a realistic grasp of the political
>nature of this issue. There are people with early childhood training,
>as well as people who have blind children for whom they had to fight
>to get correct services, who have very different views on the best
>approach to developing independent movement and travel in young blind
>children, from many paid professionals in the system. As a parent, it
>is important that you investigate both sides of the argument and
>decide what you want for your son. If someone recommends that you
>refuse a cane for your son, and that you give him a pre-cane device
>instead, and he uses it, without much change or development in his
>independent movement after six months, you can't get those 6 months
>back; they're lost to him. If you have a cane for him to use as well
>as letting him try out the pre-cane device, then you will have given
>him options. Furthermore, if you understand the solid developmental
>basis for early cane introduction, then you will know what you're
>aiming for and can work with your child. It is common for o&m
>instructors to see young children for about an hour a week. Have you
>observed how much the average 3-year-old boy moves around in one week?
>There's no reason why Jack shouldn't move around the same amount if he
>has the skills and confidence to do so. You must be his primary
>teacher and the sheer joy of independent movement and its inherent
>challenges will be his motivator.
>
>I so encourage you to investigate for yourself and not simply trust
>the professionals. I am passionate about this topic so I hope my
>opinion has been encouraging and not unsettling for you.
>
>Best regards,
>
>Heather Field
>---