[blindkid] Diagonal VS touch technique

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Thu Oct 29 14:32:48 UTC 2009


If you have a chance to see Joe Cutter in a video or read anything he  
has written, he is a fantastic source of information.

Someone correct me if I am mistaken, but I see the diagonal technique  
as being virtually the same as just going with constant contact and  
pushing the cane straight along the hall (etc.) in front of you. In  
both cases, it is better than nothing (or using sighted guide and no  
cane) and perhaps a useful step on the way to learning touch  
technique, but both give incomplete information and leave the cane  
traveler at some risk.

I suppose the diagonal technique would protect you better to one side  
and the other would protect you more in the center, and then the other  
"advantage" for diagonal technique is that others are less likely to  
trip over your cane?

For myself, I'll worry about others tripping over my daughter's cane  
right after we redesign all the wheelchairs in the world so that they  
stay out of all the walking population's way...

Richard

On Oct 29, 2009, at 10:19 AM, DHammelIA at aol.com wrote:

>
> The best argument agaisnt the diagonal technique I have seen was by  
> Joe Cutter.  He threw a back back on the floor used the diagonal  
> technique and of course ran right into the back pack.  His argument  
> is that you just might find a back pack or a box sitting in the  
> hallway at a school.
>
> The NFB and AFB have a differing approach.  The NFB wants blind  
> people to be independant and adapt to the world as much as possible  
> with minimum accomodations.  So that for an employer to hire a blind  
> person they can do so with a few accomodations.  The AFB wants to  
> force the world to adapt to make things easier for blind people.  So  
> they want different size currencies so you can tell at a touch what  
> denomination bill you have.  The NFB opposes this as the cost to  
> benefit ratio is very high.  The AFB says that only some blind  
> people need to read Braille.  http://www.nfb.org/Images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm91/brlm9107.htm#2 
>   The NFB position is that all blind should have the opportunity to  
> learn Braille.
>
> The other main point is the NFB thinks that blind people are the  
> best source of information on what Blind people need to succeed.   
> The AFB thinks that trained professionals know best what should be  
> done for the blind.





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