[blindkid] Working on our technique!

Tue Apr 13 02:37:33 UTC 2010

Holly, sounds like you're completely on top of your cane options!

I actually keep thinking of trying an alternative for occasional  
applications here-- particularly things like your bleachers situation,  
though for us it is going to be more like a cane to strap onto bikes  
when we go riding. It would make a smarter spare than last year's  
(slightly shorter) one piece cane that tends to remain in the minivan  
most of the time as a backup.

We want the best tool in her hand all the time, but if it is beneath  
the bleachers or beside a biking trail when it is needed, that's not  
better than a telescoping cane in hand at all!

My big concern with Kendra though is that she'll be so interested in a  
new cane that she'll try and abandon her main one for a while again  
and I also have a bit of a concern in that I tend to imagine Kendra  
learning that she could hold a telescoping cane and spin the right way  
and sling her cane open "light-saber" style and I cannot imagine the  
havoc she might wreak around here in the process!

I definitely want her main (one piece) cane to be her only cane of  
choice when she heads out the door for school for quite a while to  
come, When she's older that will be her choice, but for now we have a  
working solution so I'd hate to change it...

Richard

On Apr 12, 2010, at 7:12 PM, Carol Castellano wrote:

> Cane-versary--I love it!
> Carol
>
> At 12:41 PM 4/12/2010, you wrote:
>> That is the tip I'm talking about, not sure what the official name  
>> for it
>> is.
>>
>> Hank does have a one piece carbon fiber NFB cane as well, that was  
>> actually
>> his first cane.  We started experimenting with folding/collapsible  
>> canes
>> after spending the first half of HS football season (older son in  
>> marching
>> band) retrieving said non-folding cane when it kept falling through  
>> the
>> bleachers LOL!
>>
>> Right now we let him choose which cane he wants to take when we go  
>> out. He's
>> still a bit resentful about needing a cane, we've found it helps his
>> attitude when he has some control over the matter by picking from  
>> his cane
>> "wardrobe".  If we are going on really rough terrain, like a walk  
>> in the
>> woods, I remind him the straight cane won't collapse on him.  If he  
>> chooses
>> the telescoping anyway and starts to grumble when it does indeed  
>> collapse, I
>> remind him that it was his choice.
>>
>> For him, the tactile/sound differences between different canes  
>> aren't as
>> crucial as it may be to others because he does have enough vision  
>> to see the
>> big picture around him. He won't run into a wall or furniture, he  
>> can see
>> where a doorway is.  What trips him up is poor depth perception and  
>> the
>> inability to see what's going on down by his feet, ie..is that a  
>> curb or a
>> painted stripe?  Is that an open doorway or a glass door? We've  
>> found any of
>> the cane types give him the information he needs to be safe so  
>> we're happy
>> to let him take control when it's appropriate.
>>
>> It just popped into my mind that we are right around his first year
>> "cane-versery" He has yet to receive any formal O&M training but it  
>> was just
>> about this time last year that we met Carol who gave us a  
>> demonstration and
>> lent us a cane until we could buy our own.  It's been a lot of  
>> trial &
>> error, a whole lot of grumbling but the difference in his  
>> confidence level
>> with a cane vs without one is amazing, even without official  
>> training.
>>
>> I love the NFB (big huge smile)
>>
>> Holly
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 9:37 AM, Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org 
>> >wrote:
>>
>> > I think that's the same tip. Many NFB / NOPBC people favor this  
>> as it is
>> > actually the NFB's own design and it is a very good design as well.
>> > Certainly there are cases where roller tips may be useful but  
>> they are heavy
>> > and as Joe Cutter put it, they tend to "roll over" information  
>> that the
>> > NFB-style tip would convey to the cane user. Another problem many  
>> have with
>> > them is that the same thing that makes them roll over helpful  
>> information
>> > also makes them roll off to one side and some kids tend to leave  
>> them there
>> > when that happens.
>> >
>> > As far as auditory feedback and information, you'd be hard  
>> pressed to find
>> > anything that comes close to the NFB design-- that crisp, clear  
>> click can
>> > reveal much about the environment. For a short time, our daughter  
>> decided
>> > she did not like the NFB cane design. We let her use something  
>> else because
>> > a cane in hand that is being used will always be better than a  
>> cane left
>> > behind or dragged along behind a child. Pretty soon she came back  
>> to an NFB
>> > cane. She was probably trying to be like her O&M instructor who  
>> was using a
>> > heavier golf-grip, roller tip cane as well as I recall.  
>> Ultimately, we got
>> > the instructor to switch to an NFB cane instead; (we were very  
>> pleased with
>> > that!)
>> >
>> > The main complaint I hear about the telescoping canes themselves  
>> has
>> > already been mentioned-- they can collapse. They are a good  
>> travel design
>> > though and an excellent choice for an easily stored backup cane.  
>> Holly, you
>> > might want to try having a one-piece NFB cane on hand for him as  
>> well as the
>> > "light saber" cane and perhaps he'll gradually want to use the  
>> solid one
>> > more. One piece canes are lighter and also offer more tactile  
>> information
>> > that especially folding canes (and even telescoping ones) reduce  
>> or omit
>> > entirely-- vibrations bend the joints and never make it to the  
>> user's hand.
>> > Folding canes make this worse because the little bungee-style  
>> cord inside of
>> > the canes also further dampens resonance (and adds a little more  
>> weight
>> > too).
>> >
>> > I don't think my daughter cares yet, but I personally find that  
>> carbon
>> > fiber feels a lot crisper than fiberglass. Strangely, the NFB  
>> canes for kids
>> > seem to alternate between fiberglass & carbon fiber in increasing  
>> lengths so
>> > right now, the size she needs is apparently only offered in  
>> fiberglass. I
>> > could cut down a carbon fiber cane I suppose but she'll "grow  
>> back into"
>> > carbon fiber pretty soon anyhow...
>> >
>> > I do agree entirely that cane choice is ultimately a personal  
>> decision
>> > though and the more options that are available, the better for  
>> each of us.
>> > At conventions, I always find it interesting to compare as many  
>> cannes as I
>> > can side-by-side just so I get a better feel of how they work and  
>> the
>> > differences between them. After all, we tend to like what we become
>> > accustomed to. You never know when something better may have  
>> appeared in the
>> > marketplace that you may never have run across before!
>> >
>> > Richard
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Apr 12, 2010, at 9:03 AM, Heather wrote:
>> >
>> >  A disk tip?  Is it different from the standard tip that comes  
>> with a lot
>> >> of the canes and is a circle about as big around as a quarter,  
>> but as thick
>> >> as two or three quarters, with an attached sort of sleeve that  
>> the last half
>> >> an inch of the cane pushes into?  Or, is it something different  
>> entirely?
>> >>  They have come out with a lot of new materials and designs  
>> since I was
>> >> actively cane shopping for myself.
>> >>
>> >
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>
> Carol Castellano, President
> National Organization of Parents of Blind Children
> 973-377-0976
> carol_castellano at verizon.net
> www.nopbc.org
>
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