[blindkid] Ordered our free cane! wheeee!!!

[Marie]

I am so excited to report that after thinking about it FOR A YEAR, I finally
ordered my son a free long white cane from NFB. Why a year? Over the past
year, my husband's feelings about the need for Braille and cane use have
changed or he has verbalized them more clearly to me<--he's a man so you
never really know which, LOL! I pushed early and hard for Braille and he did
not jump on the bandwagon right away. In fact, the last year has had him
pointing out to me other legally blind people who read really well and fast
holding books up to their noses. What a relief it was to hear him say one
day how great that was but then he wondered how much easier it would be for
those folks to have learned Braille and perhaps they would have done even
better!

 

When I brought up cane use before, it was met with a lukewarm reception and
much discussion about how Jack gets around really really well and has
learned to memorize the layout of wherever he is and how fantastic that is.
Over the past week, I brought up a cane again and now I am hearing my own
thoughts echoed back to me. If we help Jack to navigate his environment more
easily and independently, it will free him up to focus on other
developmental tasks and not use so much brain power to focus on not falling
or bumping into stuff. 

 

We had planned to just buy a cane and start working with it. What a nice
surprise to realize that we could get one for free (I think I knew this
before and forgot).  The fact that it is free makes it an even easier
decision to move forward although we have no support for our decision from
either Jack's school TVI or our vision rehab doc. 

 

So.tips, anyone? Jack has fine motor impairment so we'll have to see how we
can work out his grasp on the cane once we get it. Tips for introduction of
the cane would be welcomed.

 

Thanks so much!

 

 

Marie (mother of Jack, 4 yrs old with Apert Syndrome)
 <http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com>
http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
Learn more about Apert Syndrome
 <http://www.thecraniofacialcenter.org/apert.html>
http://www.thecraniofacialcenter.org/apert.html
Get information and support at Teeter's page
 <http://www.apert.org> http://www.apert.org