| I use a white cane because I'm legally blind. I've | | | | before I made using Able a habit. I fell down a short |
| named my cane Able. The biblical reference ends with | | | | flight of stairs that were just out of my field of |
| the pun, but the name Able is a meaningful one. My | | | | vision that hurt me emotionally and well as physically. |
| white cane has changed my life to a more | | | | After my tumble, I got some great O&M |
| independent and able one. | | | | (Orientation and Mobility) training and started to use a |
| There are different cane techniques to accomplish | | | | cane on a regular basis. |
| tasks such as going up or down stairs, navigating the | | | | There are some other really good reasons for me to |
| often dreaded escalator, and finding doorways, as | | | | use Able, aside from fewer trips to the emergency |
| well as many other things. | | | | room. I can employ my available sight to enjoy the |
| I do not use that tapping method you most likely | | | | scenery instead of wasting it looking down at my |
| think of when you imagine someone using a white | | | | feet all the time. Most importantly, though, is that it |
| cane. With that method, the cane taps the spot | | | | gives other people information. It gives any driver or |
| where the next foot step will land. This method gives | | | | pedestrian knowledge that a sight impaired person is |
| the user important information as to what they can | | | | walking in their vicinity. Another plus to cane use is |
| expect as they move forward. | | | | that I don't look drunk trying to navigate an uneven |
| Because I have a good deal of sight, I use a slightly | | | | terrain - just blind. |
| different style. I hold Able at a diagonal across my | | | | Able is 48 inches tall. Most white canes, like the one I |
| lower body and let the cane skim the ground in front | | | | use for mobility, extend from the floor to the users |
| of me. It is like having a fingertip on the ground that | | | | sternum. I have a collapsible cane (like a tent pole), |
| helps me know what the terrain directly in front of | | | | made out of aluminum with reflective white and red |
| me feels like. Neither method, unfortunately, can give | | | | tape on it. At the end of Able is what is called a |
| a visually impaired person any indication that they are | | | | marshmallow tip. It has a hard plastic bobble that |
| about to walk headlong into a low hanging branch. | | | | looks like, you guessed it, a marshmallow, and glides |
| I can move about the world without Able, because I | | | | over most surfaces easily and quietly. White canes |
| am only partially blind, or partially sighted, however | | | | are, for the most part, a universal symbol for the |
| you want to look at it. I choose to use Able. Here's | | | | sight impaired. In the UK, if someone has a white |
| why I use my white cane. | | | | cane with two red bands added, it means the user is |
| Walking is much faster and safer when I use Able. I | | | | deaf-blind. |
| had gotten some remedial cane training a few years | | | | |