I used my new (thanks Kaydee!) white cane / long cane at an outdoor event tonight and here were some reactions:
• my sister asked me if I “really needed it”, which ether implied that she thought I was using it for attention, or she didn’t want it to draw attention to me and thereby draw attention to her. either way, it felt like she was invalidating my use or need of it.
• I didn’t know where a bathroom was in a restaurant, and a customer kindly and quickly stood up and led me to it.
• a small child saw me walking with my cane toward a curb, to get into my mom’s car, and they said to their friend “I think she uses that to walk, so she knows where she’s going.” It was just a really simple and cute and unexpected comment from a young person.
• someone had their cat on a leash, and Kaydee was taking me over to it to see the cat and or pet it. I was walking over, swiping my cane back and forth (I forget the technical term), and I stopped to bend down and look at the cat closer, and this older woman stopped me, gently but assertively physically touched me & pushed me back and said “there’s a cat down there.” ….. she thought I was going to hit the cat wth my cane. I wasn’t going to, and even if I did, it would have merely brushed along the cat and would be more of an annoyance than injury to the cat.
I understand that people see a long cane / white cane and automatically assume that the person is ‘completely blind’, but that just isn’t the case. I’m visually impaired, and that doesn’t give a random stranger the right to touch me.
Most people with low vision or most people who are blind have learned to orient themselves decently and do use aides, but they will usually ask for help if they need it. Don't make assumptions. And DON'T TOUCH A STRANGER UNLESS THEY ARE IN IMMEDIATE DANGER OR SOMETHING.
She could have simply said something like “oh, there’s a cat ahead of you, I just don’t want it to accidentally be hit with the end of your cane.”
I think the night was split down the middle for positive and negative encounters. There’s probably more positives the I’m forgetting.
I’m still getting used to using my cane in crowded public settings, and to using it in general. I still need orientation & mobility training, but I’m not sure how or when to pursue that.
Anyway, if you read all of this, thank you, it means a lot 💗
