I'm going to offer a completely different perspective than /u/roozgirl/. My personal perspective and experience informs my answer, and your answer might end up being different than mine.

> I tried to use a cane. It didn't work for me. I get around ok with out it.

At 20/400 vision in my opinion you are putting your safety (and certainly your mobility and independence) at risk by not using a cane at least some of the time and not employing non-visual travel techniques along with your vision. "Faking it" can work a great deal with even a small amount of residual vision, right up until it doesn't (and then things can go terribly wrong.) For example, you describe becoming completely blinded at night for a while after a car's headlights hit your eyes. What would happen if this happened to you while crossing a street, and the cars don't know you're blind because you don't have a cane?

I think you're totally on the right track to be questioning how your travel needs are going to change going from a small town to a university. You're going to encounter a lot of new places, new travel scenarios, and the need for skills you might not have fully developed at home.

Any person of sufficient intellectual capacity and physical mobility can use a cane. Yes, in the beginning it is awkward and difficult and might seem useless when you can "see enough." Sometimes people, either because of a bad instructor or because of their own hangups about blindness, never really get out of that stage. I urge you to consider giving it another chance, and maybe to think about the things that might benefit you (like extra O&M) in terms of not only being ready for a guide dog (as schools want you to have good cane travel skills before getting a dog) but also being ready to independently attend college regardless of if you decide to get a dog or not.

The dog is a tool with many benefits but also some downsides. It will be completely useless to you if you don't have the travel skills required to work with it, or if you continue to try to rely exclusively on visual techniques. I know absolutely no blind people who have expressed regret in developing better cane travel skills. I've encountered a few who worked with a guide dog and discovered that it didn't work for them. One was a college student (who got the dog shortly before beginning college) that discovered that a dog didn't work with their busy lifestyle or make them feel as secure as traveling with a cane did when encountering challenging terrain. (But I also know plenty who say that a dog really improved their confidence and mobility and they're never going back.)

If I were in your shoes, I would work on getting my cane travel skills up to a level where I would feel confident traveling a college campus (going to and from dorms, finding classes, the dining hall, and so on) and the nearby community without assistance. Having then developed those skills and started college, I would personally look at my needs and desires when actually in that situation and consider a guide dog at that time.

> Some people tell me that they are surprised to find out that I have a visual impairment because I get around so well.

I've had people tell me that when I'm carrying my cane! I know completely blind people (or those damn close) who have been told that. The general public's image of what a blind person "should look like" is often of someone who is poorly dressed, disoriented, with "blind eyes" or sunglasses, etc. When you do not fit into this mold it is very surprising to a lot of people.

The issue is it's not that you aren't visually impaired "enough" to need those things, or that you wouldn't benefit from using non-visual skills. Their perception of blindness has no impact on your real needs or what will help you do the things you want to do.

I've personally struggled with the trap of feeling not "blind enough" quite a lot. When I first started using a cane I had a little folding cane and more often than not that was exactly what it was, folded away in my bag like a secret. When I started learning braille I felt a bit like I was "playing really blind" because I can read very large print. When I started using a screenreader instead of magnifier, it felt silly learning all the keyboard commands when I could just turn zoomtext back on and find the thing "faster" using a mouse or so I thought. Every "but you don't look blind" and "you're looking right at me" and "how could you see this, but not that?" chipped away at my confidence.

I am now incredibly thankful to the people in my life who encouraged me to give blindness skills a real try and to stick to them.

With a cane, I walk quickly and confidently. I don't have to worry about how changing light conditions will impact my ability to travel. I no longer walk slowly and cautiously, or have frequent "oh, I'm just clumsy!" accidents. I have the skills to cross streets no matter the conditions or how complex, and the knowledge that cars can see that I am blind. Because of the travel skills I've developed using the cane, I know that I can go just about anywhere on my own. I don't think "oh, I'll just wait for someone to give me a ride" like I used to. Sure the cane has saved my skin plenty of times (something I only realize in retrospect) but the bigger effect was expanding my world and giving me the confidence to explore new places, to travel alone, etc. (And drawing parallels, because of braille and speech, I can read so much more than I thought was enough. I read much faster non-visually. I don't deal with eye strain or headaches or missing out on half of what I was supposed to read, or the discomfort of broadcasting the contents of my screen across a mile when using zoomtext in public! Reading became one of my favorite hobbies. Through this, the world that I previously thought was "big enough" grew even further.)

Especially at a time when your world is going to be rapidly expanding anyways (going to college) I really encourage you to give blindness skills another chance. If that's through a cane or a dog or something else entirely, sometimes you don't figure out what you were missing until you have it.

Thanks everyone who has commented. I will start using my cane more. Thanks again

I am going to say if you get around well without a cane a guide dog isn't a good idea, but as someone with rather similar vision to you, I doubt it. (Mine is 20/400, left eye is useless due to another condition, and visual field is 5 to 10, light is also a issue). Short form is I can see some but I don't trust it.

I was trained by someone who use to work for a NFB center blind inc actually. He had some vision as well. I learned quickly my cane gives me freedom and can and does help me stay safe. If you had issues with one type of cane like (say Amutech) try another. I use a use a NFB straight style one, there is revolution, and many others.

I am going to be a bit blunt with you, by not even using a signal cane you are not only putting you own life in danger by the lives of others, who could end up killing you because of your pride. As well as the fact if you don't use a cane you have no right to a guide dog, by getting one you would have to lie and say you are a cane user when you are not.

Have you talked to an O&M instructor about it? You mentioned the cane didn't work for you, but are you using it correctly?

Additionally, a lot of guide dog schools do require an O&M instructor to sign your forms regarding your training before you can get a guide dog as well.

I think much the same as the others. Keep working with the cane. It took my a while to get use to it. Especially for areas your not familiar with. It also good for keeping everyone else out your way😎

If you already get around really well on your own, a GD would only be a hinderance for you. It would also be hard at college if you lived at the dorms and such. Maybe get to school and then see where you're at. Most schools have a waiting period anyways so next semester or free time you could consider going if accepted to any.