Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Walking with a cane for first time (self.Blind)
submitted by GladOgHoej
Hi!
I’m having RP Usher 2, so my vision field is slowly getting worse.
I’m just having a hard time to start walking with a cane. I’ve started by using a badge, but people don’t really pay attention to it. How did you feel comfortable to start using a cane?
I’m having RP Usher 2, so my vision field is slowly getting worse.
I’m just having a hard time to start walking with a cane. I’ve started by using a badge, but people don’t really pay attention to it. How did you feel comfortable to start using a cane?
GTbuddha 6 points 1y ago
I'm so proud of you for realizing that you need to start learning to use a cane. Wow is it freeing! Wait until you get good and you get home and realize how much less tired and stressed you are.
Please contact your local blind services department for Orientation and Mobility training. Learn it right from the start and you will be so much happier. Unlearning incorrect or bad habits is so much harder than learning good ones from the start.
Canes are both for mobility and a symbol to those around you that you have some level of visual impairment. Don't worry most people that use a cane aren't completely blind.
Please contact your local blind services department for Orientation and Mobility training. Learn it right from the start and you will be so much happier. Unlearning incorrect or bad habits is so much harder than learning good ones from the start.
Canes are both for mobility and a symbol to those around you that you have some level of visual impairment. Don't worry most people that use a cane aren't completely blind.
CloudyBeep 6 points 1y ago
I know I'm not answering your question, but are you receiving orientation and mobility instruction?
GladOgHoej [OP] 4 points 1y ago
I actually don’t since my biggest fear is to even start to use it. I’m scared of what people might think, when I can use my phone and pretty much do regular things. Pretty much scared if someone might think I’m faking it
SoapyRiley 5 points 1y ago
If someone tries to confront you simply reply that unless you stare at your feet, you can’t tell where you’re stepping and it’s not safe to stare at your feet because then you can’t be aware of your surroundings.
And what’s more important: your safety or their misinformed opinions?
And what’s more important: your safety or their misinformed opinions?
CloudyBeep 5 points 1y ago
If you start using a cane before receiving lessons, you might develop bad habits or unsafe behaviors that might take a long time to unlearn.
Mamamagpie 4 points 1y ago
I lost my peripheral vision in 1985. I got my first cane in 2021. So pretty much I can get around without it, but without it I have had so many trips and falls. The final straw was breaking my ankle. The only people who asked about it was the co-leader of the scout troop.
You need it, use it. Strangers will mostly leave you be. You can explain your vision loss to people you know.
You need it, use it. Strangers will mostly leave you be. You can explain your vision loss to people you know.
codeplaysleep 2 points 1y ago
>Pretty much scared if someone might think I’m faking it
Someone inevitably will. But without the cane, you fall down and get hurt and embarrassed, you bump into people you didn't see who then get angry at you, and people look at you weird and walk off instead of helping you when you need assistance.
There will always be idiots out there. Ignore them and carry on.
That said, I get it. The first few times I used my cane, I took my rigid cane with me, so I couldn't leave it folded up in my bag. I think the very first time I used it, I was walking around a city I don't live in, where I could convince myself that I'd never encounter anyone there ever again, so I could not care what they thought.
Also, as others have said, get some O&M training - knowing how to use the cane properly will help you look and feel more confident, and will of course keep you safer.
Someone inevitably will. But without the cane, you fall down and get hurt and embarrassed, you bump into people you didn't see who then get angry at you, and people look at you weird and walk off instead of helping you when you need assistance.
There will always be idiots out there. Ignore them and carry on.
That said, I get it. The first few times I used my cane, I took my rigid cane with me, so I couldn't leave it folded up in my bag. I think the very first time I used it, I was walking around a city I don't live in, where I could convince myself that I'd never encounter anyone there ever again, so I could not care what they thought.
Also, as others have said, get some O&M training - knowing how to use the cane properly will help you look and feel more confident, and will of course keep you safer.
TechnicalPragmatist 1 points 1y ago
Don’t be afraid of that your safety and stuff is more important who cares what they think. They can just shove if if they have anything negative.
heitorrsa 1 points 1y ago
Hey, I'm no specialist or something, but maybe the internet has one or two things to teach you. I've been half-ass self-teaching my entire life when I couldn't pay for tutoring. And things most of the time go well, to be honest. But the most important part is: congratulations on making the move to improve your life.
retrolental_morose 2 points 1y ago
I'm totally blind now, but had a big head trauma as a teen which lost me my remaining vision. That helped me realise that the cane was as much a tool for those around me as for myself, and began to let me see it was a helpful aid for more than just physically detecting objects. Honestly, it will keep you safe from actually walking into things either in front of you (mail boxes, seats, bins, doors, trees etc), or below steps, holes in the ground, clifff-edges, elevator shaftss, railway platforms) etc. But all that aside, it really can alert those who can see that you're there and can't judge things visually like they can.
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