There is no substitute to the long white cane. To me it is my magic wand that helps me wander, my path to independence. It has so many intangible benifits of use. Firstly it gives me the courage and confidence to step out my door if I ever need to. safety and identification. A cane, used properly, can help you find curbs, stairs, stuff parked in your way, things you want to find and so much more. The visual presence of a cane helps other people realize that you are blind or visually impaired. This can help a lot with getting good directions or avoiding hurt feelings when you don't wave back at people waving hello
The belt and the other innovations like: The Glasses, Sonic Canes, Shoes, Guide Dogs and Horses, GPRS guided map phones etc. are just added accessories to make life easier to the ones who can afford them. A long white cane is the tool that most blind people choose. This is probably because it is the most basic, versatile and low maintenance option. Oh and cheap too! Honestly, if I step out of my house without my cane I feel naked and unprotected. Like George asked in his email, what if there was a pit? Let me tell you me, like many other of my blind friends would just fall in it. The cane is not the ultimate solution for mobility, specially when it comes to tree branches and those nasty sign boards that are placed head level, some how I never get to miss them when walking and have bumped my head too many times on them. There is no denying that it is the best we can get at such a low cost and its availibility is wide. Was really emotionally upset when I heard from a teacher at NAB who had come for training from Ethopia that blind kids in Ethopia could not afford a cane and used tree branches and twigs as canes. Counted my blessings just then. Not saying that the innovations are no good, but they cannot replace the usage of the cane. It is very warming to know that the engineers in the field of technology are driving their efforts in the right direction to help make things better for the blind community. On a lighter note, I also used my cane as a self defense weapon one time when confronted by a unsuspected dog attack. Thanking you for sharing this article of importance with the group and look forward to reading about many more such innovations in the future. Mujtaba Merchant Bangalore, India Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
