Hello all, 

I am dropping in again. 

Yesterday was White Cain Awareness Day. White Cains are used by members of the Visually Impaired and Blind Community as a way for us get around. 

I use a long cain and have used one for a number of years. It comes with its advantages and disadvantages. My cain allows me to be out and about and navigate more safely. I can use it to signal to others that I am Visually Impaired and I need more time, or space to get around. 

I sweep my cain across the floor in front of me to enable me to navigate objects in my path; curbs, steps, obstacles etc. When I know a route I can find the objects with my cain which are in my way and then I can manoeuvre around them. 

This is why it is important to ensure obstacles, such as cars and bins do not block paths which a Blind or Visually Impaired person might find hard to navigate their way around. If you are out and see a bin is in in the middle of a path maybe move it out of the middle of the path so someone doesn’t knock into it. 

I do not mind if people ask me if I need help. It is always welcomed a friendly ‘Do you need any help?’ It makes me feel safer knowing that their maybe people who do want to offer help. 

My cain has a red handle and has a slight spring in it. Which means when I knock into something the impact on my shoulder is reduced. Before I got the cain I currently use I would knock into something and it would jar my shoulder. Which when you have scoliosis is not very pleasant and can hurt a lot. 

If you see someone with a cain please be respectful and give us space. Do not stare at us. We may have usable vision, we may even hear you making comments. Please be kind a respectful. 

A great example I will leave you with is a father and his child. ‘Daddy, look at that woman!’ Dad replied with ‘yes, but we don’t point. She is using that cain to feel her way around, instead of just using her eyes’ Child ‘Ohhh….That’s cool’. 

Remember children learn from our experience of the world. I would much rather you try explain than tell your child to just stop staring. Yes it’s rude and we shouldn’t stare. But in this instance the Dad was explaining what my cain was for and making it a normal thing that some people navigate the world differently. Just as that child responded, yes differences are cool when we learn to accept them. 

Have a nice day, 

Philippa.